3 ways the Cavs can have a successful home stand

No one expected the Cleveland Cavaliers to be in sixth place in the NBA Eastern Conference standings in the middle of March of this season. If you thought they would be, then you’re lying to yourself. So, the fact that they are where they are is a huge story. The team stands at 38-29 on the season. That’s a great reversal of what had been three horrible seasons prior and the franchise seemingly not going anywhere.

There was no identity to this team, but then the Cavs drafted Evan Mobley, the 7-foot center from USC, in last summer’s draft. The Cavs guard Darius Garland had a switch go off in his head and he’s become an All-Star in a flash, and is just getting started. The Cavs also added another 7-footer in Jarrett Allen before the end of last season and then acquired Lauri Markkanen from the Chicago Bulls via sign-and-trade, another 7-footer who’s more of a three-point sharpshooter. You sprinkle in a variety of other players like veterans Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, and you had a team that changed its ways in a split second.

With the current position of the team, there’s a lot to be excited about but at the same time, they’ve had a bit of “falling back to reality” in the league after they’ve lost the last two games against Eastern Conference powerhouses Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls. There continue to be a rash of injuries that have also slowed down the hype including Jarrett Allen who recently fractured his finger and will be out indefinitely.

The Cavaliers also traded for Caris LeVert from the Indiana Pacers and after he had a nice start to his time with the team, he hurt his foot during the All-Star break in practice and has missed the last eight games. The team had already lost Collin Sexton at the beginning of the season, so all of this has put an enormous amount of pressure on Garland, who’s been playing out of his mind, despite a continuous issue with his back that’s seemingly been lingering in the past two months.

Even with all of these obstacles, the Cavaliers stand in a good position to maintain their success and get into the playoffs for the first time in several seasons.

They have a five-game homestand coming up and actually play eight of their next 10 games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse as they close out the month of March. They only have 15 games left before the playoffs begin so these next five games at home are very important and could decide where they end up in the standings.

Let’s discuss a few things that have to happen to keep this team afloat and build some momentum.