Was Altman’s Presser A Smoke Screen? It Should Be

Cavs’ president of basketball operations Koby Altman held his after the season press conference on Monday and we file it under the category of “What else did you want him to stay”.

Altman expressed confidence in the “Core 4” (this is the last time we will use this term, a label like that must be earned) and talked about the journey to a championship, that it takes time to get there, and said you could see the improvement of the team with a 64 win regular season.

Again, what did you want him to say? That it is obvious the current roster isn’t good enough to win a championship, and changes have to be made? That wasn’t the forum for that kind of discussion.

Much like it didn’t matter what the Cavs did during the regular season in 2024-25, what Altman says doesn’t either. His actions prior to the start of training camp this fall will tell you what he thinks.

We have heard people comparing the timeline to that of the Boston Celtics, who took seven years to get to the top of the mountain and win the title in 2023-24. There is a major difference though. Those Celtics’ teams went to the conference finals five different seasons in those seven years.

The Cavaliers have yet to get past the second round with this group.

The centerpieces of those Boston teams are Jaylen Brown, drafted in 2016 and Jayson Tatum, picked in the first round of 2017. Their usual starting lineup the year Tatum was selected was Brown and Tatum, and the other three starters were Al Horford, Aron Baynes, and Kyrie Irving.

They lost to the Cavs in the conference finals in seven games.

Over the years, their starting lineups featured many players. Marcus Smart, Kemba Walker, and even Tristan Thompson were prominent for Boston until they traded for Derrick White at the deadline in 2022.

The following off-season, Brad Stevens brought in Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis and won it all last season.

They did not stick with the same group over that entire period of time.

Getting De’Andre Hunter was a good start. He’s long, athletic, and can shoot the ball. In our opinion, he should be a #3. Too often, Kenny Atkinson had to use him at the #4, and he’s not big enough there.

In terms of players being “untouchable”, we don’t believe anyone is that. Now, that doesn’t mean it is likely a player like Donovan Mitchell would be moved, but let’s say the Nuggets offered Nikola Jokic for him. Altman would be crazy to not deal for the league’s best player.

And remember, Mitchell has a player option on his contract following the 2027-28 season, and everyone knows how badly he wants to win a title. Plus, he will be 29 by the time training camp gets under way.

There is a fine line between patience and stubbornness. We would get it if the Cavs stood pat after one five game loss in the playoffs, but this group has been defeated in five games the last three seasons and won two playoff series in that time.

When you build a team, you should keep tinkering until you get it right. The Celtics did just that. Can Altman do the same?

His actions this summer will speak louder than his comments earlier this week.

For Cavs, It Turns Out Size Does Matter

Believe us, we would have loved to be wrong about the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Even in the midst of the 15-game winning streak to open the year, we said the streak was nice, but the real tale for the Cavs was going to be told in the playoffs. We knew they were a playoff team coming into the year, it was always about how far they could advance in the playoffs.

Of all the reasons we thought the wine and gold would lose in the playoffs, we never thought the shooting would fail this team. Yes, they aren’t big enough, and their toughness, both physical and mental, can be called into question.

But we never thought the shooting would be an issue. This was a team that shot 49% from the floor, 38% from three, and 77.6% from the line. In the five-game series loss to Indiana, they shot 42.6% from the floor and 29.4% from three.

Meanwhile, the Pacers shot 36.8% from long distance in the regular season and knocked down 42.1% in the series. Andrew Nembhard made 29% during the 82-game schedule and suddenly became Larry Bird in the playoffs, making 11 of 22 threes.

Before this season ending series, we felt the Pacers would offer a challenge due to their length and athleticism. Cleveland’s pair of 6’2″/6’3″ guards had a difficult time getting the team into the offense against the Pacers’ trio of 6’5″ defenders. There were so many possessions where the Cavs got the ball over the timeline with 17 or 18 seconds left on the shot clock.

