NBA: Cavaliers confident despite quick playoff exit

Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and J.B. Bickerstaff check on Darius Garland #10 after he fell to the floor while fouling out of the game during the fourth quarter of Game Five of the Eastern Conference First Round Playoffs against the New York Knicks at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on April 26, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio.  Kirk Irwin/Getty Images/AFP

Despite an early exit from the NBA playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers are confident they are on the way back to becoming a title contender for the first time since the departure of LeBron James.

Koby Altman, the Cavaliers’ president of basketball operations, said Friday the team won’t be making major adjustments after being eliminated from the NBA playoffs by the New York Knicks on Wednesday.

“There’s no sweeping changes. No one is going to panic off this first-round loss,” Altman said.

“We can be both disappointed about our playoff results and at the same time largely excited about our future.”

The Cavaliers went 51-31 and made their first playoff appearance since James departed for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018 but lost their best-of-seven series to New York in five games.

“We accomplished a lot this year and really put this franchise back on the map,” Altman said. “The 51 wins from a hyper-competitive NBA, there’s a lot to learn from that as well.”

The Cavaliers, who reached the NBA Finals five times with James and won the NBA title in 2016, have not won a playoff series without James since 1993.

Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers waves to the crowd during the fourth quarter of Game Two of the Eastern Conference First Round Playoffs against the New York Knicks at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on April 18, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio.  Jason Miller/Getty Images/AFP

Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 28.3 points a game and added 4.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists a contest while Darius Garland had 21.6 points and a team-high 7.8 assists a game and Jarrett Allen grabbed 9.8 rebounds a game, 12th-best in the NBA.

The Cavaliers, who have improved their record every year since James left for the Lakers, came up short but learned a great deal from a playoff debut together, Altman said.

“The pain and agony we’ve felt the last couple days is part of it and we will get better for it, but it doesn’t change how we feel about this group. Incredibly proud,” said Altman.

“We didn’t play our best. But a lot of it was unknown, a lot of it we had to play our way through.

“There’s internal growth that’s going to come as a result of that experience… we’ll be better for what we’ve gone through.”

Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who had prior head coaching stints at Houston and Memphis, is 122-125 in just over three seasons since taking over the Cavaliers in 2020 after John Beilein resigned.

“J.B. has been through this rebuild from the ground up and he has done a phenomenal job instilling a culture here of accountability and hard work,” Altman said.

“You can’t fluke your way into 51 wins and you can’t fluke your way into the No. 1 defensive rating in the NBA. That’s coaching. I know we have great defensive personnel, but you have to have buy-in from that and that comes from the head coach.

“We’re extremely happy with J.B. and the job he has done.”