Cavaliers: Season ends in a thud with plenty of problems to fix

And so, from a season that, at its launching, had all kinds of exciting, electric possibilities, from a team that was not hard to believe in, led by a coach who seemed like the right choice at the time, with the right roster, a loyal fan base and, finally, the right karma ... and all we get is this: Knicks 130, Cavs 93? Seriously? Where is the payoff? Where are the trophies? When is the parade? Oh, yeah. That's right. There is no payoff. There are no trophies. There is no parade. This is Cleveland. Where hearts are broken and swept to the curb. Where Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith at halftime said of the Cavs: "It's over." Well, it's not like we are strangers to these types of doings. Cleveland has been down this clunky, bumpy, pot-holed road to nowhere too many times in the past to waste our time waiting for the impossible dream. Not only does the impossible dream not live here, it doesn't even know the address. This is Cleveland, where magic things happen, but only for the other team. Cleveland is never THE team. Cleveland was the team at the start of this NBA season that seemed to be fully-equipped as a menacing, fully-formed, grossly-talented, champion-in-waiting. Then the season started. Last night it ended. The Cavs lacked nothing. They had everything championship-level teams typically have when they start down the road to immortality. But, alas, Cleveland always seems to be the one team that never fulfills the promise shown by the depth and talent of its roster. After all these years, after winning none of those trophies, wouldn't you think the Cavs, at the very least, would suddenly produce a breakthrough season in which everything goes right, and a Cleveland team wins everything? Knicks 130, Cavs 93. Thanks for stopping by. If nothing else, wouldn't you think that at some point in this obviously biased millennium that a Cleveland team would actually win a championship in something — ANYTHING — by now? I don't know about you, but I would think that. I mean, come on. How hard can it be? All of which, brings us to the sad and sorry tale of the Cavs, who, at the start of this NBA season seemed to be the Cleveland team best equipped to win a championship. Then came last night: Knicks 130, Cavs 93. And it wasn't that close. "They quit!" said O'Neal and Smith, speaking of the Cavs at halftime. Shaq and Kenny were right. The Cavs did quit, but most teams would have, because the Knicks are a great team. The Cavs are the Cavs. Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson was as useless as his team against a Knickerbocker tidal wave. The game was over almost from the moment it started. The Cavs seemed to have everything they needed, including two big men (Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley), two proven, high-scoring backcourt stars (Donovan Mitchell and James Harden) and an impressive bench filled with gamers. But, as we all know, in the world of sports, everything doesn't always work out the way it seems it should work out, and that's when trouble arrives. Last night trouble arrived, and the Cavs didn't. Mitchell and Harden, the two players the Cavs count on the most to produce points, didn't produce enough. And the free-wheeling Knicks had their way with Kenny's Kids. Another Cavs problem was the team's inability to defend. This wasn't just a Cavs problem. This was a problem all year for teams playing the Knicks. Harden, unfortunately, looks overweight and out of gas, especially when playing superior opponents. Mitchell simply has too much on his plate for him to be able to score enough points and defend. That is an issue that will have to be addressed in the offseason. To be honest, having to play the Knicks in this series was the worst kind of assignment the Cavs could have drawn. Talent-wise, New York lacks nothing, which was evident in every game the Cavs and Knicks played against each other. That is a problem the Cavs are going to have to address in the offseason. Another problem is simply defending the opposition, no matter who it is. Another issue that will require attention in the offseason is the bench, which seemed to go from a top-flight unit early in the season, to a major problem in the playoffs, particularly in the series with the Knicks. Simply put, the Cavs lack bulk. They were physically overwhelmed by two teams they faced in the postseason, and that problem is not going to fix itself. Contact Jim Ingraham at jingraham4@gmail.com.