Are The Cleveland Cavaliers For Real?

Ben Stinar and Haley Jordan sat down to talk about the Cleveland Cavaliers in the latest episode of Stinar For 3.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have not made the NBA Playoffs since they had LeBron James during the 2017-18 season. 

They made the NBA Finals that season, but have been nowhere near a contender since James left that summer for the Los Angeles Lakers.  

This season, the Cavs have been one of the biggest surprises in the NBA, because they are 19-12 in their first 31 games of the season, and are the third seed in the Eastern Conference. 

In the top 5 👀 #LetEmKnow

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 20, 2021

Are the Cavs for real?

The NBA season is 82 games long, so a 31-game sample size is nothing to sneeze at. 

That's nearly 38% of the season, and in that span the Cavs have proven they are one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. 

They are a mix of veterans like Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, but also young players like Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Lauri Markkanen. 

Rubio did not have a good season last year on the Timberwolves, but this season the 31-year-old is averaging 12.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game. 

This sequence with Ricky Rubio 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Ly5S9omrsO

— NBA TV (@NBATV) December 16, 2021

He's also averaging a team-high 1.3 steals per game. 

As for Love, the NBA Champion is averaging 12.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, while shooting over 40% from the three-point range. 

Kevin Love behind-the-back ➡️ DG ➡️ Cedi for three#LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/zvnvjUqxy5

— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) December 19, 2021

Those numbers by Love and Rubio are very impressive considering where they were at in their careers last season. 

As for the young players, they have 23-year-old Jarrett Allen leading the team in rebounds at 10.8 per game, and rookie Evan Mobley leads the team in blocks at 1.8 per game. 

Their defense is only allowing 101.1 points per game, which is tied with the Golden State Warriors for the lowest points allowed per game in the entire NBA. 

They're also seventh in assists per game, and fourth in opponents field goal percentage with teams shooting just 44% against them. 

(All of those stats come from TeamRankings.com). 

What all these numbers prove is that the Cavs are playing as a team, and they are no joke this season. 

NOT IN JARRETT'S HOUSE! pic.twitter.com/ZhnLN51G79

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 16, 2021

It's not as if one player is having an outstanding season, the entire team is playing well, which is contributing to winning. 

The Cavs will take their six-game winning streak into Boston when they play the Celtics on Wednesday.