A Tough Stretch For Cavs Should “Let Us Know”

Since blowing out the Toronto Raptors on February 10th, the Cleveland Cavaliers have gone through a bit of a rough patch. It’s understandable because the wine and gold have been on fire since the calendar turned to 2024, winning 17 of 19 games through that contest in the Canada.

In the week leading up to the All-Star weekend festivities (we will ignore that abomination of a game), and after, the Cavs have a 4-4 record with one of those victories coming Tuesday when Max Strus hit a 59-foot shot to win the game against Dallas.

The wins came at home vs. Chicago in which the struggled, the Strus contest, and Ws against the hapless Pistons and Wizards.

They haven’t looked like the same team that rolled for the first six weeks of the new year.

Starting today, they will be tested in March with home games against the Knicks, who muscled them out of the playoffs last season and the Celtics, who are the best team in the East. It should give J.B. Bickerstaff a measuring stick of where his team is right now.

Following those games is a road game in Atlanta, then a three game homestand in which the team with the best record in the West, Minnesota comes in and so does the talent-rich Phoenix Suns.

The middle of the month has a road stretch, featuring two games vs. Miami (one is the only home game) and other road tilts at New Orleans, Minnesota, and Indiana. Overall, they have 11 road games out of 14 played, while the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse is hosting the Mid-American Conference tournament and the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

Hopefully, the Cavs will find the formula that allowed them to be dominant from the time Darius Garland and Evan Mobley were injured to the week before the All-Star break.

Perhaps, the Cavaliers and the coaching staff were a bit in their own heads. The squad was sizzling putting the ball in Donovan Mitchell’s hands, and he played at an MVP level.

The Cavs talked about the different style of play adopted when Garland and Mobley were out. They pointed to the three-point shooting, but really that improvement came from increased playing time from Sam Merrill, who is still knocking them down at a 43.5% clip.

That’s way it was weird that Merrill received three DNP-CDs (did not play-coach’s decision) in a recent seven game period in which Cleveland went 4-3.

Dean Wade, who played 20 minutes or more in 11 out of 12 games in an 11-1 stretch throughout January, suddenly had his time reduced. He played less than 10 minutes in two games since play resumed.

We aren’t huge Wade supporters, but as we believe Charles Barkley once said, if it ain’t broke, don’t break it. It seems like Bickerstaff has decided to do just that.

Now, can he put it back together again? The obvious solution is that Merrill and Wade earned their time on the floor, and the adjustments should have been made by doing some slight trimming to some of the players getting heavier workloads.

After all, that would have them be fresher for the tough stretch coming up and then the playoffs.

Many of the national basketball media are having doubts about the Cavs making a deep run in the post-season. Playing well in a tough March slate could change some minds among folks who know the game.

Garland Is Very Good, But Maybe Not A Good Fit

After the Cleveland Cavaliers win over the Washington Wizards on Sunday, Donovan Mitchell took the opportunity to back his teammate Darius Garland against some criticism on social media.

Mitchell was being a good teammate, no question about that, although most of the criticism that comes on social media should probably be ignored by NBA players. Ours included.

There is a difference though in criticizing Garland’s play and thinking the Cavaliers might just be better exchanging him for another player.

Garland is a very good player. He’s made an all-star team and has been a starter since his rookie season, and the last three of those five years, the Cavs have been a pretty good team.

In 2021-22, he scored 21.7 points and dished out 8.6 assists, shooting 46.2% from the floor, 38.3% from three. Last season, playing his first season with Mitchell as a backcourt mate, he scored 21.6 points and had 7.8 assists. He also raised his percentage from behind the arc to 41%.

He’s always been a bit turnover prone, averaging 3.6 in his all-star year, but did improve to 2.9 a year ago. Remember, he does have the ball in his hand a lot. Our biggest issue is when he penetrates, he loses the ball too easily as it is knocked out of his hands.

However, in spite of the statistical success Garland and Mitchell had a year ago, the Cavs were handled quite easily in their playoff series against the Knicks losing in five games.

