Wrapping up the Cleveland Cavaliers Regular Season and Marching Onward

If you think the eight seeded Cleveland Cavaliers (44-38) are going to be an easy out during the NBA postseason playoffs then think again. In essence, the Cavs shut the door on the Milwaukee Bucks yet again winning their final regular-season matchup at the Rocket Mortgage Field House, 133-115. The contributions came from Kevin Love, who netted 32 points and 10 boards. Lauri Markkanen tallied 23 points, seven rebounds. Evan Mobley had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Cedi Osman collected 15 points and Darius Garland posted up 11.

For the Bucks, Sandro Mamukelashvili notched 28 points, 13 rebounds, going 10-18 at the field. Thanasis Antetokounmpo garnered 27 points, Jordan Nwora (24 points), (10 boards), Lindell Wigginton got 18 points and eight assists. Rayjon Tucker finished with (15). Cleveland is a rebounding machine as they totaled up 48 boards, shared the rock with 39 assists, 19 threes executed and 12 free throws at the charity stripe converted. Cleveland has won three straight head-to-head meetings against Milwaukee with three triple-digit tallies, 119, 115 and 133 for 367 points overall.

Meanwhile, the Bucks had extreme difficulty behind the arch and went 12-30. Milwaukee’s strengths were attacking the glass with 41 rebounds and 25-32 at the free-throw line.

With all of this being said, the NBA regular season has concluded. Furthermore, in seven games of October, the Cavs went 3-4 and saw the presence of Terry Rozier, Gordan Hayward, Jerami Grant, Blake Griffin, Tobias Harris, Ben Simmons, Julius Randle, Domantas Sabonis, De’Andre Hunter, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic.

Starting in the month of November, Cleveland connected on a four-game winning streak and propelled the one hundred mark every time. An overall total of 448 points right away, but the Cavs re-shaped their record to an 8-6 mark. As the winter season commenced, Cleveland improved to 9-6 in December.

Could the Cavaliers do better in January? They have done that and more going 11-4. During February, the Cavs went back down to earth going 5-5 and reeled in March at 6-10. However, to close out a short April season Cleveland finished on a productive note and their record was 2-3 knocking off last year’s NBA Champion Bucks.

Speaking of numbers, the Cavaliers from October-April: 718, 1,457, 1,702, 1,571, 1,055, 1,754, and 582 for a grand total of 8,839 points of compelling offense.

Now, Cleveland has their work cut out for them as the seventh-ranked Brooklyn Nets (44-38) Tuesday night April 12th for a 7:00 pm tip-off at the Barclays Center. In the last meeting on April 8th on Brooklyn’s hardwood, the hometown Nets, 118-107. Yes, the Cavs won their last bout against the four-game winning streak Nets, 114-107.

What can you expect from this battle on Tuesday night?

● That Kevin Durant (36 points in the last meeting) is a nightmare matchup for anyone to go up against.

● Bruce Brown, Kyrie Irving, Andre Drummond, Patty Mills and Seth Curry are all scrappy players, who will fulfill their roles, and give the Cavaliers everything they have.

● Can Kevin Love distribute the ball and put up another 30 point effort; crash the boards at will?

● How about the prowess of Darius Garland? 21.7 points per game master and the leadership skills of Evan Mobley are essential to get the W?

● The unsung heroes of Lauri Markkanen, and Cedi Osman need to come up enormous.

● I would like to see Isaac Okoro and Rajon Rondo rise more to the occasion.

● Cleveland must get to the paint, beat the Nets in the glass battle, force themselves to the bonus, win the free-throw battle and drive to the basket. Hitting those bunnies, and forcing contact on dunks and layups could result in fast-breaking runs the Cavs will certainly need to combat their previous loss.

● Time of possession will be imperative for Cleveland to spread out the floor and stop Brooklyn from getting open shots.

Therefore, this is a 0-0 season as deja vu strikes again for all Cleveland fans. It’s win or go home! The Cavs will be a very tough out for any opponent to deal with.

Will the Cavs survive the play in? Or, is Brooklyn going to wrap up the postseason for the visiting squad?

Tune in to find out for all of the exciting NBA coverage as Cleveland will be rocking and hopefully rolling on!