April 17, 2013; Charlotte, NC, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) drives through the defense of the Charlotte Bobcats forward Josh McRoberts (11), forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (14) and guard Kemba Walker (15) during the game at Time Warner Cable Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ season ended on Wednesday night after falling to the Charlotte Bobcats, 105-98. Once down by 24 points in the second quarter, the Cavs looked like they were just going to coast into the offseason after the month of April made the team want to bury their heads in the sand. The Wine and Gold started the game with their feet in a sinking pit looking like they were going to be swallowed into the other side that is known as the offseason; or one of the most hopeful and ironically optimistic times of the season for northeast Ohioans. 64 wins* over the past three seasons under Coach Byron Scott – only three more than the team had in LeBron’s final season with the Cavs – and the numerous blown leads (including a 28- and 27-point blown lead to the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat respectively this season alone) have many calling for change in Cleveland: a ring that hasn’t been answered since the 2010-11 season.

*The Bobcats have won 61 games over that same three-year span

This team is different and has changed dramatically since then, but in more negative ways than positive. Already taking into account that Daniel Gibson won’t be back next season, Anderson Varejao will be the only player left on the team that was a member of the 2010-11 squad. This team has been gutted just like the management wanted, but was there any direction in mind? Will the pitiful play over the last month or so result in Marreese Speights using his player option to escape purgatory? How many players from this year It’s will actually be back next season?

–Luke Walton – it was nice knowin’ ya

–Daniel Gibson – he’s not even a glimpse of what he once was during his first four seasons

–Marreese Speights – his lack of aggressiveness down the stretch was a signal to me that he doesn’t want to be a part of this team’s future

–Omri Casspi – he was gone around the time that Alonzo Gee took his starting job last season

–Wayne Ellington – a player I would like to see back, but I think the Cavaliers can find better backup shooting guard talent elsewhere

–Shaun Livingston – another player I would like to see back, but I have similar thoughts as I expressed above (he has the best chance out off any of these guys to resign in the offseason)

–Kevin Jones – made the most of his minutes and showed growth toward the end of the season – a great bench asset going into next season

–Chris Quinn – was just a filler

–Byron Scott – while he still has the extension left to fulfill, I do not see a scenario where the Cavaliers keep him even if he is the best option out there

Five of these players saw action against Charlotte tonight, and three of these guys were with the Cavaliers the season prior. It’s great that Cleveland will look to free agency and the draft to build a competitive unit once again, but who is to say that we won’t endure another season of players shifting on and off between the D-League and waivers? This can’t happen moving forward, or the team will be stuck in an infinite loop in which our draft stars will leave town once their contracts have been served. It seems that is how most players have spent their time here as of late. It’s hard to believe that there is plan of action going into the fourth post-LeBron season, but General Manager Chris Grant has shown flashes of brilliance during this rough transition period.

But I digress. There’s little to take away from this game because both teams knew well before now that their fate would be in the form of Ping-Pong balls coming up soon. Allowing the Bobcats to shoot 40 percent from three-point range truly shows how much defensive help this team needs on the perimeter. Josh McRoberts was perfect from the field (6-of-6 from the field, 3-of-3 from three). Both teams seemed to not acknowledge any change of momentum or game plan around streaky runs. It looked like two teams who have been stuck in the cellar for some time now just trying to finish out a season with nothing at all to lose (except a better chance at a lottery pick).

And despite breaking out of his scoring slump, Kyrie shot under 50 percent from the field and finished 2-of-9 from long range. Through eight games in April, Kyrie shot at the lowest clip of any month this season. 34.8 percent from the field (yikes) and 27.9 percent from three (Kyrie only shot lower than 40 percent from beyond the arc in one other month). Whether he gave up or the injury affected him that much concerns me either way. This team lacks leadership and players who can dig down deep in games to escape the sand pits. Until there is a solution to this, the Cavs will keep on shuffling their roster looking for players who “might be” future contributors.

There is no next game to alert you about, but this offseason will be the most important in a long time even though 2014 will be a star-studded frenzy. This is the breaking point. They need to make sure they’re ready to take the next step so players want to come to Cleveland in 2014. They need to be aggressive early on in free agency with all the money they have at their disposal. And need some luck when it comes to injuries.

Anyways, thank you so much for coming to RDE all season long for your Cavs news. Your readership is greatly appreciated. Offseason mode does not mean rest mode for us, so keep on checking on what moves your Cavaliers are making. Look for some great end-of-the-season content to go up soon!

Feb 6, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Charlotte Bobcats power forward Hakim Warrick (21) shoots against Cleveland Cavaliers small forward Omri Casspi (36) in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The 2012-13 NBA season draws to a close tonight. The Cleveland Cavaliers will be playing the Charlotte Bobcats, the team that’s trying to hold off the Orlando Magic for the worst record in the NBA. The Bobcats need a loss and an Orlando win to ensure that. Meanwhile, the Cavs are locked into the third seed, as even with a Phoenix loss and Cleveland win, Phoenix owns the tiebreaker. That should mean a Cavaliers win tonight.

