The Cleveland Cavaliers had the second-most wins in the 2024-25 NBA regular season.
However, they failed to show some teeth when it mattered most, and the Indiana Pacers took care of them in the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
Notably, that’s why Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report named the Cavs as one of the “biggest losers” of the postseason.
“While they certainly deserve a bit of leeway for the aforementioned injuries (Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter were all banged up by the end of the run), it’s hard to emerge from this postseason without feeling like the Cavs were one of its bigger disappointments,” Bailey wrote. “At least through that series, there were plenty of indications that this was (or at least should’ve been) a real title contender, but it was dispatched by the Pacers in just five games. And it feels like Cleveland barely left an imprint on the postseason.”
Banged up or not, everybody has to step up in the playoffs, and it wasn’t a matter of talent or skill, it was all about execution and determination.
The Cavs just needed to box out to secure a win in Game 2 before Tyrese Haliburton’s game-winner.
They also could’ve won Game 3 if they had held their ground and executed down the stretch.
The series could’ve been entirely different, and though the Pacers clearly deserve all the credit in the world for what they’ve done this postseason, it wasn’t a good look for Kenny Atkinson’s team.
Granted, anybody can lose in the playoffs. What no team can afford, however, is to look manhandled or outworked.
There can be better players, deeper rosters, better coaches and luckier teams.
What cannot exist is a team that seems to want it less, and the Cavaliers have that problem too often.
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