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Tonight was a battle of attrition. The Hawks were without three of their top six rotational players, while we know very well where the Cavs stand. To make matters worse, the Hawks were on the second night of a back-to-back versus a somewhat rested, yet depleted, Cavs team. And boy, did it show. JB Bickerstaff rolled out a Jarrett Allen, Dean Wade, Max Strus, Isaac Okoro and Donovan Mitchell starting lineup. For now, it looks as though Bickerstaff will take a point guard by committee approach with the first group, and keep key bench pieces like Georges Niang and Caris LeVert coming off the bench. Leave it to the Cavs to come out with their highest scoring quarter of the year their first quarter without Evan Mobley and Darius Garland for...

The Cavs return home from a four-game road trip to take on the 10-14 Atlanta Hawks, who they pounded on Nov. 28 in Cleveland by a 128-105 score. The Hawks were 7-6 when PF Jalen Johnson was injured right before they played the Cavs and have since lost 7 of 9. Johnson was averaging 14.1 points and 7.3 rebounds. His loss was huge. After losing 7 of their last 8 the Hawks beat the Raptors in Toronto last night 125-104 behind 38 points by Trae Young. The Hawks will be playing on the second night of a back-to-back and they mainly went with a six-man rotation last night as they were desperate for a win and saw an opportunity. Six players played 33-37 minutes, so fatigue could be a factor tonight. Two other players combined for 29 minutes and...

The Cavs mini-road trip was going to be tough. After starting out with a win in Miami, something they haven’t done very often the last two decades, they lost three straight by an average of 8.6 points per game. The Magic are a good team, the Celtics are a very good team, and the Cavs are an average (or very inconsistent) team right now. And it shows in their 13-12 record. The Celtics continued from last game, coming out firing on all cylinders offensively. They put in 65 points, 10 three-pointers, and were above 50% from the field and 90% from the line. When the Celtics are on, they’re incredibly hard to stop with the space the create for Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to operate, and the four shooters they have always around them. The...

The Cavaliers conclude their brutal three games in four days road trip to Miami, Orlando, and Boston with a rematch against the Celtics. The Celtics are now 11-0 in the Garden after beating the shorthanded Cavaliers 120-113 Tuesday night. The Cavs will put the same team on the floor tonight as Mobley and Jerome are still out. In what could be a significant development Jaylen Brown will be a game time decision with an ankle injury. He had to leave Tuesday’s came after coming down awkwardly. If he does not play it definitely improves the Cavs’ chances since he had 25 points Tuesday and averages 22. This time around the Cavs will have a day off before the game as opposed to playing in Orlando the night before and getting in at 2 a.m. At...

@The Oi and @RchfldCavRaised storm into the studio and welcome a crowd for the community for the first Rubber Rim Job post game live-stream. The fellas connect to discuss: Instant reaction to the loss to the Boston Celtics Feedback for the Orlando Magic game the night before Rch recommends his top few Tiny Desk performances The studio audience demands we talk about COACHING Longtime board member @Rich makes his call-in debut with an excellent "Where's CPJ call?" Jigo drops a record recommendation that will take you back to Austin City Limits, 2001 Strong in-studio contributions from @ajz20 @Sebastian @2 For The Brew and @RonG Call in and shoot your shot with a :24 second take to be part of the next show 216-282-6289 or join the...

Whoever had the Cavs coming out the gate after a loss on the second leg of an away back-to-back against an undefeated home team going on a 18-4 run, please raise your hand. The Cavs came out buzzing, getting contributions from all their starters early and threw the first punch. The ball was hopping, shots were falling, and the best players were engaged. Donovan Mitchell had 11 of the Cavs first 25 points, which they hit just midway through the first quarter. Tonight, we were blessed with good Mitchell. Slicing, dicing, being aggressive and the jump shot was pure. You can’t tell me that was the same player last night versus Orlando, as the player on the floor tonight versus Boston. This game turned into a spot shooting contest. The teams...

The Cavs and Magic played again in as many days and the script was the same: a tight game for most of the way but the home team pulled away in the second half. Despite some resistance by the away team, the home team held on for a double digit win. With no Evan Mobley and Caris LeVert, this is really a game the Cavs needed at least one of two things to happen: Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland to both have good games, or the team shoot well from deep. As you may guess, neither happened. Mitchell posted as quiet of a 22 point night as you can find, as he provided relatively little impact for most of the night. Mitchell struggled to find his jumper, as his point total was bolstered by free throws (8 for 9). He finished with only 3...

Having defeated the short-handed Magic on Wednesday and the short-handed Heat on Saturday the Cavs make the short trip north for a rematch against the 15-7 Magic, this time in their building. The Magic have won eight straight at home and are 10-2 overall in their house. Both teams had two days off in sunny Florida to prepare for this one. The Cavs will be playing three games in the next four days, all on the road, against Orlando, Boston, and Boston. This will probably be the toughest four days of the season. The Magic have enjoyed a rather easy schedule and 10 of their 15 wins have come against teams with records under .500. The Cavs beat a depleted Magic roster in Cleveland on Wednesday by a 121-111 score. Starting center Wendell...

Jig and Rch are back following a Cavs win over the Magic to restore order amongst the chaos surrounding the Wine and Gold Good Guys to start this season. The fellas connect to discuss: Browns new quarterback is an old AFC North Nemesis Rch's record recommendation comes from the city of Pittsburgh The guys go back and recap the win against Orlando @stick joins with a call that continues in the optimistic legacy of Brew's recent call Jig recommends a record and an artist that is outside of all of the boxes And the guys touch base on headband triple double Luka and some around the NBA talk Call in and shoot your shot with a :24 second take to be part of the next show 216-282-6289 or join the conversation by creating a profile, reading...