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November 12, 2024

Cavs finally getting some love in NBA power rankings

Josh Cable / Blog Cavaliers, Cavs, cavs intel, Cleveland Cavaliers, featured, more, news featured, sidebar / 0 Comments

Do you like NBA basketball? Have you been watching the Cleveland Cavaliers?

You might’ve heard that the Cavs are 12-0. You also might’ve heard that they’re only the eighth team in NBA history to do so – and that they lead the NBA in points per game, field-goal percentage, 3-point-shooting percentage and probably a bunch of categories I don’t even know about.

That’s all well and good. But it seems that most national media outlets have been reluctant to cede the No. 1 spot in their power rankings to the Cavaliers – until now.

After blowing out Golden State and grinding out wins over New Orleans, Brooklyn and Chicago, the Cavs are coming in at No. 1 in The Athletic’s NBA power rankings, published today.

The Athletic had the Cavs ranked No. 2 last week.

According to Law Murray of The Athletic, of the seven other teams that have jumped out to 12-0 starts, only two have failed to reach the NBA Finals.

“There is a lot to look forward to, like seeing how long the Cavaliers can keep this up while shooting better than 50% from the field and 40% from 3 as a team,” Murray says.

Likewise, NBA.com boosted the Cavs up a notch to the No. 1 spot in its latest power rankings, published on Nov. 11.

NBA.com writer John Schuhmann asserts that the Cavs’ league-leading 3-point-shooting percentage (41.3% after Monday night’s win in Chicago) is one of the “unsustainable” aspects of the Cavs’ scorching start.

Among other observations, Schuhmann points out that heading into Monday night’s matchup against Chicago, the Cavs had outscored their opponents by 28.3 points per 100 possessions in Caris LeVert’s 210 minutes – the highest on-court mark among 300 players who’ve averaged at least 10 minutes per game.

And for those naysayers who points to all of the sub-.500 teams on the Cavs’ early-season schedule, Schuhmann notes that the Cavaliers have just two rest-advantage games in their first 40 games of the 2024-2025 season. Notably, both of them are this week (Philadelphia and Charlotte).

Not everyone has bought in yet. In Bleacher Report’s most recent power rankings – published on Nov. 8 – the Cavs are No. 3, behind Oklahoma City and Boston.

“Cleveland fans have to be a little annoyed to see their still-undefeated Cavaliers stuck in third place,” Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey wrote. “ … The Cavs still don’t feel like a top-tier title contender, but we may not be able to say that much longer.”

Of course, these NBA power rankings aren’t the end-all be-all of basketball analysis. At the end of the day, they hold about as much weight as a “World’s Greatest Dad” T-shirt.

November 11, 2024

Darius Garland named Eastern Conference Player of the Week

Josh Cable / News Cavs, cavs intel, Cleveland Cavaliers, Darius Garland, more, news featured / 0 Comments

Darius Garland is back, and the NBA is taking notice.

On Monday, the NBA announced that Garland has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 4 (Week 3).

Garland was key to the Cavaliers’ 4-0 record this past week, extending the team’s overall record to an NBA-best and franchise-record 11-0 start to the season. Cleveland became just the 12th team in league history to win their first 11 games of a season and the first since the 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors.

During the week, Garland averaged a team-high 25 points, 7.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 31.8 minutes while shooting a remarkable .617 from the field, .576 from 3-point range and .875 from the foul line.

The 24-year-old was the only player in the East to average at least 25 points while shooting at least .600 from the field and .500 from three-point range this past week.

Among Eastern Conference leaders, Garland ranked second in three-pointers made (19), second in plus/minus (+49), fourth in 3-point percentage (.576, minimum of 10 attempts), sixth in assists per game (7.3), seventh in field-goal percentage (.617) and tied for seventh in points per game (25).

It was a week bursting with highlights.

Nov. 4, Milwaukee

Garland opened the week with a season-high 39 points on 15-of-22 (.682) shooting from the field, including 7-for-11 (.636) from beyond the arc, and a game-high eight assists in 35 minutes during Cleveland’s 116-114 win over Milwaukee on Nov. 4. That night, he became just the fifth player in Cavaliers history to tally at least 39 points, seven 3-pointers and eight assists in a single game, joining LeBron James (three times), Mo Williams, Kyrie Irving and Donovan Mitchell.

Nov. 6, New Orleans

The following contest, a 131-122 victory at New Orleans on Nov. 6, Garland posted a near double-double with 14 points, including 4-of-6 (.667) shooting from beyond the arc, a game-high nine assists and one block in 30 minutes.

Nov. 8, Golden State

During a 136-117 win versus Golden State on Nov. 8, Garland helped the team record its largest halftime lead in franchise history (+41, 83-42) and finished the night with a game-high 27 points on 9-of-17 (.529) shooting from the field, including 6-of-11 (.545) from the 3-point line, six assists and three steals in 30 minutes, while also passing Irving and Foots Walker (2,115) for fifth place on the Cavaliers’ all-time assists list.

Nov. 9, Brooklyn

In the final game of the week, a 105-100 victory over Brooklyn on Nov. 9, Garland helped the Cavaliers overcome a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter and recorded 20 points and six assists in 32 minutes. With his second 3-pointer in the win over the Nets, he tied Irving (723) for the fourth-most 3-pointers made in franchise history.

In 11 games this season, Garland is averaging 20.5 points, 6.6 assists and 1.18 steals in just 29.5 minutes per contest. He is the only player in the NBA averaging at least 20 points while shooting .500 from the field, .400 from 3-point range and .900 from the foul line.

This is Garland’s second career Player of the Week honor (once in 2021-2022), making him the seventh player in Cavaliers history to win the award multiple times, joining LeBron James (42), Kyrie Irving (four), Donovan Mitchell (four), Andre Miller (two), Terrell Brandon (two) and Mike Mitchell (two).

Garland’s recent honor also marks the 69th time a Cavalier has ever won the weekly award, and the second consecutive week a Cavalier has earned Player of the Week status, following Donovan Mitchell’s win in Week 2.