CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Chances of the Cavaliers sneaking up on the rest of the NBA seem to be dwindling by the victory.
Cleveland’s young basketball team under head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has already exceeded the expectations of pundits heading into the season, surpassing their win totals from each of the previous three seasons following the departure of LeBron James and four straight NBA Finals runs, including winning the 2016 NBA championship.
Now they find themselves sixth in the Eastern Conference at 27-19 and if the playoffs began today, they'd be in and not have to participate in the play-in tournament.
“We’re getting some wins so we’re putting the league on notice,” guard Darius Garland said Friday. “We have a target on our back now, so a lot of teams come at us, try to get wins off of us, so we definitely have a target on our back.
“We definitely are on the radar for the top teams in the league, top teams in the East so we definitely get more attention.”
The last time the Cavs made the playoffs without James on their roster was the 1997-1998 season.
Garland and the Cavs recently returned from a grueling 5-1 road trip and knocked off the Nets Monday afternoon before coming up short in Chicago Wednesday night.
Saturday night they will host Oklahoma City at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