We thought it would be a very difficult matchup for Cleveland because of the physicality the Knicks bring every night, and also because we have our doubts about trying to win with two starting guards that are under 6’3″.

This season, it’s been a bit of a struggle for Garland. His scoring has dropped to 18.2 points and his three-point shooting has dipped to 34% thus far.

Early in the year, when Garland missed four games, the Cavs struggled, going 1-3. When he broke his jaw in December, he missed 19 more contests, but this time the wine and gold went 15-4.

The ball was put in Mitchell’s hands and the team and offense flourished. To be fair, when Garland returned, the Cavs kept rolling, winning the first seven games he appeared in and nine of twelve overall.

Again, we want to remind you that there is no question here that Garland is a very good NBA player. But in basketball, it’s not just talent that succeeds, it is how the players fit and play off each other.

And there is also the nasty part…the defensive end.

One of the issues with the smallish backcourt is defense. There is no question it is tougher to guard someone two or three inches taller than you, especially if you have a slight build, which Garland has.

Last year, coach J.B. Bickerstaff tried to have Garland check Knicks’ guard Jalen Brunson in the playoffs. It was a mismatch. Brunson just overpowered him, and he’s listed as just one inch taller.

Put all those things in the mix and it may be Garland isn’t a good fit in Cleveland if Donovan Mitchell decides to sign a contract extension.

The big word in that last sentence? “If”.

The NBA MVP “Ladder” And Should Mitchell Be On It

One of the dumber things we see in sports is the “MVP Ladder” listed weekly by one of the NBA’s sponsors. It starts in the second week of the season, for goodness sakes. Why not wait until say, the All-Star break to start talking about the award.

We feel like in the NBA the media tries to give the award early and then spend the rest of the season justifying it. And usually, it’s because it is a specific player’s “turn”. For example, Jayson Tatum’s name always comes up early in seasons, but by the end of the year, others have passed him up.

What’s worse is other sports have started the same nonsense. But we digress.

We bring it up because the Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell has started to come up in conversations about the league MVP. Charles Barkley even said Mitchell should be discussed for the honor.

Mitchell is having an incredible year. In scoring, he is even with last year’s career high of 28.3 points per game, but it’s the other numbers that are more impressive.

He’s dishing out assists at a career high pace, with 6.3 per contest, beating his previous best by one assist. His turnovers are consistent with the rest of his career.

His rebounding has also increased over his career best, as he is grabbing 5.4 boards per night. And his shooting percentage has increased since arriving in Cleveland, as he shot 44.1% with Utah, and in his two years here, that is up to 48.4% last year and 47.5% this season.

Most importantly, when Darius Garland was injured, and J.B. Bickerstaff essentially put the ball in Mitchell’s hands, the Cavs have won 22 of 27 games, roaring to the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference standings.

He has boosted his numbers since the day Garland went out to 29 points and 7.3 assists per contest. And it is not like he has been on the floor too much. After the first two games in this stretch, he’s played over 40 minutes just once, partially because of all the blowouts the team has played.

There have been games were he flat out carried the wine and gold. He had 45 points and 12 rebounds in the Paris game against the Nets. We woke the team out of a malaise against Detroit on January 31st, scoring 45 with 8 assists and 6 rebounds.

He’s likely also headed for his second all-NBA appearance in two years with Cleveland, which would make him only the third Cavalier to receive that honor more than once. The other two are LeBron James, who was named ten times (8 first team, 2 second team) and Mark Price, who received the honors four times (1 first team, 3 third team)

Mitchell made the second team last season.

He finished sixth in the MVP voting last season after leading the Cavs to a 50 win season, and they are on pace to surpass that mark in 2023-24.

Mitchell isn’t likely to win the award. Since the turn of the century, the only guards under 6’5″ to win it are Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, Steph Curry, and Russell Westbrook. But if the Cavs can finish second in the East, perhaps he can get to the top five.

Either way, he’s having a heck of a season. People who know the game know it, even if the national love isn’t there.

