Cavaliers

Cavs holding No. 16 spot in NBA.com power rankings

December 6, 2023

CLEVELAND — When you factor in all the injuries, it’s not necessarily a surprise that the Cavaliers are just a game above .500 after 20 games.

Next up: The young Orlando Magic, who have been mostly humming to start the season.

So this gives the Cavs (11-9) a chance to show the world that they’re pretty doggone good when they have all their pieces. Or at least, all of the starters.

Right now, the world seems to think they’re little more than a middle-of-the-road team to start. That includes the official NBA website, which has the Cavs ranked as the No. 16 overall team (out of 30) entering Wednesday’s home game against the Magic. That’s the same spot as a week ago.

“The Cavs have won three of their last four games, but that’s a somewhat disappointing result given the competition,” wrote NBA.com’s John Schumann. “All four were against teams with losing records and the Cavs blew a 16-point lead in losing to the Blazers at home on Thursday.”

He added, “This 3-1 stretch also coincides with the Cavs having their starting lineup healthy for four straight games and playing more minutes (70) than it had through the team’s first 14 games (64). The Cavs have allowed just 104.3 points per 100 possessions with both Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen on the floor together, but 112.6 with one on the floor without the other.”

Cleveland has also won seven of 10. When asked if it felt like it, point guard Darius Garland told reporters, “No. But I’ll take it.”

Right now, the Cavs are hoping to take a few more and climb back up to near the top of the Eastern Conference. They’re better than the 16th-best team in the NBA. So all that’s left to do is prove it.