Dribbles: Cavs All Smiles In Setting More Marks, Trouncing Magic For Eighth Straight Win

February 25, 2025

Random dribbles following the Cavaliers’ 122-82 landslide road win over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday. …

1. What went right for the Cavs in this one? Well, how about everything?

2. But with a record of 48-10, these things don’t happen by accident. These Cavs just keep doing this, winning this way, with total team efforts and great depth, having tons of fun along the way.

3. Oh, by the way, Darius Garland (hip) didn’t play again. And Cleveland won by 40. On the road. Against a motivated opponent that the Cavs eliminated from the playoffs last season.

4. But as former Magic coach Stan Van Gundy joked on the TNT broadcast, who needs Garland when you have Ty Jerome?

5. More on Jerome in a minute. For now, let’s talk about those 40 points. It tied the mark for the largest road victory in franchise history. (The other took place at Charlotte in 1988.)

6. That’s not all. This also marked Cleveland’s 15th win of the season by 20 or more points. That’s a new franchise record.

7. So, yeah. We have been witnessing Cavaliers history — and yes, the really good kind. Eighteen other NBA teams have started 48-10. The NBA has been around since 1947. So again, this is really something.

8. As for the game, the Cavs took a 8-0 lead — thanks to a couple of quick Max Strus 3-pointers — and were barely ever threatened.

9. Jerome came off the bench to score 20 points, hitting 4-of-6 threes, and smiling and talking trash all the way. That guy is experiencing a true breakout season and as coach Kenny Atkinson will tell you, the Cavs sort of knew it was coming all along.

10. Jerome was fantastic in training camp, or even at open gym before that. He suggested to TNT’s Dennis Scott not to expect this every game. But when it happens, the Cavs always seem to win big. And it’s happened more than anyone on the outside ever expected.

"Just trust in the work" 🗣️@Dennis3DScott caught up with Ty Jerome after his big night against Orlando 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/a75SkYlTQG

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 26, 2025

11. Or how about this — the Cavs won by 40 but Jerome was the only player to score 20 points. Strus, Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter each put up 17. Donovan Mitchell forced nothing on his way to 11. No one else hit 10.

12. And that’s the beauty of it. Isaac Okoro (eight points) started and played one of his best games of the season. Jarrett Allen (eight points) was relentless in helping Mobley defend the Magic’s talented big men. Dean Wade and Sam Merrill (five apiece) each offered their usual dose of intangibles.

13. This made Atkinson much like the rest of us. He got to spend a large part of the game just sitting down, watching and enjoying it all. Of course, the main difference being that most of the rest of us probably shaved before the game.

14. But that’s just Atkinson and that’s just these Cavs. They often roll into town any which way and believe they can win. Usually, they are correct.

15. Even newcomer Javonte Green got in on it. He checked in as a member of the Cavaliers for the first time, late in the fourth quarter and the outcome determined. He scored off a drive about 6 seconds later.

16. For the record, Cleveland’s bench outscored Orlando’s by a whopping 61-13 count. That’s been another theme of the season. Or at least since Hunter has been coming off the bench. He entered the game and soon went on a 9-0 run all by himself, quickly burying three threes.

17. Paolo Banchero led the Magic (29-31) with 26 points, and he remains a lot to handle. Franz Wagner added 19. But you have to wonder if Orlando can recover from all those early-season injuries and if it has enough around those two.

18. As for the Cavaliers, it’s about to get really real again — as they pay their final visit of the regular season to Boston to face the defending champs. The Cavs have won eight straight and 12 of 13.

19. In short, they’re playing as well as they did during that 15-0 start to the season. Now, they have Hunter. It will be interesting to see how they stack up against the Celtics as team that looks even better than before.