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Dan Gilbert is back. “Significantly… absolutely, Dan is heavily involved,” said ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. Good. Because he has a lot to sort out. It may be hyperbolic, but the Cavs lead decision maker, head coach, franchise’s best player and most of its core are in limbo. This despite making the second round of the Eastern Conference Finals and attaining the 4th seed in the East in back-to-back years. The build back has been good. It’s hard to win in the NBA and by post-superstar standards, the Cavs have done it about as well and as quick as any franchise in recent memory (see New York after Carmelo Anthony, Minnesota after Kevin Garnett, Oklahoma City after Kevin Durant). But, that may not be good enough for Donovan Mitchell. The...

It’s over. What’s over depends on your view of the situation. For some it could be just the playoffs. For others it could be the era (of an any number of Cavalier figures). For some it could be the misery of seeing their favorite team march to a certain end. Whatever it is, the Cavs managed one win against the Easter Conference kings. There might be an asterisk next to this game, and series, given the serious injury woes the Cavs were up against. So, suppose it’s only fitting the starting lineup was Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Max Strus, Dean Wade and Evan Mobley. That’s not what this team entered training camp expecting. And despite all that, the Cavs battled and hung in there all game long. The first turned out to be a back-and-forth...

The storyline for much of the year (undermanned, outgunned but still competitive) played out in real time on gameday. While Jarrett Allen remained out, Donovan Mitchell was a new addition to the injury report. As the day wore on, the whispers got louder and no #LetEmKnow tweet only confirmed the obvious: No Mitchell in a pivotable Game 4. The Cavs have struggled to be whole and be consistent the entire year so it’s only fitting it came in one of the biggest games of the year. If anything, the Cavs have been consistently inconsistent and hard to pin down. With the pre-game news setting the tone for an uphill battle, seeing the Cavs come out undeterred with a Cavalanche to get the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse rocking was a sight for sore...

Oftentimes there’s not a wide gap between good teams and very good teams. Except, very good teams can minimize mistakes and are able to put their imprint on the game in one or two meaningful stretches. The Cavs saw that firsthand. From the start, it looked like this game may go down to the wire. However, a stretch in the second and third quarter ensured that wouldn’t be the case. Playoff series are like a chess match with coaches adjusting based on playing the same team up to seven times over a two week stretch. The question with JB Bickerstaff has been: Can he win that battle? Joe Mazzulla made the first noticeable adjustment, that turned out to matter a lot. He put Jayson Tatum on Evan Mobley, and Al Horford on Isaac Okoro. This...

Well, we have a series. They say a series doesn’t start until a team wins on the road, and the Cavs did just that. It was quite the way for JB Bickerstaff to earn his first playoff road win as well as the first time the Cavs scored 100+ points in a road playoff game but here we are. There’s not likely to be too many games where the Cavs hold the Celtics under 100 points and outshoot them from the perimeter, but it clearly made a difference. The Celtics haven’t scored less than 100 in a month, and 94 points was the second fewest they scored all year. It didn’t start out looking like an eventual Cavaliers 20+ win. The Celtics came out on a 9-2 run with Jayson Tatum getting to the line and Al Horford scoring points like it was 2016. The...

Jig and Rch jump into the studio before the start of the Eastern Conference Semifinals with Boston to discuss: Breaking down the gauntlet that was the 7 game series with Orlando Donovan's leadership Caris, Strus & Merrill Darius Garland leaning on Donovan Mobley's impact on the series Preview of the Boston series Call in and shoot your shot with a :24 second take to be part of the next show 216-282-6289 or join the conversation by creating a profile, reading the rules and adding to the best NBA fan forum online at ⁠⁠RealCavsFans.com YouTube Spotify https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rubber-rim-job/episodes/Episode-3-15-Cavs-Survive-and-Advance-e2jcd2j

There’s an argument of rest versus rust when it comes to a team coming off a competitive series and one lying in wait. That may be a valid argument for another time, but Game 1 looked like an argument of better versus best. No Kristaps Porzingis, no rust, no issue for the Boston Celtics. The Cavs had a streak but at no point did they consistently look like the better team. The Celtics are good. We knew this coming in, and we knew this with the Cavs missed two rotational players. However, we thought there would be a little bit more of a game then it ended up being. The fourth quarter was relatively noncompetitive, and the white flag was waived the final five minutes of the game. Sigh. JB Bickerstaff’s opponent remains undefeated when the...