The Cleveland Cavaliers were heading into Saturday night’s game against a Dallas Mavericks squad that was without Luka Doncic, Spencer Dinwiddie, and still without Maxi Kleber. It was the second night of a back-to-back for both teams, but the Cavaliers should’ve been in position to cruise in that game, one would’ve assumed.
Kemba Walker was set to make his first start with Dallas, after disappointing seasons of late, and my oh my, did he have a vintage performance. Walker had 19 points in the first half, to help lead Dallas to a two-point halftime lead, and in the game, had 32 points and seven assists. He was having all kinds of success in the paint, but fortunately, the Cavs were able to pull out a narrow victory in overtime, thanks largely due to another fourth quarter effort, which played out Friday against the Indiana Pacers.
The Cavaliers couldn’t catch a cold for the night from three-point range, going seven-of-36 from deep (you read that right), however, they did enough down the stretch defensively, and Evan Mobley and Darius Garland helped guide the club then. Garland’s 12 assists and four steals in the game were crucial for the Wine and Gold to get the job done 100-99 in overtime, though it was far from impressive.
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This was not a game where the Cavaliers ran away with it, as they should’ve, with Doncic and Dinwiddie out for Dallas, with quad and knee ailments. The Cavs are getting healthier as well, and it appears that Ricky Rubio’s return could be relatively soon, given a recent report from Friday.
Regardless, what was unfortunate from this one, to some extent, was the lack of Doncic in general, and in particular, in Cleveland, he seemingly has even more fans than in other non-Dallas markets.
In his prior games at the Cavs, the large Slovenian contingent of fans in CLE often show up and show out when Doncic, a Slovenian superstar, is playing in Cleveland. Cleveland actually has the largest Slovenian population outside of Slovenia in the world, so Luka not being in action lost some of the games’ luster from the jump.
Following the Cavaliers’ victory, albeit narrowly, over the Mavs on Saturday, it was noteworthy that the group moved to 5-0 on the season in OT games, and the Cavs moved into having the best home record in the NBA at 14-2, as mentioned by Cavs Notes. The Wine and Gold have really feasted on home cooking.
The Cavs are now 14-2 at home, the best home record in the @NBA. https://t.co/TJZRGwccSz
— Cavs Notes (@CavsNotes) December 18, 2022
Of course, the Cavaliers need to clean things up on the road, where they’re 6-9 on the year, conversely. But hopefully as their chemistry improves and other reinforcements are back in the fold, Cleveland can work through some of their inconsistencies there.
NBA news
Regarding some other NBA news from Saturday, Devin Booker was the driving force behind a Phoenix Suns’ comeback win over the New Orleans Pelicans, in which Phoenix was down by 24 points at halftime. In the game, Booker’s shot-making was on display, to say the least, as he had 58 points on 21-of-35 shooting, and knocked in six triples. That was his second 50-point game of the year, and the seventh leaguewide.
As for other news, NBA commissioner Adam Silver discussing how prior to the NBA’s first Mexico City contest since before the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs, that the league expanding to Mexico City is “definitely possible,” though there aren’t any current plans for that, via Erin Walsh of Bleacher Report.
Silver did state, however, via Walsh, that despite no “specific timeline right now in terms of expansion,” there is “no doubt we will be looking seriously at Mexico City over time.”
Las Vegas and Seattle are widely rumored to be next up for potential expansion landing spots, if the league eventually chooses to do so, but Silver was clearly impressed by Mexico City as a host again. And as Walsh touched on, the league could seemingly be getting to Mexico at some point, with the Mexico City Capitanes’ G-League team in mind, too.
Next up: The Cavaliers will take face the Utah Jazz, and several former Cavs players on them, on Monday night at home.