Cleveland Cavaliers: Three keys to game vs. Mavericks on Sunday

Cleveland Cavaliers wing Kevin Porter Jr. and Cleveland big Kevin Love. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Cleveland Cavaliers wing Kevin Porter Jr. and Cleveland big Kevin Love. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton (#2) and Cleveland head coach John Beilein. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

The Cleveland Cavaliers play the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, which is the Cavs’ first game against a Western Conference opponent in the 2019-20 season. We’ll get into a few keys to that one.

As a fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers, I’ve been more than satisfied with their play to begin this 2019-20 season.

Cleveland is 2-3 at the moment, and with them having so many young pieces playing big minutes, that’s not too shabby.

Starting bigs Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson have been have been dynamite to this point, and it appears that they are going to be workhorses for head coach John Beilein. Love is currently leading Cleveland in rebounding, with 16.8 boards per contest, and also is leading the Cavaliers in assists, with 4.8 per game (per NBA.com).

Thompson is currently second on the Cavs in scoring with 17.6 points per game, and with his incredible activity on both ends, it’s clear that he’s out to prove something in 2019-20. TT is putting up 11.4 boards per outing, too, including 3.6 per game on the offensive glass (per NBA.com).

Along with that, though there’s been head-scratching moments at times, which is to be expected, Cleveland’s gotten solid play out of rookie guard Darius Garland, and rookie wing Kevin Porter Jr. has flashed on both ends.

The Garland-Collin Sexton backcourt pairing has had their moments, and although there’s been some clunky play, with the pressure they’ve put on opposing defenses often, it could definitely work out for the Cavs.

The Cavaliers are moving the ball well in games, and overall, they’ve been fun to watch thus far.

Cleveland’s next game against budding star playmaker Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday has some intriguing storylines.

Now we’ll get into the biggest key to this one.