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Episode 150: The Final Stretch
41 Plays2 months ago
Alex and Corey discuss the Cavs most recent string of games and then take a look at the remaining regular season schedule. We talk about possible Cavs first round opponents as the 7-10 seeded teams near the playoff play-in tournament. We also welcome Chuma Okeke to the Cavs.
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Transcript
Cavs' Playoff Potential: Excitement and Setbacks
00:00:15
Speaker
Hey, Cavs fans, welcome to the Cavs Pick and Roll podcast, the podcast for diehard fans by diehard fans. I'm Alex, and I'm here with Corey. What's up, Corey? Alex, I was so ready to jump on this episode and be celebrating the Cavs clinching the number one seed with a few games left to go. Man.
00:00:37
Speaker
man But we'll have to wait a little bit longer because unfortunately they ran into a red hat Sacramento Kings team tonight, Alex. Crazy. Red hot Sacramento team, red hot officiating.
00:00:51
Speaker
Yeah. That's your theory, huh? Red hot steaming pile of BS.
Officiating and Trades: Impact on Team Dynamics
00:00:59
Speaker
Man. but that but later Zach Levine lay up after the buzzer. I don't understand why they didn't review that, why they didn't take those points off.
00:01:08
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. It wasn't even all that close. No, it wasn't. um But yeah, I mean, home game Sunday, just four games left to go. I was ready to secure it, secure that number one seed and just let the next week go by. No worries. Nothing like that.
00:01:26
Speaker
I think the Cavs are still going to do it, Alex, but they're going wait a little bit longer. And yeah, Zach Levine, man. i was just, I don't have the numbers right in front of me, but it was either today or yesterday. it was over this weekend. I just saw a stat come up that since the the the Zach Levine trade from Chicago,
00:01:45
Speaker
to Sacramento. Like they showed the record of Chicago after trading him, which was above 500. And they showed the Kings record since they acquired Zach Levine below 500. And tonight he goes off for 37 points and drops, you know, seven threes on
Underrated Performances: Kings' Rising Stars
00:02:04
Speaker
you. Basically, i think he went 11 for 11 at one point, um you know, after he missed his first two before he missed another shot or whatever. So, man, he was, uh,
00:02:15
Speaker
He was the difference, in my opinion. He was really one of the big differences. I mean, most games, he's not going to have a game like that. I think that Kings team is a lot better than their their record portrays. I mean, you got Zach Levine, Sabonis, DeRozan, Valajunas is still there.
00:02:30
Speaker
Yeah, man, they got they got some great players.
Mismatches and Playoff Battles: Cavs vs. Kings
00:02:33
Speaker
Yeah, and DeRozan, too, you know, he's he's only like a 30% three-point shooter, at least as we were saying during the broadcast or whatever, and he had some really tough shots, too.
00:02:44
Speaker
And we were talking before we started recording. You know, i'm not going to totally fault him or anything like that, but Sam Merrill, Got a lot of bad matchups between DeRozan and Levine where you know he's given up some inches and they were just able to pull up over top of him and make a lot more shots than than what they typically would on a typical night.
00:03:05
Speaker
The Kings are playing for something though, as a lot of teams are right now. They're fighting for seeding too. And out there in the West, it's it's much more close than what it is over here in the East. Yeah. Um, you know, so they're jocking for positions. So they gave the calves, everything they had tonight.
00:03:20
Speaker
And, uh, we're probably going to see that here these last couple of games with, with the teams we have playing, you know, they're, they're playing for something. So the calves gotta be ready and, uh, find a way to win to, to, to lock up that number one seat here soon.
00:03:35
Speaker
Yeah.
Player Performance: Okoro vs. Merrill
00:03:36
Speaker
So I hear you bagging on my guys, Sam Merrill. yeah who who Who do you think Kenny should have given more minutes to in that case? i think a curro just lately over this stretch since the last time we recorded and now he's had some really great moments In games and in the first half, he was he was doing things.
00:03:56
Speaker
mean he mean he's He's all over the place. He's getting rebounds, putbacks, taking threes, just out there and energizing, you know energizing the crowd, energizing the team. And Akuro gives you a little bit more muscle little bit more height, a little bit more athleticism.
00:04:12
Speaker
and And again, i like Sam a lot, but he also wasn't really giving you anything on the offensive end either. You know what i mean? So he wasn't able to give you a lot on the defensive end. I think he had one nice block. I forget on who it was. Sam Merrill blocked somebody from behind.
00:04:26
Speaker
Um, but you know, he wasn't able to really get the three ball going and I would have put a curl back out there or even, um, Ty Jerome who yes, would have been given up inches as well. But Ty Jerome's a little bit more pesky of a defender and, uh,
00:04:41
Speaker
about Ty, though? It was nice seeing him back. He missed the last five games, Alex, before this one. Yeah, Ty
Impact of Ty Jerome's Return
00:04:46
Speaker
looked great. He had quite a number of ah offensive possessions where he pretty much bailed us out as the shot clock got close. And, that you know, Ty's always good for that.
