CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Cavaliers fancied themselves as a bunch of young junkyard dogs.
But it was the Knicks who were the scrappy team in this series resulting in Cleveland’s playoff exit after just five games following a 106-95 loss in Game 5 Wednesday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
“I'm not disappointed in these guys at all,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Obviously we're frustrated that we're in this spot and that we lost and our season is over, but I think our guys gave us what they had and you cannot manufacture these experiences, cannot practice what this is going to be like. You know, can talk about it till you're blue in the face. But until you go through it, you have to go through it and feel it. And it is a miserable part of our business, but you have to fail in order to be successful.”
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Here’s a look Beyond the Box Score from the season and series finale.
1. If you watched Games 1, 3, and 4, Game 5 wasn’t much different. For a young team that had been able to clean up mistakes game to game with regularity, that never materialized in this series for the Cavs, especially the final three games of the series.
2. Going into the game Wednesday night, Bickerstaff felt the Cavs might play with some freedom and a “nothing to lose mentality” knowing it was win or go home. That never came close to happening.
3. The Cavs never led, not for a second Wednesday night. They managed to tie the game three times but in an elimination game with the season on the line that’s just stunning.
4. As successful as a 51-win regular season was, this was quite the thud.
It’s unfortunate that the Cavs picked the most critical time to play their worst basketball.
5. Simply put, the Knicks were tougher and more physical than the Cavs were in four of the five games. “I think that's a part of our learning experience,” Bickerstaff said. “There's a new level of physicality in the playoffs. Are you doing all the things necessary through the season so that when you get to the playoffs, it's not an uncomfortable feeling when things are as physical as they are and we go back and we watch the film and there's plenty of collisions. We just didn't win enough of them. And I think that's the lesson that our guys have to take from this and sit back, look at it, and figure out how they can prepare themselves better for those moments.”
6. The numbers don’t lie. In the series the Knicks won the rebounding battle 227-186, second chance points 91-55, points in paint 232-216 and bench scoring 145-102. Specifically on the glass the Knicks defense outrebounded the Cavs offense 152-46 and offensively the Knicks came down with 75 offensive rebounds while the Cavs collected 140 caroms defensively. “I don't think it was a bad matchup, just didn't do it enough,” Darius Garland, who finished with 21 points, said. “We did it one game and didn't do it the others. I mean, that's all we emphasized in practice, rebound, turnovers and to be honest with you, and I don't even think they made us turn the ball over. I think it was just us just playing careless, even on a rebounding aspect of it. I think we just weren’t physical enough. We didn't go find bodies, we didn't go box out.”
7. The Cavs young stars did not play like stars starting with Donovan Mitchell, who did not shy away from not carrying his team when it mattered most. Mitchell scored 28 Wednesday night but was 11 of 26 from the field. “I didn't get the job done,” Mitchell, who shot 13 of 45 from beyond the arc in the series, said. “So there's different things, and I'm not trying to look for no excuses. It's on me, man. I miss shots, I miss passes that I normally make for these guys and I just didn't do that.” Credit Mitchell for his honesty and accountability.
8. Jarrett Allen, who had 29 rebounds combined in the first two games had 13 combined over the final three games, was ineffective when he was needed most as Mitchell Robinson manhandled him. Robinson has 18 rebounds alone in Game 5 to Allen's four. Whether or not Allen is a fit in order for the Cavs to get to the next level is among the questions that need to be asked and answered this offseason because Allen’s lack of physicality cost the Cavs big time and finesse gets you a quick exit come playoff time.
9. This lopsided series loss begs a few difficult questions this offseason starting with how honest will Koby Altman be with himself about the deficiencies of the roster that led to the quick first-round exit? For as instrumental in the development of the team as Bickerstaff has been, is he the coach to turn them into championship contenders? How does Altman find a starting three and rebuild the bench this offseason?
10. The learning experiences are now over. Next season is all about the results between April and June and the Cavs know it. “It's a bad taste in my mouth. It's not fun being on the wrong end of the stick,” Garland said. “51 wins was really great in a regular season, but we're being judged off playoff appearances and what we do in the playoffs and this young group has experienced the playoffs for the first time and we going to use it for motivation. Everybody's been talking about in the locker room since the game has ended, what they're going to do this summer, what they're going to change for next year.”