Latest news and updates about the Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers erased an 18-point deficit to tie the Detroit Pistons midway through the fourth, but an inability to get stops and scores when they needed them wound up in Detroit escaping with a 111-101 Game 1 victory. All grades are based on our usual expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents that […]
The NBA Playoffs schedule rolls onward on May 5th with a pair of conference-semifinal games on tap for your viewing pleasure. Here are the games, times, and broadcasts for the evening. All times are Pacific. 4:00 PM—Cleveland Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons, Peacock and NBCSN (series tied 0-0) 5:30 PM—Los Angeles Lakers at Oklahoma City Thunder, […]
The team that’s won Game 1 has won every series that the Donovan Mitchell-led Cleveland Cavaliers teams have played. How much stock you put into that is up to you. What we can say is that Game 1 against the Detroit Pistons is important. Neither the Cavs nor the Pistons have had much time to […]
The stage is set for round two of the NBA Playoffs. Here are three ways the Cleveland Cavaliers can ensure victory over the 60-win Detroit Pistons. 1. Shrink the floor The Raptors and Pistons share a similar offensive profile. Neither team loves to shoot three-pointers, primarily because they aren’t very good at it. They’d prefer […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers emerged from the rock fight against the Toronto Raptors. It was far from the prettiest series on the first-round slate. The number of times I thought this team was dead in the water was more than two hands can count. After RJ Barrett’s moonshot homage to Kawhi Leonard, it seemed like this […]
CLEVELAND — Reputations don’t change overnight, especially ones built through years of playoff failures. The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t alter how they were perceived with a gutsy 114-102 Game 7 win over the Toronto Raptors. They did, however, show that they don’t have to be defined by previous postseason letdowns. Jarrett Allen was the exact opposite […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Raptors 4-3 to advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs. All grades are based on our usual expectations for each player. Donovan Mitchell 22 points, 1 assist, 3 rebounds, 2 turnovers This wasn’t a great game from Mitchell, per se. We’ve seen him play much better than this. […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers did enough to get past a plucky Toronto Raptors team that put up a much better fight than we thought going into the series. Now, they have their hands full against a 60-win Detroit Pistons team. The Pistons didn’t look like the juggernaut they were in the regular season in the first […]
The Toronto Raptors aren’t supposed to be here. But they are anyway, and it’s the best-case scenario for a team surviving mostly off their instincts. They’ve learned to live with injuries to key players and miraculously adapted to the harsh environment of playoff basketball. They have one last mountain to climb in their Game 7 […]
As the Lakers were beginning their beatdown of the Rockets in Game 6 on Friday, the Raptors were helping them in a very dramatic way. In the final seconds of overtime in Toronto, RJ Barrett channeled his inner Tyrese Haliburton and connected on a three to force a Game 7 against the Cavaliers. For a […]
Heartbreak only happens when you put yourself in a position to make it possible. The Cleveland Cavaliers had their souls crushed by an RJ Barrett three that bounced off the rim multiple times before falling through to give the Toronto Raptors a 112-110 victory and force a Game 7. The Cavs shouldn’t have been in […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers made their bed. Now they have one game left to get out of it. All grades are based on our usual expectations for each player. Donovan Mitchell 24 points, 2 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 block, 3 turnovers Mitchell should be the best player on the floor. That hasn’t been true for four […]
Despite the Cleveland Cavaliers walking away from Game 5 with a 3-2 series lead, they still haven’t fully instilled confidence as a bona fide contender. In many ways, Cleveland’s wins have felt more tied to Toronto’s limitations and mistakes than the Cavaliers consistently imposing their own identity and style of basketball over extended stretches of […]
Brandon Ingram has been downgraded to doubtful ahead of Game 6 between the Toronto Raptors and the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to Sportsnet’s Michael Grange. The forward has reportedly been dealing with heel inflammation since March 23, during which he missed the 143-127 win over the Utah Jazz. It was the second game of a back-to-back. […]
Game 6 hasn’t necessarily been kind to The Six. The Toronto Raptors have a mixed-bag of results in game six of playoff matchups: For the Raptors to extend their current series to a seventh game, they must exorcise a familiar demon in the Cleveland Cavaliers. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST on Friday. This […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers will have a chance to close out the Toronto Raptors in Game 6. For them to do that, they’ll likely need a superstar performance from at least one of their best players. 1. Donovan Mitchell needs to be a more efficient scorer Stars often decide closeout games. That will likely be the […]
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers regained momentum in the series after gutting out a 125-120 victory in Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead over the Toronto Raptors. The stats in the table below are taken from Cleaning the Glass. As a note, the percentiles are in comparison to other playoff games, which influences the […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers have pushed the Toronto Raptors to the brink of elimination with a 125-120 victory in Game 5. The Raptors have persevered through numerous obstacles already this series, including having to play without starting point guard Immanuel Quickley. Their road to stealing the series just became more difficult. Toronto could be without its […]
CLEVELAND – Dennis Schroder spent a few minutes at halftime listing out all of the things the Cleveland Cavaliers should be doing better in Game 5 against the Toronto Raptors. On the top of that list, was getting back to playing their way. “I felt like I had to say something to the group,” Schroder […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers have gotten away from what’s worked in games 1 and 2. The Toronto Raptors deserve a ton of credit for that. Their physicality with Cleveland’s star backcourt has made it difficult for the Cavs to establish any kind of momentum. At the same time, the Cavs simply need to be better. Let’s […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers had chances to take a decisive 3-1 lead over the Toronto Raptors in Game 4. They had an eight-point advantage with five minutes to play, but squandered the lead with a combination of bad defense, reckless decisions, and missed point-blank shots. This all added up to a 93-89 loss with the series […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t get the reputation of being playoff failures overnight. They’ve earned it through years of falling short in the biggest moments. Although their first-round series with the Toronto Raptors isn’t over by any stretch, Game 4 showed all the telltale signs of what has plagued this team in previous postseason runs: lack […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers dropped their second straight game to the Toronto Raptors. The series is now tied 2-2, heading back to Cleveland. All grades are based on our usual expectations for each player. Donovan Mitchell 20 points, 3 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 turnovers We’ve seen the worst of Mitchell across the last two games. An […]
After the electric atmosphere of the Toronto Raptors game three win, hopes were high going into Sunday’s game four that the Raptors could even out their series against the Cavaliers. While Thursday’s game was a must-win to keep Toronto alive in this series, Sunday was their last chance to get a win in a non-elimination […]
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been consistently criticized for being soft and unable to rise to the pressure of a playoff environment. They’ve publicly pushed back against that notion, but actions speak louder than words. The Cavs played scared offensively. Their highest-paid players didn’t just have a bad shooting performance — that could be explained. No, […]