The Cleveland Cavaliers made a blockbuster move during the offseason to acquire Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz for Ochai Agbaji, Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton and several future draft picks. The shrewd move to bolster the lineup in hopes of making a run in the playoffs is already paying dividends.
The Cavaliers have won five of their first six games, and though it is still really early in the 2022-23 season, Cleveland sits behind the undefeated Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference standings. The first month of the season has only provided a window into what the Cavaliers could turn into later this year.
Cleveland is 10th in points per game, averaging 117.7 so far this season. The team has a plus-12 point differential, good enough for second in the NBA behind the Phoenix Suns. Defensively, the Cavaliers have allowed 105.7 points per game – only behind the Bucks’ 103 points per game allowance. The team stats have been great thus far, but the resiliency has shown up big for the team.
The Cavaliers only lost their first game of the season to the Toronto Raptors by three points. Since then, the team stepped up in crucial situations. In their win against the Washington Wizards, the Cavaliers outscored them 14-4 in overtime for the win. In their 132-123 overtime win against the defending conference champions, the Boston Celtics, Cleveland outscored Boston 19-15 in the fourth and 18-9 in overtime. On Sunday, Cleveland used a 37-15 fourth quarter to come back to beat the New York Knicks.
Against the Knicks and the Celtics, Mitchell used his star power to propel his new team to the win. Mitchell had 38 points on 12-of-20 shooting against New York and dropped 41 points on 15-of-25 from the floor against the Celtics.
“Donovan was not going to let us lose this game,” Cavaliers coach J. B. Bickerstaff said after the win over New York. “At both ends, he did the job. He is a complete basketball player. This dude is elite. I don’t know what he can’t do on the floor.”
Mitchell said he was focused on “being a calming presence.”
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“Understanding the eyes would be on me so guys would get extra shots and open shots,” Mitchell said, via the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. “Understanding we’re not down 30, we’re right there, three possessions, so how do we find a way to respond out of that? Collectively we did a good job. For me, just try to find a way to be a leader in those moments and tonight it was doing a bunch of everything, and my teammates continuously made it easy for me.”
As Darius Garland missed his fifth game with an eye laceration suffered at the start of the season, the role players have become ever more integral and have stepped up to the task, and it has been more than Mitchell.
Take Kevin Love.
Love is a five-time All-Star and among the best players in Cavaliers history, according to Basketball-Reference’s win shares. However, his role on the bench has become equally important as he helps guide a young team filled with hungry 20-somethings.
On Sunday, he dropped 29 points on 9-of-14 shooting.
“This team never loses its fight,” Love said. “Sometimes, you have to win ugly and we did that tonight. Donovan was finding guys out there, I was finding guys out there, Dean made big shots, and we just got rolling. It’s amazing playing with these guys.”
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Caris LeVert, Cedi Osman, Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade have all stepped up as well in crucial spots. LeVert dropped 41 points against the Celtics while Osman is averaging 11.5 points per game to start the year. Okoro has come off the bench and provided some spark defensively while Wade’s 22 points on Sunday showed just how deep the team is.
At both ends, he did the job. He is a complete basketball player. This dude is elite. I don’t know what he can’t do on the floor.
Cleveland may have made the playoffs without having to go through the play-in tournament last season if they would have stayed healthy throughout the year. The Cavaliers’ at one point lost eight out of 11, which forced them into a play-in situation.
Love summed up the team’s success in April in an interview with Fox News Digital and may have foretold why the team has done well.
“I think (it’s) a combination of a lot of things,” Love said. “Our front office has put us in a really good position to have success. I think drafting Evan Mobley was huge, bringing in Ricky Rubio – and I know he went out with an injury but just establishing a great culture. It wasn’t forced. We just had guys that wanted to play together and play for each other.
“We’re one of the top few or maybe even the number one share the wealth type of team in the NBA and our identity is to play defense and to play really hard. I think just a combination of all of that and mixing it with great talent and a good coaching staff, I think it’s allowed us to take a big step in the right direction for us this season.”
The season is far from over, but early on, the outlook is good.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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