2022 has been a banner year for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They went from bottom-feeder to Eastern Conference contender, and as the year closes they are right at the top of the league in terms of team rating. This team is good, and given the age of their core should be good for a very long time.
The days when the calendar flips to January and the final digit rotates around the dial is a prime time to reflect on the best moments of the year that passed. What have been the very best moments for the Cavs from 2022? There are a number of standout performances and notable moments; here are the Top 5 from an exciting 2022.
No. 1 Cavaliers moment of 2022 – Win over Nets on MLK Day
The year 2021 ended in crisis for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ricky Rubio and Collin Sexton were out for the season, COVID-19 protocols were plucking players from the lineup left and right, and Cleveland was signing guys off the street to play point guard. Then they dug in as January began, going 6-2 to start the month with their only losses to West contenders.
Then the Brooklyn Nets rolled into town for something of a validation game. The Cavs were playing on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, one of the NBA’s marquee days on the calendar. Darius Garland scored 22 points with 12 assists and six rebounds, leading the way for the Cavs who had six players in double-digits and won 114-107.
No. 2 Cavaliers moment of 2022 – Showing out at All-Star Weekend in Cleveland
Cleveland hosted the NBA’s All-Star Weekend in 2022, and it was a marquee event for a number of reasons. LeBron James was dropping breadcrumbs about returning to Cleveland, the rest of the NBA’s stars were around the city, and the Cavs had two of its own on the team in Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen.
While the All-Star Game itself was fun, the banner event for the Cavs was the “NBA All-Star Skills Challenge” which featured an all-Cavs squad consisting of Allen, Garland and Evan Mobley. They took down an all-rookie team and an all-Antetokounmpo team to win the event, which put the young Cavs front and center before a national audience. They did not disappoint, easily showing themselves to be the best trio and hitting a half-court shot to seal the deal. With the three young stars hoisting trophies together, it seemed like the sky was the limit for this team.
No. 3 Cavaliers moment of 2022 – Trading for All-Star Donovan Mitchell
As with any team, it’s fun for fans to bat around the possibility of their team trading for an available star player. Last offseason rumors popped up about various players and the possibility of Cleveland trading for each one was raised: Dejounte Murray, Kevin Durant, Jerami Grant, even LeBron James. Yet when Donovan Mitchell was in trade rumors, all signs pointed to the New York Knicks landing the shooting guard; it was a one-team race.
Until it wasn’t. The Cavs traded for Donovan Mitchell in a shocking blockbuster move, pairing Mitchell and Darius Garland in the backcourt and giving Cleveland a legitimate “Big 4” for years to come. It was a surprise, but one that Cavs fans (and Mitchell himself) met with pure exhilaration.
No. 4 Cavaliers moment of 2022 – OT victory in Boston
The Cleveland Cavaliers started the 2022-23 season strong, winning eight straight after losing their season opener. That stretch included a game against the reigning East champion Boston Celtics, in Boston, with Darius Garland sidelined. That should have been the recipe for a loss.
For much of the game it looked like the Cavs would valiantly try but come short, except Caris LeVert couldn’t miss down the stretch. Mitchell and LeVert each dropped 41 points, summoning echoes of LeBron and Kyrie Irving doing the same in Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals, pushing the game to overtime and then blowing the doors off in the extra period. It was a statement win that only looks better in hindsight; these Cavs are no fluke.
No. 5 Cavaliers moment of 2022 – Donovan Mitchell taking the torch from LeBron vs Lakers
Continuing that same winning streak, the Cavaliers traveled to Los Angeles at 7-1 for the season, ready to take on LeBron James and the Lakers. Mitchell was averaging more than 30 points per game and carrying the Cavs in Garland’s absence, but he was facing off against the best player in Cleveland franchise history and perhaps the greatest of all time.
Mitchell didn’t shy away from the moment, slicing up the Lakers’ defense en route to 33 points in a 114-100 victory. It was something of a dramatic moment, when Mitchell and the Cavs came into the King’s House and not only declared themselves the better team, but announced that they would no longer live in LeBron’s shadow: it was time for the Cavaliers to write their own destiny.
Did we miss any moments that you remember from this past year? Did we get the right 5? 2023 should bring plenty more marquee moments for this team as they look to gain playoff experience and prove themselves one of the teams of the next decade.