If the Cavaliers were trying to lose on purpose Sunday, then they didn’t seem to be hiding it one bit.
The Cavaliers fell to the Hornets, 120-110, after pulling nearly their entire starting lineup — save for Max Staus — and tuning to their bench to finish out the season finale.
The eight-point lead that Cleveland possessed heading into the final quarter of the game evaporated, and the Hornets took control of the lead, resulting in the loss and Cleveland claiming the No. 4 seed in the playoffs.
The decision by Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff drew plenty of debate as to whether he purposefully tanked Sunday’s game in order to land the fourth seed in the playoffs and secure an easier first-round matchup in the Magic.
The Magic are in the playoffs for the first time in 2020 and only the third time since 2012.
For his part, Bickerstaff maintained postgame that the Cavaliers’ plan all along had been to give the bench players a chance to get some time on the court Sunday.
“We told the guys beforehand we wanted everybody to get an opportunity to play,” Bickerstaff said. “We had our plan in place of what we were gonna do with our guys. [The starters] were going to play those three quarters.”
However, some skeptics felt the decision was made based around the playoff seeding situation and in order to prevent themselves from having to potentially face the Joel Embiid-led 76ers in the first round.
Thanks to the Knicks and Bulls having gone to overtime, the Cavaliers could have very easily ended up facing the 76ers.
The Knicks eventually won in OT.
While the decision landed them the Magic in the first round, it set up a potential second-round matchup with the Celtics — an Eastern Conference juggernaut.
And possibly taking the risk of losing Sunday’s game eliminated the chance at the No. 3 seed and a first-round meeting with the Pacers and the chance to avoid the Celtics until the conference finals, if they even beat the Magic.
“Live time it’s difficult trying to get all that information,” Bickerstaff said in regards to the other games going on and the playoff seeding situation. “We were aware as some of that stuff was going on, but once we sat our guys at the end of the third quarter and they had the mindset that they weren’t going to go back in, I didn’t want to take any risks in putting them back in the game.”
Still, that won’t save the Cavs and Bickerstaff from the wrath of some NBA fans.
“The Cavs intentionally losing for a matchup they prefer better tells you everything you need to know about what they think of themselves. Pretty embarrassing. Whew,” one user on X wrote.
The NBA playoffs won’t begin until April 20 after the play-in tournament takes place to round out the final two spots in the postseason.
It will be the first time since the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals that the Magic and Cavaliers will face each another in the playoffs.
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