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Ty Jerome

Ty Jerome is making a strong case to become Cavs’ first Sixth Man of the Year

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The NBA introduced the Sixth Man of the Year during the 1982-1983 season, honoring the 76ers’ Bobby Jones with the inaugural award.

Jones – a 2019 Hall of Fame inductee who epitomized the selfless, team-first mentality of a sixth man – was an obvious choice. However, no player from the Cleveland Cavaliers has ever been honored. (Former Cav Kevin Love finished second in the Sixth Man voting in 2021-2022.)

If Ty Jerome keeps dazzling off the Cavs’ bench, that could very well change this year.

Jerome has been solid from the get-go this season. On opening night in Toronto, the Virginia alum had 14 points (on 6-of-7 shooting), six assists and two steals in 18 minutes of action. The following game, he scored 13 points in 15 minutes against Detroit.

Over the past few games, Jerome has found a higher gear.

In a spot start against New Orleans on Nov. 20, Jerome went off for a career-high 29 points in just 23 minutes, going 7-for-12 from 3-point range. He followed that up with a 26-point, six-assist performance off the bench against Toronto.

After the game, Jerome’s teammates couldn’t wait to talk him up.

“He does offer a calming presence,” Georges Niang said of Jerome. “When that guy comes in the game and can shoot transition threes, get to the rim, stop runs by the other team, and then his underrated ability to have timely stops … for Kenny to have another weapon off the bench that can come in and do that … it’s been huge for us throughout the year.”

If you’re a Cavs fan, there’s no shame in admitting that you didn’t know what to expect from Jerome this season. I know I didn’t.

Before coming to Cleveland, Jerome had a grand total of seven career starts under his belt in four NBA seasons, during which he had bounced around from Phoenix to Oklahoma City to Golden State. Prior to this year, his most productive season was the 2020-2021 campaign with OKC, when he averaged 10.7 points and 3.6 assists in 33 games.

The Cavaliers signed Jerome to a two-year, $4.6 million contract in July 2023, snatching the restricted free agent from Golden State. He never got a chance to prove himself last year, hurting his ankle during the Cavs’ 2023-2024 home opener. The injury eventually required surgery.

This year has been a different story.

After the Cavs’ 122-108 win over Toronto – which improved their record to 17-1 – Jarrett Allen talked about the resilience that Jerome has displayed in battling back from a season-ending injury.

“To go through a whole year and not even touch the court three times, and then to be ready when the next season comes and play at a high level like he is – that’s tough to do,” Allen told reporters. “You have to lock in when you’re hurt; you have to see everybody succeed without you. But now he’s here and he hasn’t missed a beat.”

Allen described Jerome’s play with one word: “Incredible.”

“But during the summer he showed that he could do it. And now he’s [maintaining that same level of] hooping. Basically he’s doing everything: downtown shots, passing the ball, he’s doing it all. It’s incredible.”

Allen’s favorite thing about Jerome is “him as a person.”

“Good dude. Always about the right things. Always about making sure that his teammates are in a good space mentally. Just a good dude overall.”

As of Nov. 26, Jerome is averaging 12.6 points, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game – all career highs – in 19 minutes of game action. He’s leading the NBA in 3-point percentage, shooting at a torrid 54.4% clip from beyond the arc.

Jerome also is leading the NBA in true shooting percentage, a measure of a player’s overall scoring efficiency that takes into account field goals, 3-point shots and free throws.

Jerome has been so good lately that Tristan Thompson called him “our version of Luka Dončić.”

Just bear with him, OK?

“He’s a big guard, he plays at his own pace – you cannot speed him up – and when he gets to the rim it’s either a bucket or he’s gonna find someone,” Thompson said after the Toronto game. “His offensive rating is off the charts.”

Niang added: “Ty, I love you, you’re not Luka, but you’re really freaking good.”

Cleveland Cavaliers

Cavs’ depth will continue to be tested as injuries start to mount

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The NBA season is a grind. In some respects, it’s a war of attrition.

