In the last KJG divisional breakdown, we predict how the Cleveland Cavaliers will do against the Pacific Division in the 2019-20 season.
The Cleveland Cavaliers concluded their four-game slate of preseason games on Tuesday, in what was a rough loss to the Boston Celtics, the opponent the Cavs faced in their last two preseason contests.
It was a mixed bag for Cleveland in the preseason, where they closed out well in what was a win over Argentinean club San Lorenzo de Almagro, but that was a non-NBA team, anyhow, and unfortunately, the Cavaliers would then lose their other three preseason games.
Cleveland did have good offensive flow against the Detroit Pistons, though, and had a quality showing overall, but ended up narrowly losing by four thanks to a 31-15 fourth quarter advantage where Detroit rallied back and won 109-105 (per ESPN).
In the last two games, the Cavaliers really got their breaks blown off by Boston, and even in their second meeting, where the C’s did not have really all of their key contributors (at least going into the year), Boston beat Cleveland 118-95.
Though the Cavs had some pieces, such as big Tristan Thompson (right groin soreness) out, along with bigs John Henson, who didn’t play at all due to right groin soreness and missed the last two due to a sprained ankle (suffered in warm-ups before the first Boston game), and big Ante Zizic, who didn’t play at all in the preseason, either, due to left foot soreness (and is reportedly out for about a month due to plantar fasciitis), it still wasn’t ideal to get blown out in both Boston games.
Cleveland even conceded 26 points and eight three-pointers in one quarter to Boston rookie Carsen Edwards, who finished with 30 points and nine three-pointers in the second contest against the C’s (per ESPN).
It was nice to see for new head coach John Beilein and the Cavaliers’ mostly-new coaching staff that rookie guard Darius Garland showed great court vision and an ability to separate from opposing defenders for shots and floaters with ease, though, and he shot 42.9% in his three games active; he missed the first Boston game due to precaution from him twisting his left ankle against Detroit, but he’s all good, and had 16 points and four assists in the preseason finale.
It was also good to see rookie wing Kevin Porter Jr., who likely got some more run due to fellow rookie wing Dylan Windler (who missed all of preseason due to a reported stress reaction in his lower left leg and could maybe miss a bit of the regular season), not being active.
On the bright side, though 2019-20 will clearly involve growing pains, especially early on, for the Cavs, it’s still awesome that Cleveland begins their regular season on Wednesday at the Orlando Magic.
With star big Kevin Love hopefully healthier than he was last season (where he missed 60 games, per Basketball Reference), and a bunch of young players, such as second-year guard Collin Sexton and third-year wing Cedi Osman, along with Garland, Porter and Windler getting big minutes, the team should at least be really fun to watch.
Alright so at this point, we’ve broken how the Cavs stack up against their own division, the Central, along with the Atlantic Division, Southeast Division, the Northwest Division and the Southwest Division in the 2019-20 season. Lastly, we’ll break down how the Cavaliers stack up against the Pacific Division this year, and for the record, you can view Cleveland’s 2019-20 schedule here, per the team/NBA.com.
The Pacific Division consists of the Golden State Warriors, LA Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings.
So first up, we’ll begin with the Warriors.