The quarter mark of the Cavs’ 24-25 season has come and gone and despite a 6-4 record in their previous 10 games, they still hold a game and a half lead over the Celtics for the best record in the NBA. While having the best record in the league, the Cavaliers have dropped two NBA Cup games, which eliminated them from the knockout stage. The Cavs and their young core would have benefited from the playoff atmosphere games the NBA Cup would have provided; however, getting a break in the schedule and the two added games being against two easy opponents will bring a different kind of benefit to the team. The Cavaliers play only two games in the next 11 days, by far the biggest break in the schedule thus far. While the players will enjoy some time off and a chance to catch their legs, the coaching staff will look at the next couple of weeks as an opportunity for some much-needed practice time. HC Kenny Atkinson has often lamented the fact that the Cavaliers’ rapid start to the season has not provided much time for the team to practice.
Cleveland dropped a game Sunday night in Miami, in which the Cavs never looked to fully catch steam against a team the Cavs have struggled against dating back to the LeBron years. They are 6-14 in their last 20 games against Miami and 3-9 in their last 12, giving good proof for the league talking point of the “Miami hangover.” Before dropping the game to Miami, the Cavs were in Charlotte for a matinee game against a team whose injuries have ravaged them. If the Cavs’ goal for the game against the Hornets was to continue to give Evan Mobley reps to build his confidence after a great game against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets, they succeeded.
Evan Mobley scored 20 points against the Nuggets and looked confident behind the 3-point line, shooting 3/5 from behind the arc. He followed up that great performance with a stunning performance in Charlotte. Evan Mobley came out scorching; he scored 21 points in the first quarter. Mobley looked to score every time the ball was in his hands, something that Cavs fans and his teammates know he is capable of doing. He finished with a double-double and a career-best 41 points, making five threes in the first quarter and finishing the game 6/8 from deep, all of that while only playing 34 minutes in the game. While there have been many signs Evan has taken a massive leap throughout the early stages of his third season, the games against Denver and Charlotte provided even more evidence, as spacing the floor with a capable seven-foot three-point shooter is exactly what the Cavs need to play with the best teams of the modern NBA.
The first break in the Cavs schedule comes at the right time for a multitude of reasons. Isaac Okoro, Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, has been out since hurting his knee in the Denver game on Thursday. Okoro traveled with the team on their short road trip over the weekend, which is a good sign that it will not keep him out for long. Then came a scary moment in the Heat game. In the second quarter, Mobley was looking to continue his great week when he jumped and landed on the foot of Kevin Love. He continued to play for a few minutes, but after hobbling for the next couple of possessions, Mobley was pulled from the game and did not return. Love, who still has great friends on the Cavs roster, even went to the length of visiting the away locker room post-game to apologize for his large feet, which caused Evan to sprain his ankle. Similar to Isaac’s injury, the ankle of Mobley does not seem to be a long-term injury as Evan joked with media after the game that he will be just fine, and the break will be good for everyone, including himself. The break in the schedule will also give Max Strus time to maybe get back in the lineup. Strus, who injured his ankle during training camp, has not seen the floor yet for the Cavs. The practice time the team will get this week will allow him even more time to get re-acclimated with his teammates before re-joining the team and potentially taking back his slot in the starting lineup.
The injuries might not be serious, and the upcoming couple of games allow Kenny and his staff to be overly cautious and not rush anyone back from their injuries. The previously mentioned three players might not be needed in their next two games as they play the three-win Wizards on Friday of this week, followed by a game against the young Nets. Looking further down the schedule, the Cavs play the Bucks and 76ers before their Christmas break. Both Milwaukee and Philadelphia had horrendous starts to the season but have started to look like the Eastern Conference contenders in the past couple of weeks. Mobley and Okoro will surely be back in time for those games, and having another couple of weeks might allow Strus to return to the lineup and give Cleveland their first chance to see the team at full strength. Whether it’s getting their guys healthy or allowing Donovan Mitchell some time to rest, Donovan has not had great games by his standard in the last week after he ignited the fourth-quarter comeback against the Celtics. Donovan may have been a bit distracted by helping the Mets recruit the $765 million man in Juan Soto to his hometown Mets (see his X posts in the past couple of days).
While the optimistic Cleveland fan had visions of breaking the Warriors’ 73-win season record during their franchise-breaking start to the season, Cavs fans might have gotten a dose of reality with their 6-4 record in their last 10 games. Even with tempered expectations, if Cleveland can stay healthy and not lose any of their players for long-term lengths of time, the Eastern Conference should still run through Cleveland come playoff time as the Cavaliers and Celtics look like they will be battling for the #1 seed through the end of the season in April.
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