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It ended the way it started with the Cavs dominating the Bulls on both ends. It was a bit rocky in between, including the Bulls overcoming a 21-point lead and taking the lead a few minutes into the fourth quarter, but the Cavs flexed their muscle on the Bulls once again to go to 15-3 against teams below .500. The Cavs came out fast with a 15-6 run to start much of that fueled by Donovan Mitchell attacking the paint, and the Cavs finding open shooters. The story of the first quarter was the three-point line – the Cavs were 8-15 while the Bulls were 3-13. Dean took an early shot! More on that later. Max Strus didn’t look right from the tip. He was questionable entering the night with a knee injury – the same one that kept him out of the...

Winners of 9 of their last 12 the Cavs return home from their sojourn in Paris to take on the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls started the season 5-14 but have turned things around and are 14-8 in their last 22 games. The Bulls have had problems on the road, however, with a 6-12 record while the Cavs are 13-8 at home. This will be the Bulls’ third game in four nights whereas the Cavaliers have had three days off. The Bulls have played the league’s fifth easiest schedule so they may not be as good as their 19-22 record suggests. They lost decisively to the Cavs at home on Dec. 23 by a 109-95 score with Zach LaVine out. The Cavs were without Garland, Mitchell, Mobley, and LeVert but still won by 14. Porter, Okoro, and Wade started for the Cavs...

The Cavs came, saw, and conquered Paris, and the Brooklyn Nets. They controlled much of the game however the Nets made it an entertaining one in the second half for the packed-out Accor Arena. Donovan Mitchell was too much for the Nets to handle, and the Cavs were able to pull away in the end. Donovan Mitchell was aggressive early, which set the tone for much of the night. He came out looking for his own shot, and at one point had 12 of the Cavs first 20 points including the first 6 Cavalier points. This led to the Cavs coming out the gates on a 16-4 run. This lead was hard for the Nets to overcome all night and set the tone for much of the first half with how things would unfold. While Mitchell helped control the offensive end, the...

The Cavaliers grab their passports and berets and head off to gay Paree for a neutral site matchup against the Brooklyn Nets. Both teams had three days to adjust to the time change and take in a little sightseeing at the site of this year’s Summer Olympics. Then it's three more days off to get back to the states and acclimate. I’m not thrilled about seeing just one game in seven days, but with Garland and Mobley still out the fewer games on the schedule right now the better. The Nets started out well at 13-10, but have since lost 11 of 14. They’re pretty much in free fall at the moment so the Cavs are catching them at a good time. Their last game was a home loss to Portland. An overtime home loss to the Trail Blazers (10-25) dropped...

Roster building is a balance of talent and fit. Too much talent, and there is a risk of overlapping skillsets and an ill-fitting roster. Focus too much on fit and your team’s ceiling may be capped as top-end talent is required to win at a high level in the NBA. The Cavs find themselves at the intersection of talent and fit and may be forced to evaluate if resources are properly allocated. The roster is filled with talent however as the season has progressed the talent is seemingly heavy in the backcourt and lacking in the frontcourt. The talent is there but the fit may not be. Start with your two of your cornerstones: Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. Between the two, they average 71 minutes per game. With 96 minutes available...

The Cavaliers attempt to break a two-game losing streak as they return home for back-to-back games against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday and Friday. The Wizards are 6-26 on the season and 3-15 on the road. They have one win in 32 games against a team with a winning record (Indiana at 18-14). The Wizards do a solid job of putting the ball in the basket, ranking 11th in scoring at 116 ppg. However, they are last in scoring defense at 126 ppg. On offense the Wizards are uptempo, ranking 8th in field goal attempts per game. They’re 3rd in points in the paint and in fast break points, so they clearly like to run the floor and attack the rim. They’re not good from outside, ranking 23rd in 3-point percentage and they’re last in the...

The Cavaliers, winners of five of their last seven, ring in the New Year on the beautiful shores of Lake Ontario as they take on the Toronto Raptors for the second time this year. The first game was in Cleveland on Nov. 26 with the Cavs prevailing 105-102 with both teams healthy. The Raptors started 8-8 but have since gone 4-12, including a loss to Detroit Saturday, snapping the Pistons 28-game losing streak. However, the Raptors were short-handed since they traded OG Anunoby, Malachi Flynn, and Precious Achiuwa to the Knicks and the players they received hadn’t been cleared to play yet. They have one win against teams over .500 in their last 17 games (Phoenix at 16-15). The Raptors are 8-9 at home while the Cavs are 9-6 on the road...

What started so well ended.. not as well. The Cavs came out guns a blazing, and it looked like the Bucks just may be another bump in the road. Until, the Bucks’ stars stepped up, and the Cavs outside shooting turned down. The Cavs fought until the end, but the firepower wasn’t quite there. The Cavs were on it offensively to start. They scored 37 first quarter points which is tied for the 5th highest scoring total in a quarter this year. They now have 5 35+ point quarters in their last 7 games. When the offense is going, it’s going. The unique part of this scoring onslaught is it was all primarily from doing damage in the paint. The Cavs were 1-9 from 3, and only made 2 free-throws in the first quarter yet they had 20 points in the...

Winners of 9 of their last 12 games and on a roll after a 20-point comeback win on the road against Dallas, the Cavs return home to take on the Milwaukee Bucks for the first time this season. In an odd scheduling quirk, the Cavs and Bucks will play four times in the next month and not see each other again in the regular season. So we’ll probably play them all four times without Evan Mobley and at least twice without Darius Garland. The game is on NBA TV. The Bucks are 23-8 overall and 7-6 on the road. They have played the 2nd easiest schedule, but they are 7-2 against the top six teams in the East and 10-4 against teams .500 and over. Their only injured player is Jae Crowder who comes off the bench. Giannis is listed as probable. The...