The play in It is a double-edged sword. It helps the teams that have played worse to have an opportunity, expands the number of fighters in the ring and avoids, in a way, that tanking that certain franchises always subscribe to. But it also harms, and sometimes happens, teams that have had a fantastic year but end up missing out on the playoffs They deserve more than others. That is what has happened to the Cavaliers, one of the sensations of the season that has said goodbye to the final phase. Some playoffs that have never been accessed in the entire 21st century without LeBron James and his long and unfathomable shadow. An award that they have not been able to win even in the most fantastic of seasons, one in which they have been consistently among the top spots in the Eastern Conference but from which they have gradually sunk until saying goodbye in the most bitter way possible.
The Cavs have posted a 44-38 record, the best record since LeBron was out of their ranks. In fact, it is their best season since 1997-98, when they reached 47 wins and the first round of the playoffs with Mike Fratello as coach and Wesley Person as one of his greatest references on the track. In the last three years without the King, the Cavs had stayed at 19, 19 and 22 wins. They’ve doubled that number this year (with 82 games instead of 72, mind you), have been one of the most fun teams to watch and have even challenged home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs for several weeks. But the injuries (Ricky Rubio’s was one of them) have depleted a young and innocent group too much. that he could not bear any more excesses. Something totally justifiable, of course.
JR Bickerstaff’s team (which, in spite of everything, comes out stronger this season) has fought both games of the play in and has lost them both. The other day against the almighty Nets and today against some rising Hawks that are, and it shows, an ideal team for this type of confrontation. They led by 11 in a fantastic first quarter (35-25), their maximum advantage was 14 points, they came out emboldened by their fans and they had an enormous emotional connection with the moment in which they found themselves. But they have been sinking gradually, like a car that runs out of gas, a cell phone without a battery. They have been running out of strength; Thus, in addition, its partials summarize it: 36, 25, 23 and 17 points scored per quarter, one more example of how it was becoming more and more difficult for them to scratch something from their rivalwhich has simply waited for a team whose season has been long to sink and who arrived with nothing to lose, but with the pressure of failing in a once unattainable opportunity.
Interestingly, Trae has been growing as the forces of the local team came to nothing: 6 points in the first quarter and 0 in the second to explode in the second half, with 16 goals in each of the two corresponding periods. The great base has been the MVP of the match without any doubt and has compensated for the bad game in the shot he had against the Hornets, in a game in which his team didn’t need him too much either. In total, 38 points with 13 of 15 in field goals and 4 of 11 in triples, in addition to 8 of 9 in free throws. Nate McMillan has not speculated and has kept his star on the court for 40 minutes, who has also distributed 9 assists. It was not the time to play with fire in a tight match: the Hawks won only 3 (92-95) with 5 minutes to go and 3:50 (94-97) and only 1 point with less than a minute and a half (99-100). Of course, the locals did not return to specify in attack, they only scored one more field goal (Lauri Markkanen, with the game already sentenced) and the Hawks saved their position.
In addition to Trae, another 4 Hawks players reached double figures, with a special mention for Bogdan Bogdanovic who was very confident in his shot and stayed at 19 in the less than 30 minutes he played. Clint Capela only played 13 minutes after a very ugly blow to the knee with Evan Mobley after a foul that Capela himself had committed and is awaiting evidence, but with a dangerous look. And the Hawks mitigated that loss with constant help to a Jarret Allen who forced to play (11 points, but less vertical power than before his injury). In addition, 26 points and 8 rebounds from Markkanen, 18+8+5 from Evan Mobley, 16 from Caris LeVert, 21, with 9 assists from Darius Garland… and that’s it. Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo were a mess off the bench, Isaac Okoro barely scored 6 points and Bickerstaff’s short rotation did not have any positive results. The Cavs’ dream is over. They stayed very close, but left without a prize. And the conclusions of the season do not have to be negative for them. Because there is a future in the franchise. That’s for sure.