For championship contenders, getting to the NBA Finals is as much about staying healthy as it is about anything else. (Just ask the Cavs, Knicks and 76ers, among others.)

After an injury-riddled 2023 season, the Cavaliers have been relatively healthy so far this year. Although Max Strus has yet to play a regular-season game, the Cavs have had the luxury of the “Core Four” being healthy and available most nights.

Kenny Atkinson has leaned into the team’s depth to keep his star players as rested as possible. Donovan Mitchell is averaging 31.1 minutes per game – a career low. Likewise, Darius Garland’s usage is at a career low. Evan Mobley’s minutes are down, and Jarrett Allen’s average minutes (30.2) are the lowest they’ve been since he played in Brooklyn.

The Cavs’ depth was on full display Sunday night against Charlotte. With a showdown in Boston looming on the horizon, Atkinson gave Mitchell the night off. Sam Merrill was out due to left-ankle inflammation.

Sliding into the starting lineup, Ty Jerome was brilliant, as he has been all season.

Jerome matched a career high with 24 points and dished out eight assists. Georges Niang had 13 points off the bench, while Craig Porter Jr. chipped in seven points. J.T. Thor even got into the action, scoring once on a strong drive to the basket late in the game.

Isaac Okoro started the game but hurt his ankle in the first half. Okoro didn’t return.

Dean Wade had three points and four rebounds before leaving the game with an ankle injury as well.

Still, the Cavs were able to notch their 15th consecutive victory to start the season, on the backs of strong performances from Garland (25 points and 12 assists), Allen (21 points and 15 rebounds) and Mobley (23 points and 11 rebounds), complemented by the bench bunch.

“We had five rotation guys out tonight if you think about it, with Dean and Isaac going out with the ankle injuries, so it speaks to the depth that we have and the skill level we have,” Atkinson said after the Cavs’ 128-114 win. “Kind of one through 15, which is a deep, deep team. Everybody can pretty much shoot it too.”

That depth – and the Cavs’ perfect record – will be tested this week.

Wade already has been ruled out for Tuesday’s game in Boston, which is the first night of a back-to-back. Merrill continues to be day-to-day, while Okoro is iffy for the showdown in Beantown.

To make matters worse, Caris LeVert is questionable with left-knee inflammation.

Atkinson knew this day would come.

“I think we did the best we could with minutes and distributing minutes – Donovan being part of the plan – and we’ll keep doing it,” Atkinson told reporters. “Going forward, you can’t fight the schedule. You just can’t. You’re gonna end up being shorthanded too much.”

He added: “This is a tough league. This is a really tough league, physically. I don’t know if the fans can even grasp how hard it is. … We know it’s a heavy load on us and we’re doing the best we can to manage it.”

Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse 2

Cavs eviscerate Warriors, and I’m busting

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I’m trying not to overreact here.

It’s a long season.

A lot can happen between now and the end of April.

Still, it’s hard not to get super-pumped when you’ve parlayed $10 into $13.60 since downloading the FanDuel Sportsbook app. I’m on a two-game win streak, and the Cavs are on a 10-game win streak, so life is good (as they say in the popular parlance).

I am busting. Jerry, I’m busting!

 

 

The Cavs just gave the Golden State Warriors – our archnemesis, the evil empire – a taste of their own medicine in front of a rapturous home crowd. A comeuppance, if you will (and I will). The 3-point shots were falling, the offense was flowing and the camaraderie was on full display at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, on a Friday night to boot.

If I may be so bold: It wasn’t unlike watching the Warriors in their heyday.

As many fans probably do, I have a veritable Cavalanche of thoughts.

