Cavaliers standout player for slate of games from Oct. 31-Nov. 7

In the past 4 games, the Cleveland Cavaliers have gone 3-1, and had previously won a whopping 8 straight games. They won against the Boston Celtics in OT, the Detroit Pistons, the Los Angeles Lakers, but their streak was snapped against the LA Clippers because of late-game issues.

The Cavs have had a defensive rating of 111.2 since Oct. 31, which is a drop off from their regular season average of 105.2. Their offensive rating since then has been a 114.0, which is a bit lower than their 116.0 average.

Statistically speaking, the Cavs didn’t do as well as they had done in prior weeks over the past slate of games, but still finished up with a 3-1 record. They’ve shot 47.7% from the field and 35.4% from distance in those 4 games, which is okay.

Still, looking at these stats, it looks like they’d be an average team, or maybe below average. But, their team-styled basketball has led them to a great record over this last slate of games, and their current road trip has been a pretty successful one so far.

So, with that said, let’s examine the standout performer for the Cavaliers from this slate of games from Oct. 31-Nov. 7.

The Cavaliers Player of the Week for essentially this past week is Donovan Mitchell. This is his 2nd KJG Player of the Week Award, as he averaged 29.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 52.5/44.4/87.5 splits.

Now, he only had a cumulative +/- of +1 in the 3 games he played this past week, which still makes him rank top 15 in total +/- this season. His defensive rating has been an 111.0, which isn’t as good as his current season rating of 105.8.

However, his offensive rating has been phenomenal, both in the past week and in the whole season. His offensive rating has been a 122.7 since Oct. 31, and in the rest of the season, too. He has the 7th-most made 3-pointers per game since Oct. 31, and his shot-making overall has been phenomenal, and the Cavaliers have benefited greatly from that.

Mitchell has been a solid playmaker when Darius Garland is off the floor, averaging 7.0 assists per game when DG didn’t play. That number drops to 4.8 per game when he did play with Garland. His playmaking this past week hasn’t been the greatest, but he’s mainly been the primary scorer on the squad, more so than a playmaker. Garland has averaged 10.3 assists per game over the past week in 3 games, for what it’s worth.

In any case, Donovan Mitchell has been a solid player this past week, and it showed. His defense had been impactful over the past few games, to a large degree, too, and his offense is still one of the league’s best. Personally, in my opinion, Mitchell should be an All-Star Starter if he continues the way he’s been playing this season.