3 reasons the Cavs are going to make the playoffs

2 of 4

Evan Mobley and Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images /

3 reasons the Cavs are going to make the playoffs: Legitimately Good

The Cavs’ record is 12-10, which is good but not exactly earth-shattering. In the ultra-competitive Eastern Conference that is both good enough for sixth, and only one game up on 11th. Last season the Cavs began the season 9-9 and then spiraled into a 22-50 record. Is this year’s start another fluke?

All of the tools we have on hand other than preseason expectations tell us no, this is unequivocally not a fluke. The Cavs have legitimately been a solid team deserving of their standing, if not higher. Some teams have records far outstripping their point differential, which is a better indicator of true team strength. The Dallas Mavericks, for example, are fourth in the Western Conference but have a -0.8 net rating, which you would expect for a team below .500 battling for the play-in tournament.

Cleveland’s point differential is +2.1, boosted by these last two blowout wins. That number ranks sixth in the East and ninth in the entire league. Cleaning the Glass has their version of point differential filtering out garbage time, and Cleveland’s +1.3 is a little more muted here but still right in line with their record.

Factoring in the strength of their opponent and where the game was played, “SRS” (Simple rating system) tries to find a properly balanced point differential rating. In this metric, probably most indicative of team performance thus far, the Cavs are +3.0, eighth-best in the league.

The Cavs have a middling offensive rating of 107.3, just 21st in the league, but their defense is up to fourth. The breakout of Evan Mobley, the growth of Jarrett Allen and the surprising work of Kevin Love and Lauri Markkanen have given them perhaps the best defensive frontcourt in the league.

Simply put, this is not a fluke. The Cavs have succeeded against a tough slate of opponents and deserve their current ranking. That doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed to continue playing this well, but so far the Cavs have been one of the eight best teams in the East, and perhaps even one of the eight best in the league.