  1. A relative in the Bay Area texted me earlier this week, feeling very confident about the Warriors. And this was before they beat the Celtics. I tried to temper his expectations, in the most loving way possible. I tried to convey just how scorching hot the Cavs are right now. But I guess he had to see for himself. He had to learn the hard way.
  2. Making history: At the end of the first half, with the Cavs up 83-42, FanDuel Sports Network’s Serena Winters noted that the 83-point outburst set a franchise record for most points scored in a first half. The Associated Press said the 41-point halftime lead is a franchise first. The Cavs came into the game holding the record for consecutive wins to open a season. The hits just keep coming.
  3. No news flash here: In a postgame interview, Ty Jerome affirmed that the Cavs are playing with a lot of confidence right now. Jerome had 20 points off the Cavalier bench. “We have a lot of depth, [and] we’re using it,” Jerome told Winters. “Different guys [are] stepping up every night. And we’re rolling.”
  4. The Warriors came to town riding a five-game win streak, and they were undefeated on the road. They were riding high after a big win in Boston. This throwback (or should I say “froback”) game had all the markings of a marquee matchup. But it didn’t play out that way. The Warriors never led in this game, and they looked lethargic. The first half looked like a Harlem Globetrotters game, at times.
  5. “I think the biggest thing is how we came out and set the tone right from the beginning,” Georges Niang said on the postgame show. “Just defensively wearing them out, and then getting the spots we wanted to get to and making shots.” It was raining threes inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Isaac Okoro, who started in place of Dean Wade, was 4-for-6 from 3-point range, while Ty Jerome was 3-for-3 and Darius Garland was 6-for-11 from long distance.
  6. Raising the bar: When you’re as hot as the Cavs are right now, you have to challenge yourself to get better, even after a decisive 136-117 win over Steph Curry and the Warriors. In the second half, Golden State outscored the Cavs 75-53. That wasn’t lost on Jerome. “We need to keep getting better everyday,” he said. “That second half wasn’t great. We picked up some bad habits. We kind of played to the score.”
  7. Jarrett Allen used that same phrase in his postgame interview. “We didn’t come out with the same intensity, the same defensive mindset,” Allen added. “They got a lot of easy baskets on us, and we weren’t sharing the ball.” Still, when you’ve built a 41-point lead at halftime, I think you’re allowed to pace yourself in the second half – especially on the first night of a back-to-back.
  8. Speaking of Allen, I made a $5 bet that The Fro would snag more than 10 rebounds in the game. I think he had six or seven at halftime. With the game trending in the direction that it was, my biggest concern was that Allen might see limited action in the second half, as Atkinson – who has leaned into the Cavs’ depth from Week 1 – might want to rest him with Saturday night’s game in mind. Fortunately (for me, at least), the Warriors played much better in the second half, and Allen grabbed 12 rebounds in 30 minutes of action. And I’m $2.08 richer.
  9. Would it be terrible if I said Allen probably would’ve played 44 minutes if J.B. Bickerstaff was still coaching? Am I a bad person for saying that?
  10. I feel like I’m late to the sports-betting party, and that’s probably a good thing, given my personality. It’s fun, though. One thing I don’t like is that it changes the way you watch a game. I found myself rooting for Golden State to make it a close game in the second half, simply because it increased the chances of Allen staying on the court. And every time the Cavs launched a 3-pointer – which was often – I was disappointed, just for a nanosecond, when it went in.
  11. This one goes to 11: While the Cavs cruised Friday night, the Nets lost to Boston in overtime, 108-104. In terms of “heavy legs,” Brooklyn likely will be at a disadvantage. The Cavs have an excellent shot at an 11th consecutive win to start the season.
Darius Garland

Garland shines in come-from-behind win over Bucks

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When the Cavaliers went off for 73 points in the first half Monday night against the Milwaukee Bucks – who were playing without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo – it looked like an 8-0 start to the season was a foregone conclusion.

However, the Bucks showed some grit in the second half, outscoring the Cavs 31-16 in the third quarter to take a two-point lead into the final frame.

The Bucks held the lead until the 3:24 mark in the fourth quarter, when Darius Garland tied the game with a layup off a Donovan Mitchell steal.

