Cavs with NBA playoff experience offer advice, warnings
- The Cavaliers’ regular contributors actually have more combined NBA playoff appearances than their counterparts representing the New York Knicks, who will face Cleveland in the first round
- At the same time, three Cavs starters and two key reserves have never played in the postseason, so they’re leaning on veteran teammates for advice
- The Cavs players who know what the playoffs are all about explain why they believe Cleveland’s style will favor it when the games matter most
Three-time NBA champion Danny Green could share advice for days with his younger Cavaliers teammates who have yet to taste the playoffs at professional basketball’s highest level.
Green also could just tell them to study James Bond, Batman, Ethan Hunt or any number of other Hollywood heroes.
“It’s coming down to the end of an action movie where the guy has to get to a bomb and has to get it before the five seconds is up. Every detailed thing that he did to stop something bad from happening in the action movie is like every possession on the basketball court,” Green told the Beacon Journal.
The analogy will become more relatable to several members of the Cavaliers in a couple of weeks.
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For the first time since 2018, the Cavs (50-30) will be back in the playoffs. It’s a privilege they have earned in J.B. Bickerstaff’s third full season as their head coach, and it’ll be the organization’s first postseason appearance without LeBron James since 1998.
Positioned to finish as the Eastern Conference’s fourth seed, the Cavs clinched home-court advantage for the first round Tuesday night with a 117-113 win over the Orlando Magic. They will open the postseason against the fifth-place New York Knicks (46-33).
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There is no way to replicate the playoffs, but Green is among several Cavs veterans who possess significant postseason experience and are attempting to brace the entire locker room for what lies ahead, including a clash with the Knicks, who went 3-1 in the regular season against Cleveland.
The Cavs hope to prove they can consistently defuse pressure-packed situations, and it’s been a hot topic behind the scenes.
“The coaches have their voice, but I think when you hear it from players, it’s a different voice,” said All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, who has scored at least 40 points in each of the past four games. “That’s nothing to take away from J.B. I think that’s just in every sport when you have guys who are the floor, who are talking to you, holding each other accountable, that goes a long way. Your parent can tell you to not touch the stove. But until you touch it, you won’t know the difference.”