And Indiana stayed with the Cleveland players on the perimeter which caused the offense to morph into a lot of isolation ball, mostly Donovan Mitchell attacking the basket. And if they had possessions where they could move the ball, it seemed they overpassed.

They passed up good shots trying to get layups and dunks and Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam were there waiting.

Now, the focus shifts to Koby Altman. Altman has swung a big trade after losing in the play in tournament and fired a coach after losing in the conference semis a year ago. Perhaps it is time to look at the makeup of the roster, which continues to show there isn’t enough size.

We’ve talked about the backcourt, but beyond Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, there isn’t enough height on the team in a sport where absolutely size matters. Kenny Atkinson determined the Cavs’ back up big, Tristan Thompson, couldn’t play in the series unless it was garbage time.

Bringing in De’Andre Hunter helped, but there are still too many 6’5″ or 6’6″ players on the roster. And given opportunities after the trade deadline, Altman filled the open roster spots with 6’4″ Javonte Green and 6’6″ Chuma Okeke.

We like Jaylon Tyson a lot, he has versatility the Cavs need, but Cleveland passed on DaRon Holmes, 6’10” from Dayton and 6’11” Kyle Filipowski from Duke, who were rated around the same place as Tyson.

Perhaps Nae’Quan Tomlin and Luke Travers can move into the rotation in training camp, both players would add some size.

As for toughness, the Cavaliers have been dominated in all three series they were eliminated in over the last three seasons. They didn’t put up much of a fight in any of those losses.

That has to change.

It was a stunning defeat especially after a 64-win regular season, and we agree with Atkinson that the pain of defeat is a great motivating factor. We also agree when he said the season wasn’t a success because the Cavs didn’t make progress in terms of advancing.

It’s going to be a long summer for both the front office and the players. Let’s hope both are ready to work hard before training camp starts.

Cavs Need Another Big Effort Tonight.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were looking at their season Friday night. They lost the first two games of their best-of-seven series against the Indiana Pacers at home, and of course, in the history of the NBA, no team has come back from down 0-3.

Darius Garland didn’t play in the first two games, and both Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter sat out game two with injuries. All three played with the wine and gold’s season on the line.

The result was a 126-104 win in Indianapolis to cut the series lead to 2-1 for the Pacers. Mobley had 18 points and 13 rebounds, Hunter scored 8 and had 5 boards, while Garland scored 10 points and dished out 3 assists. It was enough to support the incomparable Donovan Mitchell, who poured in more than 40 points for the second straight game.

Hopefully, the trio will be available for the rest of the series, because as we thought going into the Eastern Conference semis, this is going to be a tough series against a quality team.

Mitchell is averaging 41.3 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in the series, and Jarrett Allen and Max Strus have been very good, but no doubt, Kenny Atkinson needs his full complement of players going forward, especially because some of his bench guys haven’t played up to their regular season standards.

While we aren’t shocked that Dean Wade and Isaac Okoro haven’t produced, outside of good defense, Ty Jerome’s struggles are a bit puzzling.

Wade has played 60 minutes in the three games and has taken just 8 shots, making just one. To put that in perspective, the Pacers’ Jarace Walker has played 17 minutes and hoisted six shots.

We get Wade is out there for defense and rebounding (he is 5th on the team in the series with 17 caroms), but this is basketball. You have to be a threat on both sides of the court.

As for Okoro, he has played 48 minutes and taken seven shots, making two, and is 0 for 3 from beyond the arc, meaning if the offense is going to put him outside, the Pacers aren’t going to guard him.

Jerome needs a good game in the worst way. During the regular season, we saw many games where he had an impact despite not scoring. In the three games thus far, he is just 10 for 42 from the floor and has made only one of 12 three-point shots.

And as a team the long-distance shot hasn’t been falling for Cleveland. For the season, the Cavs made 38.3% of their threes, and through the first three games, the wine and gold are knocking down just 27.4%.

As amazing as Mitchell has been in the series, he’s only hitting on 22.6% of his threes, compared to 36.8% in the 82-game schedule.

