Let’s roll back the video and look at last season for the Cleveland Cavaliers. As late as mid-February of the 2021-22 season they were in the No. 3 spot and close to the top of the NBA Eastern Conference standings, but then the collapse started happening and nothing the Cavs tried worked as they slipped out of serious contention. They were able to stay just above the water line and played a couple Play-In Tournament games to get to the playoffs but lost both chances to the Brooklyn Nets and then the Atlanta Hawks.
As fans it was excruciating because there was no stopping the free fall. There were injuries and many coaching decisions by J. B Bickerstaff that included playing his starters way too much which wore out his team by the end. The Cavaliers had nothing left in the tank.
Cleveland is in a similar spot right now in the standings, sitting in the No. 5 hole. The Boston Celtics are starting to pull away from the pack with a 32-12 mark and will be a tough out in the postseason with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum leading their team. However, the rest of the Eastern Conference is packed together. Cleveland could reach the No. 2 spot or fall to the No. 6 spot pretty easily right now.
So why will this Wine and Gold squad maintain this year’s good play and not falter like last season? We’ll discuss that in a moment. I do still have a concern overall with the Cavs head coach Bickerstaff’s decision-making especially with wearing out his star players. But I believe they have enough other strengths to come out winning more than losing like a year ago. Here are some big reasons.
Reason No. 1: They have Donovan Mitchell
The biggest reason is Donovan Mitchell. The trade to get Mitchell from the Utah Jazz this past offseason was a huge get by the Cavs. He’s averaging close to 30 points a game and is a true superstar. He can carry his team like a former Cavalier by the name of LeBron James. He had the game of his life when he went for 71 points in an epic comeback win against the Chicago Bulls a few weeks ago.
Mitchell is like that security blanket you had when you were a kid. Knowing that you can wrap that blanket around you is similar to the Cavs knowing they can count on Mitchell to deliver when needed most. Time and time again this season he has come through in the clutch.
He’s also added that additional veteran presence that can only help players like Evan Mobley and Darius Garland. You get the sense more and more that the team is taking his leadership to heart and that they now truly believe they will continue to win games down the stretch.
No longer will Cavaliers fans be crossing their fingers and praying that Garland doesn’t run out of energy or that they are relying on Garland to win games with long range three-pointers. Garland can now concentrate on his ball-handling skills more and not make careless mistakes and give the reins to the team to Mitchell.
Reason No. 2: Better defense
That defense that the Cavs keep touting this season has improved from a year ago. It’s especially improved in late-game situations. It’s still been a bad habit of the Wine and Gold to get off to slow starts in many games. However, they’ve been bailed out by their defensive efforts in the second half of games.
It’s easy to not be as focused as you must early in games but it’s a combination of things. The players are at fault but so is the coaching staff for not preparing them better. Regardless, that defense has gotten better. In their last four wins this month they’ve only allowed 22, 19, 24, and four points in the last period of play. The four points was given up in the overtime win from the game Donovan Mitchell scored 71 points.
In terms of overall defensive play, the Cavs are ranked second in the league in points allowed per game by only giving up 109.3 just behind the Memphis Grizzlies at 109.0. They are also second with recovering 74% of defensive rebounds per game. One area that is surprising for the team on defense is they are ranked 26th in blocked shots per game. With Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen protecting the rim it’s very odd.
But, where the team is excellent in is in the number of points they give up to opponents on second chance opportunities by only allowing 11.4 points a game. That’s tops in the NBA right now, plus they are ranked third in only giving up 45.9 points in the paint per game. So there’s a lot to suggest here to say that defense is the team’s calling card and that’s not going to disappear as the season goes on.
Reason No. 3: Another year of playing together as a team
Team chemistry is important, and the Cavaliers have been building that over the past few seasons with this group of young talent. Last season it became obvious that players like Kevin Love were more happy playing alongside his teammates because the group liked playing together and that feeling was becoming contagious.
That energy hasn’t left and now with a good leader like Donovan Mitchell on the team now that part of the team will stay strong. There are players too like veteran Caris LeVert, who was brought here about a year ago, to help give the Cavs that spark to try and propel them into the playoffs. That didn’t happen then but having given him a full year with the squad will certainly help down the road this time. This season has also given key bench players like Lamar Stevens, Dean Wade and Isaac Okoro more time to mesh. Wade has been out with injuries for about two months now, but he can help when he returns in the next week or so.
This season has also given a second-year player like Evan Mobley more time to work on his game. While he has struggled a bit this season, he is a big reason the team is now in contention. Throw in Jarrett Allen and these two players can only get better as a tandem down in the paint.
So, Wine and Gold fans, don’t sweat it this season. While the similarities in the standings and record, this team now is better prepared for that first postseason without LeBron James. It’s been a while and though they should have made the playoffs last season, we won’t be discussing the Cavs trying to go to the playoffs in the future.
More likely we’ll be discussing when they will get to the next NBA Championship series.