Cleveland, Oh — The Cleveland Cavaliers became first team in the NBA to reach 20 wins on the season after handing the Denver Nuggets a 126-114 loss on Thursday night.
The Cavs' 20th win comes much earlier than it did last season. Cleveland did not reach 20 wins in their previous season until January 5, 2024.
The impressive win over a talented Denver team came from all around with four players contributing 20 or more points for Cleveland. With the win, the Cavaliers move to 20-3 and continue to sit atop the league standings.
Three-Point Frenzy - Cleveland was having a ball from beyond the arc, shooting 22-for-48 (45.8%) from deep, a season high made three’s for the squad. “It’s starting to be real, this deep into the season,” Kenny Atkinson said. “You can qualify us as a super excellent shooting team.”
Donovan Mitchell led the way with a game-high six triples, shooting 60% from downtown, but the way the all-star see’s it himself, they’re starting to be able to have a mixture of looks from all over the court.
“We’re getting a lot of open shots,” said Mitchell. “A lot of guys that shoot the ball really well, but we also have a lot of guys that can get to the paint, so now you’re able to mix both of those things. It’s tough to guard, and I think we hang our hat on that.”
Defensively the Cavs have notoriously struggled to guard the three point line this season. Tonight they skewed the numbers, only allowing the Nuggets to attempt 24 shots from the beyond the arc and only draining six.
To put things into perspective, the Cavaliers were outshooting the Nuggets 36-0 from behind the three point line and only leading by 3 points up until about 3:30 left in the first half. Finally, Denver made their first three ball on the night off of Michael Porter Jr.
Now, Denver isn’t a team known to attempt a ton of three balls, ranking 30th in the league for shots taken at the line. However, when they do put the ball up they rank fourth in the NBA shooting 39.3%, just behind Clevelands 40.2%.
Where they did put up numbers on the Cavs was down low, scoring 76 points in the paint. Atkinson wasn’t over reacting to the number saying “You gotta kinda pick your poison with that team. We were telling our guys ‘stay at home, stay at home,’ so you pay for that.”
Evan Mobley; The Guard Whisperer- It’s a good day when Evan Mobley goes 3-5 from three, a career high . It was certainly an emphasis of improvement in the off-season that people wanted to see from Mobley, taking more shots from deep.
“I'm just really happy that he was more aggressive,” said Atkinson. “I think it’s a big key for us, you know making that next playoff step – him being able to spread the floor a little bit.”
Donovan Mitchell, who refers to the big as “the guard whisperer,” said his favorite three came from Mobley on the left corner where his feet went door and he got right into his jump shot.
“I told him this summer, ‘get your feet down’,” said Mitchell. “That’s his growth, and I keep telling you like he hasn’t even scratched the surface. He’s been phenomenal. He’s gonna continue to take that step.”
Mobley finished the night with 20 pts, nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals in his 32 minutes of play.
Caris in Cruise Control - Before the Cavs matchup with Denver, Kenny Aktinson talked about Caris Lavert still trying to find his groove in the game after missing four games due to a knee injury.
“[Lavert is] out of rhythm. Which is normal,” said Aktinson. “The timing is off a little bit and I felt like the same thing with Dean [Wade] the other night. These guy’s gotta get some games under their belts”
Tonight seemed to be the game where Lavert would find that rhythm again, going 5-6 at the arc with 21 points off the bench. “I woke up this morning and just felt good,” said the shooting guard. “I felt it last game honestly, just had some unfortunate things happen.”
Last game against the Wizards Lavert struggled at the foul line, shooting 43% while averaging 70% on the season. Beyond the arc he was 1-4, scoring 10 points on the night.
With his 5 made three’s on the night, Lavert reached 700 3FG in his NBA career.
Reintegration Station - Soon the Cavaliers are going to be faced with a “good problem” as Atkinson referred to it as, reincorporating sharp shooter Max Strus back into the lineup. We haven’t gotten an update on Strus in awhile, but before Thursday’s matchup with the Nuggets, Atkinson said he’s getting closer to being back for the Cavs. “I don’t have a date for you yet,” said Aktinson. “I know he’s done a little contact, which is progress, but [we’re] still waiting.”
Where Strus is going to fit into the rotation is going to be the next piece Atkinson and his staff are going to have to work through.
“It’s a good problem to have. sometimes at this juncture of the season, it’s good to have an injection of energy,” said the head coach. “It’s like we signed a starting player to our team.”
The Cavaliers announced on October 19, that Strus would miss the start of the season for at least six weeks with a right ankle sprain.
Up Next - Cavaliers going on the road to Charlotte on Saturday to matchup with the Hornets. This marks the second time this season the teams go head to head, the first dating back to Nov. 17 in Cleveland. The Wine & Gold came out on top in a 128-114 victory. The road game falls into a 1:00 p.m. slot time for tip off. Following Saturday's game, the Cavs continue south to face Miami. The Heat currently 10-10, sitting seventh in the Eastern Conference.