The holiday spirit is in the air and the Cleveland Cavaliers have the fortune of having a plethora of home games this month and that could mean their team getting an even better handle on stabilizing their position in the top tier of the Eastern Conference. You have to love home cooking around the holidays. Lots of food and good times and right now the Cavs are playing very well. They beat the Orlando Magic most recently on Friday and now play the New York Knicks in a rare away game this month on Sunday night.
From here on out, they have nine home games coming up and only hit the road four times. Having a nice 15-8 record for the Wine and Gold could become an even more impressive mark. Gone are the years that Cleveland struggled in ex-Cavs player LeBron James’ absence. Now the team is rolling and there’s no sense to think they won’t keep winning.
Both big man Jarrett Allen and forward Dean Wade are now injured and that could cause a bit of a hiccup in the team’s success, but the team has too many talented players to lose momentum that much.
The big trade for new Cavs player Donovan Mitchell has been the biggest reason for this early season success plus Evan Mobley, who in only his second season, has become an overnight star in the league.
The Cavaliers’ slate of games in the rest of December feature a bunch of home outings, and the Wine and Gold could feast.
With that said, let’s examine those home matchups.
The first three Cavs home games: Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings, Oklahoma City Thunder
The Cavs play the Lakers on Tuesday, Dec. 6 and it will be another return of LeBron James. Los Angeles has a 9-12 record at the moment and still struggling. However, James is starting to warm up and this game could be one big highlight reel of James, Mitchell, and Mobley countering buckets all night. The world will be watching, and we should expect to see a great game by Cleveland.
The Kings then arrive in town on Friday, Dec. 9. This game could be a letdown game for the Cavs even though Sacramento is having a better season than most expected. They currently hold a 12-9 record.
The following night Cleveland welcomes the Thunder to town on Saturday, Dec. 10. OKC is another struggling team in the Western Conference as they have a 10-13 record. The Cavs need to take advantage of the fact that they are playing teams that are not winning much at the moment. Good teams take advantage of these types of situations.
The next three Cavs home games: Indiana Pacers, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz
This next stretch of games will be more of a challenge for Cleveland as all these opposing opponents have winning records. First up will be the Pacers in a home game on Dec. 16. They currently hold a 12-10 record and they have had a very balanced scoring attack by their team. They have five players that are averaging double digits.
The Mavericks come to Cleveland the following night on Dec. 17. They are led by NBA superstar Luka Doncic who is averaging 33.6 points a game. Despite that, his team isn’t helping out enough as Dallas only has a .500 record at 11-11 right now.
The last game in this window of time is against Donovan Mitchell’s old team the Utah Jazz. They currently hold a respectable 14-12 mark. That is likely due to the fact that their team has six players averaging double figures. They are led by ex-Cavaliers player Lauri Markkanen, who’s been dropping 22.2 points a night. The other former Cleveland player Collin Sexton has now become a regular starter for Utah and has been producing more points. He’s scored now in double figures in his last seven starts.
We should expect a lot of emotion in this ball game. With Mitchell facing his old teammates and vice versa for Sexton and Markkanen expect a very heated battle. Both squads will give it their all in this one.
The last three Cavs home games in December: Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets
These last three home games for Cleveland in December will be played against some of the biggest superstars in the Eastern Conference. First up will be against the Bucks on Dec. 21.
The Cavaliers got beat up in the second half of their last game against Milwaukee and they will be looking for some payback. The Bucks are also just ahead of the Cavs in the standings so expect more star-studded play amongst many players.
Then Cleveland welcomes Toronto to Northeastern Ohio on Friday, Dec. 23. This game will be a must win for the Cavaliers as they want to prove a point in this one because the Raptors are the only team that has beaten them twice already this season. Look for an all-out effort game by both clubs and a likely Cleveland win.
The final home game of the month will be against the always-overhyped Brooklyn Nets. They are led by Kevin Durant and the controversial Kyrie Irving. Irving helped bring the Cavs a NBA championship back in 2016. While that is welcomed news, since that time, Irving has turned into a very polarizing figure.
The Nets are led by Durant, and he’ll be a difficult player for the Cavs to stop. Hopefully, Cleveland will get Jarrett Allen back in a few games but the absence of Dean Wade because of his shoulder injury could hurt the team in this game. Wade played Durant well defensively in the past, so we’ll see how things work out by then.
All these December battles for the Cavaliers are all winnable ball games, especially based on how this Cleveland team is an emerging force. They could easily reach the 25-win mark by the end of this month, so stay tuned and enjoy the home cooking.