Mitchell carries Cleveland to Game Seven win!

      Donovan Mitchell may not be shooting well from the outside and you can tell that his ailing left knee is sheer misery to play through but no one can doubt Mitchell's desire or will to win as for the second game in a row, Mitchell placed the Cleveland Cavaliers on his back and like his drives to the hoop with defenders all over him, carried them across the line to a 106-94 win over the Orlando Magic in game seven of their Eastern Conference Quarter-Final.

The win gave the Cavaliers a four-to-three series victory, the franchise's first in thirty years that lacked LeBron James on the roster.

Mitchell finished with thirty-nine points to lead Cleveland to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, where they will meet the top-seeded Boston Celtics with game one on Tuesday in Boston.

Swashbucklings

1) Donovan Mitchell's 89 combined points in games six and seven is the second-highest in NBA history behind only Allen Iverson's ninety points in games six and seven in 2001.

2) Cleveland trailed by ten at halftime and by as many as eighteen points in the first half.

According to the NBA, Cleveland's comeback is the largest in a game seven since the league started keeping play-by-play charts in the 1997-98 season.

3) Donovan Mitchell's shooting wasn't tremendous (11 of 27) but what Mitchell did do was bull to the basket and force Orlando to foul him.

Mitchell went to the free throw line seventeen times and drained fifteen of the freebies.

It's the sign of a maturing player and leader when he realizes his shooting is off and moves to the next tactic to keep his team in the game.

4) Cleveland finally received some help from the reserves as Caris LeVert woke up to score fifteen points and long-ranger bomber Sam Merrill hit two three-pointers among his eight points in eleven minutes.

Cleveland will need even more bench help against Boston.

5) Evan Mobley finished with eleven points and sixteen rebounds in forty-one minutes of play on a gimpy ankle.

With the absence of Jarrett Allen, Mobley is forced into a more traditional big man's game and it doesn't fit his game nearly as much as it does Allen but he managed to give Cleveland what they needed on the interior.

6) Paolo Banchero almost matched Donovan Mitchell as Banchero finished with thirty-eight points.

Banchero hit only ten of twenty-eight shots but like Mitchell, Banchero pushed the ball to the basket and drew fouls as Banchero shot eighteen free throws.

7) Franz Wagner was full of vinegar in game five in Cleveland, taunting the fans and acting like a wrestling heel.

When the Magic needed it most, Wagner came up empty as he finished with eight points on one for fifteen shooting.

8) I really don't like that the NBA doesn't re-seed at the end of the first round as the NHL does.

I hate giving Gary Bettman's bunch credit but re-seeding does benefit the top seed.

For example, sixth-seeded Indiana upset third-seeded Milwaukee in the first round, and yet the Pacers will play the second-seeded New York Knicks (winners over Philadelphia) rather than the top-seeded Celtics (winners over Miami).

So the second seed receives an easier opponent (by record) than the first seed under the current bracket system and while I've never been a Boston fan, it's not fair to them after finishing with the conference's top record.

Mitchell's explosion not enough in Game Six

      Donovan Mitchell played exactly as you hope a superstar would in game six of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals and put the team on his back to attempt to carry them forward.

It wasn't enough as Mitchell received no support other than Darius Garland and the Cavaliers lost to the Orlando Magic 103-96 in Orlando.

Mitchell finished with fifty points and Garland added twenty-one with everyone else offering next to nothing.

Game seven will determine which team advances to meet the New York Knicks and will take place in Cleveland on Sunday afternoon at one o'clock.

Swashbucklings

1)  Donovan Mitchell gave the Cavaliers exactly what a team expects from a superstar with his fifty-point evening and keeping the Cavaliers in a game that without Mitchell, they would have had no chance of competing.

The fifty-point evening ranks as the second-highest for the Cavaliers in their postseason history.

2) Mitchell left the game briefly in the quarter and you could clearly see that Mitchell is favoring his left knee which has bothered him for much of the season.