00:04:56
Speaker
I would have kept riding Ty, to be honest with you. Yeah. um You know, they took him out, kind of brought the starters back in, brought Strews back in and stuff like that. But I was relieved when I saw, um you know, a post earlier in the morning that he was going to play today.
00:05:13
Speaker
I was like, man, Ty hasn't played and really haven't heard. You know, his his his injury status was upgraded a couple games ago to something that sounded a little bit more scary. And I was like, man, if he misses again, like what's going on? You know what i mean?
00:05:28
Speaker
So it was nice to have him back. And yeah, he put up what 20 points or so and in a little over 20 minutes, 22 minutes, something like that. He's just, he's a game changer when he's on on the floor and he's just really fun to watch.
00:05:40
Speaker
Both him and Hunter, man, they were just such great additions to this team. Yeah, it's a man. I mean, they could be starters somewhere else. It's it's a blessing that we have them coming off the bench. Either one could be fifth man of the year.
00:05:55
Speaker
Yeah, I was just thinking that both of them qualify for for six man of the year for sure. And that's going six man. Did I say fifth six man? You said five. Come come playoff time that that should pay dividends. Right.
00:06:08
Speaker
Yeah, i'm I'm with you, Hunter. Hunter, you know what surprises me the most? He's a much better three point shooter than what I was anticipating. He knocks a lot of them down, you know.
00:06:19
Speaker
um So in today's NBA, you're always going to take that, right? Another guy that can help stretch the floor out there. And yeah, between the two of them, that's 31 points off the bench right there.
00:06:30
Speaker
um You know, not a lot of teams around the NBA are going be able to match that production, you know, across their whole bench.
Okoro's Evolution: From Defense to Versatility
00:06:37
Speaker
Yeah, and that's kind of one of the things, you know, you talked about Okoro and how great he's been. And he's he's another guy that he's just been on from the three-point range yeah i mean he's he's always good to knock them down and you know remember i remember back when we first got a cora you know those first few seasons and he was our defensive specialist and that's pretty much all he was he had it almost seemed like zero offensive game and right last season and this season he's he's really stepped it up man he he can uh he can he's added quite a few bags of uh
00:07:10
Speaker
You know, tricks, shots to his skill set. He can hit that three. He's playing more aggressive. He gets to the hoop quite a bit. Yeah. And I see Kenny only gave him 18 minutes. He gave Okoro 18 minutes and Merrill 16 minutes.
00:07:26
Speaker
Okoro was plus 20 when he was in the game. so yeah why Why didn't Kenny ride Okoro a little more? don't know. would have rode Okoro a little bit more, especially when Sam you know was struggling. i don't even know how many shots he got up this game. But...
00:07:40
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, Sam can get red hot. We've all seen it. And when that happens, you ride Sam. But this was a game where you had two bigger you know players between DeRozan and Levine that were kind of you know taking advantage. And you needed you needed a bigger body out there, in my opinion, at that point.
00:08:00
Speaker
Hunter was actually minus 28. I don't know how much stock you put in these plus and minus numbers. Yeah. he was the He was the big deficit this game. Yeah.
Shooting Struggles: Garland and Mitchell's Off Night
00:08:10
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, another thing that really kind of hurt us this game besides Levine and DeRozan going off is is Garland wasn't able to get going at all this game.
00:08:22
Speaker
Garland and Mitchell couldn't hit a three to save their lives. yeah Garland one for seven, Mitchell one for six. But when's the last time you've seen a single-digit game out out of Garland? you know He finishes with nine points, 32 minutes, seven assists. So you know if he gets your standard 18 to 25 points, 23 points or whatever, it's a different ballgame as well. So woulda, coulda, shoulda.
00:08:48
Speaker
At the end of the day, the Cavs needed to do a better defensive job um you know on those two guys. Sabonis helped chipped in as well. You know, we don't get to see him, you know, too many times throughout the year.
00:09:00
Speaker
He's he's tough, man. He's an only player. And look at these guys. What's what's crazy is if you're looking at the box score, Alex, look at their minutes, how many minutes versus like the calves.
00:09:12
Speaker
One, two, three, four, five players, 40 minutes or more on the Kings to where our highest, you know, minute total was 33 minutes by Donovan Mitchell and and Evan Mobley.
00:09:27
Speaker
Right. So again, the the Kings, they're playing for something. They're playing for, you know, a little bit more, um, the position game than what the Cavs are. The Cavs are just trying to secure and lock up the number one seed.
00:09:38
Speaker
Yeah. And Kenny's been doing that all season with the Cavs, making sure that our starters only play, you know, 32 to 35 minutes a night, which has helped us keep, you know, we've been mostly pretty healthy knock on wood all season.
