5 insane stats from Cavs statement win over Celtics

Cavs’ starting backcourt best in 40 years

NBA teams are built in all sorts of different ways, but there are certainly trends to track. One is that a team’s scoring often comes from anywhere on the roster, but that the best scorers are often from frontcourt positions. The Top 10 scorers of all time features two guards (Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan) and you have to drop to 15th to find the first point guard, Oscar Robertson.

For one team to get 40 points each from their starting backcourt is incredibly special. The combined 82 points is the most scored by a Cavs’ backcourt in franchise history, blowing the previous record-holders out of the water:

Moving past how insane it was that the Cavaliers started LeBron James at shooting guard to start his career, it shows just how impressive last night was for Mitchell and LeVert. What’s more, their achievement stands even when you zoom out to the rest of the league.

Only one time in NBA history (dating back to 1970-71) has a starting backcourt each dropped 40 points in the same game before last night. All the way back in 1983 Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons scored 47 points and his backcourt partner John Long got to 41. That’s it.

With all of the prolific backcourts in NBA history, this was only the second time both members got to 40. What an insane achievement from Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert.