Cavaliers bench starters late despite holding lead with seeding on the line

The Cleveland Cavaliers faced some questions Sunday over their decision to essentially punt the fourth quarter of the regular season finale to try to manipulate their first round playoff matchup.

The Cavaliers entered play Sunday with the chance to land the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference if they beat the Charlotte Hornets, coupled with losses from the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks. A loss to Charlotte, however, would have locked them into the No. 4 seed against the Orlando Magic.

The Cavs led the Hornets by eight points entering the fourth quarter, but abruptly decided to sit their entire starting lineup to play the deep end of their bench. 

With the exception of Max Strus, who was allowed to remain in the game to get a triple-double, the Cavaliers played out the fourth quarter with Emoni Bates, Isaiah Mobley, Pete Nance, Damian Jones, and Tristan Thompson getting minutes. Unsurprisingly, that lineup was outscored 32-14, and the Cavaliers lost the game, clinching the No. 4 seed by doing so.

To most, the reason looked obvious: the Cavaliers did not want to deal with a potential matchup against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, and with the Chicago Bulls taking the Knicks to overtime, that was a real possibility. 

The Cavaliers were giving up on any chance of the No. 3 seed and a matchup with the Indiana Pacers by losing, but apparently felt that was a risk worth taking to guarantee not facing the 76ers.

As it turned out, the Knicks played their starters and beat the Bulls in overtime, so the Cavaliers never would have had to face the 76ers. Had they closed out their game against Charlotte, they would have gotten the Pacers in the first round. 

Moreover, they would have avoided a potential second-round matchup with the top-seeded Boston Celtics, a possibility that is now firmly on the table.

Bickerstaff claimed after the game that he had always planned on resting his starters in the fourth quarter no matter what, though he added he was aware of the other scores around the league.