If the Cavs start shooting better from deep in the series, that will add another dimension to their offense, one the Pacers will have to come up with an answer for.

When you are down in a playoff series, every game becomes bigger. So, tonight’s contest will either even the series giving the Cavaliers home court advantage again or put their collective backs to the wall for the balance of these conference semi-finals.

The famed Cavs’ depth has to return for this series to swing. It can’t just be on Mitchell and the starters to be on top of their games.

Despite Recent Struggles, Cavs Are Sitting Just Fine

If you listen to the national media, the Cleveland Cavaliers are a nice story. They’ve had a great regular season, but many don’t think they can compete with the defending champion Boston Celtics.

Frankly, a lot of this conversation has come because the Cavs are just 6-5 in their last 11 contests, and their opponents have only been held under 110 points three times in those games.

After their 16-game winning streak ended just prior to a west coast trip, Kenny Atkinson said he would be trying some different combinations, mainly because they had a 7.5 game bulge over Boston in the East entering the trip.

We can’t find any flaw in that logic.

Watching the halftime show Wednesday on ESPN (yes, we know, that’s our fault), a casual fan would have thought the wine and gold were trying to get into the Play in Tournament, not have the second-best record in the NBA.

We are not saying the Cavs are a shoo-in to get to the conference finals, but they have been one of the best teams in the league since day one. We write that knowing what we have said all along, this season for Cleveland will be determined by how far they advance in the playoffs, and we also think the front office believes they can win the title.

There have always been strange trades in the NBA, and we like to talk about the comment Gregg Popovich had when the Lakers obtained Pau Gasol from Memphis. Popovich made a statement to the effect that it must be nice to give up nothing and get Gasol.

We might be saying the same thing about De’Andre Hunter at some point, because he seems to be the perfect piece for the Cavaliers.

In just under 25 minutes a game since his arrival, Hunter is scoring 14 points and grabbing 4 boards while shooting 43.7% from three. Most importantly, he gives Atkinson some length on the wing.

We would not be surprised if the Cleveland-Boston match up occurs with a trip to The Finals at stake, we see a lot of this combination on the floor: Donovan Mitchell, Ty Jerome, Hunter, Dean Wade, and either Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley. That group has the length to give the Celtics some competition.

Still, the Cleveland player to watch most remains Darius Garland. The sixth-year guard is having perhaps the best shooting year of his career, making a career-high 47% from the floor, and his second-best year from three at 40.2%.

In his two playoff seasons, his shooting dropped 2% in both seasons. And he had turnover issues.

Let’s face it, in every playoff series, opponents hunt the weakest defensive player on the floor, and for the Cavs, most often it is Garland. He has to be at least decent on that end of the floor when the post-season starts.

We expect Atkinson to lean into what has been the Cavs’ advantage all year. They have depth, and we think the coach will play 10 until a player shows he’s not deserving of the time.

They will move the basketball, and when you do that, it makes it difficult to trap players in order to get the ball out of their hands. In essence, they will play their brand of the game and make the other team stop it.

The difference is we think Atkinson does a good job of adjusting and doing something else to counter the defense.

The playoffs start in about two weeks. We think part of the Cavs’ “struggles” have been because they are anticipating the post-season tournament.

For Okoro And Wade, Offense Is Key To Playoff PT

The Cleveland Cavaliers reached the 60 win plateau for the third time in franchise history and their magic number to clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference is now four, meaning it’s very likely that will be the case.

We have said all season long, a remarkable regular season really, that the Cavs are in the unfortunate situation of having the regular season being rendered rather meaningless in terms of how the 2024-25 season will be viewed.

Most people knew the wine and gold were a playoff team, so the season will be measured by how successful they are in the playoffs. This means the season will only be a success if they at least advance to the conference finals.

Of course, with three winning streaks of over ten games, we are sure Kenny Atkinson and the front office are expecting an NBA championship. That’s why Koby Altman made the De’Andre Hunter deal.

No doubt, the players think the same.

