Live Thread: Cavs vs Hornets
2024-04-14Happy fan appreciation day, Cavs fans. Cleveland wraps up the regular season this afternoon against Charlotte. The Cavs are sitting Mitchell, Garland, Merrill, Caris LeVert, and Dean Wade. No word on the status of Ty Jerome.
The best scenario is Pacers, Cavs, Magic, Knicks win today… The Cavs get the 3 seed vs the Pacers. For Charlotte, well, anyone who was ever good at basketball is not going to be playing today. Enjoy the Cavs playing a team trying to lose. Go Cavs.
LT up. Sorry guys.
Nate put up a new feed for this game.
OK Mobley I’m here for it
Ok Mobes. I like it.
For a glorious few moments, we had just the crowd without the announcers.
Lol yep. Just commented the same. I wish there was an option to watch it like that.
Espn feed has no commentary for me at the moment. Just hear the game noise. It’s fantastic
I jinxed it. Was great while it lasted.
God it was glorious before Burke came back in
I hope that the locked-in Cavs show up today.
Strus opens with a yes.
Man do I hate the ESPN crew
HOPE IT ISNT A NIGHTMARE SIMMO 👍
No Wade or Porter jr.
bummer
GO CAVS 🏀🦾💪
Go Cavs!
C’mon Cavs!
Enjoy the game all – hoping to wake up to a good result!!
Via Athletic:
No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. No. 5 Orlando Magic
Scout’s outlook: I’m going to pick Cleveland there. More experience. Orlando’s very young. … The Magic are very good defensively, but they’re going to struggle to score. Beyond Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, they’re not a very good offensive team, and when teams can focus more defensively on Banchero and Wagner, Orlando’s going to have trouble.
Cleveland’s had an up-and-down year. … But a lot of that was injuries. Darius Garland did not have a great year, but he broke his jaw and he lost a bunch of weight. Donovan Mitchell missed a bunch of games. But now they’re healthy, I believe. They won a key game against Indiana to clinch on Friday night. So, the arrow is pointing upward for them more recently. They have home court. I’m going to say six games. I can even see five. I’d be surprised if Orlando won that series. I just think they don’t have enough. They had a very nice year. They’re really good defensively. But you’ve got to be able to score. … They’re on the upswing, but they’re not ready to win a seven-game series.
Coach’s outlook: This is going to be a defensive battle. Two elite defenses in the league. I think there are going to be some moments and stretches where it’s going to be super low scoring, where you’ll look at halftime scores or scores midway through the third (quarter) and say, ‘No way!’ But I think it’s going to be an ultra-competitive series. They are two teams that play with a lot of size, a lot of physicality, a lot of aggressiveness on both sides of the basketball.
(Continues below)
A key with the young Orlando team is going to be, even though it’s their first rodeo, they’ll have Banchero’s presence; his paint touches and ability to get to the free-throw line will be crucial. Then, Mitchell’s presence for Cleveland: Can he be at that All-Star level? Obviously, they’re going to put a lot on him and Garland in the backcourt. Can they get that secondary guy to help them? I think it’s going to be a heck of a series, a fun series to watch. I’m going to go with the Cavaliers in seven games.
Executive’s outlook: At the end of the day, I think it’s Cavs. I trust their defense, I think, above everything else. Orlando is kind of like the newcomers to the party, and I think they’ll just be kind of happy being there. As much as you want to trust Orlando’s best guys, with Franz (Wagner) and Paolo (Banchero), it’s a getting-their-feet-wet kind of season. I mean, I would be more surprised if Orlando wins. So I think 4-2 Cavaliers.
The Mitchell factor looms large, as the 27-year-old guard is eligible for a four-year extension worth more than $200 million this summer. If he doesn’t sign it, though, there has been league-wide speculation for months now that the Cavs would have to seriously consider trading him. Mitchell is owed $35.4 million on his current contract for next season, and has a player option worth $37 million for the 2025-26 campaign.
That (Mitchell situation) is very real. Teams will definitely clear out a bunch of (assets) for him. We’ll see. But if they face Boston in the second round, they’ll probably lose. And yeah, that doesn’t bode well (for his future in Cleveland).
Scout’s pick: Cavaliers in six
Coach’s pick: Cavaliers in seven
Executive’s pick: Cavaliers in six
Unanimous pick: Cavaliers
This all reads as bang on.
It makes the last 6 or so weeks all the more damaging to the long-term future of this squad. For the Cavs to avoid the 2nd round loss, they needed to come into the playoffs with more health and experience. It will take a crazy reversal of form to win and thus keep Mitchell.
If / when a Mitchell trade happens, Koby needs to be merciless. It needs to be the opposite of the Irving trade.
TNT Picks – Cavs vs Magic
Shaq: Orlando
Kenny: Cleveland
Chuck: Orlando
Ernie: Cleveland
I’m glad the Heat won. They’ll cause problems for Boston.