RCF Front Page

The Cavaliers take a 400-mile flight to Sacramento for the second night of a back-to-back against the Kings, who are 34-33 on the year and had one day off after their last game. The Kings lost four straight before beating Memphis 132-122 on Monday. Memphis was without Ja Morant, however. In the four losses the Kings scored 97, 104, 104, and 106 points in regulation and allowed 122, 122, 130, and 133. At home the Kings are 17-15 and against teams .500 or over they are 10-22. Their big move at the trade deadline was trading De’Aaron Fox, who was averaging 25 ppg, for a package headlined by Zach LaVine. Starting center Domantas Sabonis, who averages 19 points and 14 rebounds is out with an ankle injury. This will be a serious blow to the...

With their 16-game win streak over the Cavs catch the long flight to La-La land for the first game of a back-to-back on the road against the Clippers and Kings. This is the start of a five-game west coast swing, so get ready to stay up late if you want to watch. The Clippers are 38-30 on the year and in 8th place in the West, 1.5 games out of 6th place and the automatic playoff qualification. Obviously every game is critical for them, not so much for the Cavs. The Clippers have won 6 of 7 and have won 7 straight at home, including wins over the Grizzlies, Knicks, and Pistons. They are healthy and playing some very good basketball right now. For the season they are 23-10 at home but 14-20 against teams at .500 or above. This is the...

Welp, time to start a new streak. The Cavs lost for the first time in over a month. It’s also the first time De’Andre Hunter lost in a Cleveland Cavaliers jersey and this was his 14th game. This was also the first time in 49 times the Cavs lost after leading after three quarters. Yes, it was one of those games. The Cavs have been so good from behind the arc and so good in the clutch that games like these have been rare. When both things don’t go the Cavs way, and there’s no Evan Mobley, it’s not a surprise the result is what it is. 10 3PM is tied for the lowest 3PM total on the year – they’re now 2-2 when that happens. Their last loss was February 4 against Boston when they made just 11 3PM. They’re now 4-5 when they make less than 11...

The Magic are 31-37 and have lost 7 of their last 9. The Magic are 13-21 on the road 9-23 against teams .500 and over. The Cavs, of course, have won 16 in a row. The Cavs are 2-0 against the Magic with the most recent game being a 40-point Cavaliers win on Feb. 25. The Magic are still missing Mo Wagner and Jalen Suggs. Cole Anthony is questionable. Mitchell and Mobley are questionable for the Cavs. Coming off a big win over Memphis the Cavs will probably have an emotional letdown as well as being overconfident, so this one will most likely be closer than it should be. Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero are available so the Magic have a couple of scorers. This may be another one of those come from behind in the second half games. Orlando...

The Grizzlies came in with the 6th best record in the league, 11th best defense and were tied for 5th best number of home losses on the year. None of that was enough to stop the inevitable that has become the Cavs win streak. No Donovan Mitchell either, no worries. The Cavs set a franchise record with their 16th win and it’s also their 11th straight on the road. Somehow the 15-game win streak is now the second-best thing they’ve done on the year. Even take away both those win streaks and the Cavs would still be 25-10 – that winning percentage would only be behind the Cavs win streak now, the Celtics and the Thunder. For a team simply discard a top 8 team at home goes to show well this team is playing right now. The best part is it...

With a chance to set a season high with 16 straight wins the Cavs arrive in Memphis for a rematch with the Grizzlies, who they beat in Cleveland on Feb. 23 by a 129-123 score. The Cavs were without Darius Garland but still managed to pull out a win. The Grizzlies are 42-24 and in 3rd place in the West, 0.5 games behind Denver and 0.5 games ahead of the Lakers. Obviously this game is way more important to Memphis than it is to the Cavs. The Grizzlies are 24-10 at home but just 12-18 against teams .500 and over. They are 27-9 against losing teams so they appear to be one of those teams like the Knicks that consistently beat up on the bad teams but don’t do very well against winners. The Grizzlies have won four in a row but those wins...

It may not always be easy but at least it’s fun. The Cavs going down 18 points at one point to the Nets and looking like a shell of their team through the first three-ish quarters was certainly not what the hometown fans paid to see – the result, and fast and furious comeback in the fourth quarter is what they paid to see. This has become the new norm for the Cavs: Do enough to stay in the game (is an 18-point deficit staying in the game? Apparently for the Cavs it is) then turn on the jets just at the right time for takeoff and take over. It’s going to come back to bite them one of these games (we keep saying that) but Tuesday was not that day. Once again, it was a tale of two – the game, and then the comeback. The only difference this...

The Nets are 22-42 and had lost seven in a row before beating the LeBronless Lakers Monday night at home. So the Nets will be playing the second night of a back-to-back with travel. The Nets are 12-21 on the road and 11-22 against teams .500 and above. The Nets play with the slowest pace in the NBA and rank 29th in field goal attempts per game. They do nothing well offensively. They rank 29th in turnovers per possession and 26th in effective field goal percentage. They do take a lot of 3’s, ranking 6th at 45%, but they are 27th in 3-point shooting percentage. As a result they are 29th in scoring at 105.1 points per game. In three games against the Cavs the Nets have averaged 99.3 points on 42% from the field and 34% on 3’s. Cam...

Empowerment was the word Donovan Mitchell used in his postgame interview with Scott Van Pelt. He talked about Kenny Atkinson empowering the team, and how every player has been empowered to step up when their number is called. It’s a good term to describe how the Cavs beat the Bucks on the road with Mitchell and Darius Garland having off nights shooting – the two combined for 28 points on 28 shots. Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard combined for 52 points, yet they lost by 12 points. The difference was how and when the Cavs role players performed. Max Strus led the team in scoring and rebounding (how often has that happened?) and did it in just 22 minutes. Outside the core four, the team shot 15-for-28 (53.5%) on...