Cavaliers Are On The Scene: A Look Back at the 2022-2023 Season

The Cavaliers had a successful season in many metrics, but fell flat when it mattered most.

The 2022-2023 NBA season marked a turning point for the Cleveland Cavaliers, a franchise that had seen its fair share of ups and downs over the years. With a promising mix of young talent and experienced veterans, the Cavaliers embarked on a journey to reestablish themselves as contenders in the Eastern Conference. Diving into their performance, we’ll take a look at how they fared in the conference and division last season. 

Regular Season Record

The Cleveland Cavaliers showcased significant improvement during the 2022-2023 NBA season and finished with a solid record of 51-31. This marked a nice uptick from the previous season, where they had finished with a record of 44-38, signaling a clear upward trajectory for the franchise. What’s even better is that this made for a vast improvement from the 22-50 record in 2020-2021. 

Conference Play

In the Eastern Conference, the Cavaliers finished fourth in the Eastern Conference, showing they were a team back on the scene and was a testament to their growth and competitiveness. The prior year, they landed with the 8th seed and snuck into the play-in round.

Division Dominance

Within their own Central Division, the Cavaliers demonstrated their growth with a 13-3 record against divisional rivals. The Cavs swept the likes of the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons, and had just one loss against the Indiana Pacers and two against the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Records Against Conference Teams

The Cavaliers faced some tough competition within the Eastern Conference, but they held their own against most teams. Here's a breakdown of their records against other Eastern Conference teams, that they fared 21-15 against. Overall, the team ended up going 34-18 in the East and 17-13 in the West.

Atlanta Hawks: 1-2

Boston Celtics: 3-1

Brooklyn Nets: 2-1

Charlotte Hornets: 3-1

Miami Heat: 2-2

New York Knicks: 1-3

Orlando Magic: 4-0

Philadelphia 76ers: 1-2

Toronto Raptors: 1-3

Washington Wizards: 3-0

Flipping the Script

Some of the much-needed success of the Cavaliers during the 2022-2023 season can be attributed to several key statistical factors:

Scoring: The Cavaliers came in with an improved offense, averaging 112.3 points per game, the highest in franchise history — and a leap from the 107.8 the previous year. Though this ranked them 25th out of 30th, the jump in production was much-needed to try to keep up with the league's pace. 

Defense: Their defensive efforts were commendable, allowing opponents just 106.9 points per game, showing that it was a critical component of their success. This put them at the very top of the leaderboard, with the best in the league. The Cavs also had a top-three plus-minus rating, coming in second behind the Celtics with a 5.4. 

Player Development: The growth of young talents like Darius Garland and Evan Mobley was a major catalyst for their success. Both have continued to grow, and Garland elevated his three-point shot from the previous season, shooting at a 41% clip, up from 38%.

Mobley also elevated his shooting, moving from 51% to 54% from the field and his rebounds improved from 8.3 to 9.0 per game. Mobley and Garland both had above-average player efficiency ratings, coming in at 17.9 and 18.8, respectively. 

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) and guard Darius Garland (10) react after a foul call on Mobley during the second half against the New York Knicks at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse / © Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Playoff Aspirations

With their strong performance during the regular season, the Cleveland Cavaliers entered the playoffs with high hopes. They were determined to make a postseason run and make it out of the East. However, they were stopped in their tracks by the New York Knicks, capturing just one win during the first round. 

Despite the abrupt end to the season, the 2022-2023 campaign was a step in the right direction for the Cleveland Cavaliers as they improved their record, secured a top-five seed in the Eastern Conference, and had an impressive record in their division. 

With their young talent and veteran leadership, the Cavaliers were poised to make a strong playoff push but faced the harsh realities of a physical first-round series. The season marked a turning point for the franchise, but the Cavs will need to continue to make progress on both sides of the ball if they want to make it past the first round for this upcoming year.