Playoff Live Thread: Knicks @ Cavs, ECF Game 3

Good evening CtB!

The Cavs welcome the New York Knicks to the banks of the Cuyahoga River with a slim chance for the good guys to make it a competitive series. In all probability the series is already over, with conference finalists having a 2-0 advantage winning the series over 90% of the time. The majority of media personalities and fans alike never really gave the Cavs a chance in this series, and the Game 1 collapse by Cleveland only re-affirmed those prejudices. For many, that game was emblematic of the Cavs’ lack of toughness, physical and mental, that has dogged this team over the past few years. Even though more of the pressure should be on the Knicks to make it to the Finals, the Cavs are the ones playing as though more pressure is upon them. Everything is stacked against the Cavs and the Knicks look like an unbeatable juggernaut who’ll waltz through the East. So naturally, either the Cavs have the Knicks right where they want them… or maybe having zero competitive toughness is simply part of the Cavs’ brand.

Basketball-wise, the stories that have emerged from this Cavs’ run is the disappearing act of Donovan Mitchell (and to a lesser extent, but still so James Harden) and the buffoonery of Coach Kenny Atkinson. For whatever the reason, Mitchell’s playmaking has completely disappeared in this playoff run, with an assist ratio at a pathetic 10.8 according to nba.com. This has resulted in the freezing out of our two best offensive rim attackers, Tower City. The only real question is how much of the blame is on Mitchell and/or how much of the blame should Kenny Atkinson receive for his idiotic rotations. A classic “chicken or the egg” conundrum.

With Kenny Atkinson, his over-reliance on Dennis Schröder and Max Strus have cost the Cavs, particularly Mitchell and Evan Mobley, any chance to be successful on the court. Ironically, Schröder has been a massive positive for James Harden (+10.9 net rating in 123 playoff minutes), yet the Umlaut gets far more minutes with Mitchell and they are a disaster together: -12.4 net rating in 178 playoff minutes. It’s obvious to see that Schröder’s lack of shooting and ball dominance completely nuke any chance Mitchell and Mobley have to be effective on offense. With Strus, he and Mitchell are sporting a -11.6 net rating in 281 playoff minutes and a -11.5 in 276 playoff minutes with Mobley. With a coach who can’t make basic adjustments and ignores easily interpretable data, it’s no wonder the Cavs look like a joke on the court.

The question that comes to mind about Strus’ lack of success is whether or not playing four guard lineups is negatively impacting his ability to defend, which is where Strus is getting killed in the playoffs. On the other hand, maybe ifJaylon Tyson, with whom the Cavs have been clearly a superior performing playoff team, can get unglued off the bench we wouldn’t have to deal with the Umlaut/Strus atrocities. At this point, even Keon Ellis would represent an improvement over Max Strus from a team performance perspective these playoffs. Can Kenny Atkinson make any adjustment or sink like the Bismarck? Stay tuned…

Tip off is scheduled for 8:00PM Eastern time and will be nationally broadcasted on ABC, Go Cavs!