One cannot question Donovan Mitchell's heart considering the circumstances under which he is playing but it's not unfair to wonder if Mitchell's knee will be able to keep him in top form for Sunday's game seven.

3) Mitchell and Darius Garland shot often (fifty-three attempts between them) but they had to without any help from the remainder of the lineup as only Max Strus hit double-figures in scoring with a measly ten.

4) Jarrett Allen missed his second straight game with a rib injury and Evan Mobley turned his ankle in the second quarter, which limited his effectiveness (three points, seven rebounds), although he toughed it out for thirty-four minutes.

Cleveland's interior game was non-existent and consisted of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland taking the ball to the hoop.

5) Cleveland is receiving nothing from their bench as J.B. Bickerstaff continues to shuffle in a desperate effort to have any help at all.

Georges Niang hit only one of five shots in eleven minutes, Caris LeVert finished with one point and missed his only attempt, and Isaac Okoro finished with only four points in twenty-four minutes.

All of those players are being paid sizable amounts and aren't producing.

6) The Cavaliers tried to capitalize on the strong game-five outing by Marcus Morris by giving the veteran the start in game six.

Morris scored only two points on one for seven shooting in twenty-seven minutes of playing time although he did grab seven rebounds.

7) Considering the lack of help that Donovan Mitchell received and if the Cavaliers happen to lose game seven, I might think the Cavaliers may have to show Mitchell that they are willing to make changes that could include head coach or trades.

Cleveland's draft material is lacking since they had to trade three first-rounders to land Mitchell, and it might be difficult to land significant improvements to the roster.

A win would solve a lot as the Cavaliers winning a series would be a step forward and would help sell Mitchell that the team is moving forward.

A defeat could be more than just the end of the season.

It could be far more impactful than only that. 

Mobley rejects Magic, Cavaliers win Game Five

      Evan Mobley blocked the driving shot of Orlando's Franz Wagner with six seconds to go to allow the Cleveland Cavaliers to stagger away with a 104-103 victory in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals and a 3-2 lead in the series.

Mobley's block and two ensuing Donovan Mitchell free throws salted the game away although Pablo Banchero nailed a three-pointer to cut the final margin to one point.

Mitchell led Cleveland with twenty-eight points, Darius Garland added twenty-three, and Evan Mobley finished with fourteen points and thirteen rebounds.

Game six will be in Orlando on Friday night.

A Cleveland win ends the series, while an Orlando win extends the series to game seven, which would be on Sunday in Cleveland,

Swashbucklings

1) The Cavaliers announced before the game that Jarrett Allen would miss the game with bruised ribs, which cost them their big man inside and allowed Orlando to take the ball to the hoop without Cleveland's best rim protector.

2) Evan Mobley did a fine job in Allen's place and the game-saving block was such a brilliant play on Mobley's part.

Mobley blocked Franz Wagner's shot with his left hand rather than with his stronger right hand because if Mobley had reached across to attempt the block with that hand, he surely would have fouled Wagner.

3) Donovan Mitchell scored fourteen points in the fourth quarter, nine of those from the free throw line,.

Mitchell is clearly bothered by a nagging left knee problem and it's affecting his play as he shot nine of twenty-three from the floor with only one basket from three-point lane.

4) Give Mitchell credit for clutch play as he connected on nine of ten from the free throw line and the two key freebies after Mobley's block were important to lock up the game, even more so when Paolo Banchero hit a three-pointer at the end of the game.

Had Mitchell made only one of the two shots, the Banchero three-pointer would have tied the game.

5) Max Strus played his best game of the series, finishing with sixteen points and hitting four three-pointers.

6) Darius Garland also played his best game of the series as he scored twenty-three points, many of them in the first half.

If Cleveland has a chance of closing this series in six games, it will be from a major contribution from Garland.

7) Paolo Banchero finished the night as the game's leading scorer with thirty-nine points, finishing fourteen of twenty-four shooting, and the former top overall pick in 2022 was clearly the best player on the floor.

