Pregame Dribbles: Cavs Look To Bounce Back From First Loss, Host Wounded Pelicans

CLEVELAND — Random dribbles ahead of the Cavaliers’ home game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. …

1. Well, the streak is over. The Cavs are now just an amazing 15-1. But as I wrote in my postgame Dribbles, the Cavs deserve tons of credit for storming back and making a game of it.

2. For a while there, it looked like it’d be a blowout. But just when you thought it might, the Cavs made the Celtics sweat out the finish.

3. Evan Mobley (22 points, 11 rebounds) to reporters: “I’m happy how we fought back. I feel like we didn’t start the best. … But overall, I feel like we played a pretty good game. I think it was a good test, and from what I saw out there, we could beat anybody.”

4. Donovan Mitchell (35 points) added that the Cavs actually proved a lot to themselves in the loss. “Whether you win, lose or draw, it’s just a test. And obviously you want to learn through wins, but we lost tonight. But there’s a lot we can take away from the good in the second half and a lot we can learn from the first half to get better.”

5. So it’s on to the next, as this is the NBA, and there’s always another game.

6. The Cavs were missing Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade and Caris LeVert for Tuesday’s game, and their status has yet to be updated for Wednesday. Coach Kenny Atkinson was forced to use just eight players, and had to start Sam Merrill — who had missed the previous three.

7. So just as there is always another game in the NBA, there is seemingly also another injury and lineup tweak. But those are the brakes, man.

8. Basically, it’s hard to have any idea whatsoever who will play tonight. The guys who played Tuesday laid it all on the line and gave it everything they had. Their reward? To hop on a plane, fly back to Cleveland and get ready for another game.

9. But if you think the Cavs have it bad, just wait until you hear about the Pelicans (4-11). They also played last night, getting blown out in Dallas. Injuries have totally derailed their early season, and it’s fair to wonder if David Griffin‘s team can ever climb out of this hole.

10. For tonight, New Orleans has a whopping nine players listed as out. That includes eight of their top nine scorers. Perhaps not-so-surprisingly, Zion Williamson again will be among the missing. I think he’s played one game in Cleveland for his whole career.

11. Brandon Ingram, Trey Murphy III, Cavs-killer Jose Alvarado and Canton GlenOak product CJ McCollum are also sidelined with various injuries. And in case you forgot, the Pelicans acquired Dejounte Murray during the offseason. He’s been out since the first game with a broken hand.

12. Anyway, back to the Cavs. They have four games between now and when the Celtics come to Cleveland on Dec. 4 — Pelicans, Raptors and Hawks at home, followed by the Hawks on the road. All four are very winnable. Which leads to the following question: Could the Cavs be 19-1 when they face Boston again? Yes. Yes, they could.

13. In case you missed it, Atkinson took some of the blame for his lone loss as Cavaliers coach. You can check out that full post here.

14. That’s it for now. I have a thousand other things to do before the game tonight. But it’ll be exciting to see how the Cavaliers bounce back against an incredibly wounded opponent. Talk to you tonight.