Well, Cleveland fans, your Cleveland Cavaliers are 2-0 in the playoffs thus far since the LeBron era, and I for one am ecstatic about it. Has the series been perfect thus far? No, not even close considering how hot this team was going into the All-Star break. There are still signs that this team is not performing to the level they were during that time of the 2023-2024 NBA season. Hence, the purpose of this article today: I will discuss the 3 major takeaways I have from the first 2 games of the Cavs-Magic series, both good and bad.

APOLOGIES TO JARRETT ALLEN

Jarrett Allen has been playing basketball like he has something to prove, and to many, he did. The Cavaliers have been labeled soft since losing to the gritty New York Knicks last season in the first round of the playoffs, in 5 games. Allen, the Cavs’ big man, got the brunt of the soft criticism as your center is perceived to be the gritty player on your team, fighting for rebounds and working the post. This season and more importantly, in game 2 of this Cavs-Magic series, Jarrett Allen has officially beaten the soft allegations, grabbing 20 rebounds in game 2 alone and playing an aggressive brand of basketball we have been waiting to see out of him.

THE CAVALIERS STILL HAVE CHEMISTRY ISSUES

Look, I know we are 2-0 in this series and have been up by 20+ multiple times throughout both games, but when facing a higher-seeded team like the Celtics, for example, the Cavaliers are going to have to gel like they did pre-All-Star Break to put up a fight. The Magic are a respectable team 100%, but they are young and you can make mistakes against them and still win the series. If you do win this series, the same will not be said when you face the higher-seeded teams in the East. Turnovers and miscommunication need to be at an all-time low for the Cavs to continue to win in the postseason.

EXTEND DONOVAN MITCHELL, YESTERDAY

This take is not exclusive to just the playoff series, but Donovan Mitchell is the face of this Cavaliers team and the team is better with him on the court. Donovan is averaging 27.7 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists over his career in the playoffs. Points-wise, he is top 10 in average points in the playoffs so the lights are not too bright for him to perform and it is only a matter of time if he sticks with this core that this team goes deep into the playoffs. Dan Gilbert needs to open up his wallet and pay Donovan whatever amount of money he asks for if this team is serious about winning and winning now.

As much as I want to act like this series is over, it is not. If the Magic manage to pull at least 1 win on their court, we have a series on our hands and anything can happen in games 5-7. I, for one, would like to see the Cavaliers lean into Jarrett Allen and Donovan Mitchell while looking for ways to also build on their chemistry moving forward to win this series and hopefully more in the NBA playoffs.