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Cleveland Cavaliers clinch first playoff berth since 2009-10 season

By FanSided Staff

Mar 20, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket against Indiana Pacers forward Luis Scola (4) in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 20, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket against Indiana Pacers forward Luis Scola (4) in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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With a win over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers have officially made the playoffs.

LeBron James scored the final four field goals for the Cleveland Cavaliers to lead them past the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. Not only was James feeling a little sick before the game, but their 45th win this season clinched the playoffs- the Cavs first berth in the postseason since 2009-10.

This will be LeBron’s first playoff appearance with the Cavs, since leaving to join the Heat four years ago. He will be joined in the playoffs by Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, two rising stars who have yet to make an appearance in the postseason. Not to mention that this will be head coach, David Blatt’s first playoff experience.

Typically, experience ends up being the deciding factor in a lot of playoff games. The San Antonio Spurs proved that last year, as the Duncan and Popovich player-coach tandem demolished opposing teams and even dethroned the reigning NBA champions, the Miami Heat. A team that included LeBron himself.

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David Blatt, while he has been quite successful during his first year as head coach, will have critics looking his way the entire post-season with the Cavs. He has been under scrutiny all year for not having the proper experience to coach a player of LeBron’s caliber, but has silenced them all.

The Cavaliers currently own the second seed and would be pitted against LeBron’s former team the Miami Heat. Keeping that #2 seed will be key for the Cavs moving forward, as then they would not have to see the leaders of the East, the Atlanta Hawks, until the Eastern Conference finals.

So even though they have clinched the playoffs, the Cavs shouldn’t be looking to put on the breaks just yet. Besides, they have plenty of inexperienced players to get prepared for the post-season. They still have until April 18th to get everything firing at all cylinders, but four weeks will fly by quickly as the race to get in the post-season will really start to heat up in the Eastern Conference.

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