Garland hit three more big shots down the stretch – none bigger than his step-back 3-pointer that gave the Cavs a 113-111 lead with 45 seconds left.

The Cavaliers held on for a 116-114 win to improve to 8-0 on the season, tying a franchise record dating back to 1976.

Garland was magnificent, leading all scorers with 39 points and outdueling his idol Damian Lillard.

Garland added eight assists. Kenny Atkinson raved about Garland’s late-game pass to Jarrett Allen, who was cutting to the basket off a pick-and-roll. Allen’s layup gave the Cavs a 115-111 lead with 12 seconds left.

“I don’t know how he got it there,” Atkinson said of Garland’s pass.

What impressed Atkinson the most about Garland?

“Thirty-nine points, but [only] two turnovers,” Atkinson told reporters. “Even the last game in Milwaukee, no one talked about Darius, but he had 10 assists and two turnovers. He is a true point guard. Now add the scoring to it, [and] you’ve got an All-Star guy. He’s really playing unbelievable basketball.”

Garland was 7-of-11 from 3-point range. After the game, Garland talked about how his 3-point shooting has a cascading effect on the rest of his game.

“When I make a couple, [the defense starts] overreacting,” Garland told reporters. “And that’s when the lane just starts to open up, and that’s when I get downhill, so I look for teammates so the floater’s there. [Atkinson] wants me to shoot more 3’s so it can open up [the rest of my game]. I think I’m a pretty good shooter, so if I make a couple, I think all hell will break loose from there.”

Garland looks like a different player this year, after a jaw injury sidelined him for 19 games. When he returned to game action last season, Garland struggled to find his groove.

When asked if he feels more like himself this season, Garland coyly responded: “No … and yes.”

“No because I always had that aggression. I always had that mindset that I can just blow by anybody, I can get to the spots that I want to get to,” Garland said. “Yes because my head is free. I’m playing freely, my confidence is super high, my teammates got my back.”

Garland added: “I really appreciate my teammates and my coaching staff … telling me to be me, and that’s what I’m trying to do for the rest of the season.”

Cavs are 5-0

The 5-0 Cavs are exorcising some demons

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The undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers are rapidly approaching “Putting the Rest of the NBA on Notice” territory.

Yes, it’s early. And the Cavs front-loaded three quick wins over inferior opponents to tip off the 2024-2025 season.

But Monday’s night’s slugfest in Madison Square Garden – in which the Cavs battled back from a 13-point deficit to knock off the Knicks – was a statement win over a team that’s had their number in recent years.

And Wednesday night’s demolition of the Los Angeles Lakers was an exclamation point to that statement.

As of Thursday, the Cavs have the best record in the NBA at 5-0, and are one of only two undefeated teams in the association.

Heading into Wednesday night’s showdown with the Lakers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, LeBron James was 9-2 against the Cavs. With Anthony Davis controlling the boards, the Lakers went 2-0 against the Cavaliers last season.

But things are different this year.

The Cavs pushed the pace against the Lakers – a point of emphasis for Kenny Atkinson this season – and jumped out to a 42-23 first-quarter lead. Their biggest lead of the game was a 28-point margin.

En route to a 134-110 win, Evan Mobley led the Cavaliers with 25 points in just 19 minutes of action. Mobley was absolutely dominant in the fourth quarter – despite being saddled with four fouls to start the quarter – and scored the first 11 Cavs points of the final frame.

“I think he was a little frustrated with the foul situation and the minutes and all that,” Atkinson said of Mobley after the game. “We ran the first play for him. Then they went zone. We talked about it before the game, they go to that 3-2 zone. … We got him the ball at the foul line, and he just started playmaking. He’s so, so talented.”

Atkinson also had high praise for Caris LeVert, who chipped in 16 points off the bench.

“I just can’t say enough [about LeVert],” Atkinson told reporters.  “We’re imploring him to be a more efficient player, to embrace the catch-and-shoot. He’s such a good ball handler, but man the way the league is now, we need his shooting too. … He’s doing it on both ends, I think defensively he’s been phenomenal.”

