James Harden, Evan Mobley, and Cavs going all-in on conditioning before Raptors playoff clash

The Cleveland Cavaliers are planning to run a lot in the first round of the NBA playoffs. After two days of hard cardio to prepare for the Toronto Raptors’ pace, James Harden and Evan Mobley know their opponent’s style will require plenty of endurance.

“We conditioned yesterday, we’re conditioning today, we’re gonna condition tomorrow,” Harden said after Wednesday’s practice. “Even me not playing last game, I’ve been doing conditioning as well.”

“Kind of like team bonding, team building,” Mobley added. “We did some versa climber and stuff. It was pretty hard, honestly.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Cavs All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell posted a glimpse of the team’s locker room on his Instagram story following a rigorous workout to start the week. Nae’Qwan Tomlin was flat on the ground staring at the ceiling, and Dennis Schroder was lying on his side on the floor. Keon Ellis and Harden looked exhausted entering the room. As he recorded, Mitchell was poking fun at how “cooked” everybody was.

“Guys were dead tired after,” Mobley said. “That’s part of the playoffs. Sometimes you’re going to be laid out like that after a game in the locker room, so you’ve got to be prepared for all that. I think we’re getting prepared.”

“We’ve been getting after it,” Harden added. “I wasn’t here last year, but I just know, for me, being in this postseason for a little bit of time now, [there’s a] different level we need to be at. Me, personally, just making sure I’m prepared is very important.”

Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson ensured that his team understood the increasing demand that the playoffs bring from the moment it was eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in the second round last year.

“It wasn’t just about yesterday, it was about June and July,” Atkinson said. “We’ve done a lot of things in the offseason and in-season to be ready for the playoff intensity, physicality. And that’s going to be a big part of the series.

“But yesterday I wanted to do that for team building, too. Sometimes when you do a circuit or whatever, I think it had the desired effect. We have to suffer a little and laugh a little, and music and all that. So that was pretty cool.”

Atkinson was thrilled to get a “real” practice in on Wednesday to follow that up, which included hard competition and scrimmaging. He senses the guys’ readiness through their focus, engagement, and confidence.

“I feel like this group is in that space right now,” Atkinson said. “There’s an excitement and a joy to this. We tried to get that going in practice today. Some fun shooting games. It can’t be all like where we’re going into this thing tense, with a lot of tension.

“We’ve got to still be physical and tough, and all that, but our games have to flow. We have to free our minds and play Cavs basketball.”

After two days of laborious sessions, the next couple of days will be less physically taxing and more focused on tactics.

“We know what we’re facing,” Harden said. “Toronto is a really good team. They’ve been all year long, probably one of the teams that the league hasn’t really been talking about. But defensively, [they] really get after it.

“And obviously, you have Scottie [Barnes], you have Brandon [Ingram], and then they’ve got other guys that impact the game in RJ [Barrett] and [Immanuel] Quickley and other guys. We know what we have in front of us, and our job is to be prepared to play in a good series.”

Mobley calls Toronto a good matchup and a great team.

“They have Scottie. They have Brandon Ingram. A lot of different guys that have length and size, so they’re probably going to come out and try to play physical. We’ve got to match that and exceed that,” Mobley said.

Cavs-Raptors Round 1 matchup

On Sunday, Atkinson noted that this won’t be a picnic for the Cavs in the first round.

He did mention Wednesday, however, that both squads aren’t the same, particularly with his fresh faces in Harden, Keon Ellis, and Dennis Schroder.

“It’s not the same team as last year,” Atkinson said. “Obviously, the three guys you’ve added. So, even thinking about our three games against Toronto, it’s hard to even judge those games. And Toronto played great, and they beat us and all that, but we’re a different team. I’ve said this, I say it over and over: we’re a better team with those additions. So you’d like to think that bodes well for a nice playoff [run].

“There’s no special message. We obviously have the scout in what we’re doing, what we’re focusing on. There’s no Knute Rockne speech at this point. Just prepare the best we can. We’ve kind of done our work since June, right? Trust your work. We’ve been at it for a long time. Almost fully healthy, so we’re just excited to get going.”

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