Cavs: Three reasons to tune into 2019-20 home opener vs. Pacers

The Cleveland Cavaliers have the first home game of their 2019-20 campaign on Saturday against the Indiana Pacers. Here’s why you should tune in.

The beginning of the NBA season brings so much excitement, and for fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers, that should be no exception.

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Though there were plenty of lulls throughout the Cavs’ first game of the 2019-20 season at the Orlando Magic, they played quality defense, and Cleveland clawed their way back into the contest numerous times and were competitive in a 94-85 loss.

The Cavs had a solid outing overall from rookie guard Darius Garland, who had eight points and five assists, and especially considering it was his first NBA game, let alone start, Garland got his teammates involved really well, and hopefully the Cavaliers can help him out more by knocking down more open looks from three-point range, in particular.

Cleveland shot just 26.5% from three-point range (per ESPN), but again, it was the first game, and with the Cavaliers having a first-time NBA head coach in John Beilein and with the squad having plenty of new faces, the offensive production will come.

It was clear that the ball and man movement was much, much better for Cleveland in Wednesday’s first contest of this season, and that is something that should be sustainable as players such as Garland, guard Collin Sexton and Kevin Love get more comfortable.

So, as far as the second game on the docket, the Cavaliers will have their 2019-20 home opener against the Indiana Pacers, which is also Cleveland’s first game versus a team in their division, the Central, this season.

Indy lost their first game of 2019-20 at home against another divisional foe in the Detroit Pistons 119-110, but the Pacers, even with star guard Victor Oladipo out for a while still due to a reported ruptured quad tendon, are one tough cookie.

Indy acquired former Milwaukee Bucks combo guard Malcolm Brogdon via sign-and-trade this offseason, and also made a trade to acquire talented wing scorer T.J. Warren from the Phoenix Suns, which won’t be easy to match up with for the Cavs.

Neither will be the Pacers’ two starting bigs, Domantas Sabonis, whom they reportedly extended this week (per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium), and Myles Turner.

Along with that, free agents Jeremy Lamb and T.J. McConnell were solid signings for Indy, too, and could make their presence felt against the Cavs, who will be playing a bunch of young pieces. Lamb is questionable, though, as he reportedly is dealing with a hip pointer, per Nathan Brown of the Indy Star.

So, anyway, what’s one of the reasons to tune into the Cavs’ 2019-20 home opener?