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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...

The Cavs return home after their first loss for a rematch of their Nov. 6 game against the New Orleans Pelicans, which the Cavs won 131-122 in the Big Easy. Both teams will be playing the second night of a back-to-back with travel as the Pelicans played in Dallas last night, losing by 41 points. Since Dallas is one time zone over the game started at 8:30 Eastern time so the Mavericks got into Cleveland in the wee hours of the morning after a long flight. The Pelicans are the most injured team in the NBA. The Athletic had this comment the other day: It might be easier to list who is actually available to play for this snakebitten franchise. [Zion] Williamson’s hamstring injury is to the same leg that kept him out of the playoffs in...

Welp, time to start another streak. The Cavs streak was going to end at some point, and the Celtics only furthered what’s turned into a reignited rivalry. The game had a playoff like intensity (thanks NBA Cup?), and I’m not sure there’s much love lost between the teams. The Celtics were without Kristaps Porzingis, and the Cavs were down most of their wing rotation in Max Strus, Dean Wade, Isaac Okoro, and Caris LeVert. Sam Merrill got the start for the Cavs while Cavalier favorite Al Horford continued to fill in for the Celtics. Whoever the Celtics had missing didn’t affect their shot selection. Coming into the game, the Celtics take over 56% of their shots from the three-point line – tops in the league. They also are 9th in 3P%. 57 of...

The Cavaliers’ 15-game winning streak is on the line as they head to Beantown to take on the 10-3 Celtics in a rematch of last year’s playoff series that the Celtics won 4-1. According to powerrankingsguru.com, the Celtics have played the easiest schedule in the NBA while the Cavs have played the second easiest. I don’t think either of these teams are as good as their records, to be honest. These teams are very similar statistically as the Cavs are the highest scoring team in the league at 123.7 ppg while the Celtics are 2nd at 121.6. Likewise the Celtics rank 11th in scoring defense while the Cavs are 10th. So it’s the league’s two best offenses against two slightly above average defenses. Neither team is at full strength as the...