We think Atkinson will start the post-season by playing ten guys as he has all season long. A lot of pundits will tell you coaches shorten their rotation in the playoffs, but they do that usually because a couple of guys aren’t playing well, and the margin for error is much less in the playoffs.

Two of the players who will be on the spot during the playoffs will be the team’s two defensive specialists, Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade.

Okoro is an excellent wing defender and has improved his three-point percentage to where the past two seasons he is making 39.1% and 37.4% of his long-distance shots. We feel he is more versatile offensively that has been shown. Cleveland has made him virtually and “3 and D” player, but he can take the ball to the hole and can be an effective cutter in Atkinson’s offense.

His problem in the playoffs has been his hesitancy to shoot the ball. And he either doesn’t want to shoot or isn’t making shots when he does take them, it will limit how much he can play, the deeper the Cavs go in the post-season.

Wade has a reputation as a good shooter, but his career mark from three is just 36.6%, and his making 35.2% this season. His real value is his defense. At 6’9″, he can defend on the perimeter, a big deal especially in a series vs. Boston with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Along with Hunter, the Cavs can now match the Celtics’ size on the wing.

Wade is streaky as a shooter, we have documented before that if you take five games away from his career, his three-point shooting drops to the 33% range. In the playoffs, he needs to either be hot from outside or better yet, become more versatile, meaning don’t be afraid to put the ball on the floor.

We know Atkinson is going to use Hunter and Ty Jerome off the bench. If he shortens his rotation, Okoro and/or Wade are likely to be on the bubble along with Sam Merrill. The latter’s situation is easy. Although he has improved defensively, if he’s making shots, he will play.

Since February 1st, he’s knocked down 39.4% of his threes. That kind of percentage would get him on the floor. For Okoro and Wade, the coaching staff know what they will bring on defense.

For them, it is how much they can contribute on the offensive end.

Cavs In A Slump, Concerned? Yes. Worried? No.

For the first 4-1/2 months of the NBA season, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost 10 games. Last week, they lost four in a row. The losses are mitigated by the fact they had won the previous 16 games, so in the last 20 contests, they are 16-4, which is damn good.

However, a late season west coast trip and the playoffs are drawing near, it is likely a challenge to keep focused, and really, when it comes down to it, they need to be ready to go when the post-season starts.

Kenny Atkinson isn’t happy (nor are the players) with the four consecutive defeats, but he’s also admitted he is trying some different combinations with the post-season in mind.

The Cavs are in a shooting funk, particularly from distance. Here are their three point percentages by month, with attempts included:

October 41.1% 36.6 FGA
November 39.9% 38.3 FGA
December 41.4% 44.2 FGA
January 36.0% 42.8 FGA
February 40.7% 40.9 FGA
March 34.8% 42.5 FGA

Before this month, January was the worst shooting month for the Cavs, and coincidentally, it was their worst record at 10-5. So, we can definitely infer Cleveland’s success is based on shooting the ball well. That’s where the league gets its reputation as a “make or miss league”.

Donovan Mitchell is hitting just 18% of his threes this month compared to 37% for the entire season, and Darius Garland is making only 33% from beyond the arc, and is over 40% for the season.

Based on the fact of a smaller sample size, you have to think this is just a slump and both will get back to normalcy soon.

Mitchell is particular is tremendous taking the ball to the basket and perhaps should start with shorter shots and work his way out, but on the other hand, the most important thing for all of the Cavs is to remain healthy going into the playoffs.

During the 16 game winning streak, Cleveland gave up more than 120 points just four times, one during an overtime win over Portland. They have done it three times of the four losses.

Evan Mobley missed the first loss last Sunday and Garland missed the game in Sacramento. Isaac Okoro played just seven minutes in the loss to Orlando, and curiously De’Andre Hunter played only 20 and 22 minutes in two of the defeats.

The Cavs have two more games out west (today vs. Utah and Tuesday at Portland) before coming back home for the home stretch. They still have a five-game bulge over the Celtics for the top seed in the East, and with 12 games to play, they will likely have home court advantage for throughout the conference playoffs.

