The NBA world reacted on social media amid speculation that the Cleveland Cavaliers intentionally lost their final game of the 2023-24 regular season to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday in order to face the Orlando Magic in the first round of the playoffs.
#Cavs played for the four seed and a matchup with Orlando.
— Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) April 14, 2024
The Cavaliers wanted nothing to do with Philadelphia or Miami.
Smart move.
— Billy Reinhardt (@BillyReinhardt) April 14, 2024
Cleveland is the 4 seed. Tristan Thompson was playing point guard today.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) April 14, 2024
They will say they wanted to make sure their guys are healthy.
But a win would have put them in 2-7 vs. Sixers/Heat. https://t.co/qf6RB9axMo
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) April 14, 2024
The Cavs only care about winning one playoff series this season. That would be enough to sell progress. It doesn’t matter what the rest of the playoff bracket looks like for them.
— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) April 14, 2024
RIP Cavs division tickets.
Loser move for a loser franchise.
— Brandon Anderson (@wheatonbrando) April 14, 2024
The Cleveland Cavaliers went out of their way to lose to the Charlotte Hornets, ensuring they will finish with the fourth seed.
Top of East now goes:
Milwaukee win – Bucks get 2 seed
Bucks-Knicks lose – Bucks get 2, Knicks 3
Knicks win, Bucks lose – Knicks get 2, Bucks 3— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) April 14, 2024
Yeah it's a WILD choice. https://t.co/9w47MIwC3h
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) April 14, 2024
Cavs and Bucks with loud statements that they want nothing to do with Philly possibly in Round 1. If I was Thibs I would pull the goalie and keep No. 3.
— Joe Cowley (@JCowleyHoops) April 14, 2024
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.
— Grant Puskar (@grant_puskar_) April 14, 2024
So had the Cavs not tanked today’s fourth quarter, they would have faced an easier first round opponent in Indiana AND avoided Boston until the Eastern Conference Finals. Legitimately indefensible. This franchise has major questions to answer.
— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) April 14, 2024
With playoff seeding on the line, the Cavaliers opted to sit arguably their two best players in Donovan Mitchell (left knee) and Darius Garland (back) despite the fact that both appeared in Cleveland’s game against the Indiana Pacers two days earlier.
The Cavaliers lost by a score of 120-110 to a Hornets team that had little to play for at this stage of the regular season. Charlotte was also without several of its top talents, as players like LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Brandon Miller and Grant Williams did not participate in the game.
Rookie guard Nick Smith Jr. scored a team-high 24 points on 9-of-20 shooting from the field and 6-of-11 shooting from 3-point range for the Hornets, while forward Georges Niang led the way for the Cavaliers from a scoring perspective with 16 points in about 23 minutes of playing time off the Cleveland bench.
The two teams that may have inspired the Cavaliers to take it easy against the Hornets — the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers — seemingly both have what it takes to make some noise in the playoffs. Cleveland’s loss on Sunday allowed the team to avoid the possibility of a first-round matchup against either of those teams.
The 76ers — led by big man Joel Embiid — have reached the second round of the playoffs in each of the past three seasons. As for the Heat, they are fresh off an appearance in the 2023 NBA Finals despite entering those playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Cavaliers, on the other hand, did not qualify for the 2022 playoffs and were eliminated by the New York Knicks in the first round of the 2023 playoffs.
Cleveland’s first-round opponent is now set in stone in light of its loss to the Hornets, as the team will have home-court advantage versus Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic.