Strategic Minute Management: Kenny's Approach
00:09:54
Speaker
Yeah. And and I saw a stat thrown up during, during the game actually where the Cavs are, I think 28th, in the NBA of total minutes played by their starters, which is crazy to think about considering how successful the cows have been, the number of wins that they've had, the fact that they've had, you know, the East in a stranglehold all season long to do that. And to, to basically not even be in the top half of the league as far as starter minutes is, is really impressive. Yeah.
Injury Scare Averted: Mitchell's Close Call
00:10:29
Speaker
And he just said, you know, knock on wood, you know, we've been healthy and all that stuff. Ty Jerome just comes back. There was a little bit of a scare with Donovan Mitchell in this game, Alex. Yeah. A little bit. A little bit.
00:10:40
Speaker
He had a little bit of a, it looked like an ankle roll. um You know, he, he, he had a layup at one end and he kind of landed a little funny. yeah And then he was running back to the other end. And I can't remember it. Somebody gave a push. Was it DeRozan?
00:10:55
Speaker
think it, Or maybe it wasn't even a push. stepped on. I don't think it was a push. Or Ellis' heel. It was Ellis. Yeah. They were just, they were just, they were backed by half court. The ball's already up, you know, by the free throw line or whatever. They were kind of just trailing the play.
00:11:09
Speaker
And I don't know if Ellis like slowed down. Like, so like Mitchell would run into him or walk into him a little bit, but. you know they kind of Mitchell kind of stepped on the back of Ellis' foot. And then went tumbling over. and no one tumbling I just see a yellow foot go through the air in the bottom corner of the screen. It's like, what is Mitchell doing down there? it was Rolling down the court.
00:11:30
Speaker
with with With just four games left now, you know the worst thing that could happen is... You know, something like that, where an injury happens to a, to a major, major player um on the calves. So I'm glad he was able to come back in And what's crazy, Alex is, you know, the calves,
00:11:51
Speaker
The Kings started to pull away a little bit, and the end of the third quarter, I think they had, what, an 11- or 12-point lead. And the Cavs come out firing in the fourth quarter. Not firing, but they had three and ones in a row, three layups and a foul, and made their free throws in a row. And we're right back in the game. That's when Ty Jerome's
Close Loss: Cavs vs. Kings Recap
00:12:09
Speaker
in there doing his thing.
00:12:11
Speaker
ah Ty Jerome at one point made a shot for the Cavs to take the lead. i'm like, okay, here we go, right? We're going to find a way to... You know, break this game, open a little bit, take control of this game. Mitchell's back. There's no way Mitchell's going to lose this.
00:12:23
Speaker
I'm thinking these guys want to lock up this one seed and be done with it. Right. Kings just kept on hitting shots. ah Zach Levine just kept pulling up the Rosen, just pulling up, you know, and, uh, just too much for the Cavs.
00:12:38
Speaker
Ellis had a few threes that were kind back breakers every time we make a run. Yeah. Yeah. We just couldn't, uh, couldn't get it done. And then and the refs, the refs, uh, you know, some calls there and and Christie, ah Doug Christie, who took over Mike Brown after Mike Brown was fired, which I think we mentioned last time we recorded.
00:12:57
Speaker
Um, he had two coaches challenges in this game and he, he won both of them too. was surprised by one of them for sure. Yeah. Really? Yeah.
00:13:09
Speaker
So at the end of the day, i mean, Cavs just didn't have enough um to get it done. um You know, again, I thought Ty Jerome played really well. Outside of that, nobody else did anything super spectacular.
00:13:24
Speaker
Jared Allen, 17 points, Mobley, 16 points. um Rebounding wasn't as strong as what it usually is. And the three ball wasn't either for the Cavs this game. Also other factors, I thought.
00:13:37
Speaker
Missed some free throws too, Alex, as well. 11 for 19. Yeah. yeah Yeah, I mean, i you know, they've been struggling these past few games. And I think it's just the, ah to me, it's the three-point shooting. You know, they were red hot from three all season.
00:13:55
Speaker
And just this past month, it's been...
Are the Cavs Coasting to the Playoffs?
00:13:58
Speaker
pretty ugly do you think they're just ready to just be there just be at the playoff like is it at that point like like think about you know you work we work you got you got christmas break coming up you take the last two weeks off from the year it's it's you know december 10th you just you got you got five days to go and you're done for like you just want to be done you just want to be there Is that, you think something, you think that's potentially what's going on with the Cavs, kind of lack of focus or inconsistency lately, or have we kind of seen this for a little while now?
00:14:32
Speaker
I hope that's what it is. I hope they're just kind of in coast mode because, you know, they're ready for the off season. I think we all are. It's really just dragging. Not off season. Yeah. Yeah. We don't want to go home anytime soon.
