We’ll see if the Cavaliers can take a punch in Game 3
Will the real Cavaliers please stand up?
You don’t know how good a team is until they show they can confront and overcome adversity.
Last season, we found out that the Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t a good team despite having the second-best net rating in the league because they never got off the mat when they first got punched in the face by the New York Knicks. They’ve shown that they aren’t that team this playoffs through two games, but the jury is still out. The Cavs haven’t been punched in the face yet. That should change in Game 3.
The first two games against the Orlando Magic have gone exactly as J.B. Bickerstaff envisioned. Orlando’s shooters he decided to leave open can’t hit water from a boat and his bigs aren’t giving them any second-chance opportunities. This, combined with Donovan Mitchell’s resurgence, has allowed them to completely impose their will in a series they haven’t trailed in.
That trend won’t hold up in Orlando. The Magic will throw the best punch in Game 3 as teams do when the series shifts back to their home court. This will show us if this team is for real.
The Cavs have talked all season about building to the playoffs. The way they’ve gone about doing that hasn’t been ideal. Their best basketball came without two of their starters and they limped into the playoffs by throwing their last game because they were scared of the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat. They compiled a string of brutal losses after the All-Star break which led to being ranked 22nd in net rating and 23rd in defense in that span. The Cavaliers weren’t just mediocre since the break. They were a lottery-level team for nearly two months.
They’ve flipped the switch in the playoffs and appear to have returned to the team that won 18 out of 20 before the break. But that switch can be turned off just as easily.
The Magic may have found something in the fourth quarter when they held the Cavaliers to just 16 points. Blitzing Mitchell in on-ball screens and shading more help than normal his was led to forced shots or difficult late shot-clock attempts.
Magic head coach Jahmal Mosley hinted postgame that he might be doing more of this in Game 3, which is something Mitchell showed he struggled with last playoffs against the Knicks. He will need to be better than he was in the fourth. This will undoubtedly be part of Orlando’s best punch and something Mitchell himself still needs to prove he can overcome.
The Eastern Conference has more parity than it has in decades. The Boston Celtics are the only team with the talent to be great but have shown in the last several playoffs that they’re more than capable of losing to a less talented team, which includes dropping Game 2 at home against a shell of the Heat. Even though the Cavs aren’t the most skilled group in the East, their best basketball can beat anyone else in the conference. However, they need to prove much more in this series and beyond before we can believe that this team can play at their best when it matters most.
The Cavs have spent this season wildly oscillating between a team that’s far better and far worse than the sum of their parts. Right now, they seem to be clicking at the right time, but the Magic have appeared like a deer in the headlights making it difficult to discern whether the Cavs have grown into the team they have the talent to be or if the Magic just aren’t ready for this stage.
Game 3 won’t decide the series or the Cavs’ season. It will, however, give us a glimpse as to whether or not this team is for real. Good teams can take their opponent’s best punch and counter. We’ll see if the Cavs can do that.