Donovan Mitchell had 24 points, while Jarrett Allen had 20 points and hauled in 17 big rebounds.

Atkinson, who coached Allen in Brooklyn, raved about The Fro as well, asserting that Allen is “dominating on both ends right now.”

Five games into the season, the Cavs lead the NBA in field-goal percentage (53.9%) and 3-point percentage (41.1%). The Cavaliers are second in points per game (125.6) and steals per game (12).

The next test comes Friday night, when Orlando comes to town.

Donovan Mitchell

Donovan Mitchell’s knee still isn’t right

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Like many NBA teams, the Cavaliers have been battling injuries throughout the season.

Jarrett Allen missed the first five games of the season after hurting his left ankle in training camp. Evan Mobley and Darius Garland each missed roughly six weeks starting in mid-December. Max Strus has missed the last seven games with a right-knee strain.

Then there’s MVP candidate Donovan Mitchell. The Cavs welcomed Mitchell back to the fold on March 13 after a seven-game absence, and trounced the New Orleans Pelicans 116-95 – snapping the Pelicans’ four-game winning streak.

Mitchell tallied 14 points in New Orleans. While that’s roughly half of Mitchell’s season scoring average, Darius Garland told reporters after the game that Mitchell’s mere presence on the court is a major boost for the Cavs, because he attracts so much attention from the opposing defense.

Unfortunately, the Cavaliers were unable to carry that momentum into Houston Saturday night, where they lost to the Rockets 117-103.

Mitchell drained three 3-pointers but finished with only 13 points in 25 minutes of action.

After the game, a frustrated Mitchell dropped a bit of a bombshell on reporters.

“I’ll give you some news: I’m probably not playing the next game, to be completely honest with you,” Mitchell said. “I just gotta take some rest and get it right. I thought I was ready. I’m not.”

On March 4, Mitchell received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection at the Cleveland Clinic Sports Medicine Center to treat a bone bruise in his left knee. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff has attributed the injury to wear and tear over the course of the season.

After the loss in Houston, Mitchell was brutally honest about how the bruised knee has stifled his game.

“No disrespect to some guys – I’m not really blowing by people right now, and that’s disappointing to me and it’s affecting me,” Mitchell said. “ … It sucks. I want to be out there, but it’s clear as day, even to myself. I can’t fool myself. So I have to sit there, get it right and be ready when that time comes.”

If Mitchell can’t play in Monday night’s Central Division matchup in Indiana, it will be a tough blow for a Cavaliers team that’s been struggling since the All-Star break. However, the Cavs have managed to overcome plenty of adversity throughout the season. Despite the rash of injuries, they’re still within striking distance of the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Cavaliers are 33-16 with Mitchell in the lineup this season.

sports betting

Did the refs have money riding on the Cavs-Timberwolves game?

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No.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that neither Scott Foster, Natalie Sago nor Danielle Scott had money riding on Friday night’s Cavs-Timberwolves game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

You can say what you want about the quality of the officiating in this game – it seems like a lot of folks on both sides had some issues with it. Rudy Gobert certainly did.

Gobert didn’t like when the refs whistled him for landing an elbow on Jarrett Allen’s face as they jockeyed for position in the low post. And he #letemknow by doing a cute impression of Johnny Manziel on draft day, suggesting that there was a connection between legalized sports gambling and the referees making the correct call with 27.8 seconds left in regulation. (I know, Rudy, it’s always a flop.)

To be fair, sports betting has been legal in the Buckeye State since Jan. 1, 2023, thanks to the passage of House Bill 29. In fact, since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law that prohibited sports gambling in 2018, some 38 states and the District of Columbia have legalized sports betting in some form, according to Forbes.

And for all you conspiracy theorists out there, according to the National Basketball Referees Association, Sago’s favorite TV show is “I (Almost) Got Away With It.” That’s an admission of guilt if there ever was one. (Her favorite movie: “Home Alone.”)

