Cleveland Cavaliers fans should feel optimistic about what the team has done recently, as heading into Friday night’s game versus the Toronto Raptors, Cleveland had won five straight games. The Cavs had won in a number of ways, and thus far, had wins in their first four games in their current homestand.
That said, even with Toronto being cold of late, they’ve given the Cavs trouble this season, and on Friday, the Raps had their way against the Cavs. Toronto was led by OG Anunoby’s and Fred VanVleet’s deep shooting, as they went six-of-nine and five-of-10 from three, and the Raps went into halftime up 69-53.
The Cavs did put somewhat of a run together in the fourth quarter, but Toronto went into the fourth up by 20 points, and eventually took the game 118-107.
Cleveland just seemed behind the eight ball on Friday night and Donovan Mitchell could not get it going, similarly to his last game versus the Raps. He was four-of-16 from the field and three-of-12 from three, en route to only having 12 points in a rare quiet night.
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With the trade winds swirling around the league with a number of candidates seemingly on the block and recently-signed players since becoming trade eligible on the 15th, KJG’s Josh Cornelissen gave his reaction to a potential deal framework suggested by Fanspo. In that trade site’s proposed deal, Cleveland would send Isaac Okoro, Dylan Windler a 2024 first-round pick swap and a 2023 second-round pick.
Kuzma has been playing lights-out ball, but could opt out of his $13 million player option next summer, which seems to be the clear move, and he could essentially be an expiring guy. So as noted, one can check out Cornelissen’s take on the topic.
The Cavs have been on another heater of late, as they had won five straight games, prior to that loss to Toronto, but they are still tied for having the league’s best net rating. Prior to Cleveland’s win on Friday, the Wine and Gold were in the top spot in Bleacher Report’s latest NBA Power Rankings, and as Andy Bailey of B/R emphasized, Donovan Mitchell has been outstanding. Bailey touched on Mitchell’s splits during the five-game win streak, and it’s clear that Mitchell should be an All-Star starter.
The Raps took another from the Cavs, however, Cleveland is still among the league’s best teams, and Friday’s game isn’t overly concerning, given how the Cavaliers have been playing for much of the year and in recent weeks.
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Around the Association, there were a couple of standout performers that were a cut above the rest on Friday night, with those being Tyrese Haliburton and Luka Doncic.
Haliburton lit it up in a career night for the Indiana Pacers with 43 points, and drilled a deep ball with 2.6 seconds left to lead the Pacers to a win over the Miami Heat in South Beach. In that one, Haliburton hit a franchise-high for a single game with 10 threes made, and tacked on seven assists. It’s safe to say he’s coming.
As it pertained to Doncic, he had 52 points on 17-of-30 shooting, to go with 10 dimes, and most notably, he had 32 of his points in the second half. He willed the Dallas Mavericks to a 112-106 victory at the Houston Rockets, in which Dallas rebounded from a rough third quarter to pull out the win.
Next up: The Cavs will take on the suddenly scorching hot Brooklyn Nets on Monday night at home.