Can the Cleveland Cavaliers Make a Deep Playoff Run This Year?

This NBA season has been a season full of surprises. From the dominance of the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference, the Boston Celtics’ ascendance up the Eastern Conference, and the resiliency of the Los Angeles Clippers despite the presence of their two stars in Paul George and Kawhi Leonard being absent. Another surprise this year that is not getting as much attention however is the sudden rise and resurgence of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the league. The last time the Cavaliers saw the playoffs was 2018, when Lebron James willed the Cavs by himself through the rigorous Eastern Conference while having what I feel was not only his greatest season of all time, but achieving his greatest accomplishment of all time when he brought the Cleveland Cavaliers to the 2018 NBA Finals. The Cavaliers this season currently sit in the sixth spot of the Eastern Conference, but that can primarily be attributed with the loss of Jarrett Allen due to a fractured finger a couple weeks back in the midst of the team’s win against the Raptors. Even though this squad is a game away from being in the Play-In tournament, this team has shown promise throughout the season, with dominant wins over the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Denver Nuggets just to name a few. With the playoffs coming up, I decided that today I am going to weigh the multiple factors around this team and try to answer the question on whether or not this team has a chance of making it back to the place they were in 2018.

Jarrett Allen

It is no secret that Cleveland’s success this year can be accredited mainly to their presence in the paint. With the Cavs having Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Kevin Love, and Lauri Markkanen, their lineup of four bigs and one guard in Garland has been a riddle many teams have failed to crack. It is also no secret that Cleveland’s best big ,at least until Mobley blooms as a player a bit more, is Jarrett Allen. Before his untimely injury, Allen averaged 16.8 points per game along with 10.8 rebounds per game and 1.6 assists per game. His true presence I found when watching Cavaliers games however was his ability to guard the paint. When the Cleveland Cavaliers played the Milwaukee Bucks on January 26th of this year (Long Live Kobe), Allen and Mobley had Giannis in Jail in the paint. Giannis’s normal routine of dominating most bigs in the league with his paint heavy game came to a screeching halt during that game. He still finished with 26, but he also finished with 7 turnovers with him even mentioning post game how surprised he was at the pressure the Cavaliers applied to them all game. Jarrett Allen was a big reason that Giannis performed the way he did. This wasn’t the only game Allen has shown a huge guarantee for the future. Glimpses of him being a dominant big in the future have shown in matchups against elite talent such as Nikola Jokic, Deandre Ayton, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Jarrett Allen this season has been an integral part of the Cavs success. Without Allen healthy, I will openly admit that I cannot see Cleveland making a deep run into the playoffs. I’m not saying that it is impossible without him, but his size, athleticism, and confidence in his own abilities made and continues to make him such a key part of this team. If Allen is Healthy however, this Cavs team as constructed could potentially shake up the race in Eastern Conference in a major way.

