The Cleveland Cavaliers faced some questions Sunday over their decision to essentially punt the fourth quarter of the regular season finale to try to manipulate their first round playoff matchup.
The Cavaliers entered play Sunday with the chance to land the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference if they beat the Charlotte Hornets, coupled with losses from the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks. A loss to Charlotte, however, would have locked them into the No. 4 seed against the Orlando Magic.
The Cavs led the Hornets by eight points entering the fourth quarter, but abruptly decided to sit their entire starting lineup to play the deep end of their bench. With the exception of Max Strus, who was allowed to remain in the game to get a triple-double, the Cavaliers played out the fourth quarter with Emoni Bates, Isaiah Mobley, Pete Nance, Damian Jones, and Tristan Thompson getting minutes. Unsurprisingly, that lineup was outscored 32-14, and the Cavaliers lost the game, clinching the No. 4 seed by doing so.
To most, the reason looked obvious: the Cavaliers did not want to deal with a potential matchup against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, and with the Chicago Bulls taking the Knicks to overtime, that was a real possibility. The Cavaliers were giving up on any chance of the No. 3 seed and a matchup with the Indiana Pacers by losing, but apparently felt that was a risk worth taking to guarantee not facing the 76ers.
As it turned out, the Knicks played their starters and beat the Bulls in overtime, so the Cavaliers never would have had to face the 76ers. Had they closed out their game against Charlotte, they would have gotten the Pacers in the first round. Moreover, they would have avoided a potential second-round matchup with the top-seeded Boston Celtics, a possibility that is now firmly on the table.
Bickerstaff claimed after the game that he had always planned on resting his starters in the fourth quarter no matter what, though he added he was aware of the other scores around the league.
#Cavs J.B. Bickerstaff said they were aware of what was going on around the league in terms of standings but felt the safety of the guys was more important and didn't want to bring them back out in the fourth after shutting them down, so they stuck with the plan.
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) April 14, 2024
That justification was not enough for many, who called out the Cavaliers for their strategy. Some felt Cleveland’s decision was cowardly and suggested a lack of faith in the team’s ability to make a deep playoff run, while others were critical that the decision set them up for a meeting with Boston much earlier in the playoffs.
The Cavs could have played Indiana R1, had home court in R2 and avoided Boston until the ECF. Instead, they intentionally lost to Charlotte at home. Completely indefensible
— Mike Zavagno (@MZavagno11) April 14, 2024
The Cavs only care about winning one playoff series this season. That would be enough to sell progress. It doesn’t matter what the rest of the playoff bracket looks like for them.
— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) April 14, 2024
The Cavs intentionally losing for a matchup they prefer better tells you everything you need to know about what they think of themselves.
Pretty embarrassing. Whew.
— Grant Puskar (@grant_puskar_) April 14, 2024
One could argue that the Cavaliers could not have known the Knicks were going to win, or that they would likely have to face the Celtics in the playoffs at some point no matter what. The team has taken a calculated risk, but it could certainly backfire, especially since Bickerstaff may need a deep playoff run in order to keep his job.