00:14:45
Speaker
Yeah. I'm tired. It's late. Yeah. Yeah. First, first it was the fifth man. Then it was the off season. One more, one more. And you know, Yeah, I think we're all just ready to be in the playoffs right now. Like this regular season is just dragging on and on.
00:14:57
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. It's been fun though, man. I mean, the Cavs, it's interesting because like I said, there really hasn't been much drama. That West Coast trip that wasn't too long ago from the last time we recorded was unfortunately their worst stretch of basketball and the most dramatic thing that has really kind of happened this year was that stretch of bad basketball on the West Coast.
00:15:21
Speaker
So, you know, I think we're all at the point where we just want to see meaningful basketball games and the ones that actually mean something are our playoffs. And I'm looking forward to getting there as well. And, you know, talking about first round matchups and, you know, kind of everything that's on, you know, at stake for this Cavs team, you know, certain legacies, Donovan Mitchell's legacy, you know, he can definitely elevate his legacy.
00:15:46
Speaker
If the calves were able to go all the way, I mean, yeah you'd make a lot of people, you'd make a lot of names, household names, you know, on this calves roster. If the calves can go deep into the playoffs this year. So I'm hoping they're in coast mode as well, but at the same time,
00:16:03
Speaker
you know We have seen some issues for for a little while now. um you know They got to correct them, and and they got to correct them here very soon because in the playoffs, you you can't afford to make mistakes for for too long.
00:16:16
Speaker
so Right. I think they just they just haven't been playing as physical as they were earlier in the season. I don't know. They just haven't been moving the ball as much. They haven't been knocking down the three like they were.
00:16:29
Speaker
I'm hoping it's just coasting. But yeah, we won't know until the season starts. And I think they'll kick it up at another gear. I'm not too worried. Yeah, no, I'm not. I'm not worried at all either. See who they end up against in this first
Mobley's Standout Performance Against the Spurs
00:16:43
Speaker
round. And I know the Cavs have already released tickets.
00:16:47
Speaker
They're doing a presale for the first round. Yes. ticket So if you're interested in going to a game, you can already already get your seats. Yep. Yep. For sure. So let's let's move on to the next game.
00:17:00
Speaker
um Their last win, which was against the San Antonio Spurs and Alex in this game. They did come out firing early but from the three-point line. um This game, Evan Mobley came out the first quarter red hot, had three threes, um had had a dunk, had a block. had you know he was He was all over the place.
00:17:22
Speaker
forget what he finished the first quarter. um Had 19 points by the half. The Cavs chucked up 51 three-pointers this game, hit 22 them. Um, and everybody was hitting in that, in that first quarter, they really kind of jumped out on the Spurs early, put up 38 points in the, in the first half or first quarter.
00:17:43
Speaker
Um, but you know how it is, man. It's, it's an NBA game. they're They're, they're long games, Alex, and, teams are going to go on runs and what the Cavs ended up winning this game.
00:17:54
Speaker
um
00:17:57
Speaker
Not ah barely. Yeah, barely by ah by luck. By luck. Yeah. Yeah. They kind of got a little lucky with this one. But what what kind of jumped out at you? do you remember from this game? was couple days ago over the weekend here.
00:18:13
Speaker
The only thing I really remember about the game is that final second. I think it was. Wasn't it Harrison Barnes that laid it up with half a second left yeah for the the go ahead win?
00:18:25
Speaker
And he botched it yeah Yeah, that's that's pretty much what I remember most about It's like, oh, my gosh, the calves just completely dodged a bullet. Absolutely.
00:18:35
Speaker
Absolutely. um Man, ah with there was like three and a half minutes left and we were up like 10 or something like that. like, right it's it's done.
00:18:46
Speaker
Right. And, i you know, I started getting ready for bed or whatever and thinking, you know, it's done, whatever. And I got I come back down. I'm like, whoa, what the heck's going on here? You know, this game's kind of close. And yeah, the Cavs definitely dodged a bullet that game. But besides that, what stood out to me was Evan Mobley.
00:19:08
Speaker
um The Spurs had no answer for for Evan Mobley. Finished with 25 and 12 in 37 minutes. And, you know, granted, again, it's the Spurs. There's no there's no Wemby out there waiting for him.
00:19:24
Speaker
You know, there's no elite center over there. But i was like. I really hope this is the Evan we see during this playoff run. And we're going to need to see him a lot for the Cavs to, to go to where they ultimately want to go.
00:19:40
Speaker
um and it's nothing new. Evan's been doing this throughout the season. It's what got him, you know, an all-star and I'll start visit this year. But that's what I was thinking. I was like, Evan Mobley, like, this is what I want to see come playoff time.
00:19:54
Speaker
Yeah. He's got that three point shot down. He can knock him down. Yeah. It's crazy. It's such a He's got such a, he's got such long arms. It's kind of a crazy looking shot. It's like, I don't have, I don't have faith in it yet though. Like every time he raises up, i'm like, no. And then, yeah and then, you know, it's like, Oh, okay. You know, it's like, you're expecting a ah Dwight Howard three pointer, but no, no. Yeah.
