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RCF Recap: Cavs cut down Nets, 106-102
Game Summary The basketball gods must have a sense of humor that immediately after the Detroit game it would lead to another game with an arena delay malfunction, a missed call down the stretch and a foul-up three strategy. But this time the Cavs got the last laugh with a win. In James Harden's and Keon Ellis's first game back from their finger issues was a bit too close for comfort but the Cavs managed to out-execute the Nets in the end. Kenny Atkinson, Jarrett Allen and Ellis all spoke postgame about how the Cavs energy and focus was not where it needed to be. The second half defense was on par with the first half (just okay) but the second half offense picked up the slack, cut down the turnovers and went from 46 points to 60 points...
Wham's Game Preview #62: Cavs at Nets
Game Preview Coming off a massive choke job in Detroit the Cavs travel to Brooklyn for what should be a breather before the rematch against the Pistons Tuesday in Cleveland. Mitchell and Wade are out; Harden and Ellis are listed as game time decisions as of Saturday night. The Nets are 15-44 and have lost seven in a row, including losses to Dallas (21-38) and Indiana (15-45). On Feb. 19 the Nets lost to the Cavs in a game where the Cavs led 102-67 after three quarters. Starting forward Igor Demin is out and starting center Nic Claxton is a game time decision. Michael Porter Jr leads the Nets with 24 points per game and 7 rebounds. Nobody else averages more than 13. The last time the Nets beat a team with a winning record was against...
RCF Recap: Cavs lulled into Pistons loss, 119-122
Game Summary It was a game the Cavs weren't supposed, or expected to, win but were in position to steal one on the road... until they weren't. This was the game that never wanted to end whether it be a horn malfunction delay, 51 total fouls, overtime, or just stop-and-go play that made the game feel even longer than it actually was. The Cavs leaned on their double big attack (48 points, 21 rebounds 4 blocks) and matched the Pistons physical play all the way to being up 9-points with under 3:00 minutes left. But missing their top two ball handlers, it left Dennis Schroder to battle the Pistons pressure who did a lot early but also did too much late that ended up turning the game the Pistons way. By The Numbers 56: Detroit rebounds to...
Wham's Game Preview #61: Cavs at Pistons
Game Preview Well, that didn’t last long. Just when the Cavaliers were fully healthy except for Max Strus the injuries hit. James Harden broke his finger against the Knicks then four players were injured in the Bucks’ game. The walking wounded head to Detroit for their 6th game in 9 days. Donovan Mitchell is out with a groin injury while James Harden and Keon Ellis are questionable with fractured fingers on their non-shooting hands. Dennis Schroder and Dean Wade are questionable with ankle sprains. We could be missing our top two point guards. Or not. According to Shams Charania, Harden plans on playing through his fractured right thumb. I'm sure opponents will overplay him to the left even more than usual. At least Allen and Mobley...
Wham's Game Preview #60: Cavs at Bucks
Game Preview Fresh off a pretty impressive win over the Knicks the Cavs fly to Milwaukee for a back-to-back against the Bucks. Milwaukee also played Tuesday night as they beat Miami at home by a 128-117 score in a game that the Heat led with under four minutes to go. The Bucks are 25-31 overall, 13-13 at home, and 9-23 against teams over .500. The Cavs are 2-0 against the Bucks having defeated them in October and November by 5 and 12 points. Both games were in Cleveland. Giannis has missed the last 12 games and the Bucks are 7-5 without him. For the season they are 15-15 with him. He is working toward returning from a calf injury and as of Tuesday night has not been ruled out. The Bucks are 1.5 games out of the last play-in spot. They...
RCF Recap: Cavs quiet Knicks, 109-94
Game Summary Winning heals all. A game removed from a devastating loss against the Thunder, some to which were saying changed the season (hyperbole), the Cavs bounced back and cleared an Eastern Conference foe with one of their better defensive efforts on the season. Dean Wade, Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis gave Jalen Brunson fits all night (6-19, 4 asts, 2 tovs), and lights were not too bright for Jarrett Allen (19 pts, 10 rebs, 3 stocks, 1 ast). The Cavs pick-and-rolled their way to a victory, that was a nice feather in Kenny Atkinson's hat based on some adjustments he made throughout the game. By The Numbers 19: Seconds the Knicks by for the game 44: Rebounds for each team 13: Offensive rebounds by the Cavs, 2 more than the Knicks...
