The Cleveland Cavaliers are one team that have been up-and-down ever since the All-Star break, but they still sit in second place in the Eastern Conference right behind the Milwaukee Bucks. After Max Strus' sensational game winner against the Dallas Mavericks, the Cavs were the main headline of the news outlets on Wednesday morning. However, they succumbed to the subpar Chicago Bulls in double overtime in their following game, so it is evident that they still have issues to rectify before the postseason.
Despite the sour loss, the organization must be delighted that their main nucleus is healthy at the best time, and the hope is that none of them will incur major injuries anymore. Evan Mobley and Darius Garland missed a ton of time for Cleveland, but the crew led by Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen were able to lead the squad in ascending in the East.
The starters are similar from last year, but their second unit has been stepping up recently as well. Their early exit in the playoffs was critical for their internal development, so one of these other fatal flaws must be addressed heading into the stretch run.
Who is part of Cavs' closing lineup?
When Cleveland was playing at an amazing level in the regular season last year, their closing lineup had Mobley and Allen on the court together. However, that approach turned out to be a disaster for the Cavs as New York found a plethora of ways to mitigate the strengths of their two-big lineup as Tom Thibodeau was able to manufacture plays that tore down their defense and limited their offensive options.
In their 2023-24 campaign, the twin tower combination has played less minutes because of Mobley's injury. With Mobley now back and the minutes restriction has been lifted, the dilemma for Cleveland head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is if he will continue to play four smalls in clutch time or utilize both bigs despite the limited spacing.
In their last two outings, it has been an continuous experience for Bickerstaff as he has been shuffling the cards even during the final minutes of the contest. That cannot be the case in the postseason because it is evident that previous championship contenders had their strongest five on the floor at the most critical juncture. Mobley was benched in the final seven minutes of the Mavericks game, and he only returned with 30 seconds left for defensive purposes.
One can argue that it was the smart move because Allen was the better matchup for Dallas' centers, but it can be possibly be an issue that one of their franchise cornerstones is being benched in the latter part of an important game. In the following night, they went with the two-big lineup because Chicago had Andre Drummond and Nikola Vucevic also, so it made sense to match with the towering size of their opponent.
The Cavaliers do have the potential to reach the Conference Finals this season, but the fatal flaw of not knowing who must be part of the best unit must be addressed soon. If the opponents see that the Cavs are feeling it out even in April, they will implement ways to expose the lineup issues of the franchise. Mitchell and Garland are given to be the primary shot creators in the endgame, but the surrounding pieces are as important in their aspirations of a deep postseason run.
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