The 2023-2024 NBA season has been a season to remember so far. With a storyline from Victor Wembanyama to the Timberwolves and Thunder having breakout seasons. The most interesting story however is the Cleveland Cavaliers Season.
The Cavaliers started this season 16-13, a very disappointing start to a team with high expectations. Last season, the Cavaliers lost in the first round of the playoffs as the 4-seed against the 5-seed Knicks 4-1. It was a very disappointing end to the year. To start this season, the Cavaliers were bringing back all of their core. All-star Guards Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland were the Backcourt, and Center Jarrett Allen paired alongside PF Evan Mobley looked to be a strong duo this year. The Cavaliers also brought in F Max Strus (Who has started all 58 games) and Georges Niang. It was looking like the Cavaliers were going to have a great year. However, something just wasn’t clicking. The defense wasn’t as dominant as last year, and the offense couldn’t find its footing. The 16-13 start wasn’t terrible for most Teams, but with the expectations, fans were upset. That’s when things got much worse. On December 15th All Star Guard Darius Garland suffered a Broken Jaw and All-Defensive PF Evan Mobley suffered a Knee injury, both would be out 6–8 weeks. Many marked this the end of the Cavs season, but this was just the beginning.
After the Injuries, the Cavs would begin to go on a tear, going 15-3 including an 11-1 start to 2024 without Garland and Mobley. The fuel to this was Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs’ role players. In the 18 games without Garland and Mobley, Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs in scoring 10 times, while also leading the team in assists 14 times. He was the Glue for the team without 2 starters. The team would not have gotten all these wins, however, without the likes of Sam Merrill and Caris Levert. Levert is making a strong 6th man of the year case, and played a major role off the bench throughout the run. He has averaged 14.1 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 4.4 APG. Sam Merrill, however, has had a great story getting here. He is in his 3rd season and his first with the Cavaliers. He was part of the Cavaliers Summer League team that won the Summer League Championship and started the year on the Cavs G-Leauge Affiliate, the Cleveland Charge. He got called up shortly in the season and during the Absence of Garland and Mobley he saw a huge increase in minutes. Furthermore, he is averaging 8 PPG and 44% from the 3pt Range. He is a spot-up shooter and provides a huge spark off the bench for the Cavs. Many thought, however, that with Mobley and Garland returning, the Cavs would lose some chemistry. The Cavs were 31-16 and since have gone 7-4, but 5-1 before the star break. Mobley and Garland have fit right back into their roles and the Cavs currently sit in 2nd place in the east with a 0.5-game lead over the Bucks with a 38-20 record.
The way that the Cleveland Cavaliers have kept their season alive hasn’t been the most conventional, but it has gotten them to where they are. They will be looking to have a strong end to the regular season and go on a playoff run that will hopefully end in an NBA Championship.
