Cavs back-to-back vs. Jazz, Bucks is biggest test for team so far

On Wednesday, the Cleveland Cavaliers exercised some demons as they defeated the Miami Heat 111-85 at FTX Arena. It was the Cavs first win in Miami since Jan.  25, 2010. Then they went into our nation’s capital and beat the Washington Wizards on Friday, by a score of 116-101. This moved the Cavaliers record to 13-10 on the season and they’re currently the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.

For the Cavs to be sitting at 13-10 23 games into the season is really incredible. Especially considering the fact that we are in the second round of the post-LeBron James era. LeBron signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 2018. But the month of December is going to be brutal for this team and it’s going to be where we find out whether or not the Cavaliers are legit.

The legitimacy test for the Cavs officially begins on Sunday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse against Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Bojan Bogdanovic, and the Utah Jazz. Utah went 52-20 last season which was good enough for them to capture the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. However, they got eliminated in the second round by the LA Clippers in six games. So you know that they’re going to be out for vengeance this season.

Being that Utah was the No.1 seed in the Western Conference last season, you know that’s what they’re gunning for this season. Right now, Utah is the No. 3 seed in the West with a record of 15-7. They’re 3.5 games back of the current No. 1 seed in the West, the Golden State Warriors.

Both teams had Saturday off as they prepare for Sunday’s game. The Jazz’s last game was on Friday night in Salt Lake City against the Boston Celtics. The Jazz turned up the volume just enough against the Celtics as Utah won 137-130. They’re on a three-game winning streak, whereas the Cavs meanwhile concluded their three-game road trip in D.C. against the Wizards. The Cavs won by a score of 116-101, extending their overall winning streak to four games, so something is going to have to give in this matchup.

The Jazz have a lot of nice players who can score and make plays such as point guard Mike Conley (13.6 points and 5.3 assists per game), forward Bojan Bogdanovic (16.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game), center Rudy Gobert (15.1 points and 14.5 rebounds per outing), and forward Joe Ingles (7.9 points and 3.2 assists per game).

But when you’re talking about the Utah Jazz, the first guy that comes to mind is Donovan Mitchell. The dude is a bonafide superstar who can take over a game with a flip of a switch. Currently, Mitchell is averaging 23.2 points, 5.1 assists, and 4.3 rebounds per game, so he can do a little bit of everything.

On the other side of the coin, the Cavaliers have a lot of nice players just like the Jazz. Unlike Utah, Cleveland doesn’t have that true superstar yet. But it’s looking like the No. 3 overall pick, Evan Mobley, is showing signs that he could potentially become that superstar. The club has also been getting outstanding play out of Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland of late, too, for what it’s worth.

This matchup is going to be fascinating to watch especially because the Jazz and Cavaliers have similar playing styles in that they both play on the bigger side. Neither team seems to want to go with the trend the rest of the league is setting with small-ball and positionless basketball. The major difference is that Utah relies on the three-pointer more so than the Cavs.

Then on Monday night, the Cavs will be on the road taking on reigning Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns in six games to end their 50-year title drought. This is not unlike when the Cavs came back from a 3-1 deficit in the 2016 NBA Finals against Golden State, which ended Cleveland’s 52-year championship in many people’s opinions.

When Milwaukee won the title last season, they played similar to how Cleveland is playing now. But, the Bucks didn’t use quite as big of a lineup as the Cavaliers are using now. The Bucks starting lineup was Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, P.J. Tucker, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez, which had an abundance of size in its own right.

Tucker signed with the Heat in the offseason, so the Bucks had to change things up this season. But they still have their main core of Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, and Antetokounmpo. Right now Giannis is averaging 27.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 6.0 assists. Holiday is averaging 15.3 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game. Finally, Middleton is averaging 17.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game.

Now, it’s unclear if Antetokounmpo will play on Monday, as he was out due to a calf injury versus Miami, however, this Bucks team is still loaded. Either way, it’s a tough contest.

When you take a look at the Bucks this season, they’re 15-9 and are currently the No. 3 seed in the East. They’re just 1.5 games ahead of the Cavs in the standings at the moment.

As stated earlier, the Cavaliers will be playing the Bucks on the second night of a back-to-back. Milwaukee meanwhile has Sunday off as they hosted the Heat on Saturday night, winning convincingly 124-102. So presumably, that would favor the Bucks.

As stated earlier, the Cleveland Cavaliers are 13-10 23 games into the season. But several people are questioning whether or not the Cavs are legit or not. That question will be answered this month and that starts with this extremely difficult back-to-back on Sunday and Monday at home against Utah and at Milwaukee.