Garland & Mitchell Are Good Together. Could The Cavs Be Great Moving One?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a very good basketball team. Barring a monumental collapse, they are going to make the playoffs for the second consecutive year. They are currently the second seed in the Eastern Conference and are seven games ahead of the 7th seed in the loss column.

They accomplished this record without Darius Garland for 24 games and Evan Mobley for 23 games. Heck, Donovan Mitchell has missed nine contests, and Jarrett Allen missed the first five games of the season.

Through all those injuries, they have a 32-16 record, three games ahead of last year’s pace.

We say all of this because recently there seems to be a discussion about Garland and whether he can play with Mitchell. We know the pairing has worked, last season’s 51 victories proves this, as well as this season’s record.

One of the things that is different about the NBA is some styles of play work in the regular season, but don’t in the playoffs. For example, before Golden State made its run of titles, Charles Barkley commented that no jump shooting team had won, and he was correct.

Teams had to be able to get hoops inside and through fast breaks, because that was more reliable than long range shooting.

With last season’s success in the regular schedule, the Cavaliers now have to win in the playoffs to take the next step as a franchise. The front office felt they needed to add shooting, but the Cavs shot 44.8% from the floor and 32.7& from three in the series loss to the Knicks last season.

New York shot 42.9% in total, and 28% from three in the series. And you read that correctly, the Cavs actually out shot the Knicks.

If you remember correctly, Cleveland was beaten up pretty badly on the boards, in part because the guards could not stop the penetration, particularly from Jalen Brunson, and when Allen and Mobley went to help, the Knicks’ big men slid into position for easy offensive rebounds.

New York had 75 offensive rebounds in the five games. Cleveland had 46.

And that’s what Koby Altman and the brass have to think about, can a backcourt of Garland and Mitchell be strong enough defensively to win in the playoffs.

Basketball is a different sport because sometimes it’s not about talent, it’s about fit. Look at the Milwaukee Bucks. They acquired Damian Lillard in the off-season, and no question he is a superstar, but at the same time, they miss Jrue Holiday who was traded to get Lillard, and ultimately wound up in Boston.

And we have said before, what complicates things for Altman and the Cavaliers is Mitchell’s contract status, as he can be a free agent after next season.

No one should be saying Garland and Mitchell cannot play together. The Cavs have succeeded with that backcourt. But can they win in the playoffs and ultimately win a title?

Or would they be better off in the long run moving Garland for say, an upgrade at the small forward spot? That’s the question the Cavs’ front office needs to consider.

We get it. The Cavs are rolling. But the front office has to take a detached, independent view of the roster.

And that’s why the people like Altman get paid what they get paid. Sometimes they have to make tough decisions, especially with home grown players, in order to win championships.

The Cavs are a playoff team with Garland and Mitchell in the backcourt. The bigger question is could they be a title team by moving one of them?

The Cavs’ Question Heading Into The Trade Deadline

After the 2021-22 NBA season, the Cleveland Cavaliers pushed a lot of chips to the middle of the table in trading for all-star Donovan Mitchell. Cleveland had lost in the play-in tournament the year before after winning 44 games, and wanted to make a jump.

It worked too, as the Cavs jumped their win total to 51, finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference and getting home court advantage for the first round of the playoffs.

The post-season didn’t work out as the wine and gold were eliminated in five games by the New York Knicks, and were relatively quiet last summer, adding shooters Max Strus and Georges Niang in free agency.

We felt the organization’s goal last season was to get into a seven-game series, not the play in tournament, and they have seemed to take an incremental view in terms of that goal, meaning they would like to win at least one series this season.

Right now, Cleveland sits where they were a year ago, 4th in the East, but in a jumble between second seed Milwaukee (32-16), New York (third at 31-17) and Philadelphia (fifth at 29-17). We don’t think catching top seed Boston is realistic, and the sixth seeded Pacers have lost five more games than the Cavs.

As we said, the Cavs took a big swing before last season in getting Mitchell, and they really haven’t followed up on that. Certainly, Mitchell’s contract situation, he can be a free agent after next season, probably precludes making another big move.

