The sizzling Cleveland Cavaliers aim for their eighth straight victory as they hit the road to face the Orlando Magic on Monday.
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The sizzling Cleveland Cavaliers aim for their eighth straight victory as they hit the road to face the Orlando Magic on Monday. On Saturday, Cleveland stretched its most substantial winning streak of the season with a commanding 116-95 victory over Atlanta, marking the beginning of a four-game road series for the Cavaliers.
In addition, this victory signifies the third consecutive occasion in which Cleveland restricted its opponent to fewer than 100 points, making it the fourth occurrence during the ongoing winning streak. Impressively, each of the Cavaliers’ last three triumphs came with a margin of 18 points or more.
With this recent defensive prowess, Cleveland has limited its opponents to an average of 110 points per game, ranking second for the fewest points allowed in the NBA.
For the Magic, only Harris is unavailable for the game due to a calf injury. As for the Cavaliers, Garland (broken jawbone), Jerome (ankle injury), and Mobley (knee injury) will be missing this one out. Besides, Levert could also miss the game due to a wrist injury.
In six of the past seven games, Cleveland has managed to outscore their opponents by the conclusion of the first quarter, establishing double-digit leads going into the second quarter on five occasions.
Remarkably, the Cavaliers continue to secure victories despite the absence of key players, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, both sidelined due to injuries. Garland, the team’s second-leading scorer at 20.7 points and tied with Donovan Mitchell for the lead in assists at 5.9, has been out of action since December 14 due to a broken jaw.
Mobley, maintaining averages of 16 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, hasn’t played since December 6 due to a knee injury. Bickerstaff mentioned on Saturday that both Garland and Mobley are on the verge of making a return. Donovan Mitchell has shouldered the scoring responsibilities, notching at least 31 points in three of the last four games, while Caris LeVert has elevated his output coming off the bench.
LeVert, who has scored a minimum of 21 points in five of his last nine games, sat out Saturday’s matchup due to a wrist injury and is currently listed as day-to-day.
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