The Cleveland Cavaliers can’t afford to lose this series anymore

The Cleveland Cavaliers have looked bad all series, and if they lose, significant changes will have to be made.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are not in a good position. While the team was expected not to make the NBA Finals this year, not with its depleted bench, they weren’t expected to be dominated by the New York Knicks. That’s exactly what has happened over the first four games of this series.

The first two games of the series went as well as can be expected, with the Cavs losing by four in Game 1 and blowing out the Knicks in Game 2. The last two, however, have been exactly as feared. Despite holding the Knicks’ offense in check, the Cavs’ offense has sputtered out as the team has tried to lean on hero-ball. The ball movement has stopped, bench players aren’t getting shots off, and the rotation isn’t consistent.

It’s why the Cavs lost 99-79 and 102-93 in back-to-back games. Had Mitchell not turned it on in the fourth, the Cavs would’ve had blown out games in all three losses. This is absolutely the worst-case scenario. The one game the Cavs won looks more and more like a fluke than what the team is possible of achieving.

If the Cavs can’t at least stretch the series to seven games, then it’s fair to say that a lot of this team will need to be overhauled.

The Cleveland Cavaliers can’t afford to get beaten early anymore

Had the Cavaliers lost four straight games by a combined five points, ok, that’s fine. The Knicks are a good team, the Cavs’ bench scoring is horrid, and things don’t always go our way. Yet, to get utterly dominated in back-to-back losses, that’s not acceptable.

Especially with how poor the Cavaliers have been on offense. No matter how this series ends anymore, even if they somehow win it, the Cavs will need to make significant changes this off-season.

The offense dies when Mitchell and Darius Garland struggles. They’re not using Evan Mobley as the stretch four he was touted to be. Too many people are mad at Jarrett Alle, who at best is the team’s fourth scorer and on a team with actual scoring depth, would be the team’s sixth-best scorer.

Caris LeVert is shooting just .410/.294/.571 over the last two games. The only thing he’s not doing is turning the ball over. Something Mitchell is doing in droves.

The Cavs made a mistake not trading LeVert at the deadline when they could’ve brought in another shooter for the team. They also made a mistake letting Kevin Love go, who is averaging nine points and six rebounds in just 19 minutes for the Heat. You can’t argue that, even with a down season shooting the ball, his size wouldn’t have made a difference and allowed Mobley to play the four, and stretch the court some, as opposed to rotating in at center with Allen.

The Heat is the top-scoring team in the playoffs right now, the Cavs are second-to-last. The Cavs’ inability to score has been its issue all season, as they were just 25th all year in points per game with 112.3. This is due in part to their pace-of-play. They’re dead last in pace-of-play for 2022-2023.

So it’s not surprising that a team that’s very good in the half-court on defense like the Knicks is beating the Cavs so badly.

If the Cavs can’t forge a comeback, significant changes will need to be made.