Notes From The Cleveland Cavaliers’ Two-Game Series In Miami

The Cleveland two-game slate against the Miami Heat felt like a playoff warm-up.v Here’s what stood out from the Cavs’ 1-1 split.

Both games were playoff lessons — but in different ways

Game 1, with Garland healthy, featured the Cavs grinding out a 104-100 win. Neither team was exactly potent on offense, with the Cavs having an offensive rating of 113 and the Heat an offensive rating of 107.5. (Both, per Cleaning The Glass, were below league average vs. season totals.)

The Cavs found a way to win in two ways. First, they defending at a high level, limiting Miami to a 88.8 offensive rating in the half court. They also cscored 29 points off of 22 turnovers. In a game of thin margins, forcing and capitalizing on turnovers was the difference. This was against a team with a turnover rate in the top-half of the league, per Cleaning The Glass. That’s impressive.

Second, Darius Garland was excellent and likely the Cavs’ best player. Donovan Mitchell had an off night — 18 points, 7-18 from the field, 1-7 from three. He had only two points in the fourth quarter. Garland more than stepped up, turning up his aggression and looking for his own shot in a way he’s sometimes hesitant to. He finished with a team-high 25 points on 8-16 shooting, which included a 3-6 mark from three. He also had 7 assists vs. only 3 turnovers and was 6-6 from the line.

Cleveland is 12-7 on the season when Garland makes six or more free throws. For the season, he’s averaging a career-best 4.8 free throws per game. When he dials up his aggression and looks to get to the line more, Garland is at his most efficient. That gives the Cavs another way to score when points are harder to come by. That’ll come more often than not when the playoffs begin next month.

Game 2, meanwhile, saw the Cavs miss Garland. Mitchell had 42 points and looked like he might push for 50. But he ran out of energy as the game went on with so much asked of him and playing 43 minutes. After a 9-12 first half, Mitchell was 6-18 in the second. Garland being there would have allowed Mitchell another short rest he needed.

Cleveland’s defense also faltered, with the Heat having an offensive rating of 122.7 and a halfcourt offensive rating of 104.7. The Cavs’ offense was also good (119.8 offensive rating, 104.5 rating in the halfcourt), but not good enough.

Both Mitchell and Isaac Okoro said after the game that the Cavs could have been more physical. They also said they should have life harder on the Heat’s best players by being physical and testing the limits of what the referees would call. That’s the right idea — both for the playoffs and what fits Cleveland’s play style.

The Cavs are at their best when their defense is locked in and feeding into the offense. That recipe wasn’t there on Friday.

Evan Mobley’s foul trouble also impacted the Cavs’ defense, as he played only 31 minutes. In the playoffs, he’s going to be up in the 36-38 range and the Cavs’ defense isbett er when he’s on the floor vs. off. He also rarely fouls, so Mobley getting into foul trouble isn’t a big picture problem. But on Friday, it was.

Lamar Stevens has usurped Dean Wade

After Stevens’ performance against the Celtics, he’s now in the Cavs’ rotation. Dean Wade is not.

While Stevens played 26 and 24 minutes in two games vs. Miami, Wade played zero. Even in game two, with Darius Garland out, Cedi Osman saw minutes instead of Wade.

Wade has not played well since taking what were Kevin Love’s minutes. Shooting under 20% from three since Love asked for buyout isn’t good enough. It would get Wade benched in the playoffs and, with Cleveland tightening its rotation now in preparation for the playoffs, it makes sense now.

Stevens, by comparison, knows who he is and is performing. He isn’t the spacer Wade is (at least when Wade is making shots), but he competes, cuts and has a some shot making ability on mid-range pull-ups. He also takes open three-pointers — something Wade was not doing before his benching.

Stevens also can hold up against bigger wings on defense. He’s not going to lock them down, but he’ll make them work and stay in front of them to make them take a contested shot. Wade is alright in those spots, but Stevens has a strength edge that helps. It was notable to see him hold up against Butler. He didn’t take Butler out of the game, but he was big enough to prevent Butler to make a tough pull-up instead of driving in to initiate contact and draw a foul. With Wade in that spot, Butler would have pounced.

Ricky Rubio is ramping up

Rubio played a season-high 25 minutes against the Heat Friday and closed the game for Cleveland. It’s a sign that the Cavs are adding more to his plate.

But it’s still notable because of how cautious the Cavs have been with Rubio since he debuted on Jan. 12. He has not played a back-to-back this season. (Cleveland’s last one is next week and it’s unclear if Rubio will play in both games.) Before Friday, his season high in minutes was 22 minutes on Wednesday. Including Friday, he had only played more than 20 minutes once all season.

Rubio isn’t all the way back yet — he still moves like a 32-year-old working back to full strength after a second ACL year in the game. His offensive numbers are not good.

“He’s getting there,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said earlier this week. “Um, you know, again, it’s gonna be about opportunities for him and just, you know, rhythm and timing and all those things. I think he’s gonna continue to get better the more minutes he gets, the more opportunities with his teammates, the more repetition versus opponents and those types of things. So I think he’s trending in the right direction but I don’t think he’s a hundred percent Ricky yet.”

But he knows where to be on defense and plays big — his frame allows him hold up on drives and switches when he ends up on wings. The offense still needs to come along for him to be the Rubio the Cavs need him to be to hit their cielding. But increased minutes suggest that the Cavs feel he’s getting to a point physically where that’s possible.

The Cavs feel destined for the fourth seed

Barring something unexpected, Cavs vs. Knicks in a 4-5 matchup feels locked in.

In fourth, the Cavs are 2.5 games up on the Knicks — a reasonable lead with 13 games to go. Cleveland is also 3.5 games behind third-seeded Philadelphia. The Cavs find themselves sandwiched in-between.

It could change. Based on strength on schedule, the Cavs have the easiest schedule left of any NBA in the NBA. The 76ers have the third-hardest schedule; tshe Knicks have the eighth-easiest. Cleveland also hosts Philadelphia on March 15 and the Knicks on March 31. Both of those games could have standings implications.

But it would wild swings for that to happen. When the Cavs lost to the Heat on March 10, the 76ers beat the Trail Blazers with Joel Embiid hitting a game winner. That day only further solidified playoff positioning.