Unsatisfied, but grateful: Cavs open up on tough road back to playoffs

The Cleveland Cavaliers can finally say they are headed to theNBA Playoffs.

On Sunday evening, the organization officially punched itsticket to the postseason for the first time in five years. As hasbeen said repeatedly, and rightfully so, it’s also the first timethe Cavs have accomplished such a feat without LeBron James in 25years.

“I think organizationally this is a big deal to come from wherewe came from and every year continue to take steps in the rightdirection, in a positive direction. All the hard work that peoplein this organization have put in to help get us here should beacknowledged,” Cleveland head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said,following up with the phrase “from the top down.”

Before going into his players, he offered praise for Cavspresident Koby Altman, general manager Mike Gansey and the frontoffice, then once more for the training staff and strength andconditioning groups. He later thanked Cleveland’s chairman DanGilbert.

“Obviously, our guys have bought into something bigger thanthemselves. It's unique for a young team to do that at such a rapidpace. Typically, young guys are so worried about figuring outthemselves that the team is secondary. We've got a bunch of guyswhere the team is the primary thing and the only thing. Andwhatever individual awards, rewards, glory, (it) all comes becauseof the team's success, and our guys have bought in and committed tothat. This is something that has been done as a collective.

“And again, we told the guys to enjoy this, but we ain't doneyet. And I think that's the mindset we’ve got to continue to have.We're still on the road of this process, and we’ve got to keeptaking it step by step until we get to where we want to be.”

For Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Lamar Stevens, Dean Wade andDylan Windler, all of whom have been with the organization for atleast three full years (Garland four), it will be their first timetasting the playoff stage. The same goes for Evan Mobley, who’sonly in his second season.

“It means a lot. I mean, [clinching] first playoffs feels good.Excited to play. We still got work to do,” Mobley echoed inagreement with Bickerstaff.

It’s been two years, two months and one week since Jarrett Allenfirst put on his wine-and-gold jersey. Plagued by injuries,inconsistencies and inexperience, that 2020-21 version of the teamfinished with a 22-50 record. So, coming from that, a Play-InTournament appearance that came up empty last year and seeing wherethe group is now, it’s not surprising that he took some time tosmell the roses for one night.

“I think we're able to take a moment to celebrate. This isdefinitely a big thing for the Cavaliers and for all of us. Noteverybody has made it to the playoffs, so we're taking a moment incelebration, but [then] it's time to get back to work,” Allensaid.

"Not everyone gets that shot," Mobley added. "Not everyone getson teams and have team camaraderie like we do, how we playtogether, everything. So it feels good. We've just got to keep thatgoing."

Allen made sure to credit Altman and his former teammate LauriMarkkanen for helping establish big ball, which has evolved intojust him and his partner Mobley holding down the fort.

“The first year I got traded here, it was rough. We didn't havemuch to play towards the end of the season and then traded forLauri and then just a lot of things were getting put into place,”said Allen, who also shouted out Kevin Love as being anotherbig-man building block.

“Koby in the front office did a good job to help motivate us, sothat we know we have more to play for. And then, year after or thatyear went on and didn't end it how we wanted to, saying we left alot on the table. How many times you heard that? But finally thisyear, we finally are taking everything off the table.”

(Note: It’s also hard not to think of Collin Sexton, who was thefirst Cavs rookie post-LeBron and worked his way to being one ofthe top young scoring guards in the NBA. Cleveland doesn’t haveDonovan Mitchell to accelerate the process if not for Sexton, whowas a crucial part of that trade with the Utah Jazz.)

Having been there from the true beginning of Cleveland’srenaissance in the 2019-20 season, Garland shared the samesentiments.

“It was really tough,” Garland told Cleveland.com on Sunday.“I’m lowkey speechless because I’ve been here for the longest andI’ve seen it from the mud. It’s great to be here now. It’s a stepin the right direction. But not done yet.”

Basketball News asked Allen in particular what it took for theCavs to grow and get over the hump as a franchise.

“Confidence that we can do it. I think that's a big thing inthis league. Confidence that you can play with the top teams,confidence that you can beat the teams and make it to theplayoffs,” Allen said. “It’s bad to say, but I'm going to say itanyway — there's a lot of teams that don't have the confidence, butevery team has very talented guys that can be one of those topplayers. That's what I believe. Every team has talented players.It's just playing as a team, understanding that you can do ittogether.”

Unlike the rest of his teammates, Mitchell has not missed theplayoffs even once in his career. From his rookie campaign untilnow, with the Jazz and now the Cavs, he’ll have appeared in sixconsecutive postseasons.

“You know, you want to appreciate every step along the way. It'sdefinitely a blessing. I don't want to downplay the moment, but inthe same token, and I told the guys in there — this is what youjust come to expect,” Mitchell said. “You made your first one.Appreciate and enjoy it. Celebrate it for the city, for theorganization, for your individual guys who have made it.

“But in the same token, the three seed’s in play — that's thegoal. That's the focus. And we should come to a point now wherethat's expected of us making the playoffs and continuously beinghere and continuously pushing forward.”

Cleveland currently is seated in the fourth spot in the EasternConference with a five-game lead on the New York Knicks, who theteam will host on Friday evening. The Cavs have also crept to justone-and-a-half games back of the No. 3 seed Philadelphia 76ers, whoall of a sudden have a couple of minor injuries to major playersand will have to face competition still fighting for positioningand/or a way into the mix. And even after that is settled, thereare higher aspirations.

“We got six more games to play. We're not a finished product.And just the question about where we started, we've got biggerplaces to go and this is a start for us to be able to clinch aplayoff spot. But as we think about this and as we put this teamtogether, we all have one end goal, and those end goals don't comeand happen overnight,” Bickerstaff said. “So we've got to continueto get better. We've got to continue to grow. Coaches, players,everybody has to continue, and that's why we say it's, we're not afinished product.”

“I think we can beat anybody,” Garland told Cleveland.com. “That’s howgood we are. I’m ready for a long postseason.”

Mitchell is impressed with his younger teammates’ mindset ofwanting more than just being there. He brought up his rookie seasonin Utah where an underdog Jazz squad rallied from a 17-26 record tounexpectedly earn a playoff berth.

To him, in Cleveland, this was the expectation.

“I think the mindset, honestly is just like, ‘Alright, it's justa step.’ One step to feel like we're not satisfied,” Mitchell said.“Understanding that we have a bigger goal at stake, not just makingthe playoffs, not just winning a first round, second round, thirdround. Making it all the way, it's going to be tough. There's goingto be guys teams that have a lot of experience and have been there,but I think we're up for that challenge. We have that hunger."All that's talked about is our experience. But we have that hungerand you see it with this group, and on a night-to-night basis,continuing to prepare and continue to play all the way untilJune.”