Cavaliers must start bossing Magic around quickly, says veteran Tristan Thompson
Apr. 18—Add Tristan Thompson's name to the list of players who say the Cavaliers have to be the tough guys to get past the Orlando Magic in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
And the way the 12-year veteran who was part of the 2016 championship team sees it, it is ultra important the Cavaliers establish the idea they are the boss team before the first television commercial timeout.
"I think that you set that tone from the first five minutes of the game, regardless of it's a foul," Thompson said April 18 after practice at Cleveland Clinic Courts. "You let the refs know that this is the style of basketball that we're going to play. I think that's how you separate yourself and kind of make your mark for the journey to come."
The best-of-seven series between the Cavs and Magic begins at 1 p.m. April 20 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Game 2 is set for 7 p.m. April 22 at the FieldHouse before it shifts to Orlando for Game 3 on April 25.
Being physical isn't the only key to beating Orlando in the playoffs, says #Cavaliers guard Darius Garland. pic.twitter.com/Co82KJSDp2
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) April 18, 2024
Thompson has been in 94 playoff games during his long career. He started 70 of them. He was on the floor for 32 minutes when the Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals to help the franchise claim its only NBA title.
Thompson, 33 years old, no longer starts. He was signed by Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman in September for this precise moment.
Thompson played in 49 regular season games in 2023-24. It would have been more, but he was suspended 25 games for using performance-enhancing drugs. He entered off the bench in all 49 games he played while averaging 11.2 minutes a game.
"Especially with me back with the team and stuff, I think guys know they have someone on the sideline that will chirp and bark and is not afraid to say what needs to be said or what needs to be known,' Thompson said. "But someone I always think about who brought the physicality this season and I'm extremely proud of is J.A. (Jarrett Allen).
"Him playing, what was it like 77 of the games this year, carried a lot of load, especially when guys were out. I still feel like he should have been an All-Star, but I told him, if you're not going to be a regular-season All-Star, it's better to be a playoff All-Star. That's where your name is made."
Strong-arming the Magic is the theme heading into the playoffs because last spring the New York Knicks muscled the Cavaliers out in five games of the first round. Cavs guard Darius Garland does not want to go through that again.
"Just in practice, we're being physical with each other, really just bumping each other while we're going through plays, holding each other, grabbing," Garland said. "Just trying to be physical with one another and we just have to translate that into the game on Saturday and for the rest of the series."
The winner of the Cavaliers-Magic series will face the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals unless Boston, the top seed in the East, gets upset in the first round. Boston will face the winner of the Bulls-Heat April 19 play-in game in the first round.
"I just think you hate the opponent more and more as the series goes on, right?" Thompson said. "So that's why intensity is up because you're just more angry and frustrated that you keep seeing the same guy for about two weeks straight.
"So of course every round is more on the line, there are fewer games (being played), there are more eyes. The media crowd becomes bigger. More family members start wanting to come to games. But that's part of the playoffs though. I love it. I embrace it."
MAGIC AT CAVALIERS
What: Eastern Conference quarterfinals, Game 1
When: 1 p.m., April 20
Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Records: Magic 47-35, Cavaliers 48-34
TV: ESPN
