There is something that the entire Eastern Conference has done that the Cleveland Cavaliers have not.
The Boston Celtics did it, on November 6th when they hosted the Golden State Warriors. The Orlando Magic did it on November 21st, playing the LA Clippers in the new Intuit Dome. It's happened to the New York Knicks three times, including shockingly on November 23rd when they played the Utah Jazz. The Toronto Raptors have done it a whopping seven times.
What have all of these teams done that the Cleveland Cavaliers have not?
They have lost to Western Conference teams.
It's still early in the season, but as usual the Western Conference is winning the season series between the two conferences. There have been 85 games "interconference" games this season, and the Western Conference team has won 50 of those, for a dominant 15-game advantage. 58.8 percent of the time the West has won the game, which is slightly ahead of their winning percentage from last year, 57.7 percent.
The West has owned the games between the two for much of the last few decades; while the East won in 2021-22 and 2022-23, the West won 20 of the 21 seasons before that. The West has tended to dominate the Eastern Conference and has done so for the entire lifetimes of some NBA players.
The Cavaliers, however, are a perfect 4-0 against Western Conference teams this season. That includes dominant victories over the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, and a double helping of victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Cavaliers' streak is on the line
Tonight, however, that streak is put on the line as the Cavaliers host the Denver Nuggets -- and most importantly, the reigning MVP, Nikola Jokic.
Two seasons removed from winning the NBA Finals, the Nuggets as a team have taken a small step back. They are 11-8 this season, which is good for just eighth in the Western Conference (the imbalance between the two conferences can be seen in the standings as well; the East has six teams with a winning record, while the West has 11). Jamal Murray is having a rough start to the season, Aaron Gordon has missed most of the year due to injury, and overall the team has experienced a talent drain as key role players have left the past two seasons.
At the center, however, Nikola Jokic is as good as ever -- and perhaps even better. His per-game averages are incredible: 30.1 points, which would be a career-high by three points; 13 rebounds, 10.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 2.3 3-pointers on an insane 52.2 percent shooting.
Far from merely dominating the box score stats, Jokic has the best impact in the league on his team's ability to win games. He is leading the NBA in PER, in win share rate, in Box Plus-Minus, in Estimated Plus-Minus. The Nuggets are abysmal when he is off the court and strong when he is playing. More than any other player in the league, he carries his team to victory. He is the best player in the NBA and is having the best season in the NBA, and it's not particularly close.
If any team in the league is equipped to slow down Jokic, however, it's the Cleveland Cavaliers. They can put Jarrett Allen on the big fella and still have Evan Mobley rotating on the back end, clogging up passing lanes and helping at the rim when cutters make a beeline there. That empowers the perimeter defenders to stay home on their assignments and limits the passing opportunities for Jokic.
Last season Jokic and the Nuggets came to Cleveland in November and lost by 12 points, with Jokic held to a pedestrian 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting (and no 3-pointers). They played again late in the season in Denver and were clobbered by The Joker, who put up 26 points, 18 rebounds, 16 assists and was a game-high +37 in a game the Nuggets won by 29.
This Nuggets team is worse than last year's team, and this Cavaliers team is better than they were a year ago. And even while Jokic is having one of the greatest seasons a player has ever had, the Nuggets are barely above .500. The Cavs can feel good about their chances, even if it will be a difficult challenge.
The first step will be finding a way to slow down the greatest player on the planet. If they do, then they have a chance to continue their streak and notch another victory over the Western Conference. If not, they may join their Eastern brethren on the wrong side of the interconference ledger.