00:20:19
Speaker
dwight how yeah Yeah, it's the Spurs. I mean, it's it's an over a very, very young team. You know, they got Chris Paul, ancient Chris Paul out there, but that's pretty very young. and You say very young and then you go with the guy who's retiring after 20 years. what do you about Chris Paul, man he's retiring. I didn't hear. I've seen it. I've seen it pop up. okay um um I don't know. April Fools was just a couple of days ago, so maybe it was an April Fools joke, but.
00:20:49
Speaker
yeah were you What do you think Chris Paul? Were you a Chris Paul guy? did you Did you like him? You hate him? Didn't care? didn't really care. i I was never really a Chris Paul fan. Yeah.
00:20:59
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I mean, he he he never... and Listen, he was great when he was on the Hornets. great Great career, you know, but yeah, I mean, he wasn't he wasn't someone...
00:21:14
Speaker
you If you ask me who was top three point guards, top five point guards, I'm sure so statistically he was probably in that category at some point in his career. But my mind would never just pick Chris Paul as one of the top three. There there would always be somebody else.
00:21:28
Speaker
you know yeah I never really followed him. and I know him best as LeBron's buddy. on the On the, what was that? the Banana Boat? Yeah. Banana Boat Buddy.
00:21:40
Speaker
Banana Boat Buddy. Jeez. Chris Paul. Sorry, buddy. Chris Paul, man. Banana Boat Buddy legend. Yeah.
00:21:51
Speaker
The game before this one, though, and then we'll probably, i don't know how much probably you want go back, but um they did beat up on the Knicks pretty good,
Strong Finish Against the Knicks
00:21:58
Speaker
Alex. Yeah, i was going to say, we got to talk about the Knicks game a little bit. Getting ah getting a win against the Knicks always feels good no matter what.
00:22:05
Speaker
Always, always. And they were on a second night of a back-to-back. Didn't have Brunson. that you know Don't pay attention. Don't know, but he was in street clothes. um But anytime we can stick it to the Knicks, I don't care. you know It feels good.
00:22:21
Speaker
And I still always forget that they have Carl town you know carl Anthony Towns on that team, um who actually... was the best player on their team finished with 25 points.
00:22:33
Speaker
um But yeah, this was a fun game, a very...
00:22:39
Speaker
you know, a game where the Knicks came out red hot on the Cavs. But then come the second half, the Cavs just took over Alex, you know, and and just took control the game.
00:22:52
Speaker
And speaking of Towns, Allen had an amazing block on Towns when he was going up for a dunk that really kind of, the momentum was already kind of shifting in the Cavs' favor, like that we were going to basically lock up that game soon.
00:23:05
Speaker
And that block was like... okay, it's, it's at the point now where this game is, is out of hand for the next, they're not going to come back, you know? Yeah, I think, uh, you know, it's that, it's that how, how, how do they come out of halftime?
00:23:21
Speaker
You know, how are they going to do in the third quarter? That's what I always look at because sometimes they come into that third quarter and they just completely lay an egg and then we end up losing the game or they come out firing and red hot in that third quarter. And, you know, we blow them out.
00:23:36
Speaker
I mean, you look at that, uh, I mean, this Kings game we just watched tonight and the the game before that ah no
00:23:48
Speaker
that we that we lost. Who was it? We were just talking about it.
00:23:53
Speaker
Anyway, we just completely lay an egg in the third quarter and blow it. It seems to, that kind of follows follows us around the past few seasons, however we do in the third quarter.
00:24:06
Speaker
I feel like that goes back even before this whole squad, this whole core four. like it like That even happened back in like the LeBron days at certain points where just third quarter woes and stuff like that, going back to big Z days and stuff like that.
00:24:21
Speaker
So yeah, I I'm with you. I'm always nervous going to come out of the half, but in this next game, they came out, um, red hot, locked them up on defense and the Knicks had had no answer at that point. So it was a very satisfying win.
00:24:39
Speaker
um You know, ah couple of years ago, but both teams are starting to rise up in the ranks in the East. The Cavs have taken that leap into championship contenders.
00:24:51
Speaker
The Knicks are still, you know, the top four, top five team in the league, but you can clearly see the difference between the two. And that's after the Knicks made all the moves that they did in the off season. And again, you know, just because you add a bunch of players to a team doesn't automatically mean they're all going to gel. They're all going to fit or it's going to work.
00:25:11
Speaker
And it's still crazy to me that the calves have had the success they did because they didn't do what everybody wanted them to do ah year ago, which was break up that core four.
