RCF Front Page

It’s fun watching someone grow up. That someone is Evan Mobley. The talk has always been Donovan Mitchell can’t be the best player to lead a team; or, at the very least, Mobley needs to be one of the best players on the Cavs. The Charlotte game does not accomplish this goal but it’s a significant sign of progress. Mobley finished with a career high 41 points, led the team in shot attempts (23) and hit six three-pointers (one more than Mitchell). This all would have been hard to grasp even just one year ago. It likely would have happened sooner if not due to injury, but Mobley did not hit his six three-pointer on the year until February 7, his 26th game on the year. Mobley hit six three-pointers in one game against Charlotte. His...

Having won three straight the Cavaliers head south for a back-to-back against the Hornets and Heat before getting four days off. The Hornets are 6-16 overall and 5-8 at home. They have lost seven in a row and are missing their star in LaMelo Ball, who is out with an injury. The Cavaliers beat the Hornets three weeks ago in Cleveland 128-114, but since then the Hornets have lost three key players, most notably Ball, who averages 31.1 points and 6.9 assists. He had 31 points and 12 assists against the Cavs. Miles Bridges, who had 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists against the Cavs is also out, along with Grant Williams who had 15 points and 9 rebounds. Ball, Bridges, and Williams combined for 65 points, 18 rebounds, and 23 assists in...

For anyone who completed the #MeVsNuggets challenge: We stand with you. And anyone who didn’t complete it, at least you got a Cavalier win. The Nuggets have part of their championship core remaining, but the apron era has introduced a skeleton crew around them. Injuries have hurt them to begin the year but their margin for error has shrunk significantly as their payroll has risen significantly. They’re a slightly above .500 team and should be a poster child for why you’ll hear a lot about the Cavs financial flexibility forward. It’s no longer about who can spend the most, it’s now about how and when you spend it. So, when you hear about apron and luxury tax, think less about Dan Gilbert’s checkbook and more about the Denver Nuggets...

The 19-3 Cavaliers conclude a three-game homestead with a matchup against the 11-8 Denver Nuggets, who are 5-4 on the road. The Nuggets started 7-3 before losing 5 of their last 9. The Athletic ranks the Nuggets 11th in this week's power poll: Offensive rating: 115.7 (6th)
 Defensive rating: 114.2 (19th) Denver has a very difficult time scoring if Jokić or Murray are not on the floor. NBA.com also has them 11th: The Nuggets are still two games over .500, but it’s been three weeks since they won two straight. The Nuggets got Aaron Gordon back from a 10-game absence on Sunday… Christian Braun is benefitting from playing alongside Jokić more than he did last season…But the third-year guard also deserves some credit for having seen a...

Brad Daugherty said it best: The Cavs played as expected. When a team loses 14 straight and is on the road against a home team that has barely lost, a 20+ win is as expected. The Cavs didn’t break much of a sweat – the Wizards never led, the Cavs started on an 11-4 run and the Cavs continually pushed their lead (until it crescendoed at 31). Again, as expected. The highest heart rate moment might have been the third quarter where over a stretch of plays Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland both got the worst of Jonas Valaciunas, and Jarrett Allen almost got Olynk’ed by Valanciunas. Mitchell ran into a Valanciunas screen, and based on his reaction, looked like he might have dislocated his shoulder. Luckily, after a quick visit to the...

Coming off a big win over the Celtics the Cavs stay home to take on the Wizards for the second time this season. The Cavs won the third game of the year in Washington 135-116. The Wizards are the NBA’s worst team at 2-16. After starting 2-2 they have lost 14 in a row with the closest loss being by 9 points. Not surprisingly, the Wizards are ranked last in the NBA.com Power Poll for this week. Here is the writeup: OffRtg: 104.8 (30) DefRtg: 118.9 (30) NetRtg: -14.1 (30) Pace: 103.3 (4) The Wizards’ losing streak is at 14 games, and they now rank last on both ends of the floor. Three takeaways: The Wizards’ best strategy for ending this losing streak would probably be to lean on their vets. Jonas Valančiūnas got his third start of...

A win is a win, that’s for sure. A win is a win but having to come from behind at home after being down double digits against a Boston team missing Derrick White and Jaylen Brown wasn’t awe inspiring… but being able to execute in the clutch and make the plays needed to be made is important regardless of the circumstances. The Cavs got some bad news before the game in Dean Wade’s absence likely being another game or two while they also got some good news with the Celtics missing White and Brown. Both teams could have used their guys in this one. There’s a lot that happened in between but the talk of the game was late: How the Celtics targeted Darius Garland (a theme the entire game), how Donovan Mitchell stepped up, and how Kenny...

After losing two straight to Atlanta and getting buried by 3-point shots the Cavs return home for a rematch against the Celtics, who they lost to in Boston two weeks ago by a 120-117 score. The Celtics are 16-3 and have won seven straight. They have only one road loss this year. Both teams have enhanced their lineups since the last game. The Cavs were without Wade, LeVert, and Okoro while the Celtics did not have Kristaps Porzingis. This will be Porzingis’ third game of the season. In his first two games he averaged 18.5 points and 7 rebounds in 24 minutes, shooting 10-for-12 on 2-point shots and 3-for-11 on 3’s. Hopefully he hasn’t found his 3-point stroke yet. Derrick White (right foot sprain), Kristaps Porzingis (return from...

Copy and paste whatever we wrote on Tuesday here. The Cavs are now 2-3 over their last five games with losses to Boston and Atlanta (twice). For a team that won 15 straight has hit a bit of a rut here recently. Not shooting the ball well and not defending is not a recipe for success. The Hawks shot 41% from deep but only made 14 of them – that’s far from an insurmountable total. Nothing the Hawks did offensively looked hard – far from it. The Hawks were able to get where they wanted and do what they wanted without much resistance. The Cavs improved from where they were the other night, or at least that’s what Donovan Mitchell said, but getting the Hawks off the spot or closing out on shooters wasn’t where it needed to be. Do the Hawks...