The 2008-09 Cavaliers set a franchise record by winning 66 regular-season games. But the regular-season success of the team led by LeBron James, Boobie Gibson and Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a footnote because the Cavs were eliminated by the Orlando Magic in six games in the Eastern Conference finals. The ’08-09 Cavs finished first in the East by four games over the Celtics. They swept the Pistons and Hawks in the first two rounds before being bounced by the third-seed Magic in the conference finals. A year later, the Cavs won the East again, this time with a more modest 61-21 record. Orlando finished second, two games behind the Cavaliers. A Cleveland-Orlando rematch would have occurred if both teams made it through the first two rounds unscathed, but the Celtics knocked off the Cavs in six games in the semifinals. The Celtics beat the Magic in the conference finals then lost the NBA Finals to the Lakers in seven games. LeBron James infamously decided to take his talents to South Beach about two months after the Cavs were eliminated in 2010. The current Cavaliers, conference champions for the first time since 2016, fell short of improving on the franchise record when they lost to the Sacramento Kings on April 8. It was their 16th defeat of the season. Donovan Mitchell suffered a sprained ankle in the third quarter of the Kings game and has not played since finishing out the fourth quarter. Coach Kenny Atkinson chose to rest Mitchell, plus Darius Garland, Max Strus and Evan Mobley in a meaningless road game against the Pacers on April 10. Jarrett Allen, determined to play all 82 games, started against the Pacers but played only 16 minutes, all in the first half, to help the Cavs to 56-52 halftime lead. The Cavs put up a fight and had a chance to win or tie at the buzzer, but they lost, 114-112. Mitchell continued to nurse his sprained ankle when the Cavs beat the Knicks, 108-102, on April 11 in Madison Square Garden, but Strus, Garland and Mobley were back in the starting lineup to help the Cavs improve to 64-17. Regular season franchise records mean nothing to this team, and now neither do the winning streaks on 15, 12 and 16 games they enjoyed this season. “Like Donovan keeps saying, we haven’t done anything yet,” Garland said after a recent victory at Rocket Arena. The regular season ends for the Cavs with a 1 p.m. April 13 tip against the Pacers at Rocket Arena. No one will remember they didn’t win 66 games if they achieve their goal of winning the NBA Finals. ...read more read less