Wild Weekend Ahead
Cavs Know They're In the Play-In Tourney, Just Not When, Where or Whom Against
by Joe Gabriele (@CavsJoeG)
4/7/22 | Cavs.com
After months of blood, sweat and tears, this wild NBA regular season ride comes down to a final weekend.
After the Hornets take on the Magic in Charlotte tonight, all the teams pertinent to the Cavaliers will have put 80 games into the books. And when the weekend rolls around, the Cavaliers and three other teams will decide their fate in next week’s Play-In Tournament.
The Wine & Gold exceeded all preseason predictions and surpassed the combined win totals of the past two seasons in 2021-22. The future is as bright as any time in the history of the franchise and, when healthy, J.B. Bickerstaff’s young squad has already proved that it can rumble with any heavyweight in the East.
The Cavaliers have fought though season-ending injuries to Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio, but additional injuries to All-Star center Jarrett Allen and Rookie of the Year candidate Evan Mobley have hit the squad hard (along with forward Dean Wade), and Cleveland has dropped seven of its last nine with their big man duo on the shelf.
But how the Cavs have gotten to this point is something to reminisce about in the offseason. Right now, the Wine & Gold have their most important days as a team right in front of them.
Cleveland plays its final road game this Friday night – and it’s a big one. At 43-37 and sitting in the 7th-seed, the Cavs are one full game ahead of both the Nets and Hawks at 42-38. Brooklyn overcame a 21-point deficit to stun the Knicks on Thursday; Atlanta, winner of six of its last seven, cruised past Washington.
With Cleveland's top two big men on the shelf, Moses Brown has been a late-season revelation -- doubling-up in three of his last four starts.
Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE Getty Images
The Cavaliers let one slip away on Tuesday night in Orlando, but they can make up for it on Friday night at the Barclays Center. The Nets took each of the first two games in the head-to-head matchup this season, but the Cavs dropped Brooklyn back on January 17 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
There’s plenty riding on Friday’s matchup, including potential homecourt advantage for a 7-8 matchup.
The Hawks, who take on the Heat on Friday night, stand to benefit from the result. Depending on what happens with Philly and Boston on Thursday, Miami might still need a win over Atlanta to lock up the East’s top seed. Trae Young and Co. get a break in their finale – traveling to face the lowly Rockets on Sunday afternoon.
The Hornets (40-39) welcome the Magic to town on Thursday night needing some positive mojo. After clinching a Play-In slot and getting Gordon Hayward back, they fell to the Sixers by 30 and then to the Heat by 29.
The Cavs and Hornets have split their four-game season series, with each team winning both on the other team’s floor. Charlotte dropped Cleveland in its home opener back on October 22 – despite a game-high 33 points from Collin Sexton – and blew out the Cavs by three TDs back on March 2 – with Darius Garland leading both teams with 33.
The Cavs won a pair of nail-biters on Tobacco Road – including a whackadoo one-point win on February 4, with Kevin Love sinking two late free throws to seal a wild finish.
Cleveland won its first game against the Hawks one day after dropping the home opener, topping Atlanta in a close finish back on October 23, with Ricky Rubio leading the way. Nate McMillan’s team has taken the last three, however, including a 24-thumping just one week ago at State Farm Arena.
Just as there’s much business to be settled among the Play-In combatants, the top shelf of the Eastern Conference still has some sorting out to do this weekend as well.
Heading into Thursday’s action, four teams still have a chance to clinch the top spot. One is the Cavaliers final foe of the season – the Bucks (49-30), who face the Celtics in a huge meeting Friday, one that could decide how Milwaukee approaches Sunday afternoon’s meeting at the FieldHouse.
So with just a few days to play in the regular season, a great deal has yet to be decided.
If the season ended today, the Wine & Gold would host the Brooklyn Nets in a Play-In game and the winner would travel to Boston and face the Celtics in the First Round of the Playoffs.
The season doesn’t end today … but it’s a really fun visual to get you ready for the biggest Cavs weekend in many, many moons.