Cavs clinch playoff spot, but bigger goals remain

The Cavs are in. Now comes the real part.

Donovan Mitchell didn’t exactly throw a party after Thursday’s win at Golden State clinched a playoff spot. In his mind, it was just step one.

“The bare minimum,” Mitchell said, via Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

Head coach Kenny Atkinson is already looking ahead. Not just to the playoffs, but to how things might line up.

“We’re thinking about it, what could be optimal for us,” Atkinson said. “You’d be lying if you said you didn’t think that. As we get really close now, you do start thinking about it. I haven’t told the team. I haven’t told the staff. Like, ‘Hey we want to play …’ But I think that’s my job is to think big picture.”

Pressed further, Atkinson didn’t shy away from the idea.

“I think you gotta look at the whole thing. But again, that’s my job is to think ahead and think forward. Try to be smart about it,” he said. “Obviously, the first priority is worry about us and our play. But there’s that space in your mind where you have to say, ‘Man, what could work for us?’”

Cleveland enters the final stretch at 48-29, sitting fourth in the East and just one game behind New York. Three of the last five come against non-playoff teams, but there’s still some movement possible, especially with two matchups against Atlanta looming.

As for Mitchell, he’s not interested in playing the seeding game.

“You don’t want to play that game,” he said. “Just go out there and try to win every night and wherever we fall we fall.”