And we maintain, as we did during the 15-game streak to open the season, that nothing the Cavs accomplish during the regular season matters. We all knew this was a playoff team barring injuries.

What matters is how they will do in April and beyond. And they have plenty of time to right the ship in the last 12 contests.

It starts with breaking the losing streak, and that starts with picking up the defensive effort. It’s a long season and sometimes the players lose a bit of focus. That’s probably all it is.

But if they are the title contenders, we believe they are, they have to get back to playing the way they have all year. The players and coaching staff want the same thing.

Cavs Refused To Lose In Win #15 Tuesday Night.

There are so many remarkable numbers associated with the Cleveland Cavaliers this season. They are currently on a 15-game winning streak, their second such span of this season, and their third winning skein of 10 or more game during 2024-25.

They clinched the Central Division title (bet you forgot the NBA has divisions) and their magic number to clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference is 10. And it’s only March 13th. The season has a month to go.

We have all read stories about how connected the roster is, the remarkable chemistry, and it is led by Donovan Mitchell and Kenny Atkinson. Mitchell sacrificed his numbers for the greater good, playing less minutes, which will hopefully lead to him and all of the Cavaliers being fresher come playoff time.

Winning is learned skill, and these members of the wine and gold have gained knowledge on how to win and they enjoy the feeling of winning.

We understood this about this team, but it was emphasized more during Tuesday’s 15th consecutive win over Brooklyn.

The Cavs were without Mitchell, De’Andre Hunter who was ill, and Ty Jerome who was being rested. As any fan knows, these are three key components to Cleveland’s success this season.

Brooklyn got off to a great start, shooting the ball very well from three-point range. Meanwhile, the wine and gold, normally an excellent three-point shooting team, was ice cold.

In the third quarter, Cleveland fell down by 16 points and it looked like one of those nights in the NBA where a lesser team gets hot, the better team isn’t making shots, and a very good team takes an L. It’s where the term “make or miss league” comes from.

And it would have been easy for the short-handed Cavaliers, with an eight-game lead over Boston in the East, to accept their fate and it wouldn’t have been the end of the world to lose that game.

But the defensive intensity turned up. Dean Wade is a good perimeter defender, but Sam Merrill was out there pestering the Nets’ ball handlers, forcing them to eat up the shot clock and leading to tough shots.

Brooklyn shot 50% (11 for 22) from beyond the arc in the first half, but they hit just 2 of 10 in the third, meanwhile Jarrett Allen scored 11 points and had seven boards in those 12 minutes. The Brooklyn lead, which was 13 at halftime, was trimmed to eight by the end of three.

It was now close enough for Darius Garland to control the fourth quarter, scoring 18 points and Isaac Okoro particularly was tremendous on the defensive end and Cleveland came from behind again.

Another thing on Okoro, we sometimes think the Cavs have limited him by making him a three and D player. He is capable of taking the ball to the basket and had two drives to the hoop in the 4th, including one which put the Cavs ahead.

Yes, the Cavs should’ve won this game. The Nets are 22-43. But sometimes, things aren’t going your way, and it is easy to write the game off. This group didn’t do that, and as usual, it was a collective effort.

Just another reason this team is special and enjoyable to watch.

Cavs’ Comparison To ’15 Hawks? What About ’15 Warriors?

Many of the national detractors of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season have used the 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks as the comparison. Those Hawks were coming off of three consecutive first round losses and win totals of 38, 44, and 40 (in a strike shortened season) and exploded for a 60-22 season and the #1 seed in the East.

They were swept in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Cavaliers, who were in their first year of the return of LeBron James to the franchise.

We think those critics are overlooking the difference between the rosters. Yes, four Hawks made the All-Star Game that year, but Atlanta’s best players were Al Horford, Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver, and Jeff Teague, all of whom made the all-star squad.

