Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Charlotte Hornets gamethread

Here it is: The end of the 2022-23 NBA regular season.

What a year it has been in Cleveland. It kicked off with the Donovan Mitchell trade and only escalated from there. From Mitchell’s 71 to Evan Mobley’s ascent as a two-way force to Darius Garland following up his 2021-22 season with another really, really good year and so much more, this was a historic Cavs season.

This game doesn’t mean anything really. It’ll be cool for the people there since it’s fan appreciation day and will be a celebration of sorts. But the real fun starts about a week from now, when the Cavs will host the New York Knicks in the first round and kick off the team’s first playoff run since the 2017-18 season. This is a big step forward from last year, when Cleveland was finishing up the year banged up and heading towards the play-in tournament. This is a new level.