Another factor is how the Cavaliers have played since the injuries to Evan Mobley and Darius Garland. They have gone 16-7 since the pair went out on December 15th. Mobley returned to action on Monday and Garland was back in there last night.

We point out the Mitchell contract situation because while Garland was out, Mitchell became the primary ball handler and averaged 29.1 points per game with 7.9 assists and 2.9 turnovers per night.

Garland came into last night scoring 20.7 points with 5.9 assists and 3.8 turnovers a game.

We have always had doubts about the two small guard lineup, even back when Garland’s partner was Collin Sexton, who they traded to get Mitchell. With Garland out, the Cavs got bigger, moving 6’5″ Max Strus to guard and putting 6’5″ Isaac Okoro at small forward.

If Mitchell was already under a long-term deal, Altman’s decision would be easier. See what Garland, who has made an all-star team, can get you in a trade, perhaps the 6’7″ or 6’8″ wing the Cavs probably need to take the next step as a legitimate contender to get to the NBA Finals.

However, if Mitchell decides he isn’t going to sign the extension in Cleveland, then the Cavs will likely move him during the summer, and probably look for that wing as a return for the team’s best player.

What does all this mean for Cavalier fans? The organization will probably not make a big move at the trade deadline next week. They will see how the team looks with the Mitchell/Garland combination in the backcourt for the rest of the year and into the playoffs.

It will be interesting to see what the team’s record looks like over the next few weeks as they make yet another transition. They play five of the next six on the road, but the only game against a team over .500 is the home game, vs. Sacramento.

On paper, the winning should continue. But the style of play may change, and that’s the concern.

How Do Garland And Mobley Fit Back In?

On December 15th, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced that two of their starters, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley were going to miss some time. Garland broke his jaw and would miss about four weeks (it has gone longer than that) and Mobley needed a procedure on his knee and would miss about six weeks.

At first thought, it appeared this would ruin the season for the wine and gold, perhaps causing them to miss the playoffs. Instead, the Cavs have flourished, winning 13 of 17 since the injuries.

They have taken advantage of a bit of a soft schedule. They’ve played only two games against the “elite” teams in the NBA, and both were against Milwaukee, who played without Giannis Antetokounmpo in the first one, a Cavs’ win. Only six of the contests have been on the road, not counting the game in Paris.

Cleveland has lost just two of those road games.

By the way, that’s not a criticism of this 13-4 stretch. If you are scheduled to play a bunch of mediocre teams, we would rather have you defeat those teams than lose. The Cavs simply took care of business.

They’ve changed their style of play, shooting more three-point shots, shooting 42.5 per game compared to 33.1 per night before Garland and Mobley were injured. The organization is trumpeting a new style, but really, it’s the emergence of Sam Merrill, who has become a rotation mainstay, averaging 13.5 points per game.

Merrill is taking 8.7 three-pointers per contest and is knocking them down at a 43.4% clip.

We also don’t want to forget the defense has picked up greatly since the two starters went out, surprising because Mobley is one of the league’s best defenders. Perhaps the players and coaching staff turned up the defense because of the offense they figured to miss in having two of their three top scorers out of the lineup.

A big question for us is what happens when Garland and Mobley return. With the heater the Cavs are on, we feel like it is up to them to fit in with the new, successful style of play, that is as long as it is working.

For Mobley, that would seem to involve staggering time with Jarrett Allen and not having them on the court as much. And once J.B. Bickerstaff starts substituting in a given game, he kind of does that anyway.

And if you have a lead late, you want both Allen and Mobley on the court because of their ability to defend, even out on the floor.

Also, Tristan Thompson’s suspension does open some minutes in the frontcourt.

Garland would seem to have to make a bigger adjustment. First, he has played 20 games this season and had five or more turnovers in seven of them. By contrast, Donovan Mitchell, who has become the primary ball handler with Garland out, has played in 32 games and has had five or more turnovers just five times.

We would say the ball should be in Mitchell’s hands and Garland should play off him. And Merrill should not lose any playing time due to Garland’s return. He’s earned playing time even with the roster being complete.

