The Cavaliers historic season came to a heartbreaking end with a 114-105 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series.
Ideastream Public Media's sports commentator Terry Pluto expected that it would be a challenging matchup.
“One of the things that most of us forgot about Indiana was that a year ago, Indiana went to the Eastern Conference finals, which means they were in the NBA's final four,” Pluto said. “Since January 1, they had a 34-14 record to end the regular season and now after they've knocked off the Cavs, they've won eight of 10 in the playoffs. That’s about as good as any NBA team can play.”
Injuries were a concern for the top-seeded Cavs, who were without Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and De'Andre Hunter in Game 2.
“Would they have won a couple more games had everybody been fully healthy and that? I think so," Pluto said. "Would they've won the series looking at it? I doubt it."
Pluto applauded coach Kenny Atkinson’s postgame press conference.
“He just said, in effect, that Indiana was at a different place physically and mentally than the Cavs," Pluto said. "Indiana, first of all, has a unique style. They're fast, but they move the ball even quicker, and the Cavs seemed to be chasing them."
There were big expectations for the Cavs after going 64-18 in the regular season — which included three winning streaks of 12 games or more. Kenny Atkinson was named Coach of the Year and Evan Mobley the Defensive Player of the Year.
“Maybe the year was too easy for them,” Pluto said. "And by that, I (mean) they opened the season by winning 15 games. They had no big losing streak during the season. Then when they went to the playoffs, they got a very easy matchup in the first round with Miami. Miami was probably the worst team to make the postseason. I think they weren't ready to meet what Kenny Atkinson kept calling the force of Indiana.”
Pluto described where the mental aspect of the series came into play.
“The Cavs played three home games against Indiana; they lost them all on their own court," Pluto said. "Two of those home games, they had leads of 19 and 21 points. And that is what I think where Indiana was tough enough not to fold when they got down by that much on the road. And the Cavs were not tough enough, frankly, to put the game away when they were at home by 19 and 21 points.”
After last season’s Eastern Conference Semifinals loss to the eventual NBA champion Boston, the Cavs fired J.B. Bickerstaff and hired Atkinson as coach. Now, Pluto said, the team must take a look at the roster.
“There's something missing," Pluto said. "As you watch some of those games, you kind of were asking…where were the real Cavs in this? You know, the team that moved the ball, the team that led the league in scoring. They looked clunky, they looked out of sorts against real good pressure defense."
Pluto singles out guard Darius Garland.
“Garland was dealing with a toe injury," Pluto said. "Last year, Garland had other injuries around the playoffs and in the season. Is that part of the problem? That he doesn't have the durability to stay healthy for these things? That would be the question I would be asking.”
Donovan Mitchell managed to score 39 points in Game 5 despite a sprained left ankle.
“I mean, a year ago, we were talking about, would Donovan Mitchell sign a contract? Well, that question was answered last summer when Mitchell came back,” Pluto said. “He's a physically tough player. He averaged 35 points a game in the series against the Pacers, even though he wasn't anywhere close to a hundred percent. Mitchell's not the problem. Mitchell's part of the answer. Evan Moby is part of the answer, and I will also say that even Jarrett Allen, who kind of has some up and down games, he's part of the answer. But they've got to kind of fill in the rest of that roster around those guys.”
