A first-round playoff loss appears to be haunting Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland well into the offseason.
It wasn’t just that the Cavs lost to the Knicks in five games — but how they lost. They were overmatched, overpowered, and for the most part, looked overly lost.
Not necessarily a huge surprise, given that Garland was a playoff rookie. So was forward Evan Mobley and a few others. A few more were severely inexperienced.
But Garland suggested that it can all be part of the learning process.
“I’ve been watching a lot of film of it this summer. Just trying to find ways to improve for next year. But now we’ve seen the playoffs,” Garland told Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com in a phone interview from the Basketball Without Borders Africa event. “For a lot of guys, it was our first time in the playoffs, so just getting that playoff experience made us better I think and made us hungrier.
“Even though we had a good year, I think we can trend up another notch this year and see what’s to come.”
Cleveland finished 51-31 last season, good enough for second in the Central Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference. They added key pieces in guard/forward Max Strus, who is coming off a run to the Finals with the Heat, and forward Georges Niang, formerly of the 76ers.
Along with that, core pieces such as Garland, Mobley, star guard Donovan Mitchell, center Jarrett Allen and small forward Caris LeVert all return for coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
Basically, all the Cavs really seem to need is a tougher mindset.
“We have to be more physical,” Garland told Fedor. “I think (the Knicks’) physicality took a toll on us in that series. They beat us up. We now know how physical the game is in the playoffs and we know how fast the pace is and every possession matters.
“Just taking little bits and pieces of that series and trying to put it together for the regular season and then also carry that into the playoffs.”
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