INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The Cleveland Cavaliers tip off the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs on Sunday, and while they don't know who they'll be playing just yet—waiting to see if it will be the Atlanta Hawks or Miami Heat coming out of the Play-In Tournmanet in the No. 8 seed—the work to prepare has begun.
The Cavs held a light walk-through session on Wednesday, getting two full days of rest from the regular season finale on Sunday.
On Thursday, when the Cavs ramped up their practice activity for a full day of work, they had all of their players out on the court, including star guard Donovan Mitchell, who missed the last four games of the regular season with an ankle sprain.
Head coach Kenny Atkinson said Mitchell was 100%.
"Everybody healthy," Atkinson said. "We did some live stuff today. [Mitchell] was full go. No restrictions, no take him out of practice, none of that...the most important thing getting ready for these playoffs is going into it healthy."
While health is important, so is chemistry and camaraderie. The Cavs have harped all season about their efforts to foster bonds within the team, knowing how important that is not only for regular season success but for a deep playoff run.
"The camaraderie is going to be something big. It's one of those things where you don't want people to take things to heart, and I feel like if we weren't as close as we are as a team, things, difficult things to say to each other, wouldn't go as well," center Jarrett Allen explained.
Allen said communication is key. They plan to use their bonds to help the communication flourish. But they also plan to use chemistry to help them navigate the adversity and tough realities of the playoffs.
Atkinson said that he thinks it will help most in playoff minutes and adjustments to lineups and rotations.
"You know where that helps—because there's gonna be games where someone doesn't finish the game that normally finishes, someone that normally starts doesn't start. So now, when you start getting those shifts and rolls and playoff minutes and all that, I think the tighter the group is, the more they vibe, the more they communicate. And I'm not saying it's going to be perfect and everyone's going to be happy and none of that phony stuff, I think it's going to be more, 'We can talk about this, we can communicate,'" Atkinson said.
Whoever the Cavs end up with, be it the Heat or the Hawks, they're entering their prep healthy and confident. There's a shared goal that they want to achieve and they are gearing up to lean on each other to do it.
Because, in the words of Cavs guard Darius Garland, they "vibe."
"I love the Darius Garland quote, the first time I met him I said, 'Tell me about this group.' And he said, 'Man, we vibe. We vibe...' Now I see what he means," Atkinson said. "And I think I vibe with them. We have that open communication. They feel like they can come to me with anything, I feel like I can come to them with anything. So that helps you through the tough moments."