How Bickerstaff handles this could be his defining moment as coach. Cleveland’s next three games are against three very good teams, two vs. Milwaukee and then a home game against the 28-14 Clippers.

If this new style and new rotation continues to work, the proverbial ball is in the court of the players returning to the lineup. They have to go with the winning flow.

And don’t forget the trade deadline is two weeks from today.

Cavs’ 3 Point Success? Surprise, It’s Sam Merrill

The Cleveland Cavaliers have spent the last week or so talking about their new offensive style since the injuries to Darius Garland and Evan Mobley.

They’ve gone 8-3 in the 11 contests without two of their usual starters, and they have increased the number of three-point shots they’ve attempted in that span. In the first 25 games of the season, the Cavs averaged 33 long range shots per game, and in the last 11, they added 10 attempts per game.

Better yet, they’ve been more efficient with the shot, making 34.5% of their attempts behind the arc in the first 25 games, while they’ve knocked down 37% since Garland and Mobley have been out.

The chief reason for the improvement has been Sam Merrill, who since the injuries occurred has received steady playing time and made 44.4% of his three-pointers, taking 72 of them in the nine games he has appeared in.

If you are going to take more three-point shots, the key is putting someone in the game who can make them consistently. And that’s what Merrill is doing.

We have been wary of Merrill’s abilities because in watching him it seemed the game was too fast for him, meaning he shot well in the G League and Summer League, but when he got to the NBA, he was rushing, and the result was his shot was off.

The game seems to have slowed down a bit for him and the results have been very good. Teams can always use players who knock down outside shots at that rate. He currently ranks 13th in the league in three-point percentage.

Unfortunately, the Cavs’ issues are with the players who are taking the most long-range shots per game, Max Strus and Donovan Mitchell.

Strus has attempted the 7th most three-pointers in the league with 294. The problem is of the players in the top ten in the NBA in attempts, Strus has the lowest percentage of makes at 34.7%. The next lowest is Damian Lillard at 35.2%.

However, Lillard is a much more versatile offensive player, having gone to the line 275 times this season. Strus has attempted just 49 free throws.

As for Mitchell, because he’s missed some time with injuries, he ranks fifth in the league with 8.9 three-point attempts per game. And same as Strus, he has the lowest field goal percentage among the top ten in attempts at 35%.

This is not to call out Mitchell, who is one of the premier scoring guards in the league. However, he is knocking down 53.3% of his shots inside the arc. We understand the toll it takes attacking the basket more often (he’s makes 68% inside three feet), but only 10% of his field goal tries are from 16 feet to the arc, but he makes half of those shots.

Meanwhile, 42.8% of his field goal tries are three pointers. We’d like to see him lower that percentage a bit.

We still think a good part of the Cavs’ success since Garland and Mobley went out is due to a nice schedule break. The only real good team Cleveland has played in this span is Milwaukee, and they’ve only played three road games during this time.

When they return from France, they will play the Bucks three more times, as well as Orlando and the Clippers by the end of January. Of course, Garland shouldn’t be that far from returning.

Those games will be good tests.

It’s funny though that Koby Altman signed Strus and Georges Niang to get more three-point shooting, and the player who has been the key was here all along. Sam Merrill’s shooting has been a big factor in coping with the absences of Garland and Mobley.

Questions And More Questions About Cavs’ Future

As soon as the Cleveland Cavaliers announced Darius Garland and Evan Mobley would miss extended time due to injury, and rumors started popping up about a possible trade for Donovan Mitchell.

Our guess is these people feel the Cavs would not be a playoff team without two of their starters, so they would be better off cashing in on Mitchell, who can decline a player option for the 2025-26 season and become a free agent.

This of course means the wine and gold only have Mitchell for the remainder of this season and next, because he certainly won’t take the option and remain in “Cleveland” any longer than he has to.

To his credit, Mitchell has said all the right things and at least publicly hasn’t talked about wanting out of Cleveland, but no doubt, the front office has to be monitoring the situation. They certainly will not let Mitchell walk away without compensation, so if the all-star guard doesn’t give them assurances he would like to stay, Koby Altman has to listen to offers.

