Why the Cavaliers Are Done Playing the Seeding Game in the East

Back in 2024, the Cleveland Cavaliers sat out players in their final regular-season game to secure the four seed and face the Orlando Magic in the first round of the NBA playoffs. The plan kinda worked for Cleveland, as they did advance to the second round after a tough seven-game battle against the Magic. Boston took care of Cleveland in five games in the next round, so that plan didn’t work, but the Pacers, whom they were trying to avoid, did run through the bottom half of the East and found themselves in the Conference Finals.

Fast forward to today, and Cleveland finds themselves in a very similar situation. They trail the Knicks by a half-game and a tie-breaker for the three seed. If you put truth serum in the veins of the Cavs and Knicks, I’m sure both teams would rather be the four seed and face the Pistons in a projected second-round matchup.

Boston is loaded with star talent and guys who have won playoff games before. Detroit has had a tremendous season, but with Cade Cunningham just now returning from a collapsed lung and the lack of a second superstar, Boston is simply a tougher draw in the playoffs. Jalen Duren has been great for the Pistons this year, but he’s not nearly as valuable as any of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, or Derrick White.

Cleveland is projected to play the Hawks in the first round if nothing changes, and that’s a team they match up well with. They lack physical interior play that Cleveland struggles with, and that showed in Wednesday's face off between the two squads.

Will teams battle for the No. 3 seed?

Honestly, I expected Cleveland to rest most of their guys in this one. The Cavs have been battling small injuries all season long, and it felt like a great time to rest their guys; however, they decided to change the culture. Cleveland played their core four of Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, and looked very solid in a playoff-like atmosphere.

This new core has played only 64 minutes together this season; they need all the reps they can get before the end of the year. Worrying about your seeding is something that bad teams do. When you’re in the playoffs, you have to beat whoever’s in front of you. Worrying about seeding when you’ll have to face great teams regardless is a loser's mentality.

Between the media calling Allen and Mobley soft, and them also languishing in Harden’s playoff failures, this team has enough working against them. It’s good to see them putting their heads down and letting the cards fall as they may.