BOSTON -- Call it bittersweep.

The Cleveland Cavaliers' first playoff series win in five years went as quickly as possible, with the Cavs disposing the Boston Celtics in four games after Sunday's 101-93 victory. But the aftereffects of what transpired in Game 4 could haunt them in the days to come.

Depending on how this potentially undermanned Cavs team performs the rest of the postseason, the events of Game 4 could even haunt Cleveland for years.

"We still advanced," J.R. Smith said afterward. "But still, not a good feeling going into the next round."

Let's start with Smith, one of two Cavs starters whose status for the opening game of their Eastern Conference semifinal series with either Chicago or Milwaukee is up in the air.

In an almost unbelievable example of how the postseason can take a player from the outhouse, to the penthouse, and back again faster than you can say "Boobie Gibson," Smith went from the unlikely hero of Game 3 to shooting himself in the foot in Game 4 and beyond by earning a flagrant foul 2 for striking Boston's Jae Crowder in the face.

Even though Smith claimed there was "nothing malicious" behind his hit on Crowder, he looked downright remorseful as he addressed reporters while wearing a blue sweatshirt with "We Are Brothers" stitched in red thread on the front of it. On Sunday, he let his brothers down.

"This is a situation that I put my teammates in, and it's a selfish act because I don't want anything that we do collectively to be taken away by one individual, whether it's me or anybody else," he said.

Smith will surely be suspended. He would be fortunate to get away with one game, but considering his past suspensions and the fact that his altercation with Crowder caused an injury to the Boston forward and escalated what had already devolved into an overly physical matchup, it will more likely be 2-3 games.

Losing Smith for any amount of time would be hard to swallow, but the real punch to the gut came from Kelly Olynyk's yank on Kevin Love's left arm in the first quarter, causing a dislocated left shoulder.

In yet another all-too-cruel example of how the playoffs can build a player up and then tear him down, Love's injury came just as he seemed to be finding a confidence and rhythm with the Cavs through the first three games of the postseason.

Even if Love's shoulder doesn't sideline him from here on out -- ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported the Cavs initially believed he'll miss a minimum of two weeks before they receive more information from Monday's MRI -- there's no telling if the Cavs will be standing when he's healed. Even though Chicago kicked away Game 4 against Milwaukee, the Bulls have looked like a formidable foe in the first round, especially with Derrick Rose showing extended flashes of his former league MVP self.

"You just control what you can control," said LeBron James, whose Miami Heat still captured the championship in 2012 despite Chris Bosh missing a chunk of time in the playoffs because of a lower abdominal strain. "That's all we can do. We have this small period of time to get better. It's next man up. What goes on with our team, those are two big pieces, obviously, next man up. No excuses. You just get ready to go out and play."

Even if the Cavs have to miss Smith for perhaps a couple of games and Love for perhaps a couple of weeks, it's not like nothing good was gleaned from the first round. They beat the Celtics by an average of 9.3 points per game, and while they didn't look dominant throughout, it's better than Atlanta dropping a game to Brooklyn and Chicago stumbling against Milwaukee.

Kyrie Irving, who will have to go toe-to-toe with Rose (barring a historic Bucks comeback), proved the playoffs weren't too big of a stage for him, averaging 23.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists for the series. Tristan Thompson, who could end up being Love's replacement in the starting lineup should the Cavs choose to go big, was a monster on the glass, collecting 15 offensive rebounds in four games and shooting 64.3 percent from the field.

It felt like this first-round win could have been more however. As one team source told me before Game 3, the hope was at some point in the series, the Cavs could put together a complete win and recapture that confidence they had when they were tearing through teams in the second half of the regular season. If they went into the second round having not yet found that rhythm, he said, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Now, they go into an off week not knowing when their mojo will fully return. They're left with that uneasiness in their stomachs. There’s a difference.

Then again, with all this Cavs team has been through this season already -- from the injuries, to the trades, to the rumors, speculation and underwhelming start -- maybe having some more adversity to overcome is exactly what they need to find that sweet spot again.

"I think the biggest thing is we have a lot of fighters on our team," Irving said Sunday. "Just the fight that we have for each other, and we have each other's backs through whatever we go through."