The Cavaliers know how this season will be judged.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have turned their focus to the playoffs despite having over a month to go before postseason play begins and even longer before facing an opponent that could test them.
That thought process is born out of an understanding of how this season will be judged. They won’t be remembered for what they did in the regular season. The playoff results are all that matter.
“I was just thinking the other day about the Detroit Lions (who lost their first playoff game after going 15-2 in the regular season),” said head coach Kenny Atkinson before Tuesday’s game. “They had a great year, then they lose in the playoffs. … It was a disappointment. We don’t want to be there, so we’re focused. We’re locked in.”
Being locked in has shown up in the results. They’ve authored their second 15-game winning streak of the season, even if that isn’t a priority for this group.
“We don’t talk about the streak,” Atkinson said. “The mindset is our playoff focus and hammering those principles.”
They’ve needed that focus to come back from multiple double-digit deficits in games they’ve been without some of their key players due to rest and being cautious with injuries. That was seen once again as they erased an 18-point deficit to defeat the Brooklyn Nets.
“We can just adjust to anything and fight through any deficit or any adversity,” said Jarrett Allen after the win.
“Every single experience we had in the past leads up to stuff like this, We’ve been on the other end where teams have come back against us and blown us out in the other way, and now we know how to fight back and take the lead.”
At the same time, falling behind by 15 or more to teams like the Portland Trail Blazers, Chicago Bulls, and Nets (a group with a combined record of 77-120) isn’t one of the first signs you think of for a team that’s completely locked in. However, things like that are more explainable than going on a second 15-game winning streak at this point of the season.
“Quite honestly, the grind, the boredom of the season, it can wear on you,” Atkinson said.
The Cavs have nothing to play for with their eight-and-a-half game lead over the Boston Celtics for the top spot in the conference. They’re also in the midst of 16 games in 30 days stretch throughout March. Ten of those are on the road with no consecutive games in the same city. Constantly coming in and out of town makes this month feel like one long road trip.
From that perspective, continually winning — no matter the score — can only be considered good.
This string of close contests has illuminated how far the Cavs have come in those situations. They’re 22-6 in games that are within five points at any point of the last five minutes. That’s the best record in the league by a wide margin. They’re doing this by outscoring their opponent by a point a minute in these situations. This has added up to having the best net rating (37.9), best offensive rating (139.5), and fifth-best defensive rating (101.6) in the clutch.
This is a far cry from where they’ve been in recent years. The emergence of Darius Garland, who Atkinson has already awarded Clutch Player of the Year, is a big part of that.
“He continually does it in the fourth quarter,” Atkinson said. “He’s done it all year.”
Garland didn’t agree with his coach’s sentiments about receiving the award even though he’s been one of the best players in the league late in close games. What is important is that the Cavs keep finding ways to win in these situations.
Playoff basketball becomes a possession-by-possession war in a slower-paced environment. One of the closest approximation to that in the regular season is the end of close games. The fact that the Cavs are continually coming through in these situations shows that they’re as playoff-focused as Atkinson has said.
Even though Cleveland’s margin of victory over the last two weeks hasn’t been impressive, the results have. Winning only breeds more winning, no matter how it’s done. That, more than anything, is what is going to help them heading into this spring and early summer.
“We have a great mindset and we really don’t like to lose,” said Garland after Tuesday’s win. “It’s just a test and a step in the right direction going towards the playoffs.”