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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...

After getting upset at home by the Hawks on Wednesday the Cavs get an opportunity for some immediate payback Friday in Atlanta. Game time is 2:30 and it will be televised nationally on NBA-TV. The game will count towards the NBA Cup where the Hawks are 2-0 in Group C while the Cavs are 1-1. Dean Wade is out and Caris LeVert is a game time decision. LeVert reportedly practiced at full speed on Wednesday. The Hawks have no significant injuries. The Hawks are 4-5 at home. With De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic having recently returned from injury the Hawks are a lot deeper than they were previously. That showed up big time on Wednesday as Hunter and Boggy combined for 43 points off the bench on just 24 shots. They were 8-for-14 on...

Well, can’t win them all. But you can try to avoid stinkers, or how Kenny Atkinson labeled the game. He said every team has them and tonight the Hawks dominated the Cavs. (Stop if you expected to hear that). What Kenny did say is the real test of a team is what do you do when the shots aren’t falling? He said the hope is they get their nose dirty and do some other things to find their way. He went on to say the Cavs not adjusting with their shots not falling was the most disappointing thing about the night. And he’s not wrong. How the Cavs play when their shots don’t fall is something we’ve touched on a few times in these recaps. You see it for stretches where the Cavs aren’t hitting shots, they try to shoot out of it and is when the...

The Cavs stay home for the first of two games against the Hawks on Wednesday with the rematch in Atlanta on Friday at 2:30 on NBA-TV. The Friday game will count towards the NBA Cup where the Hawks are 2-0 in group C while the Cavs and Celtics are 1-1. This will be the first meeting of these teams this season. On Wednesday the Cavs will be playing just their second game in the last seven days. LeVert and Wade are expected to be out at least until Friday. The Hawks have no significant injuries. The Hawks are 7-11 and have lost 4 of their last 5 despite getting De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic back from injury recently. The Hawks are 3-6 on the road while the Cavs are 10-0 at home. In their game on Monday the Hawks lost at home to...

The Cavs and Raptors squared off almost exactly one month from the day, and fortunately for the Cavs it was the same result: Cavaliers double digit win. Despite the Raptors still missing some key rotational players, you can still they’ve made some progress in their identity and what works. There were stretches of the Cavs where they noticeably bothered the Cavs and disrupted what they did. But the Cavs still only have one loss. Fun stat: The Cavs have still not had the same scoring leader in back-to-back games all year. Although on a technicality, Ty Jerome was tied for the scoring lead against the Raptors and led the team against New Orleans. Donovan Mitchell has led the team in scoring seven times, while Darius Garland has six. But...

After three days of much needed rest and home cooking the Cavaliers engage the Toronto Raptors at RMFH for a rematch of the season opener which the Cavaliers won in Toronto by a score of 136-106. The Raptors are 4-12 overall and 0-8 on the road. However, they’ve had a tough schedule with 9 of their 16 games against the powerhouse Western Conference. This week’s NBA.com Power Poll ranks them 28th, but that was before they won their last two games. Record: 2-12 Still playing very shorthanded, the Raptors have lost seven straight games..But they’ve had a lot of narrow losses against good teams. Three takeaways: The Raptors rank 28th defensively, but are the only team with multiple losses when allowing a point per possession or less…...

A new win streak has begun. With both teams traveling, coming off a loss, and being on the second night of a back-to-back, you figured there would be some casualties… but 15 combined players?! Now some of that was due to prior long-term injuries like Herb Jones or Max Strus but some of it was more recent. Both these team were beat up but even the Cavs can’t complain compared to the Pelicans. The Pelicans ended up playing a Birmingham Squadron roster except for Yves Missi. Otherwise, the Cavs had three of their core four and parts of their rotation but were missing Darius Garland on top of any other playable wing. Just because it shows how beat up the Pelicans are: They signed Elfrid Payton off the street, who hadn’t played in the NBA in...