After a regular season of ups and downs, the Cavaliers ended their campaign in 4th place in the Eastern Conference. Like last season, they will therefore have home field advantage for the first round of the playoffs. This time, they will not meet the Knicks, but the Magic of Paolo Banchero with the desire to do better than last year. And to help them do better, they can count on a choice recruit, Max Strus.
The guard/winger participated in the Heat's historic journey last season, and he intends to share his experience as an NBA finalist.
“I hope my experience and knowledge can help us make a long run in the playoffs”, says Max Strus. “I've been through a lot, I've seen a lot, and I've had a lot of experiences. I hope I can be a mental strength in the locker room. Make them understand that we shouldn't get carried away or get down on ourselves during the playoffs, and just try to help this team achieve our goals. »
Another way to play
The “postseason” is above all a different style of play. With best-of-seven-game series, defenses and attacks adjust.
A defeat has much more impact than in the regular season, and the smallest detail or adjustment matters.
“We prepare our game plan. We adjust to their way of playing and we decide what we are going to do. We will be ready and prepared for Saturday,” assures the Cavaliers player. “We learned a lot from the first match. The way of playing, what adjustments…. The guys will discover ways to score points, how to defend on them. So the first game says a lot, but we will be ready. »
But the former Heat player also recalls that “basketball in the playoffs is special”. Every professional player dreams of experiencing this. “There is no such thing. Every possession counts. Not that that isn’t the case in the regular season. It's just that it's increasing a bit. We live for that in the NBA, to compete at a level like this and play in big games. »
If the Cavaliers want to have a long playoff campaign and if Donovan Mitchell wants to climb further in the hierarchy of NBA players, they will have to take a step forward. The Cavs already have a little experience with the defeat against the Knicks. But the addition of Max Strus and Georges Niang could bring a little more experience in the “postseason”.