Opponent’s Blog: Roberto Gato

Venue: Time Warner Cable Arena

Tipoff: 8 p.m. ET

Betting Line: Bobcats by -2.5

Where you can watch: Fox Sports Ohio

Where you can listen: WTAM AM 1100

The Cavs have seen a lot of success against the Bobcats this season, winning the previous two meetings; a 106-104 win on January 4, and a 122-95 blowout on February 6. That blowout was one of the Cavs’ best offensive performances of the season, as they shot 57 percent from the field and outscored the Bobcats by at least nine points in each of the first three quarters. Kyrie Irving was perfect from three, going 5-of-5 and finishing with 22 points, while Wayne Ellington had 16 points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench. The Cavs limited Kemba Walker to five points on 2-of-11 shooting, and B.J. Mullens finished as the Cats’ leading scorer with 15.

The Cavaliers should have an easy time with the Bobcats tonight. Realistically, it is in the Bobcats best interest to lose this game, even at home, and the Cavs have no incentive to lose. The main threat for the Bobcats is Gerald Henderson, who has routinely lit teams up offensively in the second half of the season, and he and Kemba Walker are likely going to be the keys to the offense for Charlotte. That will put the pressure on Dion Waiters and Kyrie Irving to play some solid defense tonight. However, the Bobcats are a black hole in the frontcourt, and likely will start Josh McRoberts and Bismack Biyombo tonight. There is no reason why Tristan Thompson and Tyler Zeller can’t torch these guys tonight. I’d expect the Cavs to try to pound the ball inside to these two and Marreese Speights, play some solid defense and walk away with the win against the worst team in the league. I’d be shocked if Cleveland lost tonight.

Feb 6, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; The Cleveland Cavaliers celebrates after a three-point basket by shooting guard Daniel Gibson (1) in the fourth quarter against the Charlotte Bobcats at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers (15-34) fought and fought and then fought some more Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena against the Charlotte Bobcats (11-37). Even with a 33-point lead entering the final quarter of play, Cleveland showed no mercy to the punchless ‘Cats. Even with the game well in hand in the fourth quarter and Charlotte winning back-to-back possessions, shooting guard Wayne Ellington continued with the onslaught of long-range jumpers. The bench continued to be the support for starters who have no problem with starting and finishing games and no hangover from the win against the Oklahoma City Thunder was present, as the Cavs won 122-95.

Cleveland scored a season-high 122 points and carried the momentum from their ambush in the second half against the Thunder, scoring 63 and 65 points respectively to end Saturday’s game and begin Wednesday’s game. They also shot at a season-high clip of 56.5 percent, only getting to the line 13 times and putting up the ball a total of 92 times. It started in the first quarter and stayed consistent throughout, and Dion Waiters was the player to spark the offensive outburst.

Waiters has been notorious in his rookie season for putting up ill-advised shots and not knowing when to stop. Usually he has trouble finishing at the rim (he ranks ninth from the bottom with a shooting percentage of 52.8 percent), but tonight he made 5-of-6 attempts at the rim. He started this trend by being aggressive in the paint from the onset, as he made all three of his attempts in the first quarter. He finished 9-of-14 from the field and tallied 19 points and five assists. The mistakes were few and far between tonight, as Waiters only had two of the team’s six total turnovers.

With Dion off to his best start of the season, the bench was right there to back him up. They scored 11 of the team’s 32 first quarter points and had Cleveland up by 11 at the close of the first 12 minutes. Marreese Speights came in with less than five minutes remaining in the frame, and that’s a trend I want to start seeing on a nightly basis. He finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds and recorded his second double-double in as many games. His energy carried over to the second quarter, as Cleveland came out shooting 61 percent form the floor.

As soon as Cleveland opened up a 21-point lead with 5:33 to go in the first half, I knew there was no looking back. Before Tyrus Thomas hit a layup, Charlotte was kept scoreless for over four minutes. That allowed the Wine and Gold to score 14 unanswered points. The Bobcats were playing in their final game of a five-game road trip, but they have no excuse because the Cavaliers have been road tested more than any team in the NBA. Being outscored over the last 9:42 of the game, Cleveland opened up a 24-point lead going into the second half due to an impressive effort from Tristan Thompson. The sophomore’s left hook was on fire tonight, as he scored 13 of his 17 points in the second quarter.

Cleveland was beating Charlotte in every which way, and the 16 points off 10 Bobcat turnovers and a tripling effort versus Charlotte’s production in the paint were both big reasons why Cleveland had success all night long. The Cavs ended up outscoring the Bobcats in the paint by a mark of 50-30 and ended with 22 points off of 13 turnovers.

Nothing changed in the second half, as Cleveland recorded their fourth straight 30-point performance in a quarter’s time. Back-to-back threes by Kyrie Irving and a Tyler Zeller slam to top the frame put Cleveland in triple digits with less than two minutes remaining in the third. Irving finished with 22 points and shot 5-of-5 from beyond the arc, and proved that Cleveland could put a whole 48 minutes together by pressuring a team’s top scorers and being aggressive in the paint. That was definitely true, as the Cavs finished with 45 rebounds and forced Kemba Walker to shoot 2-of-11 from the field.

Ellington helped the team finish off the fourth quarter, as the starters watched on. He scored 16 points off the bench on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, the most of any reserve. The pieces from the Memphis Grizzlies have been contributing at a high rate and are a big part of the team’s recent success of winning five of their last seven games.

The Cavaliers have now won their first two games of a seven-game home stand. They will go up against the Orlando Magic on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in an attempt to record their second three-game winning streak of the season.