Bulls at Cavs: Niang gets spot start

Well there’s a bit of news to talk about as the Cavaliers put their 13-game winning streak on the line tonight at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Evan Mobley is out with an illness, and Kenny Atkinson has opted to slide in 6-foot-7 Georges Niang to take his place. G-Wagon is averaging 6.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and one assist off the bench this season.

I have some thoughts.

1. Guessing I’m not the only one who did a double-take when the Cavaliers announced their starting five a few minutes ago. Did Dean Wade fall out of favor with coach Atkinson?
2. Seriously, what’s wrong with Dean Wade?
3. I’ve heard that Atkinson is an analytics guy, so maybe more than likely he knows something that we don’t. Plus, the Cavs are 13-0, so who am I to question him?
4. In case you’ve been off the grid for the past month or so, the Cavs are only the sixth team in NBA history to start the season 13-0.
5. A win tonight and the 2023-2024 Cavs would own the franchise record for the longest win streak at any point in the season. Pretty impressive.
6. The offense is still cookin’. The Cavaliers are tops in the league in points per game (121.8), field-goal percentage (51.8%) and 3-point percentage (41.2%).
7. The Cavs are on pace to set a franchise record for 3-point-shooting percentage. The current high-water mark is 40.7% from the 1989-1990 season.
8. I feel obliged to mention that the NBA in-season tournament is underway. I’ll leave it at that.