With the Cleveland Cavaliers losing in five games to the Boston Celtics, their postseason is officially over. Looking at injuries, the starters’ performances, team leaders and what went wrong, here’s a Cavaliers 2024 postseason recap.
Just like the regular season, injuries defined (and derailed) these Cavaliers’ postseason. The most significant injury suffered by the Cavaliers this postseason was a rib fracture to center Jarrett Allen. Playing his last game in a Game 4 loss to the Orlando Magic, Allen’s presence was greatly missed.
Donovan Mitchell also spent time out, missing Games 4 and 5 in the second round series against the Celtics.
Dean Wade started the postseason out, and Caris LeVert was also injured for the finale of the Celtics series.
Darius Garland, despite struggling in some games, had an overall solid postseason. He averaged 15.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists. Solid is the best word, however, as he didn’t look like the all-star he once was. He scored 20 points or more in only three of the 12 games he played in.
Mitchell, on the other hand, played phenomenally. Averaging 29.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists, he carried the Cavaliers through most of these games. He did miss the last two games due to a hamstring strain, but scored 30 or more in half of the games he played in. He even scored 50 in Game 6 of the Orlando series.
Max Strus put up an overall lackluster postseason, averaging 9.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists. Three point shooting was the primary reason Cleveland brought him into the team, and he shot 34.7 percent from deep. His best shooting performance came in Game 4 against the Celtics, making five threes at a 41.7 percent clip.
Evan Mobley, for the most part, was a standout this postseason. Almost averaging a double-double with 16.0 points and 9.3 rebounds, he played in every game and looked comfortable at the center position. He also averaged a team high 2.2 blocks per game, including his game saving block against Orlando.
Jarrett Allen, in the time that he did play, played well. He averaged 17.0 points and 13.8 rebounds with a 67.6 field goal percentage. He also averaged 1.3 assists, 1.3 steals and one block per game. Unfortunately, he played in only four games before getting injured and having to sit. In his absence, Mobley may have shown that he is more than capable of anchoring this team going forward.
Points: Mitchell (29.6)
Rebounds: Allen (13.8)
Assists: Garland (5.8)
Steals: Mitchell and Allen (1.3)
Blocks: Mobley (2.2)
Three-pointers per game: Mitchell (2.9)
Defensive rating: Allen (103.8)
Minutes per game: Mitchell (38.2)
The primary struggle for the Cavaliers this postseason, as mentioned above, were injuries. If Allen, Mitchell, Wade and LeVert were available for the entire postseason, it could have very well turned out very differently.
Aside from injuries, however, their two biggest issues were inconsistency and composure. On the inconsistency front, Mitchell was just about the only Cavalier who could be consistently relied on for scoring. While certain role players did step up when other key players weren’t (Marcus Morris Sr scoring 24 against Boston in Game 7 for example), Cleveland needed all the firepower they could muster in order to beat the powerhouse Celtics. When they aren’t firing on all cylinders, that just isn’t going to happen.
On the composure front, this Cavaliers team looked much more rattled than expected. In their first series against Orlando, up until Game 7 Cleveland somehow appeared to be the more inexperienced team. They also struggled in the semifinals when Boston would start to roll.
Although the Cavaliers’ season is over, they have a solid season to hand their hat on. They still made tangible progress off of last season, and saw the evolution of franchise cornerstone Mobley through the offseason.
It also appears more and more likely that Mitchell is wanting to stay in Cleveland. This is a massive positive for the Cavaliers, but likely means they will be moving on from either Garland or Allen before the start of next season.
No matter what happens, though, this Cavaliers team put together a quality season and gave fans a lot to look forward to going into next season.
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Featured photo courtesy of NBA.com
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