Season preview: The Cavaliers' toughest month will prove their strength in 2024-25

Last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers were on a roll in December and January. During an 18-game stretch, the Cavs were a staggering 16-2 and were in the top ten in offensive and defensive rating. The unstoppable run gave the Cavaliers greater national media attention and led to MVP whispers for Donovan Mitchell.

It also led to them rising to the second seed in the Eastern Conference. What made that stretch even more impressive was that Cleveland was dealing with major injuries to Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. 

Unfortunately, the Cavs could not maintain that elite level of play, even after the returns of Garland and Mobley. The cause? A brutal month of March that saw Cleveland go 7-10. The Cavs did not win consecutive games during the month, with a 3-6 road record and six losses by double-digits. 

In fairness to Cleveland's basketball squad, they did not have more than one day off in the month and had multiple stretches of three games in four nights. Donovan Mitchell was also dealing with a bone bruise in his knee that caused him to miss multiple games and Mobley sprained his ankle and that caused him to miss time as well. It fits in with the Cavs' theme of not being healthy at the worst possible times last season.

Cavaliers draw the short stick in late-season schedule again

While Cleveland hopes to have a cleaner bill of health this season, one thing that remains the same is another maddening March schedule.

The Cavs play 16 games total during the month, which includes multiple stretches of three games in four nights, three back-to-backs, ten road games, and a five-game West Coast trip. That road trip includes games against the Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers. The Wine and Gold also do not have consecutive games at home.

Obviously, March is when teams are competing for playoff positioning and home-court advantage, so how the Cavaliers do during that grueling stretch will potentially determine much of their postseason standing. They learned that lesson last season, as they were in danger of falling all the way into the play-in tournament after their 7-10 month. 

With no major new additions and the hiring of head coach Kenny Atkinson, the Cavs are banking on internal improvement, better health, and bounce-back seasons from their core players to rise to contention in the Eastern Conference. They cannot slip up in a pivotal month where if they play well, they can clinch home-court advantage and a top seed.

However, if they slip up again, the Cleveland Cavaliers could head into the next offseason with a sour taste in their mouths. Hopefully, the memory of last year's brutal post-All-Star run will be an igniter for Cleveland to surge through the final stretch this season.