RCF Front Page

Series Preview Here we go - the EC Finals. Two healthy teams that took different paths to get here. The Knicks went 8-2 with the two losses coming by one point each. They cruised through the second round 4-0. The Cavs struggled through two 7-game rock fights against physical, athletic teams determined to impose their will through pressing defense and forcing turnovers. These teams played each other three times in the regular season. The Knicks won in October and on Christmas Day. The Christmas game was 126-124 as the Cavs were without Harden and Strus. Mobley had not played in nearly two weeks with a calf injury and was limited to 25 minutes. Garland, Hunter, and Ball combined to play 77 minutes. It still came down to the final...

Game Summary Even when the Cavs were up 35 points you thought maybe, just maybe the Pistons had a chance but that's just being a Cleveland fan. Any time the Cavs win, it's historic and this was no different. They played with force from the jump, and pummeled the Pistons into the offseason. A starting lineup change putting Max Strus in the starting lineup jump-started the Cavs and helped them get off to a 9-point 1Q lead. From there, there was no turning back as the Cavs poured it on with Cade Cunningham having his worst career playoff game by far, and the Pistons role players rolling their way down Motown like a beat-up Caddy. Kenny Atkinson did what he was supposed to do and after beating one ex-Cavalier coach, he now gets another. By...

Game Preview Not much left to say. These teams have played each other six times in the last 12 days. They know everything there is to know about the other. Now it’s down to one game and who can execute their schemes, hit their shots, and play with more fire. The Cavs looked tired after the OT win in Detroit. To me it looked like they left it all on the floor to pull out Game 5 and had little left in the tank on Friday. Mitchell and Harden played 42 and 43 minutes in Game 5 and it showed on Friday. Donovan was 6-for-20 from the field. Harden had 8 turnovers. The Cavs lost at home by 21 points. These guys have to be better. Way better. But can they muster enough energy in their 14th playoff game? Donovan Mitchell, who struggled...

Game Summary It's hard to win four straight games against anyone, let alone in the playoffs against a #1 seed, but it's also hard to win turning the ball over, losing the margin plays and your best players not playing like your best players. The Cavs had a chance to win a close out but fell flat on their face with the most turnovers in a playoff game this year and the worst playoff loss since Round 1 against Toronto (22 points). James Harden and Donovan Mitchell now have one more chance to beat the allegations before they are etched in stone. By The Numbers 43: Second half points for the Cavs on 41 FGAs 16: 3PM by the Pistons -- ties their playoff high +22: In paint points for the Pistons -2: 2 less restricted area FGAs by the Cavs...

Game Preview After five games the cumulative score is 543-543. As Jarrett Allen said, these teams are evenly matched. But the Cavs have won three in a row and the pressure is on the Pistons as they are the only team facing elimination on Friday. The Cavs have the momentum, confidence, and home court advantage so no excuse for screwing this up and having to win a Game 7 in Detroit. Beating the Pistons twice in one series in their building might be a bridge too far. Kenny said after Game 4 that he thinks the Cavs have “figured some stuff out”, both offensively and defensively. It looked that way in Game 5 as the Cavs won despite Mitchell not playing well and Cade going off for 39 points. Donovan was 1-for-8 from deep. He should do much...

Game Summary Leave it to Cleveland to break their road playoff drought in historic fashion -- whether it's tying the largest comeback (down 9) with under 3 minutes left in a playoff game or having a 2% chance to win with 2:40 left in the game. It took the Cavs into overtime (it shouldn't have) to get the monkey off their back but now they have and are one game away from doing something this core has never done. It wasn't pretty -- Detroit led for most of the game, the Cavs came out sloppy (once again) and Donovan Mitchell once again struggled in a road playoff atmosphere. But this Cavs team kept battling, and battling, just like a JB Bickerstaff team would, and did just enough before the clock struck midnight to escape Detroit with a...

Game Preview Dead even after four games and it’s back to Detroit for what will probably be the deciding game. Historically the game 5 winner in a 2-2 series goes on to win the series 84.2% of the time. Whichever team wins has a 3-2 edge and still has a home game left, so it makes sense. These teams have played each other for 197 minutes and they are very familiar with each other by now. Both coaches have had the opportunity to make adjustments. Kenny is leaning more on the bigs and less on Tyson and Ellis. Here are the minutes played game by game: Tyson 18, 22, 14, 8 Ellis 11, 6, 0, 0 Allen 18, 31, 32, 32 Mobley 35, 36, 36, 39 So from game 1 to game 4 Tyson's and Ellis’ minutes declined by 21 while Allen and Mobley’s minutes...

Game Summary There's just something about home. The Cavs head back to Detroit tied 2-2 after taking advantage of a historic performance... at home. The Cavs came out and hit first with a 15-5 run to start the game, but as they always do, the Pistons fought back via Caris LeVert (???) and ended the quarter with the lead. After a struggle to halftime, the real story is what happened after halftime. Despite just four points at halftime, Donovan Mitchell went out and dropped the most points in a half in Cavalier playoff history while also setting a new career playoff high. Within that, it sparked a 24-0 run that put the Cavs in the driver's seat the rest of the way. By The Numbers 38-4: Cavs advantage to start the 1Q and 3Q +24: Plus-minus...

Game Preview The Cavs made some adjustments and pulled out game 3 in the final minutes but the pressure is still all on them because a loss in game 4 would force them to win three straight to advance, and that’s not happening, especially with two games on the road. One adjustment they made was getting the bigs more involved and playing “inside-out.” Instead of allowing the offense to become another perimeter-heavy tug-of-war between star guards hunting difficult jumpers, Cleveland leaned into its size. The Cavs played inside-out. They trusted their bigs to touch the paint early, establish position, make the right read as decision makers, finish through contact and force Detroit’s defense to collapse inward before reacting outward...