The Cleveland Cavaliers secured a postseason berth on Thursday night, defeating the injury-depleted Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
Donovan Mitchell scored a team-high 25 points, while Max Strus added 24. Every Cleveland starter reached double figures, and frontcourt tandem Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen each finished with a double-double.
Golden State stayed close behind matching 25-point efforts from Gui Santos and Brandin Podziemski, but the hosts fell short down the stretch.
The win lifted Cleveland to 48-29, solidifying the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. Detroit (56-21), Boston (51-25) and New York (49-28) had already locked up playoff positions.
Cleveland entered last year’s postseason as the East’s top seed after a 64-18 campaign but exited in the second round to Indiana. The current season has been less consistent; the club sat only 22-19 at midseason before posting a 26-10 mark over its past 36 games. Players have cited the acquisition of James Harden before February’s trade deadline as a spark for the recent surge.
All six Eastern Conference postseason teams are known, though seeding remains unsettled. Atlanta, at 44-33, holds the inside track on the No. 5 spot and an automatic playoff berth ahead of the play-in tournament.
Source: Hoops Rumors
