The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic in Game 7 on Sunday, completing a series where the home team won every game. The Cavs now come to Boston to start the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
This will be an every-other-night series, so they play Tuesday and Thursday at home, Saturday and Monday on the road, and then if necessary, Wednesday in Boston, next Friday in Cleveland, and next Sunday in Boston.
The Cavs lost to Boston twice and were on their way to losing a third time, but Dean Wade was touched by God in the fourth quarter of that game and Cleveland pulled off the miracle comeback. I’m sure we all remember taking that loss in stride.
Before I get into my official preview on Tuesday morning, here are a few thoughts about the series.
- I’m starting off with Jaylen Brown on Donovan Mitchell. Obviously, there will be a lot of switching and the eventual cross-matches, but I want size on Mitchell. I want Jrue Holiday on Darius Garland to keep him in check. Garland has been up and down in the first round so I want to make sure he stays down in this series. Boston has a much easier road if the Cavs are one-dimensional. Then I’ll put Derrick White on Max Strus, Al Horford on Jarrett Allen (if he plays), and Jayson Tatum on Evan Mobley.
Brown needs to stay down on pump fakes and not foul. If he’s allowed to be physical with Mitchell, then that could limit Mitchell’s effectiveness.
The goal here is to limit everyone else. I acknowledge Mitchell's ability to score 40 a night. I want to limit everyone else to 50 or less. If Brown stays down on fakes and doesn't foul, this plan should work.
- Why not Holiday on Mitchell? I’m keeping him away from smaller, shifty guards.
Over the summer, Jrue Holiday named SGA one of his least favorite players to guard in the NBA.
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzellNBA) January 3, 2024
"The smaller, shiftier guys - hate it. Shai? Hate guarding him."
Holiday explained that he prefers matchups where he can use his strength.
(via Sloane Knows podcast) pic.twitter.com/hCKWd0lgIx
I understand Garland is also small and shifty, but he's less dangerous than Mitchell and I think his confidence can be shaken. That's Holiday's jam.
- Boston’s defense can win this series for them. Cleveland’s offensive rating against Orlando was only 100. They shot less than 29% from 3 on just under 30 attempts per game. This is very much like Miami series where if Boston defends the 3-point line well and makes Cleveland one-dimensional, they should win the math battle.
- There are so many places for Cleveland to be attacked defensively. Run the horns set with both Cleveland bigs in the actions to pull them away from the rim and then move the ball. Things will open up pretty quickly.
- Playing at a faster pace is important. Push the ball up, don’t let Cleveland get set, and attack the mismatch quickly. I’m worried that the mismatch hunting will slow the game too much.
- I’m also concerned that Boston will settle for a lot of jumpers against Mobley and Allen.
- I refuse to believe that a team in 2024 relying on Marcus Morris and Tristan Thompson for meaningful production is any kind of serious threat. This isn’t about analytics or anything. This is about how stupid it would be to lose to a team playing those guys meaningful minutes.