However, things have changed from a year ago. After 28 games last season, Cleveland was 17-11 and sitting in the #3 spot in the Eastern Conference standings. They were the up-and-coming team, adding an all-NBA talent in Mitchell, allowing the least points in the league, and a challenger for the best record in the conference.

They’ve only one a game less this year.

This season, the hot young squad is Orlando, sitting with a 16-9 record and in the 4th spot in the East. The Cavs have been up and down all season, beset with injuries to pretty much everyone on their roster, and due to that, generally has sat between 6th and 9th in the conference.

And Indiana’s run to the In Season Tournament title game have basketball talking about them as well.

So, if the Cavs can’t keep winning without their pair of injured starters, and they’ve received no commitment from Mitchell that he is willing to sign an extension, then you have to think it is time to sell high on the four-time All Star.

On the other hand, if Cleveland continues to win without Garland and Mobley, that has to open some eyes, no?

We have long found flaws with the smallish backcourt of Mitchell and Garland, who in terms of style of game are very similar. Max Strus has moved to the #2 guard spot right now, giving coach J.B. Bickerstaff a little more size on the perimeter, which should help defensively.

If the team can remain afloat or even flourish without Garland and Mobley, doesn’t reflect well on the coaching staff? Also, would it be a referendum on the Garland/Mitchell combination?

Our guess is that it will be tough to string together victories with a roster missing two of their top six players, but it could also be a Browns’ moment for the team as well. An opportunity to show the “grit” that Bickerstaff talks about.

If they can’t keep their heads above water with the injuries, it could mean a roster overhaul at the trade deadline, probably involving Mitchell, the organization’s most valuable trade chip.

The next six weeks could be hugely important for the future of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The high hopes this season brought for the franchise could be dashed pretty quickly.

Cavs Now At A Crossroad

After a four-game trip that started well in Miami, the Cleveland Cavaliers dropped the final three games and now seem to be at a crossroads. Their record has dropped to just two games over .500 at 14-12, and Friday, they received bad news.

Two of their starters, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, will be out for extended periods due to injury, Garland with a broken jaw, and Mobley is having arthroscopic surgery on his knee. Garland will miss approximately three to four weeks, and Mobley six to eight weeks.

As we said last week, the Cavs’ season has been weird, filled with several injuries, and with extended absences of two starters, the depth will really be tested.

We have complained about the make-up of the Cleveland roster for a while now, so coach J.B. Bickerstaff will have his hands full trying to keep his team in playoff contention, because injuries or not, missing the post-season after last season’s 51-win campaign, would be a disappointment.

We would assume that the loss of Garland means the ball will be put in Donovan Mitchell’s hands, and he is averaging 5.1 assists per night, and frankly, has been better with the ball than Garland in terms of turnovers this season, averaging one less per game.

That would move Max Strus to the two guard, giving the wine and gold a more traditional sized backcourt. However, moving Strus creates an opening at the small forward spot, and therein lies the roster construction problem.

Bickerstaff likes to bring Caris LeVert off the bench, so the candidates to start at small forward would seem to be Isaac Okoro or Georges Niang. Dean Wade might have been a choice as well, but he’s probably the starter in Mobley’s spot.

You would think a player who was the fifth overall pick should be the starter, but Okoro still is not a viable option offensively, so it is difficult to give him extended minutes because opponents don’t feel the need to guard him.

So, we would probably go with Niang, because it would seem to spread the floor for Mitchell. Having Strus, Niang, and Wade on the court together could give Cleveland the ultimate floor spacing.

There is a flaw to this though, and that is Wade is nowhere near the rebounder that Mobley is. On a per 36 minute basis, Wade gets 7.5 rebounds, compared to Mobley’s 11.2.

Wade needs to show up once and for all. The organization has a much higher opinion of him than we do, and now would be a good time to see why.