Side note: Current Cavs’ assistant coach DeMarre Carroll was a starter on that team.

Mike Budenholzer’s team ranked 6th in offensive and 6th in defense, and their leading scorer was Millsap at 16.7 points, with Teague pitching in 15.9 and 7 assists. Millsap was the leading rebounder at 7.8.

Our question is there is another team from the same season that the Cavaliers have much more in common with. Why doesn’t anyone compare them to the 2015 Golden State Warriors?

The Warriors won 47 games in 2012-13 and 51 in 2013-14, and then changed coaches, firing Mark Jackson and hiring Steve Kerr. Cleveland won 51 games two years ago (same as Golden State) and 48 last season before changing from J.B. Bickerstaff to Kenny Atkinson as head coach.

And we think everyone should remember that Warriors’ team went on to win the NBA title, defeating the Cavaliers in six games.

That Warriors’ team led the league in field goal percentage and in three-point shooting. Cleveand is second in the former and leads in three-point percentage.

The Cavaliers currently have the best offense in the NBA and are 7th defensively. Golden State had the second-best offense and the best defense.

Both teams were guard oriented, the Warriors led by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Cleveland by Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland.

The Warriors’ slogan in the period was “Strength In Numbers”, an ode to Kerr’s choice to keep everyone’s minutes down. Under Jackson, four players averaged over 30 minutes per game (Curry, Thompson, David Lee, and Andre Iguodala) with the starting backcourt both getting more than 35 minutes per night.

Kerr cut that duo’s time to about 32 minutes per night and Draymond Green was the only other Warrior getting more that 30 minutes per night.

Atkinson did pretty much the same thing with this year’s Cavaliers’ squad. Mitchell averaged 35 minutes last season, one of five players averaging over 30 minutes (Garland, Max Strus, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley).

This year’s group has just three, and Garland and Mobley are barely over the 30-minute threshold. Mitchell is down four minutes per game, and 12 Cavs average over 10 minutes a game, and number a little inflated because two of them, Caris LeVert and Georges Niang, were dealt during the season.

But they were replaced by De’Andre Hunter, so really, Atkinson is using an 11-man rotation.

By the way, that Warriors’ team went on to record a 67-15 regular season record, about the same pace as the 2024-25 Cavaliers.

That Hawks’ team was very good, but let’s face it, they didn’t have the star power of either the Warriors or the current Cavalier team.

We guess the deciding argument occurs in the playoffs. Golden State won a championship.

Good Win For Cavs, But With Reserved Joy

The Cleveland Cavaliers continued their remarkable run Friday night, overcoming a 22-point in the first quarter and coming back to beat the Boston Celtics, 123-116 in Beantown.

The win pretty much cements the wine and gold being the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the playoffs, extending the lead over the Celts to 7.5 games wit about 20 games remaining.

To play the game many play, if Cleveland goes just 12-11 in their remaining games, Boston will have to go 19-1 just to tie them.

It was a good win, especially after the green took the huge 25-3 lead to start the game, and we know fans particularly loved the comeback win after Jayson Tatum ran his mouth after the Cavs’ timeout that followed the onslaught.

However, Kenny Atkinson didn’t get too excited, pointing out Boston didn’t play two starters in Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. Donovan Mitchell said the same in the locker room.

And to be fair, fans in northeast Ohio would be saying “yeah, but” if Boston had won with the Cavaliers not having Darius Garland and Evan Mobley available.

Look, it’s a great matchup. The Celtics, despite our dislike for them, are the defending champions and they are an excellent basketball team. Cleveland is having an unbelievable regular season, now at 49-10, and have won only one playoff series.

And Celtics’ coach Joe Mazzulla played it smart on Friday. There was no advantage for him to play the game with all hands-on deck. Boston won two of the first three games and Boston was only totally healthy in one game, the third one, which the Celtics won in Cleveland.

That doesn’t mean the Cavs can’t win the conference finals, though. Although Cleveland has been relatively healthy this season against Boston, this was their first time playing the Celtics with De’Andre Hunter, who played 29 minutes last night and was a +21.

