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With a win tonight, the Cavs now have a slight win percentage edge over the Houston Rockets. That’s a not a sentence I expected to write coming into the year but here we are. It took 53 minutes to decide a winner, and the Cavs used up every last second. Like the Atlanta game, the Cavs came out humming. They started the game on a 13-4 run, including going 7-0 after Alperen Sengun on the bench with early foul trouble. However, unlike the Atlanta game, the Cavs gave it right back. Over the next 4 minutes, the Rockets took the lead with a 19-9 run. When Donovan Mitchell has his stepback jumper going, it’s a sight to see. He was cooking early and had 6 of his first 8 first half points within the first 4 minutes. However after that, he only...

After a day off at home the Cavs welcome the Houston Rockets who arrive with a 13-10 record after losing to the Bucks in Milwaukee last night, breaking a five game winning streak. For the second consecutive game the Cavs play an opponent who is on the second night of a back-to-back with travel, although not very far. The Rockets are 11-1 at home and 2-9 on the road, which is the biggest home/road winning percentage difference in the league. One of their road wins was against 6-18 Memphis. It’s hard to explain how a team can be practically unbeatable at home but can't beat anybody on the road. Do these guys party a lot on the road? The Rockets have the league's second best scoring defense, allowing 106.1 points per game. They excel at...

Tonight was a battle of attrition. The Hawks were without three of their top six rotational players, while we know very well where the Cavs stand. To make matters worse, the Hawks were on the second night of a back-to-back versus a somewhat rested, yet depleted, Cavs team. And boy, did it show. JB Bickerstaff rolled out a Jarrett Allen, Dean Wade, Max Strus, Isaac Okoro and Donovan Mitchell starting lineup. For now, it looks as though Bickerstaff will take a point guard by committee approach with the first group, and keep key bench pieces like Georges Niang and Caris LeVert coming off the bench. Leave it to the Cavs to come out with their highest scoring quarter of the year their first quarter without Evan Mobley and Darius Garland for...

The Cavs return home from a four-game road trip to take on the 10-14 Atlanta Hawks, who they pounded on Nov. 28 in Cleveland by a 128-105 score. The Hawks were 7-6 when PF Jalen Johnson was injured right before they played the Cavs and have since lost 7 of 9. Johnson was averaging 14.1 points and 7.3 rebounds. His loss was huge. After losing 7 of their last 8 the Hawks beat the Raptors in Toronto last night 125-104 behind 38 points by Trae Young. The Hawks will be playing on the second night of a back-to-back and they mainly went with a six-man rotation last night as they were desperate for a win and saw an opportunity. Six players played 33-37 minutes, so fatigue could be a factor tonight. Two other players combined for 29 minutes and...

The Cavs mini-road trip was going to be tough. After starting out with a win in Miami, something they haven’t done very often the last two decades, they lost three straight by an average of 8.6 points per game. The Magic are a good team, the Celtics are a very good team, and the Cavs are an average (or very inconsistent) team right now. And it shows in their 13-12 record. The Celtics continued from last game, coming out firing on all cylinders offensively. They put in 65 points, 10 three-pointers, and were above 50% from the field and 90% from the line. When the Celtics are on, they’re incredibly hard to stop with the space the create for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to operate, and the four shooters they have always around them. The...

The Cavaliers conclude their brutal three games in four days road trip to Miami, Orlando, and Boston with a rematch against the Celtics. The Celtics are now 11-0 in the Garden after beating the shorthanded Cavaliers 120-113 Tuesday night. The Cavs will put the same team on the floor tonight as Mobley and Jerome are still out. In what could be a significant development Jaylen Brown will be a game time decision with an ankle injury. He had to leave Tuesday’s came after coming down awkwardly. If he does not play it definitely improves the Cavs’ chances since he had 25 points Tuesday and averages 22. This time around the Cavs will have a day off before the game as opposed to playing in Orlando the night before and getting in at 2 a.m. At...