Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 key matchups that jump out in second half

The NBA finally released the second half of the season’s schedule on Wednesday afternoon, giving a look at what’s coming for the Cleveland Cavaliers, of which you can view here. Cleveland has nine sets of back-to-back games.

Despite the 10-game losing streak that concluded a few days back, Cleveland has commanded attention with multiple big wins this season.

Fortunately, the Wine and Gold were able to have two nice outings leading to wins in their past two games in a home back-to-back versus the Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets, too.

So what are some matchups that jump out in the second half of the 2020-21 season, then?

We’ll highlight five of those for Cavs fans to look forward to here.

The first is the first game back post-All-Star break.

Cavs second half key matchup #1: March 12 at the New Orleans Pelicans

The Cavaliers will have a chance to start the second of the season right in the Big Easy. To start, any game with Zion Williamson is fun to watch. Besides the star power, New Orleans has been mediocre this year, struggling to guard everyone.

The Cavilers can get a taste of top NBA talent while competing for a win. We’ve seen the Cavs’ wins come in spurts this season, and opening up the second half with wins would be welcomed, indeed.

Cavs second half key matchup #2: March 16 at the Miami Heat

A mid-season game against the Miami Heat may not seem to hold much value, but it will be a telling experience. At first it seemed like a LeBron James issue, but soon the Cavs’ woes against Miami appeared to be much more than that. Over the past couple of years Cleveland has repeatably crumbled against the Miami defense.

Many teams are thrown off by their unconventional 2-3 defense, when Jimmy Butler has been back in there, but they adapt and compete. Miami has won seven-of-eight of these meetings dating back to Dec. 2018. This game will be a good opportunity for J.B. Bickerstaff and company to prove their ability to adjust in-game.

Cavs second half key matchup #3: April 21 vs. the Chicago Bulls

You may have noticed the Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t played the Chicago Bulls yet this season, but that will change in the second half, as KJG’s Josh Ungar pointed out. This game will be one of three second half meetings between the two division rivals. Both teams always seem to be in the same position, underachieving and searching for ping pong balls.

Somehow this has lead to great memories for the Cavs such as the Collin Sexton dunk over Wendell Carter Jr. last fall. A consistently competitive matchup should allow for good late season basketball, even while the Bulls have been better this season, but still have a tough road ahead to actually make a postseason berth. They are currently the East’s #6 seed right now, albeit we’ll see how they’re doing at that point.

Cavs second half key matchup #4: April 28 vs. the Orlando Magic

Cleveland hasn’t played the Orlando Magic well this year. Game one saw a blown lead and game two as the beginning of the Cavs’ especially injury-riddled two weeks. April should see Cleveland at full health, including Larry Nance Jr. and Kevin Love. Orlando will seemingly most likely have traded a player at the deadline, even while they have historically heavily valued postseason berths; this go-round does feel different, though.

Look for the Cavs to rise up against a lesser opponent. And for context, we’ll have to see if the Cavs can potentially get something back near the March 25 deadline in exchange for Andre Drummond, who has been a constant subject of trade rumors. For what it’s worth, you can view more regarding recent reported details related to that here.

Cavs second half key matchup #5: May 16 at the Brooklyn Nets

This is the Cleveland Cavaliers’ final game of the 2020-21 season and here is good chance Brooklyn has their seed set at this point. Nonetheless, this could be the Nets’ revenge game.

Cleveland embarrassed Brooklyn twice and this would be their only chance to return the favor. It’s unlikely Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant (who missed the second game of their prior “series”), and James Harden will play, but it’s worth looking out for.