CLEVELAND, Ohio – The situation right now tells an interesting story. Cleveland is in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Two games behind Boston, one game behind New York and seven games behind the first-place Detroit Pistons. But the next six games? They have the power to rewrite that entire picture.
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On the latest episode of the Wine & Gold Talk podcast, host Ethan Sands and cleveland.com Cavs beat reporter Chris Fedor discuss why the upcoming showdown against the Knicks, Bucks, Pistons, Nets and Celtics is the most consequential sequence of games on Cleveland’s schedule.
“I think from a standing standpoint, Ethan, I think the next six games will determine whether the Cavs can get to a two seed or a one seed,” Fedor said on the podcast. “But if the Cavs don’t handle this stretch very well, I think it’s going to be strong that they’ll just hang around in the four to five spots for the rest of the season.”
The difference between a 2-seed and a 5-seed in a tight Eastern Conference bracket could be the difference between a favorable first-round matchup and a brutal matchup. Home-court advantage in close series. motion. The lower you move the bracket, the less chance of error.
But the standings conversation is almost secondary to what these six games will reveal about this version of the Cavaliers.
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Consider the resume of the James Harden era so far. signature win? A road win in Denver – against a Nuggets team that was missing key components and playing well below their expectations. beyond that? Brooklyn. Sacramento. Charlotte. The Cavs had to handle opponents. The training wheels are officially off.
And this challenge could not come at a more dangerous time.
Each opponent in this area is specifically designed to exploit Cleveland’s most glaring flaw. The Cavs are 24th in defensive rebound percentage. Boston, Detroit and New York all rank among the NBA’s top seven offensive rebounding teams.
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Fedor clarified the playoff threat on the podcast: “So if we talk about some potential obstacles, some real legitimate Eastern Conference threats, for the Cavs to get to the NBA Finals, who are we talking about? We’re talking about New York. We’re probably talking about Philadelphia. We’re probably talking about the Boston Celtics. So, like all the teams that are threats to the Cavs, they The Cavs have been able to take advantage of this problem.”
And then there’s the reality of chemistry. An area that is ignored in all statistical analyses.
Sands said, “This Cavs team still has the same practice throughout the entire James Harden era. James Harden talked about it a few games ago, they have to use these games as practice. Obviously, it was helpful to go against some less quality opponents to get those lessons. Now that kind of ramps up.”
Using games as practice is manageable against the Hornets. It’s something else entirely when the opponent is a Knicks team with playoff fury, a Celtics team with championship DNA, or a Pistons group designed to physically destroy you for four quarters.
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The answers – good or bad – will start coming this week. See every detail on Wine & Gold Talk.
Here’s this week’s podcast:
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