And we all know about Tim Donaghy. Maybe Gobert just finished watching the Netflix special (“Untold: Operation Flagrant Foul”). Or maybe Gobert knows something we don’t know.

Here’s what we do know: Gobert and the Timberwolves were playing the second night of a back-to-back, without one of their stars. The T-Wolves were spent, and Jarrett Allen was getting under his skin. We also know that Gobert is a blowhard who believes every foul call on him is an egregious flop.

After the game, Gobert doubled-down on his assertion that sports betting is “hurting our game,” according to a CBS Sports article. However, he’s not as big of an idiot as I thought, as he admitted “it wasn’t the time for me to react that way.”

“I should have not done that,” Gobert told reporters. “I cost my team the game, and obviously, they couldn’t wait to give me a tech. That was bad. That was an immature reaction.”

Case closed.

Weird Week for Cavs

Cavs cap off weird week by beating best team in the West

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Playing their fourth game in six nights, the Cavs knocked off the best team in the Western Conference – in overtime – two nights after beating the top team in the NBA in dramatic fashion.

Sandwiched between those gutsy wins were losses to the Hawks and the severely undermanned Knicks.

Friday night, the Cavs went toe-to-toe with the Timberwolves and their No. 1-ranked defense, matching Minnesota’s physical style of play – a promising sign for a team that got pushed around in the playoffs last year.

With Evan Mobley out, Jarrett Allen stepped up in a big way. Against a bigger man in Rudy Gobert – the second-leading rebounder in the NBA – Allen was a force in the paint, and he finished with a career-high 33 points, 18 rebounds and two blocks.

It was fun to watch Gobert’s late-game meltdown that led to a technical foul and a game-tying free throw. Gobert pantomimed the money sign with his fingertips after getting whistled for his sixth foul, suggesting the refs had money riding on the game. Allen clearly got under his skin.

Allen’s strategy against Gobert: “Just go out there with energy.”

“I think Rudy gets a lot of hate for what he does, but I still think he’s excellent in his position and how he goes out and plays the game,” the affable Allen told reporters after the game. “So for me it was to try to find little moments where I can sneak in, grab a rebound, tip the ball out or just catch him slipping.”

Gobert’s sixth foul sure seemed like a legit foul. But the hot-headed Frenchman didn’t see it that way. With 27.8 seconds left in the game – and the T-Wolves clinging to a one-point lead – it probably wasn’t the best time for Gobert to get on his soapbox about sports gambling.

The Cavaliers prevailed in overtime, 113-104, without the services of Mobley, Donovan Mitchell and Max Strus.

“It just boosts us for when everybody else comes back,” Allen said. “Contrary to [popular] belief, I do believe we’re at our best when everybody is back in the lineup.”

Still, it sometimes seems that Allen plays better when Mobley is out of the lineup. He’s more assertive, more aggressive and more decisive. Maybe it’s a case of next-man-up mentality.

J.B. Bickerstaff chalks it up to Allen’s consistency.

“He’s just been consistently dominant,” Bickerstaff said after the T-Wolves game. “We’ve been saying this since before the All-Star break, where we thought he was deserving to be an All-Star, because I can’t tell you bigs that are playing better than Jarrett Allen. He’s just been phenomenal. It’s a testament to him as a human being, as basketball player, to just want to do more to help the team win. And that’s who JA is.”

Darius Garland wasn’t too shabby either. Garland – who after the game said he doesn’t feel anywhere near 100% yet – paced the Cavaliers with 34 points on 13-of-26 shooting and eight assists.

“We know what Darius is capable of, and we believe in Darius wholeheartedly,” Bickerstaff said. “In the NBA, guys go through ups and downs, but the great ones figure out a way to come out of it. And he puts the time in, he works his tail off, his teammates believe in him, support him, trust him, and we know he’s gonna make the plays when we need him.”

