The Land Before Time: Cavs Pre-Game Thoughts
April 23, 2025 vs Miami (Game 2)
What did you takeaway from Game 1 of this first round matchup against the Heat? The Cavs showed a lot of good things, and some not so good things. Me, though? I don’t have any takeaways from Game 1 other than the win. One game certainly falls into the category of a small sample size, and that sample size came after a full week with no Cavs basketball. Nothing about this Cavs playoff roster is known yet. We do have a lot to look forward as our sample size becomes bigger! Let’s talk about a few of them.
1. How will Evan Mobley perform?
There is a good chance this will be Mobley’s last game before being declared the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year (knock on wood). That award will be announced on Thursday night on TNT. That fact makes his pretty quiet evening in Game 1 a little disconcerting. He got pushed around by Bam Adebayo. He had zero rebounds in the first half. The Heat had 17 second-chance points in the game. Mobley established himself as the most important player for the Cavs this season. To maximize the championship aspirations of this team, he will need to establish himself more than he did in Game 1.
2. Can the Cavs bench be consistently great?
The bench bunch was a major reason the Cavs had a historic regular season. Ty Jerome was obviously a big part of that, and he continued to be superb in Game 1. Outside of that, however, the bench performance was lacking. Sam Merrill made a couple of threes and played some good defense, but he was the only bench player to score outside of Jerome. De’Andre Hunter, Isaac Okoro, and Dean Wade, in particular, will need to step up their performances and show that this roster can continue to go 8 or 9 deep in the playoffs. Their performance will be critical to keeping the pressure off of the starters and keeping this team fresh through a (hopefully) deep playoff run.
3. How will the Cavs perform in the frontcourt?
The above discussion on Evan Mobley above aside, the Cavs did well in the frontcourt battle with the Heat. They won the rebounding battle (both offensive and defensive), had more points in the paint, tied the Heat in blocks, and had fewer turnovers. If the Cavs can establish themselves in the frontcourt for the remainder of the playoffs, they will be hard to beat. The Heat aren’t the biggest or most physical the Cavs will face in the playoffs, but establishing confidence in this series can pay dividends. Similar to the bench play, the Cavs’ frontcourt play can relieve pressure on the scoring guards and keep the flow of the game in the Cavs’ favor. The Cavs guards have proven that they can dominate a game for 48 minutes, but they will need the frontcourt to facilitate that energy and space.
Game 2 promises to be fun and a great battle for the Cavs! Let's lock in on The Land on Playback! Go Cavs!
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