Wham's Game Preview #59: Cavs vs Knicks
Game Preview The Cavaliers, winners of 14 of their last 17 with the losses coming against the Thunder (twice) and Phoenix on the road, return home to face the New York Knicks for the third time this season. The Knicks beat the Cavs 119-111 in the season opener and 126-124 on Christmas Day, both games taking place at MSG. This will be the last time these teams meet in the regular season. The 3rd place Knicks are 37-21 and one game ahead of the Cavaliers. They are 14-13 on the road and have won 12 of 15. The Knicks will be playing their 3rd game in four nights. They beat Houston and Chicago Saturday and Sunday with both games coming down to the final minute. Miles McBride, who averages 13 ppg off the bench, is out. The Knicks have a...
RCF Recap: Cavs stormed by Thunder, 113-121
Game Summary Get too deep, and it's hard to recover. Get too deep against good teams and it's even harder to recover. Despite no Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams or Alex Caruso, it was no problem for the Thunder. They blitzed the Cavs to the tune of 28-5 to start the game, and the Cavs looked like team that was a shell of themselves. They settled in and recovered, and even grabbed the lead at one point, but it was only brief as the Cavs couldn't sustain their effort. The Thunder are 76-2 when they have a 20-point leads over the last two years -- so the mountain the Cavs were trying to scale was like Everest. The Thunder exposed some things the Cavs will need to adjust to as they figure out the new normal of being healthy -- how...
Wham's Game Preview #58: Cavs at Thunder
Game Preview The white hot Cavs, winners of 14 of 16, take their talents to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder, who are in first place in the West. The defending NBA champions started the season 24-1 but have gone 19-13 since. They are 6-6 in their last 12 games. This game will be a matinee starting at 1 p.m. Eastern. The Thunder have lost quite a bit of their thunder as reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is out along with starting SF Jalen Williams and backup SG Ajay Mitchell. Between the three they are averaging 63 points, 13 rebounds, and 15 assists per game. Backup guard Alex Caruso is also out. The Thunder are 3-3 since SGA went down with an abdominal strain, averaging 111 points in those games. They average 119 for the...
Thread 'From Garland to Harden: For Better or For Worse?'
Deadlines inspire action. The 2026 offseason was set to be the pivot point -- Donovan Mitchell’s player option would be a year away; Jarrett Allen’s three-year extension would kick in and his salary would jump to $28M; Darius Garland would be extension eligible; it might have been the first year in the 2nd Apron which starts the draft pick penalty clock; and the Cavs would be coming off a fourth playoff run with the core four confirming its stature as boom or bust. From there, the Cavs and...
Thread 'Deep Dive: The Fit & Finances of Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis'
THE Trade THE Financials There are a talent component and a financial component, and both are drivers for this deal. The apron era has forced teams to be quicker in their decision making in that they literally, and figuratively, cannot afford to wait around. Teams can spend time, and money, in the apron era when play and production permit. But when play and production don’t align with the finances, apron penalties and restrictions have forced teams to be more critical what and on...
Thread 'Evaluating A New Dean Wade Contract'
As each Cavalier contract is up the question always is: What are they worth? RealCavsFans has developed a methodology over the years to project contracts based on comparable players and their deals on the open market. Next up: Dean Wade. Previous Years Evaluating a new Caris LeVert contract Evaluating a new Ty Jerome contract Evaluating a new Sam Merrill contract Evaluating a new Isaac Okoro contract In President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman’s end-of-year press conference...
Thread 'RCF's 2026 Trade Deadline Guide'
Deadline day is approaching. February 5 at 3PM(ET) is when pens and pencils have to be down and teams can no longer make transactions with one another. The buyout market will be open but the trade market will be closed. Since the core four was formed, President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman has gone through three trade deadlines. He's made just one deadline trade over that time period -- the De'Andre Hunter move last deadline. Prior to the core four, Altman had made a trade by the...
RIP Ben
RCF Mourns Its Beloved Founder
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