Cavs 76ers

Sixers Outhustle Cavaliers, Snap 9-Game Winning Streak

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If ever there was a “trap” game, this was it.

Heading into Monday night’s home matchup against Philadelphia, the Cavaliers were riding a nine-game winning streak – the longest active streak in the NBA at the time. Some of those wins were so non-competitive that they looked more like a Harlem Globetrotters game than a legitimate NBA contest.

Meanwhile, the 76ers have been reeling in the absence of reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid, who had surgery performed on his left knee earlier this month. While the Sixers’ lengthy injury report included Tobias Harris, Robert Covington and Nicolas Batum, they recently added prolific sharpshooter Buddy Hield and Cameron Payne via trades.

Other than Tyrese Maxey, this was a Philadelphia starting-lineup configuration that the Cavs hadn’t faced before.

The warning signs were there.

“These are the games you cannot take lightly,” Serena Winters of Bally Sports declared just prior to tipoff.

Brad Daugherty put it this way: “The problem when you play against a team that’s not at full strength is they’re gonna be a little freeer than you are. So they’re gonna take some tough shots; they’re gonna take a lot of shots. You don’t want to get lulled into doing that. You want to be disciplined, take advantage of your offense. Execute – that’s what’s gotten you here.”

The execution wasn’t quite there from the opening tip for the Cavs, who stumbled on their first possession and trailed 34-33 after the first quarter. Particularly troublesome was the fact that the 76ers shot 67% from the field in the first frame, matching the Cavs with 20 points in the paint.

Without Embiid, the Sixers took a page out of the Cavaliers’ playbook, playing aggressive defense, attacking the basket, gobbling up 50/50 balls, firing away from 3-point range and playing with an overall sense of urgency – a formula that served the Cavs well when Darius Garland and Evan Mobley were out.

The Sixers led throughout the second quarter and went up 66-62 at halftime. Philadelphia had the edge in paint points, 36-30, and shot 59% from the field.

“Give them credit – they’re attacking our paint,” Cavs assistant coach Luke Walton told Winters at the start of the third quarter. “The surprise for us [is] we’re an elite defensive team, and we don’t let people do that to us. We gotta play with much more physicality in the second half and really just get back to doing defensively what we’ve done so well all season long.”

Shortly after Walton’s comments, Sixers backup center Paul Reed started off the third quarter with an easy layup. Reed scored in the paint again on the Sixers’ next possession to make it 70-62 Philadelphia.

The 76ers continued to score effortlessly in the paint until a disgruntled J.B. Bickerstaff called a timeout with 9:14 left in the third.

The Cavs responded by ratcheting up their defense and getting some baskets in transition, taking a 77-76 lead with 7:00 left in the third. The 76ers weren’t fazed.

Still, the Cavaliers fought hard, taking a 92-91 lead on a Jarrett Allen dunk at the end of the third quarter. Considering that the Cavs had a 33-2 record when leading after three quarters, it looked like they had a good shot to extend their winning streak to 10.

The Cavs extended their lead to 94-91 early in the fourth, but the Sixers didn’t wilt. Maxey, who finished with 22 points, and Kelly Oubre Jr. (24 points) showcased their jumpshots all night.

Hield’s layup put the 76ers up 106-102 with 5:40 left in the game. Hield, who finished with 24 points, nailed a 3-pointer on the Sixers’ next possession – and then another to make it 113-104 with 4:28 remaining.

The Cavs trailed 115-107 with 3:17 left.

Somehow, the Cavs had a chance to win it. Donovan Mitchell, who led all scorers with 36 points, intercepted an errant inbounds pass with 53.4 seconds left and drove to the basket, scoring on a floating bank shot. Hield fouled out on the play, and Mitchell converted the free throw to make it 120-116.

On the next 76ers possession, the Cavaliers finally got a stop. After Max Strus and Garland missed 3-point attempts, Mitchell coolly drained a 3-pointer to make it 120-119 with 14 seconds left.

