Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Cavaliers at Nets- Play-In Night.

  The Barclays Center in Brooklyn is the scene for the return of the Cleveland Cavaliers to postseason play, even if the play-in series is technically not postseason play by the official NBA guidelines.

The Cavaliers are heavy underdogs to win the "7-8" game against the Brooklyn Nets for a few reasons that range from little playoff experience except for Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo, the continued absence of Jarrett Allen in the middle, the injury problems, and the biggest- Cleveland doesn't have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on their side.

In addition, despite both teams finishing with a 44-38 record, it is the Nets that are playing their best basketball and the Cavaliers are staggering down the stretch like a two-year-old colt that is running their first race at a mile.

The absence of Jarrett Allen forces Evan Mobley to battle down low against former Cavalier Andre Drummond, rather than use his unique physical dimensions to defend Kevin Durant and give Durant a different look defensively than he is used to seeing.

While Kyrie Irving brings his own skills, Cleveland is able to counter with Darius Garland at the point and the issues with guarding Durant in the void created by the unavailability of Jarrett Allen appeared in the Cavaliers' loss in Brooklyn last week where Cleveland held a five-point lead after three quarters, only to see Durant take command of the game and the Nets ran away to an eleven point win.

Cleveland should be hosting this game had they not played an awful game in losing to an Orlando team headed to the lottery and I'm not sure even home court would have been enough to have lifted the Cavaliers past a Brooklyn team that is better than their record.

Instead, Cleveland travels to Brooklyn and assuming they lose as an eight-point underdog will host the winner of the Hawks-Hornets game on Friday night that will decide the final team to reach the playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

You would have to be a super homer to pick the Cavaliers in this one but if it happens this is how.

The Cavaliers don't stop Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving but they don't allow them to score seventy to eight points between the two of them, they do a better job on the boards than in last week's game, and someone steps up with a game well beyond their usual output such as Lauri Markkannen or Kevin Love and then Cleveland could surprise the Nets.

Still, the Cavaliers need to play well, even with a loss.

There is something to be said for momentum Friday for a home game after a good effort on the road against a strong team and conversely, a blowout loss could place the brakes on momentum going into a game against the winner of the other game.

I'm interested to see what happens in Brooklyn.

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