Dean Wade (yes, we’ve been critical of him in the past) missed the first three games vs. Boston, and he is important because of his ability to guard the wing at 6’9″, played 19 minutes and was a +12.

We are sure Atkinson won’t alter his starting lineup if the two teams matchup in May, but we would bet we see a lot of Hunter and Wade on the floor together, and also Ty Jerome, who gives the coach some added size in the backcourt.

Remember, when you are playing the same team in a seven-game series, you have to match up, and a lineup of Mitchell or Garland, Jerome, Hunter, Wade, and either Mobley or Allen does compete with Boston in terms of size defensively.

We did think the Cavs were trying to match the Celtics’ hot three-point shooting early on, settling a bit when they should have attacked the basket more. That was a big reason for the huge early lead for the Celts. Cleveland was missing and that led to transition threes for the home team.

And one of these games, Darius Garland will hit some shots vs. Boston. He’s hitting 49.1% from the floor and 42.3% from three on the season, but against the Celtics this season, his stats are at 32.9% and 33.3%.

If he’s shooting close to normal, it’s a different Cavalier offense.

It was an important win for Cleveland because Boston was missing two starters, losing would have given the Celtics a mental advantage.

But the Cavs pulled it out with an epic comeback. The next time the two teams meet, it will be for higher stakes.

Looking At Cavs Remaining Schedule

The pre-All Star weekend of the NBA schedule couldn’t have gone better for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They got off to a 15-0 start, and since then went 29-10, which isn’t shabby either.

They are sitting at 44-10, but after tonight’s game against the Brooklyn Nets, they will have some tests coming up.

Keep in mind, this is the time in the schedule, the weeks before and after the All-Star break, where sometimes teams go through a bit of a lull. The wine and gold avoided the pre-break blues, winning eight of nine to roar into their week off.

After the game tonight, the Cavs have two home games against title contenders who both sport 36-18 records, the Knicks and Grizzlies. This is followed by a pair of road games, first against Orlando, who took Cleveland to seven games in a first round series last year, and then another measuring stick game vs. the defending champion Celtics.

The Boston game will be Kenny Atkinson’s first opportunity to see how the addition of De’Andre Hunter works for the Cavs. The Celts have had a size advantage, especially on the wings, and no doubt Hunter was acquired with that in mind.

After this group of games, the Cavaliers’ schedule does soften a bit. The Heat is always a challenge and they visit on March 5th and they travel to Milwaukee on the 9th, and of course, Giannis Antetokounmpo is always tough to defend.

There is also one more west coast swing remaining from March 18th through the 25th, and right now, the game leading off the trip against the Clippers might be the toughest one.

All in all, there are still three more against the Knicks left and that should be regarded as games to watch, two vs. the Clippers, and two vs. San Antonio and Victor Wembanyama.

Cleveland currently has a 5-1/2 game lead over Boston in the Eastern Conference with the Celtics having the tiebreaker right now as a result of winning two out of three this year. And as we said before, there is one more game next week.

The most important thing is obviously to be playing well and be healthy going into the post-season. But getting the #1 seed would be good in that the wine and gold would avoid the Celtics and/or Knicks until the conference finals.

And likely those two teams will have to face off in the second round as it stands right now. That is not to dismiss the Cavaliers’ opponent in the either of the first two rounds, but Cleveland would be heavily favored in both series.

The Cavs did another 6’5″ wing yesterday signing Javonte Green, who was bought out by New Orleans. They also added 6’10” Nae’Qwan Tomlin from the Charge yesterday, giving them another big man. No doubt though, Koby Altman and Mike Gansey are looking for a veteran big who can help down the stretch, and perhaps in the playoffs too.

The other thing to watch is how Hunter plays and how he fits with starting lineup or does he fit better coming off the bench.

It will be a long wait until the playoffs start in mid-April. That doesn’t mean there aren’t things to keep an eye on.