Analysis of 2022-23 schedule reveals a softer path for Cavs: Rest advantage
The complexities and scheduling necessities for all 30 NBA teams mean that many games feature a rest inequality between the two teams. What that means is one team will have had more days off since their last game than the other. Studies have shown that a team with an extra day of rest over their opponent is likely to outperform its opponent respective to their original team quality, although having multiple days of rest more than an opponent has a negligible effect.
With that in mind, the Cavs have 12 games this season when they will have a rest advantage over their opponent, when they will play a team more tired than they are. On the flip side, they will only be at a rest disadvantage 10 times, giving them a two-game edge in the metric (thanks to Positive Residual for those numbers).
Only four teams have more than 12 games of a rest advantage, and only four have more of an advantage over their rest disadvantage games. So the Cavs come out in the Top 10 of most rested over opponent, or “MROO” – let’s see if that stat catches on.
Another piece of being rested is not playing back-to-backs, and the league has once again done novel work reducing the number of back-to-backs leaguewide to help prevent player injuries. The Cavs will play 12 back-to-back games, which is tied with a number of other teams for the fewest in the league.
Some teams have to play 15 back-to-backs or are at a rest disadvantage for multiple games next season, so the Cavs have a favorable schedule when it comes to rest this season.