00:25:24
Speaker
I mean, we even talked about it. I think there was points last year where we were ready to either trade Allen or Garland just to try to switch it up because it really wasn't working, but it was also injuries, a lot of... Remember how many different starting lineups it was? like It wasn't really the player's fault. They weren't really playing together, but this team has been together for a couple years now,
00:25:47
Speaker
um both on and off the court and it finally is paying off now. um So for the Knicks, you know, they have a lot of talent on that team. They could be a very scary team here in another year or two.
00:26:00
Speaker
um But I think that's the difference maker between Cleveland and the Knicks. And the fact that we played them in that playoff series and lost to them a couple of years ago, um you know, it's all in the back of our minds. Like we said, anytime we can stick it to the Knicks, that's, that's, I remember when that happened and it was kind of like a,
00:26:17
Speaker
pretty disappointing because it's like, oh, how did the Knicks kind of basically rebuild quicker than we did? Or, you know, I mean, they had Brunson, we had Garland. They don't have Hartenstein anymore, so nothing to fear anymore, Alex. Nothing to fear anymore.
00:26:36
Speaker
Oh, man. So, yeah, I mean, the Cavs, you know, that West Coast trip, you know, a little while back kind of kind of tarnishes things a little bit. Maybe if they would have won a game or two on that West Coast trip, you know, we we would have already secured the the number one seed. I think you were looking were like six and six out the last 12 or something like that or.
00:26:56
Speaker
you know, around 500 ball to last 12, 13 games, ye um which is still, you know, again, we're in a much different scenario than that a lot of teams are around the league to where six and six, you know, right now, 500 ball wouldn't be good enough.
00:27:11
Speaker
You know, we're still four, four games up because Boston won tonight. They played the Wizards. We're still four games up on the Celtics with four games to go. So the likelihood of us still not securing the number one seed, never say never, but you know the Cavs still have very good odds to to finish at the top of the East. And what an accomplishment that'll be.
00:27:34
Speaker
um i heard that the last time they finished the number one seed was the championship year. back in 2015, 2016.
00:27:43
Speaker
And I also heard, Alex, this is the first 60-plus win season in a non-LeBron Cavs team, which is kind of crazy to me. like i almost wanted to go I didn't, but I almost wanted to go back and fact-check that. You're telling me Mark Price, Brad Doerr, they never had a 60-win season?
A New Era: Cavs' Historic 60-Win Season
00:27:59
Speaker
Come on now.
00:28:02
Speaker
Yeah. You know, I kind of want to look now too. want I want to look at a lot of 50 wins, like 50, 55, 57, 58 win seasons, but that's pretty crazy. But at the end of the day, that's, that's good, man, because this, this core for this, this era is writing its own history.
00:28:19
Speaker
And, um, you know, now it's time to see how far they're going to be to in the playoffs, but, um, Alex, their their next game is against a team that unfortunately is playing their best basketball of the year. 12 of 16, 12 wins out of the last 16 games.
00:28:39
Speaker
The Chicago Bulls come to town Tuesday night. Potential first round matchup as well. Cause they're right down there in that, that, uh, seven, eight, nine, 10 area, which we'll talk more about here in a minute, but the calves finished the season against the bulls.
Critical Playoff Contender Games
00:28:55
Speaker
Then the Pacers, the Knicks and the Pacers ah again, I was looking at the standings, Alex, The Bulls are definitely playing for something. The Knicks have a little bit of wiggle room.
00:29:09
Speaker
They're not going to catch the Celtics because they're about eight and a half games behind the Celtics. And they have a three game lead on the Pacers. So that could get interesting.
00:29:20
Speaker
um But, you know, both those teams, all three of those teams that we play the rest of this year, all could potentially be playing for something, yeah which does make me a little bit nervous. They're all playoff teams. So yeah, they're all, they're all playoff teams. So the calves, I think they're going to want to come out and find a way to win that game against the bulls Tuesday nights. They can kind of shut it down the remainder of the way.
00:29:44
Speaker
Um, at least that's what I'm hoping they're going to do. don't know. Next two are on the road and then the last games at home against the Pacers.
00:29:53
Speaker
um don't Yeah, I hope so, but I yeah i don't know if they will. you know I don't know if there's if they're still coasting through the end of the season and don't really care who the opponent is, or maybe they'll hold back and don't want the opponent to see.
00:30:08
Speaker
Their whole bag of tricks, you know, i i don't know. I don't know how they'll play it. Well, here's here's why this makes me ah little nervous, Alex. Celtics schedule for the remainder of the year.
00:30:21
Speaker
They actually play the Knicks next Tuesday night. Then they play the Magic, okay? And then they finish their last two games of the season both against the Hornets.
00:30:34
Speaker
Okay. So either we need the Knicks or the Magic to beat the Celtics or the Cavs got to figure out a way to win one of these games. um which I think they're going to do, but let's just let's just finish it on Tuesday night against Chicago.
