Cleveland Cavaliers 2025 NBA Playoffs Picture: Dissecting potential first-round matchups, key stats and more
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been at the top of the Eastern Conference all season and are sprinting to finish the season with the most victories in franchise history since the 2008-2009 season when LeBron James took home his first of four MVP awards. However, they aim to do better than that team did, motivated by championship dreams.
The Cavaliers are a balanced team, but the addition of new Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson has opened up the offense. The Cavs are the league's best-scoring team at 122.4 points per game, with 24.0 ppg from Donovan Mitchell. Jarret Allen and Evan Mobley anchor the defense, which ranks 11th in the NBA.
Cleveland has already secured the No.1 seed in the Eastern Conference with a five-game lead over the Boston Celtics with five games left. Mitchell and the team have had dominant stretches throughout the season, with two 15-game winning streaks. They have also gone 16-7 against the top seven teams in the East behind them in the standings.
Defining Statistic: Shooting efficiency
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been one of the league's top-scoring teams since the beginning of the season, but they do not have a single player within the top 15 in the league in scoring average. Donovan Mitchell leads with 24.0 ppg; however, they employ a balanced attack, with six players averaging double-digits, mainly because of their efficient shooting.
Cleveland ranks second in efficiency from the two and 3-point range at 49.3% and 38.3%. Eight players on the roster average better than 35.0% from beyond the arc despite the team shooting the fourth-most in the league. Part of its improved shooting is the quality of looks it gets thanks to Kenny Atkinson's offensive system, but the team has also been hyper-efficient.
On the interior, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley rank in the top 12 in field goal percentage, with Allen pacing the league at 71.0%. The Cavaliers' "Big Four" is composed of two guards and two bigs, all with All-Star appearances under their belts, which will allow the team to have a dynamic pick-and-roll duo on the floor for the entirety of their playoff run, spaced out by shooters.
Playoff X-factor: Evan Mobley
In their second-round playoff series last season against the Boston Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers were outgunned without a fully healthy Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen for the majority of the campaign. Despite that, they were able to capture Game 2, thanks largely to the aggressiveness of Evan Mobley and Mitchell's solid performance.
Kenny Atkinson's arguably biggest accomplishment this season has been his ability to unlock Mobley, both as a 3-point specialist and an all-around player. He is enjoying a career year as a scorer and has also become a playmaker, using his positional size to create for his teammates and operate in transition.
The peak form for Mobley might be something similar to what Giannis Antetokounmpo is for the Milwaukee Bucks. If he can maintain his aggressive mindset in the postseason, he presents matchup issues to whoever Cleveland faces in the first round.
Potential first-round matchups for the Cleveland Cavaliers
As the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers could end up playing any of the four teams that will participate in the play-in tournament. With less than 10 games left to play in the season and the seventh-seed Orlando Magic five games ahead of the sixth-seed Milwaukee Bucks, the Eastern Conference play-in invitees appear secure.
The Cavaliers will be the overwhelming favorites no matter who they face in the first round, but of all the play-in teams, the one that could give them the biggest problems is the Magic. Cleveland took the season series against Paolo Banchero and Co. 2-1 this season; however, the two teams went to a Game 7 last season in their first-round series.
While they have had their ups and downs throughout this season, Orlando has shown flashes that are better than last year's team. While it could challenge the Cavaliers defensively, the Magic's offense has been one of the worst in the NBA. Unless Banchero or Franz Wagner are in store for a career showing in the playoffs, the Cavaliers will have an easy road through at least the first round.