Standings

Something that could potentially dictate how far Cleveland gets is the standings in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers standing in the Eastern Conference as I type this is the 7th seed, meaning they hold the first available slot in the Play-In Tournament. Record wise they are one loss behind the Toronto Raptors, and looking at their respective schedules, the Raptors have a slightly easier schedule. While both teams play dangerous Eastern Conference teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks, but the Cleveland Cavaliers also have to play the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, and have to play the always game Dallas Mavericks. While I do think Cleveland, if playing 100% even without Allen, has a chance to beat all the teams I just named, it is more than likely that the Cavs will maintain their 7th seed in the Eastern Conference. We also need to keep in mind the Brooklyn Nets’s schedule, but my prediction for the Cavs still stands. Seeing that the Cavs will have to play the Brooklyn Nets in the Play-In more than likely without Allen, I see them dropping that game, but I do however see them beating either the Charlotte Hornets or the Atlanta Hawks. This is where things get interesting for Cleveland. The race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference is a deadlock between the 76ers, Celtics, Bucks, and Heat. These next two weeks could very well determine whether the Cleveland Cavaliers sink or swim in the playoffs. With Boston at the number one seed currently, the Cavs could very well play the Celtics in the first round. With the way the Celtics are playing, I unfortunately see Cleveland getting eliminated quickly in five games. Without Allen, Cleveland just does not have the size to overpower the Celtics, and they do not have the offensive firepower to contend with the dynamic duo in Tatum and Brown, along with Payton Pritchard, Marcus Smart, Grant and Robert Williams, and the coaching of Ime Udoka. If they play the Miami Heat however, I see the Cavaliers being able to tire Bam Adebayo (especially if they have Allen) in the paint by crowding him in the paint. The Cavaliers do not necessarily have the fire-power to stop the Heat, but the grit and youth of this young team can cause a hellacious challenge to the Miami Heat, and if they play smart they can get the Heat out in six. I can understand how that is a very controversial take, but we would all be lying to ourselves if we said the Heat looked like a top team in the east as of now. The 76ers are possibly the worst matchup the Cavaliers can face due to the Harden and Embiid duo, but if Cleveland gets Allen back before the playoffs, they could possibly run that same game plan of throwing multiple bigs and the center, and banking on the rest of the Cavaliers doing their part. Harden also is not looking that good, and I have a slight feeling he may severely underperform this coming playoffs. I also would say I do not see the Cleveland Cavaliers beating the Milwaukee Bucks 4 games out of 7 in the playoffs once Milwaukee gets rolling, but that matchup would still be preferred in my opinion than the 76ers. Time will tell who Cleveland’s dancing partner will be in the first round of the playoffs, if they make it to the first round that is.

Composure

The thing more important than Jarrett Allen and the standings for Cleveland is the team’s composure. Composure or lack thereof will make or break this Cleveland Cavaliers team when they are in the playoffs. I understand that that team itself is very young, with it having a median age of 26.4 years old, but they also have experienced, championship winning vets like Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo to balance out the youth. With that said, a glaring issue I have seen with this team is their lack of composure. In close games such as the game vs the 76ers a couple weeks back, the Cavaliers made costly turnovers and defense plays in the clutch that cost them a game that would have sent a big message to the east. The sending a message part I do not care about is much, but what worries me is the pattern this team has of either rushing too much in the clutch or blowing leads too easily. Even in the home game against the Toronto Raptors a few weeks back, they nearly blew a double digit lead in the 3rd quarter twice. They would go on to win this game, but other teams much better than the Raptors will not be as forgiving when it comes to blown leads. In order to make a deep playoff run, this team needs to be able to make smart decisions for the full 48 minutes of the game, as well as learning how to not let the pressure in big time moments get to them. It will be a hard task considering all they will be up against, but it is certainly doable for this team.

Collin Sexton

Now, I spoke about the loss of Jarrett Allen hurting the Cavaliers earlier in this entry, but something many people forget due to his absence is that Collin Sexton is on this Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team. It is a longs hot that he comes back any time before next season, but say on the off chance, the Cavs make a deep playoff run (Eastern Conference Finals), and then they add Collin Sexton to the mix. Depending on who is left, the Cleveland Cavaliers arguably have the best backcourt duo in the Eastern Conference. We must remember that last season the duo of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton, dubbed Sexland, gave the big three nets one of their only three losses they were dealt when playing together. This is a wild hypothetical to some, but Sexton has been shown to be returning to playing form in multiple workout videos, and I would not completely rule out a Collin Sexton return this season if the Cavaliers make it deep enough in the East.

Final Thoughts

All in all, I feel this Cleveland Cavaliers team is going to be a team that will be relevant in the stacked Eastern Conference for years to come. This season though, it comes down to whether or not they have one of their two stars in Allen, where they fall in the standings, and if they can maintain their composure in crucial moments in tight games. The Collin Sexton return would boost this team’s stock majorly, but they have found much success on their own this year against top teams without him. Personally, I would like to see this team do big things this year and shock the world. Only in the comings weeks will we truly see how far this team will get in this year’s NBA playoff picture.