00:30:49
Speaker
No funny business. You know what i mean? like Rest your starters for the last two, three games of the year. Lock up that one seed, and then that way it's just it's done.
00:31:01
Speaker
um But that's what's ahead for both the Cavs and the Celtics, and it's always fun this time of year, though, to kind of watch how the playoff races and seedings finish out.
00:31:13
Speaker
Yeah, it still looks like we're ahead on Boston by four games. I don't know if this is including tonight, but that yeah, it is because it was, we were five games ahead um this morning. So it is including tonight and the Celtics and calves split the season series at two, two, I believe.
00:31:30
Speaker
So if the cows are to lose all four and the Celtics were to win all four, I'm not sure what the next tiebreaker is. have to look that up or hopefully i don't have to look that up and we don't get in that scenario, but yeah.
00:31:43
Speaker
yeah I don't think there's any way we lose all four. i don't think so either. I don't think so either. But it'll just make me feel better. Personally, me out. If they could just take care of a Tuesday night. hope they make you feel better. So I could just celebrate and yeah, we could be good.
00:32:00
Speaker
We could be good.
First-Round Opponent Analysis
00:32:01
Speaker
So let's look at these bottom of the East standings kind of at the bottom, you know, assuming the Cavs do you finish the one seed Alex um in the seventh seed is the magic. They're not going to catch the Pistons.
00:32:14
Speaker
The Pistons got a five game lead on them. You got the Hawks at the eighth seed, the Bulls at the nine seed, the Heat at the 10 seed.
00:32:27
Speaker
Funny enough, all those teams are ah like one game away from per the seat in front of them. So the Magic, the Hawks are a game behind the Magic, the Bulls are a game behind the Hawks, and the Heat are a game behind the Bulls.
00:32:42
Speaker
So with four games left in the season, a lot of movement can happen there at the bottom of the East um before they do yeah the play-in tournament. um Do any of those teams at all...
00:32:56
Speaker
scare you or is there any of those teams that you would prefer to play at this point or are you not worried about a single one of them um i don't know that i'm worried about playing any of those teams i think playing against some of those teams might be a little more exciting than others um orlando magic we kind of struggled with the last that last game They're always a fun matchup, so I think that would be a fun series to watch, but also dangerous.
00:33:30
Speaker
ah Yes, yes. um The Heat are just too inconsistent for me to be concerned about at all. The Bulls-Hawks, you never know. They're both playing pretty good basketball right now, especially the Bulls.
00:33:45
Speaker
but Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, if i if I had to pick a team that I would like to be matched up with, it'd be the Hawks. The Hawks would be the one out of those four that least kind of scare me. Yeah, they got they got Trey Young and his still bad hair, um but I'm not worried about the Hawks.
00:34:03
Speaker
Yeah. at the same time though, any team, you know, again, you're going to get a different version of these teams throughout the entire playoffs, right? Because again, it's winter go home. They're going to give you your all. We're an eight C. What do we have to lose?
00:34:17
Speaker
You know, so on and so forth. Um, but it's going be fun here. The next time we record, you know, the season will be done, put out an episode here. The season will be done. We'll know who are matched up against. We can kind of break down that match up a little bit more and, and talk about it.
00:34:32
Speaker
Um, you know and And also kind of the rest of the playoff seeding and kind of how all that works out as well. But it's going to fun. Alex here finishing up the season and kind of just see where where where the chips fall.
00:34:46
Speaker
The play-in tournament is going to be pretty fun between these four teams. I'll say that.
Play-In Tournament Excitement
00:34:52
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, definitely. You know, the I do like the play-in tournament, but I do miss the you know those those kind of bottom couple teams jockeying four positions strategically, depending on, you know, do they want to play the number one team or the number two team?
00:35:10
Speaker
I do kind of miss that a little bit. Like, I wonder, you know, if these four teams, the Magic Hawks, Bulls, Heat, like, which one of them would be maybe thinking they should lose a game to play the Cavs as opposed to winning a game and playing the Celtics? Like, I wonder if any of them have that mindset.
00:35:30
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure. are teams more afraid of of matching up against the Celtics than they are the Cavs? You know, I just wonder, but probably with the, you know, this past month of performance.
00:35:41
Speaker
Yeah, that's very possible. And and the Celtics, you know, have have been turning around at the right time. They're on their last 10 now. And yeah, absolutely. if If you're one of those bottom teams...
00:35:55
Speaker
yeah both Both those matchups are scary, but you know I'm sure those fan bases, those local reporters and and you know radio shows, they're all they're all saying, well, we would you know you know we would match up better with this team because of you know this, this, and this.
00:36:10
Speaker
Um, so that's very well possible. Um, but I do, I'm like you, kinda, you know, I kinda just miss, you know, just, Hey, this is the seating. This is how it is. And I'm a little bit biased too, because, you know, the play in tournament hasn't been around for that long. What it's gotta be, what?
