Cavaliers season ends with crushing play-in loss to the Hawks

Cleveland Cavaliers falter despite a scorching start

The Cleveland Cavaliers came one win short of advancing into the Playoffs after suffering a devastating 107-101 collapse against the Atlanta Hawks in the play-in tournament. Even after going on a fiery start, the Cavs inexplicably stalled in what became their final half of the season.

Although Cleveland came out booming early in chorus with a deafening sold-out crowd, the once scorching offense completely buckled after the halftime break, perfect timing for the Hawks as All-Star Trae Young to come alive and torch the Cavaliers’ basket.

Young was unstoppable for Atlanta after intermission, scoring all but four of his game-high 38 points while the Cavs went cold and were only able to scrape together a grand total of 40 in the last two quarters–a stark contrast to their 61-point breakout to start the game.

Lauri Markkanen found the mark early and top-scored for Cleveland with 26 off 6-for-12 shooting from deep, while Darius Garland added 21 points and nine assists but was severely limited after Atlanta began to put down the clamps in the third period.

All five Cavaliers starters tallied double-figures in scoring: rookie Evan Mobley notched 18 as Caris LeVert somehow put together 16 of his own, while Jarrett Allen had 11 off of a perfect shooting night in his first game back but was visibly limited and clearly nursing his injured finger.

Cavs go back to the drawing board with plenty of upsides

While Atlanta moves to the Playoffs as the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, a Cavaliers return to the actual postseason will have to wait at least another year.

Leading by as much as 14 in the second quarter, the Cavs began to sputter late in the third, allowing the Hawks to claw their way back and take their first lead before the period ended. Cleveland often had nobody to turn to when in need of a basket to stop the bleeding, a need the team might need to address in the offseason.

While both the front office and the team had hoped Caris LeVert would be that for them, the usually high-scoring swingman never found a steady groove, owing partly to a foot injury sustained almost as soon as he suited up in Cleveland.

Once considered a promising young contender in the East, the Cavs began to freefall after losing Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley for extended stretches in March, surrendering a guaranteed playoff berth and continuing to struggle in the play-in tournament.

All the learnings from this tumultuous yet successful season will undoubtedly go a long way for the upstart Cleveland Cavaliers, and while the ceiling remains exceptionally high for the young core, the front office has a few more moves to make for the team to properly contend by next year.