Banchero is a bit more of an outside shooter but his game is what I'm sure Cleveland hopes to see from Evan Mobley as Mobley progresses. 

Cavaliers go cold in Game Four defeat

    The Cleveland Cavaliers had to feel good about their nine-point halftime lead in game four of their Eastern Conference Quarter-Final series against the Orlando Magic.

That was as good as they would feel as the Cavaliers were outscored in the third quarter by Orlando's Franz Wagner alone (12-10) and by his team (37-10) as Orlando easily defeated Cleveland 112-89 to tie the series at two games per team.

Jarrett Allen led Cleveland with twenty-one points.

Game five will be in Cleveland on Tuesday night.

Swashbucklings

1) I'm not a member of the fire J.B. Bickerstaff club as so many have been in the last three seasons but I have to say this, if the Cavaliers lose this series, it's time for Bickerstaff to go.

Cleveland had legitimate excuses for last year's loss to the Knicks.

Those reasons do not exist for this series.

2) Donovan Mitchell scored eighteen points in the first half and zero in the second half.

ZERO.

I don't care about the circumstances (Mitchell only received four shots), your best player cannot. I repeat- cannot play an entire quarter and finish scoreless.

3) The Cavaliers scored with 5:26 remaining in the third quarter and would not score again until the 10:40 mark in the fourth.

Seven minutes without a point in a playoff game.

4) Only fifteen points from the Cavaliers non-starters and none higher than Caris LeVert's five.

One would think in a blowout, someone would have accumulated some points in garbage time.

5) Cleveland's forty-seven percent shooting is respectable but they were only four of seventeen from three-point range.

The upgrades that were supposed to bring improved outside shooting for this time of the season have not come through thus far.

6) Orlando outrebounded Cleveland 43-29 but the crazy number for the Cavaliers?
TWO offensive rebounds.

I'd think more than two would fall into your hands without moving!

7) Finally, I'm not ready to panic.

Yet.

The home team has won each game by big margins and now that this is a best-of-three series, Cleveland still hosts two of those three.

I would be mildly disappointed to win the series in seven games but not nearly as disappointed as the organization would be by losing the series because if that happens, there will be many changes on the horizon- for personnel on and off the court.

Cavaliers confounded by Magic in Game Three loss

  I've thought from the beginning that the Cleveland Cavaliers would win their series against the Orlando Magic in five or six games.

I also thought if there was one game that Orlando would almost certainly win it would be game three, with a pumped-up Magic squad grabbing their return to Orlando and not letting the game go behind an excited crowd.

 I did not foresee Orlando leading by thirty-five points at the end of three quarters and handing Cleveland a 121-83 defeat that was the largest in Cavaliers history in the postseason.

Only three Cavaliers finished in double-figures in scoring with Jarrett Allen leading with fifteen points in the setback. Hopefully, the loss is only an aberration for the Cavaliers before game four on Saturday afternoon in Orlando.

I'm not going too in-depth for this loss because, after halftime, I was flipping back and forth between the game and the NFL Draft, and as Orlando lengthened the lead, I watched less and less but I will say this- Cleveland lost some of the luster that they gained at home in the first two games.

Orlando was the more physical team adding Wendell Carter to their starting lineup, outrebounding Cleveland by nineteen, and sending Jalen Suggs to guard Donovan Mitchell to hound the Cavaliers' alpha dog.

Cleveland signed Max Strus and Georges Niang in the off-season to increase their shooting (especially from three-point land) and have helped next to nil as the pair are a combined three for twenty-four in the series.

I am betting that this will be written off as a bad night and that may be the case but the Cavaliers will have much to prove Saturday in game four- both in how they play and the attitude that they bring to the arena.

Cavaliers Bedevil Magic in First Two Games

   The Cleveland Cavaliers struggled to the finish of the NBA regular season but have looked very sharp in winning their first two games at home in the Eastern Conference first-round matchup against the fifth-seeded Orlando Magic.

