On the first day of training camp on the last day of September, Coach Kenny Atkinson talked about the importance of having his Cavaliers team healthy for the playoffs.
You might be thinking, “Of course it’s important to be healthy for the playoffs,” but keep in mind Darius Garland missed part of the fateful series with the Pacers last year because of a toe injury. He was still recovering from toe surgery when the current regular season began.
A calf injury hobbled Donovan Mitchell in the conference semifinals loss to Boston in 2024. A rib injury made Jarrett Allen unavailable for the Boston series.
Atkinson placed a stronger emphasis on conditioning this season after the Pacers literally ran them off the court last May.
The Cavaliers concluded their 2025-26 82-game regular season schedule on April 12 by beating the Wizards, 130-117, despite Allen, Mitchell, James Harden, Sam Merrill, Evan Mobley, Dean Wade, Keon Ellis, Dennis Schroder and Thomas Bryant being in street clothes either for rest or to nurse minor injuries ahead of the playoffs.
The Cavs learned about 20 minutes after beating the Wizards to finish 52-30 that they will play the Toronto Raptors in the first round. The playoff schedule was not immediately announced, but the first two games in the best-of-seven series will be at Rocket Arena.
The quintet of Jaylon Tyson, Nae’Qwan Tomlin, Larry Nance Jr., Max Strus and Craig Porter Jr. that took the floor against the Wizards was the 41st different starting lineup used by Atkinson this season — the most of any team in the league that finished with a winning record.
A total of 293 games were missed by Cavaliers players either because of injury, illness or personal reasons this season. But like a sea captain navigating choppy waters, Atkinson has guided his team into a safe harbor, healthy and ready for the postseason, just like he wanted when he set sail more than six months ago.
“We persevered through the struggles,” Atkinson said. “(We were) 17-16. Gotta be proud of that and understand those struggles are going to help us in the playoffs — big picture — even though they were not easy to go through.”
President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman shook up the roster and altered the course of the season when he traded Garland to the Clippers for Harden on Feb. 4. Exactly 30 games remained in the regular season. That gave Atkinson a little more than two months to recalibrate and get ready for what he hopes will be a postseason that carries into June. That is not as much time as it might seem because playing games three or four times a week, with travel mixed in, does not give NBA teams much time to practice.
Strus is an example of how the Cavaliers took the cautious road with injured players. The bone connecting the pinkie toe to the base of Strus’ left foot was broken working out in late August. Originally, he was supposed to be back in the lineup around Christmas. In reality, he was out until March 15. He had the chance to rest April 12 like the other key players, but he told Atkinson he wanted to play. He logged 18 minutes and scored 10 points.
“You’d love to have more reps with our whole group, but I’ll take having full health when Game 1 starts, which I hope we’ll be at,” Atkinson said. “Having to go through those struggles almost overrides the lack of reps.
“Different year. Different way of going at it. Last year didn’t work in terms of getting us where he wanted. But this is a new year and hopefully new results.”
The Cavaliers won 64 games last season. They were never out of first place in the Eastern Conference. They used 23 different lineups — 18 fewer than this season. A total of 172 games were missed last season — more than 100 fewer than in 2025-26.
All that regular-season success last season evaporated when the Pacers wiped out the Cavs in five games in the Conference semifinals. The Cavs won 12 fewer games this season, but they believe playoff experience gained last year and a better, healthier roster has them better prepared for the playoff run ahead.