This should be the last time the Cavs celebrate regular-season success

And it should be the last time I mock Pat Riley and the "Heat's" regular-season mediocrity (.544, 45-37 through nine years).

Nine times during his 40-minute press availability, Cavs president Koby Altman referenced the team’s 51-win regular season. Unless they win 74 games next year and break the all-time mark, this is the last time he or anyone else can use a regular-season win total as a point of accomplishment.

...we’ve...seen enough championship-level basketball over the last 15 years to understand the NBA regular season is mostly empty calories. 

If it matters so little to teams that they can’t bother to play their stars in all of the games, then why should we celebrate the win totals when it’s over?

...

When the Cavs were winning 60-plus games during the regular season yet failing to reach the NBA Finals a decade ago, Dan Gilbert called those teams a disappointment. The same applies again. Only postseason results matter now. They don’t have to win or even play for a title every year, but another first-round exit next season is unacceptable for a variety of reasons. Youth and inexperience are no longer viable excuses.

...

If teams are going to rest their stars to prepare for the postseason, then don’t come back and celebrate diluted regular-season victories anymore. If the postseason is what matters, and it does, then that’s how we’re grading moving forward. Class dismissed.

What do fans do about paying $100 for one seat to a regular season game?