I missed game one due to my road trip (I'll be writing on that sometime next week), in which Cleveland won 97-83 behind thirty Donovan Mitchell points but I did watch Monday's 96-86 triumph to give Cleveland two games to nil advantage.

Cleveland dominated the first quarter in building a twelve-point lead and thereafter all they had to do was keep Orlando even the remainder of the way to post the win.

Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with twenty-three points with Jarrett Allen contributing sixteen points and twenty rebounds in the victory.

Cleveland will travel to Orlando for games three and four on Thursday and Saturday nights.

Swashbucklings

1) The Cavaliers were favored in this series because the Magic are in the situation that Cleveland was in last season.

It was Cleveland who other than Donovan Mitchell needed the playoff experience from their young stars last season in their five-game loss to the Knicks, and Orlando requires the same "been there" in this series.

2) Part of learning about postseason basketball is learning how the physical play is turned up in the postseason.

Cleveland was bullied by New York last season and in the first two games, the Cavaliers are pushing around the Magic.

Can Cleveland do that if they move forward? Time will tell.

3) It's been defense-dominating for Cleveland as they held Orlando to 32 percent shooting in game one and 36 in the second game.

Orlando's young players haven't had the open shots or easy transition hoops that you can find in the regular season and the Cleveland defense has controlled this series in the two games.

4) Jarrett Allen received plenty of criticism in last season's playoffs for soft play but in the first two games against Orlando, he's combined for thirty-eight rebounds and has been the dominant frontcourt player in the series.

5) Orlando is one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the league and Cleveland has held them to only seventeen of seventy-two from outside the arc.

Cleveland isn't burning the nets from the outside but they aren't that awful!

Cavaliers find no Magic in the Kingdom

   On a day that our country won't forget, there was a basketball game in Orlando.

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost their second straight game in Orlando to the hometown Magic, this time by a score of 105-94.

Collin Sexton led Cleveland with 21 points and Andre Drummond scored 19 points with 15 rebounds,

Cleveland gets no breaks on the schedule as they are back at it on Thursday in Memphis against the Grizzlies.

Swashbucklings

1)  I'm going to admit something.

I didn't watch this game as closely as I normally do because of the events in Washington. 

I was watching, but I didn't take my normal amount of notes and I was paying just as much attention to a more important event.

2) The Cavaliers got off to a hot start unlike their first game in Orlando when the Magic scored the first ten points of the game.

This time, Cleveland held Orlando to 15 points in the first quarter, but the lack of depth made this unable to be sustained.

3) Orlando lost point guard Markelle Fultz for the season when Fultz tore his ACL when Isaac Okoro cut off Fultz's path to the basket and Fultz's knee buckled and gave way without touching Okoro.

Sorry to see as Fultz had begun to turn his career around with the Magic and was averaging fourteen points and six assists this season.

4) The Cavaliers did become a bit healthier with the return of Isaac Okoro to the lineup.

Okoro scored ten points in twenty-eight minutes of action and hit four of his five attempts from the floor.

5) Part of the health problems for J.B. Bickerstaff is having to find more minutes for players that have moved up the bench with players ahead of them being unable to play.

The beneficiary against Orlando was rookie power forward Lamar Stevens, who scored ten points and grabbed six rebounds in a season-high twenty-one minutes of play.

Earlier in the season, the player that was playing more off the bench was Dean Wade, so it'll be interesting to see if Stevens has moved ahead of Wade in Bickerstaff's eyes as a situational four off the pine.

6) Collin Sexton scored 21 points to keep his twenty-plus point streak alive but tweaked an ankle in the loss.

Sexton says he can play through it, but that's something to watch against Memphis with Sexton being a player that relies on being explosive to the basket with penetration. 

7) Cedi Osman didn't have his shot falling in this one as Osman finished with only four points and hit only one of his twelve shot attempts.

Osman continued his streak play after scoring 18 points in the previous loss to Orlando.