{"id":1910390,"date":"2026-04-30T10:30:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T07:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1910390"},"modified":"2026-04-30T10:30:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T07:30:04","slug":"cavaliers-show-positive-signs-in-come-from-behind-win-but-their-toughness-test-awaits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1910390","title":{"rendered":"Cavaliers show positive signs in come-from-behind win, but their toughness test awaits"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CLEVELAND \u2014 It\u2019s the stain this version of the Cleveland Cavaliers hasn\u2019t been able to scrub out since they were assembled. Changing coaches didn\u2019t cleanse it. Sweeping the Miami Heat last year in the first round certainly didn\u2019t remove it. No, the Cavs\u2019 toughness, both mentally and physically, has been questioned for years.<\/p>\n

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From Mitchell Robinson pushing around Jarrett Allen three years ago (and Allen acknowledging the lights were too bright) to coach Kenny Atkinson calling out his team\u2019s lack of mental rigidity following last year\u2019s stunning elimination by the Indiana Pacers in the second round, the criticisms have been hurled like slurs at a group of well-mannered nice guys who just aren\u2019t viewed as mean enough to win a street fight in the NBA playoffs.<\/p>\n

Atkinson believes Wednesday night\u2019s come-from-behind 125-120 win<\/a> against the Toronto Raptors in a pivotal Game 5 was a step in the right direction. I tend to question whether winning at home, in a game the Cavs were favored to win by nearly double figures, really counts as some show of gritty strength.<\/p>\n

That this series is going to a sixth game is an indictment of a far superior Cavs team that should be going home to rest up while waiting on their next opponent, not boarding another plane for another trip through customs.<\/p>\n

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The Raptors are running out of able bodies. Immanuel Quickley, their best 3-point shooter, hasn\u2019t played in this series and won\u2019t because of a hamstring injury. Brandon Ingram departed in the first half on Wednesday with a heel injury after playing just 11 minutes and did not return. He took only two shots (missed them both) and was again a non-factor. His status for Game 6 is to be determined. A.J. Lawson, who opened the year on a two-way contract, replaced Ingram and was so ineffective that he was yanked two minutes into the third quarter and never returned. The Raptors are down to just Scottie Barnes and R.J. Barrett for any consistent scoring, and even Barnes is limping around with a quadriceps issue.<\/p>\n

Yet the Cavs still trailed entering the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

If Atkinson wants to use this as a victory lap for mental toughness, so be it. You have to start somewhere. I\u2019d instead question how the Cavs could allow themselves to fall behind by a dozen at home early in the third quarter and get booed by their home fans against a less-talented, depleted team.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThese are high-pressure moments,\u201d Atkinson said. \u201cYou\u2019re down. You feel the crowd getting nervous. So I think we took a step tonight. Whatever happens in this series and all that, next series, whatever, tonight was a test. Kind of passed that mental toughness test tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sure. OK.<\/p>\n

An ugly win at home beats a devastating postseason loss every time, and make no mistake, losing this series would be a catastrophe to an organization with the game\u2019s highest payroll and so many major questions looming this summer. Certainly, there were positive signs.<\/p>\n

Evan Mobley was terrific in the fourth quarter after two dismal showings in Games 3 and 4 on the road, and Dennis Schr\u00f6der played the entire fourth quarter while shooting the Cavs to the series lead.<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Cavaliers<\/p>\n
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\n Cavaliers outlast bruised Raptors in gutsy Game 5 victory, take 3-2 series lead: takeaways\n <\/div>\n
\n The Raptors lost Brandon Ingram and cooled off from beyond in the arc in the second half.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Schr\u00f6der\u2019s hot hand allowed the Cavs to extend a slim fourth-quarter lead while Donovan Mitchell rested, a luxury he has rarely enjoyed. The five on the floor were so good that Mitchell told Atkinson to let them run when Atkinson tried putting him back in the game.<\/p>\n

But if the Cavs are going to contend for a championship over the next six weeks, the real mental strain will come when they have to rally from deficits on the road or win while facing elimination in front of a hostile crowd.<\/p>\n

Atkinson inserted Max Strus into the starting lineup and removed Dean Wade to help space the floor. Wade has been terrific in this series defensively, but he isn\u2019t feared on offense. Atkinson wanted the Raptors to play a bit more honestly on defense, rather than clogging the lane and taking away the Cavs\u2019 pick-and-roll actions. The flip side was that Toronto exposed mismatches and got to its spots relatively easily on offense, especially early.<\/p>\n

For the Raptors, extending this series to six games despite their personnel limitations is a credit to their grit and\u00a0toughness.<\/p>\n

For the Cavs to tough out this series and contend for a title, they\u2019re going to need to show more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND \u2014 It\u2019s the stain this version of the Cleveland Cavaliers hasn\u2019t been able to scrub out since they were assembled. Changing coaches didn\u2019t cleanse it. Sweeping the Miami Heat last year in the first round certainly didn\u2019t remove it. No, the Cavs\u2019 toughness, both mentally and physically, has been questioned for years. Advertisement From […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1910390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1910390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1910390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1910390\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1910390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1910390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1910390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}