Cavs news and links for Monday, November 11.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a perfect 11-0 while the rest of the Eastern Conference is struggling to stay above water.
The first sip
If you look at the top of the East, you’ll find two teams standing firmly above the rest. The Cavaliers and Boston Celtics (9-2) are the only squads with a record above .500. Sure, the season is young — but this is a staggering gap.
It gets worse when you dive into where each team stands. Expected contenders such as the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks are drowning at the bottom of the conference with just two wins apiece. Injuries can only excuse so much as both teams are dropping games they otherwise should be favored.
The New York Knicks are a team that is expected to seriously compete for an NBA Finals berth. But adjusting to not one, but two blockbuster trades over the summer has proven to be a challenge. They’ve put together games that are mightily impressive. But a 4-5 start is underwhelming all the same.
A few other teams are on the verge of .500. The Brooklyn Nets, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Hornets are all in the top eight of the conference right now. I think we’d all be surprised if that remained true.
Finally, two teams that were projected to be in the same tier as Cleveland have also had shaky starts. The Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic are playing close to .500 basketball. Orlando has a valid excuse as Paolo Banchero (who was scorching hot to start the season) will miss multiple weeks with an injury. Indiana, on the other hand, is searching to find themselves as a team.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers are flexing stability and continuity against the conference. They are one of just a few teams who have maintained a promising young core until that seed was ready to sprout. The Cavs are blossoming into the team we thought they could become — while the rest of the East (save Boston) is trying to catch up.