CLEVELAND, Ohio — The regular season ended with a chorus of boos.
The short-handed Cavs lost their finale to the equally depleted Charlotte Hornets on Sunday afternoon, finishing one win shy of their second consecutive 50-win campaign — a result that would’ve allowed them to hit that mark in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2017-18. The Cavs claimed the Eastern Conference’s fourth seed and will play 47-win Orlando, which trounced Milwaukee 113-88 in a matchup that went final shortly after.
As chaos was ensuing across the conference, with a chance for Cleveland to move up in the standings and win the central division, it got outscored 32-14 over the final 12 minutes.