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The Cleveland Cavaliers were the No. 1 seed in the East in the 2025 NBA playoffs for the first time in nine years, and with high expectations comes an even harder fall when they aren't met. The Cavs swept the No. 8 seed Miami Heat in the first round, but the No. 4 seeded Indiana Pacers proved to be a bigger challenge.

The Pacers eliminated the Cavaliers in five games, with Indiana moving onto the Eastern Conference Finals to face the New York Knicks and Cleveland heading home with a disappointing showing behind them.

The Cavaliers improved from a 48-34 record in 2024 as the No. 4 seed to a 64-18 record this season. Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman discussed how the team's expectations changed throughout the season and what the standard will be going forward.

"I think we can all agree that coming into the season no one predicted us to be [the] No. 1 seed. I don't think anyone had 64 wins. Because we were so good we recreated the expectation of Finals. I think everyone in here saw potential champions, which is a new space for us," Altman said. "We recreated the expectation and now we have to live with that. I think it's a space we want to live in and take that into the playoffs next year, knowing we're going to have to change that narrative, knowing that we have get over the hump."

He said the turning point for the series took place in Game 2, when Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton missed the second free throw with Indiana down by two in the fourth quarter. Haliburton snatched the offensive rebound and hit a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left in the game, putting the Pacers up 120-119, where the score would stay. 

"That one foul line backout in Game 2, that's a level of focus and winning that we have to get to. And it's going to eat at us, it's going to haunt us," Altman said.

Tyrese Haliburton flying out fan who got hit with trash for wearing his jersey at MSG for Knicks-Pacers Game 4
Robby Kalland
Tyrese Haliburton flying out fan who got hit with trash for wearing his jersey at MSG for Knicks-Pacers Game 4

The Cavaliers missed the playoffs from 2019 to 2022 after four straight NBA Finals appearances (and one championship win led by LeBron James) from 2015 to 2018. After the lack of playoff appearances, they've made the postseason in the last three years, but haven't gone further than the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

After earning a No. 1 seed this season, Altman knows the team needs to step it up to reach the potential that's been made clear from its impressive 2024 regular season. Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen are some of the players who made this jump happen, and they will be crucial in making the jump to advance past the conference semifinals. 

Mobley was the Defensive Player of the Year and was selected to the NBA All-Star Game for the first time in his career thanks to a regular season in which he averaged 18.5 points and 9.3 rebounds, plus nine games this season with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Altman spoke to the importance of Mobley reaching that next step, specifically in the playoffs. 

"We're going to go as a franchise as Evan is going to go. And we've had that conversation with Evan," Altman said. "In the playoffs, we need more. We need more than 13 field goal attempts per game -- that's new for Evan. There's another jump. And so to that point, [head coach Kenny Atkinson's] going to be able to implement his offseason program, which we're very excited about. And we're going to see some internal growth there, and we think we have one of the best big men in the game in Evan Mobley."

Atlman noted that other teams had to endure some rollercoaster moments with their core before reaching a higher goal, including the Pacers, the Denver Nuggets, the Boston Celtics and the Oklahoma City Thunder.