By: BHS Sports Staff
October 27, 2022
The 2022-2023 Cleveland Cavaliers season is underway and this young, exciting team is ready to compete.
Last year, the Cavaliers finished as the eighth seed in the east; however, they lost both play-in tournament games to the Brooklyn Nets and the Atlanta Hawks.
Reenergized, refocused, and retooled, the Cavaliers have a lot of star power returning in Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Caris Levert, and Isaac Okoro. Additionally, during this offseason, the Cavaliers made a huge trade. They traded away Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, Ochai Agbaji, three first round picks and two pick swaps (2026 and 2028) to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Donovan Mitchell.
Even though this trade seemed a little lopsided at first, Mitchell has been averaging 30+ points and has broken a franchise record to start off this season. He broke a record by putting up 30+ points in the first three games of the season. Mitchell will be a valuable asset in taking the Cavaliers deep into the playoffs.
Looking at the Cavaliers schedule for November, the Cavs have some easy opponents and some difficult ones. Games they should win are against Detroit twice, Sacramento, and Portland. In contrast, they will be tested against Boston and Milwaukee twice, Golden State, and Miami.
The Cavaliers have some strengths that can take them all the way. When they get momentum or go on a run, they are a great team because of how many weapons that they have. Another strength is their ball movement. It is fun and great to watch them play selfless basketball and swing the ball within the court because it opens up a lot of shooters.
A weakness, however, is the untested bench. So far, they have been good with Cedi Osman, Dean Wade, Robin Lopez, and Raul Neto. But, will they stay playing well against a team that also has a good bench?
Last night, the bench was put to the test against the Orlando Magic.
In the first quarter, the Cavs jumped out to an early advantage, leading 30-24. But, the Magic put the Cavs bench to the test in the second quarter as they were up 48-46 with just a few minutes remaining in the half. However, Donovan Mitchell got the energy back in the building with a crazy dunk followed by a mini run fueled by the Cavs’ bench.
The Cavs led after the first half, 54-50 and later pushed their lead to four points after the third quarter, 73-69.
In the fourth quarter, the Cavs realized that they had to shut the door on the young Magics (who has the number one overall pick from the 2022 draft). That is exactly what happened as the Cavaliers just kept playing great defense and turning steals and rebounds into transition offense and buckets, winning the game 103-92. The victory propelled the Cavaliers overall record to 3-1. Evan Mobley led the way with 20 points and Jarrett Allen had 18 points and 16 rebounds.
The Magic put up a great fight led by Paolo Banchero (the first overall pick), who kept the Magic in the game with his career high 29 points.
Darius Garland is still out with an eye injury that he suffered on opening day after Raptors G/F Gary Trent Jr. poked Garland in the eye. He is targeting a return for this weekend.
Up next, the Cavaliers take on the Celtics in Boston at 7:30 tomorrow night.
Is this the year of the Cavs? It sure could be!
{To keep up with the Cleveland Cavaliers, go to nba.com/cavaliers.}
THE RETURN OF THE EYE 