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Are the Cleveland Cavaliers the best team in the NBA right now?

  • October 29, 2024



Are the Cleveland Cavaliers the best team in the NBA right now?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are 4-0, one of the three remaining undefeated teams in the NBA.

It’s early, but the immediate returns on the Kenny Atkinson hire are paying off for Koby Altman and the Cavs.

Evan Mobley looks the best he ever has, Darius Garland just had a monster game against the Knicks, Donovan Mitchell is still an All-NBA caliber player, Jarrett Allen has more blocks than misses this season & the bench is doing it’s part to keep the the scoring alive.

Darius Garland scored a season-high 34 points, 15 in the fourth quarter, and the Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 4-0 by beating the New York Knicks 110-104 on Monday night.

Donovan Mitchell added 25 points, Evan Mobley had 17 and Jarrett Allen finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Cavaliers, off to their best start since beginning defense of their 2016 NBA title by starting 6-0.

Jalen Brunson had 21 points and seven assists for the Knicks (1-2), who led by 13 in the second half. Mikal Bridges scored 19 points, Josh Hart had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and OG Anunoby scored 15 points. Karl-Anthony Towns fouled out with 13 points and 10 boards.

Takeaways

Cavaliers: Coach Kenny Atkinson cautioned that the schedule was about to get tougher after a Toronto-Detroit-Washington start, but his team handled the first test just fine even while coming nowhere close to the 128 points it averaged in those three games.

Knicks: The Knicks should have enough talent to overcome off nights by Brunson, who went to the locker room in the third quarter after appearing to hurt his ankle on a shot, but couldn’t do that on a night he was just 8 for 24.

Key moment

The shot of the game didn’t count. After the Knicks missed their final shot of the first quarter, Mobley grabbed the rebound and passed to Mitchell, who took one dribble after the buzzer and casually fired in a one-handed shot from around 85 feet.

Key stat

Garland made three of his five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. One wiped out the Knicks’ final lead midway through the period, and he later hit back-to-back to open an eight-point advantage.

Up next

The Cavaliers welcome back LeBron James and his Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. New York starts a four-game road trip Wednesday at Miami.

11 comments

  3. You sound silly talking bout Milwaukee doesnt care about the regular season. I guess Giannis and Lillard are winners, huh? I thought they had troubles last year. They fired their coach and had issues. They are normally a first round exit. Older than the Cavs but yet excuses are made. How long has it been since they won? They have to work through their injuries for the playoffs. They have to get the disaster combo in Lillard a d Giannis. I’m sorry u make no since bro.

  9. Top 5 defense and offense with a top 3 point differential if not league best … they’re legit, feels like Kerr to the Warriors !!! We can evolve into a contender and into a dynasty if we stay healthy, a real window to always be a problem and threat to win it all in a high parody league for years to come.

  10. 4 wins 0 losses 78 more to go… weak schedule but new coach, so to win definitively enough already to get the new system in place is substantial.. with a young blooming core that’s committed and paid and showing growth. This is a contender for sure. breakthrough season, enjoy the beginning of a potential dynasty. Feels like Kerr starting to coach the Warriors. Transforming a team to take the next step by coaching change. We look like a team on offense.

  11. Thank you McNuggets For the play breakdown. The way you broke it down allowed someone with no basketball IQ like me to understand what was going on. I pretty much just understand what fouls look like. I'm just a casual basketball fan that only follows the hometown team.

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