00:36:26
Speaker
under five years i would think right i don't think so like like this is like the fourth year maybe or so um but i just have a bad taste in my mouth from when the calves lost two play-in tournament games um and missed the playoffs you know that that one year um like the first or second year that the play-in tournament existed so i still think about that i'm like nope don't want that no I'm good.
Cavs' Playoff Expectations and Past Reflections
00:36:54
Speaker
I'm good. And they were playing such good basketball too. So it was just bewildering that they would lose a lot two in a row. Yeah. Yeah. That was, that was, that does still kill me.
00:37:05
Speaker
Yeah, it does. It does. And then you had the Knicks, the Knicks series the next year. So, you know, um but this has been a journey for for the Cavs, right? missed Miss the playoffs with two play-in, you know, losses.
00:37:19
Speaker
Get smashed and stunned by the Knicks. Make it to the second round last year. and and and really, you know, play better than what most people give you credit for against the Celtics, considering all the scenarios that were going on at that point.
00:37:34
Speaker
And now again, the Cavs have an opportunity to elevate even further this year. And yeah, it starts with locking up that one seed and dialing in and just beating up on that first round series. Make it as fast as you can.
00:37:49
Speaker
Take advantage. Get some rest. I'm pumped. I'm um'm excited. Like meaningful basketball is finally almost here, Alex. Yeah. Yeah. but And I'll be disappointed if they don't reach the finals.
00:38:03
Speaker
I mean, they played, you know, four months of just bang out, blow out basketball.
00:38:12
Speaker
It would be very high. Like they absolutely dominated blowing teams out by 20, 30 points for November, December, January, February. Right.
00:38:23
Speaker
And now they're struggling right as we go into the, the playoffs. So, Yeah, my expectations are very high. Yeah. I'll be super disappointed.
00:38:37
Speaker
Yeah, i think I think everybody's expectations are very high. And anything less than a finals trip, which is kind of crazy to say that. like It's not easy getting to the and NBA finals.
00:38:51
Speaker
It's not, but that's everybody's expectations. And we all know who we're going to have to go through to get there. It's going to be a hell of a series. You know, um one, we got to get there, meaning the Boston Celtics series.
00:39:05
Speaker
And two, you know, you got to find a way to get past them. So it's going to be quite the challenge. And the Cavs got to be dialed in both mentally and physically.
00:39:17
Speaker
And it's going to be a fun, you know, next couple months of basketball for Cavs fans, hopefully. Yeah.
New Addition: Chuma Okeke's Uncertain Impact
00:39:25
Speaker
One other little bit of news was that the Cavs filled their final roster spot.
00:39:31
Speaker
They signed Chuma Okeke.
00:39:36
Speaker
alex Alex was practicing that name before we started recording. I did look up how to pronounce it. Chuma Okeke. What can you tell me about this gentleman? He's 6'7 power forward, selected 16th overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2019 NBA draft.
00:39:55
Speaker
He missed his entire rookie season with an injury. Wow.
00:40:01
Speaker
He played, let's see, four years with the Magic, and he spent most of the current season in the G League, averaging 17 points, eight rebounds, four and a half assists.
00:40:13
Speaker
So, playing pretty well in the G League. I don't see him getting, i don't know if he'll get any minutes at all, you know. yeah So he he might play he might play that final game that ah that there's any garbage sta appreciation game. Yeah. You know, as long as that game doesn't mean anything or matter. Right.
00:40:35
Speaker
um And that's that's a maybe. Right. um But I think a lot of cast fans probably didn't even realize or kind of forgot they even had an open roster spot to begin with. And no matter who they would have filled that spot with, because some folks and and I would have been one of them, don't get me wrong. Like I would have went out and got a veteran just in case, you know, a backup big and yeah I don't know, give me some of that, you know, just just to have there.
00:41:00
Speaker
um But at the end of the day that that person wasn't going to play, you know, not not, you know, and in meaningful basketball here the rest of the way. but ah But good for him, man. I mean, he gets to he gets paid to have courtside seats to watch the Cavs win an NBA championship this year, Alex.
00:41:18
Speaker
Probably even gets a Cavs jersey, some swag. Yeah, and he's making probably more money than you and me combined in a full work year something. Yeah, you got that right.
00:41:30
Speaker
So, yeah, that's all good.
Closing Remarks and Listener Engagement
00:41:32
Speaker
It's all good. But Cavs fans, want to thank you as always for tuning in and listening. And Alex, you want to let them know where they can follow us and connect with us.
00:41:41
Speaker
Follow us on Twitter at Cavs Pick and Roll. Shoot us an email, CavsPickAndRoll at gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr. Watch this episode on YouTube. Wherever you're listening and watching.
00:41:52
Speaker
Click like, subscribe, leave us a rating or a review. We'd appreciate it. All right, Cavs fans, there it We'll talk you again soon. Peace out, Cavs fans.