We have talked about the lack of big man depth for the Cavaliers for some time now, and here we are again. For some reason, Bickerstaff seems reticent to use Tristan Thompson on a regular basis, even though the veteran is just 32-years-old.

We know Thompson is offensively challenged, but he can still defend on rebound (he gets 11.3 boards per 36 minutes). He going to have to be out there every night now, we would think.

Garland’s injury would seem to force rookie Craig Porter Jr. on the court. He’s been impressive in limited appearances, and this should give him an opportunity to see if he can adjust since defenses will see him more often.

And as for the big men, maybe we will see Damian Jones and/or Isaiah Mobley get an opportunity to see some minutes.

The Cavaliers have a top heavy roster, with five very good players (Mitchell, Garland, Jarrett Allen, Mobley, and LeVert). Now, two of those guys will be missing for a while, and they will need more from the everyone. That doesn’t mean hoisting up more shots either.

They just need everyone to do a little more. For example, Mitchell to be more of a distributor, Allen, a couple more buckets per game, etc.

If players don’t step up, the Cavs might have too deep of a hole to dig out of when Garland and Mobley get back.

Cavs’ Start To Season? Weird.

As we hit the quarter pole in the NBA season, and the much awaited in-season tournament championship game (sarcasm intended), we find the Cleveland Cavaliers a bit of a weird team.

Part of it is the injuries that have plagued J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad all season. Cleveland has just two players, newcomers Max Strus and Georges Niang, who have played all 22 games thus far and only Strus has started all of them.

The Cavs currently sit at 13-9 on the year, good enough to be 6th in the Eastern Conference standings, but they have also won 9 of their last 12 games, so they are trending in a positive direction.

The have already lost six home games in 2023-24, more than any other team in the East that is above .500, and their 7-3 road record is tied with Minnesota and Oklahoma City for the best in the NBA.

Among those seven wins are quality victories at New York (6-3 at home), Philadelphia (8-3), and Miami, always a tough place to win for Cleveland.

That mark will be put to the test starting Monday when the Cavaliers travel to Orlando and then Boston for a pair of contests Tuesday and Thursday. Those teams currently have the best records in the East.

Cleveland started the season trying to push the pace, as most teams say they want to do, but have slowed things down a bit, and this has allowed them to play better on the defensive end of the floor, which has been their calling card.

They are playing faster than last season, when they ranked last in pace, as they are currently 18th. Defensively, they have dropped from first last year, to 8th right now, probably due to the faster pace, but really, anything in the top ten is very respectable.

Koby Altman tried to improve the wine and gold’s long distance shooting from a year ago by bringing in Strus and Niang, but Cleveland has actually dropped in three-point shooting percentage from 36.7% to 34.8%. They have taken about the same number per game, right around 32 per contest.

Niang, in particular, was off to a dreadful start from long distance, but over his last 10 games has knocked down 21 of 48 from beyond the arc, a 43.8% clip more in line with his career mark of 40%.

Darius Garland’s numbers in this area are way below his norm, making just 32.5% from three, and his lifetime mark is over 38%.

Donovan Mitchell is also down from a year ago at 35.7% compared to a 38.6% mark in his first year in Cleveland. We would like to see Mitchell attack more, particularly late in games.

You have to figure both of them will get it going from outside and then we can see the offensive potential of this group.

We would still like to see Altman find another solid big man at or before the trading deadline. Tristan Thompson has been better than expected when he’s played, but we don’t know if he can perform that well on a nightly basis.

He has provided solid to very good defense and rebounding when he has played but has played more than 10 minutes in just nine games so far.

We would also like to see Bickerstaff find more minutes for Craig Porter Jr. The rookie usually does well when called upon, but at times, he seems to be forgotten by the coaching staff. If he can be a solid backup at guard, that will help the depth greatly.

There is an adage that the NBA season doesn’t start until Christmas, which is only two weeks away. Quite frankly, we felt this current stretch would be tough for the Cavs, but they won the first two.

The Eastern Conference is tougher this year with the emergence of Orlando and Indiana, so the season will be a challenge for the Cavaliers. Let’s hope their best basketball is ahead of them.