The Cavs had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Garland – who is still trying to find his rhythm after missing six weeks due to a fractured jaw – missed a 3-point shot as time expired. Philadelphia prevailed, 123-121.

Dean Wade was out with an illness, and the Cavs certainly missed his dogged defense. Georges Niang and Sam Merrill played, but both reserved were held scoreless.

Mitchell, the Eastern Conference Player of the Week, wasn’t making any excuses.

“I don’t mean to say this in a harsh way, but we kind of deserved to lose this game just based off of how we started,” Donovan Mitchell told reporters after the game. “We came out as if one, they were gonna lay down and let us just continue to do what we do, but I think also we just didn’t put forth [the effort], especially defensively. Offensively, we got what we wanted. But [defensively] we didn’t come out the right way, and the basketball gods don’t reward you for that.”

Mitchell added that there’s no reason to panic. However, with the addition of Hield, it sure looks like the 76ers are going to be dangerous if and when Embiid returns this season.

Toronto Raptors

Cavs Roll with Satisfying Rout of Raptors in Toronto

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Scotiabank Arena has been a house of horrors for the Cavs over the past few seasons.

Prior to Saturday night’s game, the Raptors had won 10 of the past 11 meetings with the Cavs on Toronto’s home court. That included a 124-121 win on New Year’s Day – the first of only two losses for the Cavaliers in 2024 so far. Perhaps more memorable to Cavs fans was the Raptors’ 108-105 opening-night victory in 2022, during which Darius Garland suffered a left-eye injury that cost him several games.

Over the past two or three seasons, the Raptors have been a tough matchup for this iteration of the Cavs. The Raptors have good size and “length” (as they say in the popular parlance), and they seemed to outmuscle the Cavs at times in recent matchups.

That wasn’t the case on Saturday.

The current rendition of the Toronto Raptors is a mashup of the Raptors, Knicks and Jazz, and the organization seems to be in a weird limbo – “purgatory” might be the better word ­– of trying to rebuild and reload at the same time. They’re building around Scottie Barnes, who has a ton of upside, but their starting lineup isn’t terrible.

That said, the current rendition of the Cleveland Cavaliers is really good. And they take care of business against sub-.500 teams.

The Cavs’ 119-95 win in Toronto was just as non-competitive as the score indicates. They led 67-47 at halftime and warmed the heart of J.B. Bickerstaff with a season-high 21 assists on 27 shots in the first half.

The Cavs just kept pouring it on in the second half.

The Cavs’ frontcourt flexed its muscles against a disjointed Raptors squad that was playing its second night of a back-to-back. Jarrett Allen had 18 points and 15 rebounds, his 24th double-double of the season. Evan Mobley had 17 points and 11 boards in 27 minutes.

All five Cavaliers starters scored in double figures, and three reserves – Georges Niang, Caris LeVert and Isaac Okoro – did as well.

Considering that Toronto had won four straight against the Cavs – and they now employ the likes of Kelly Olynyk and former Knicks R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley – this one gets honorable mention as one of the most satisfying wins of the 2023-2024 season. And I just don’t like the Raptors.

Defense Travels Well

Heading into the All-Star break, we have a pretty good sample size of data to feed into the Cavaliers’ formula for success. This particular data point is pretty compelling: The Cavs are 11-0 when holding opponents to 100 points or less this season.

Cleveland held Toronto to 40% shooting and 9-of-31 from 3-point range.

“I think our guys have completely bought into the idea of what they’re capable of defensively, and understand how important that is for our success,” Bickerstaff told reporters after the game. “And they take pride in it. It’s something they feed off and they want to do. They get upset when guys score on them. They get upset when they give up offensive rebounds or blow an assignment.

“I just want our guys to believe in it the way that they do, and understand, we can turn it up a notch even more, and keep getting better at it, understanding our system more, keep working together on our communication, all those things. But we just want opponents to feel us. We want to be a heavyweight on their shoulders every night.”

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