On the heels of the stunning NBA three-team trade that highlighted Luka Dončić being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis; among other players and a 1st Rd Pick, the Cavaliers took full advantage by walloping the Mavericks 144-101. But let’s be honest: the game was over before it even started and that showed in the first quarter.
With the departure of Luka and on the doorstep of the best team in the NBA, it certainly was not an opportune time for anyone else to be out for Dallas. On Sunday, the Mavs were down P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford and Kyrie Irving. That left Klay Thompson as the lone starter, which was a recipe for disaster against a team already setting a variety of scoring records this season. Let’s look at a few franchise records in scoring this game.
The Cavs scored a franchise record for points in a quarter, by scoring 50 (!) in the first. According to StatMuse, that topped the previous record also set this season when the Cavs scored 49 against the Bulls back in November, which also topped the previous record that was set the season before at 47; a feat matched this season as well on 1/25. There’s no secret here… this team doesn’t just like to score; they LOVE to score.
Record scoring in a quarter typically leads to record scoring in a half, and they did just that. Against the Mavericks Sunday, they scored 91 in the first half alone. Just how special is that? I went through every game score this season for every team, and I found that 49 times a team failed to reach a score of 91 or higher in an ENTIRE game. The record defeated a previous franchise record, which (of course) was also set this year against Golden State earlier in November when they started the game with 83 points. That scoring half also touched NBA record books, as Cleveland was only the 3rd team to score such points in a first half in NBA history, and only nine times has a team reached such a score in the second half, according to stats provided by Gilbert McGregor at MSN.com.
The Onslaught of scoring was fueled by record three-point scoring too, eclipsing 26 three-point attempts made against Dallas, only 13 times before has there been a team to make more than 26 threes in a game. Individually, out of the 11 players reaching the court, nine of them made a three-pointer with Sam Merrill leading the way (nine). That marks the 3rd highest in team history behind Kyrie’s 11 made in 2015, as well as CJ Miles (2014) and Darius Garland (2022) each with 10.
Safe to say that Sunday brought a lot of excitement and relaxation for the Cleveland fanbase, a common theme throughout the season. This game highlights the effect that Kenny Atkinson has had on this team, as last year’s team was unlikely to score at this rate. The hot start to the game allowed enough separation that Kenny was able to rest key starters. The game was a nice balance of the roster sheet as all eleven players received significant playing time, and no one played less than 17 mins or over 25 minutes. The result? Eight players reached double figures, four of those off the bench. This team is deep and it’s showing.
With that game chapter in the books, we can’t look in the rearview mirror because next team up?
The Boston Celtics.
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, TNT – Tuesday @ 7:30 pm EST
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