Cavaliers Over The Years: What's Their Home Opener Record?
The Cleveland Cavaliers are returning home to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse after scraping by in a 114-113 thriller over Brooklyn for the season opener — the first season opening win for the wine and gold on the road since 2000.
The Cavs will look to continue to ride that high as they play before the 19,000-odd fans with the Oklahoma City Thunder making their way in. The Thunder are also sitting at 1-0 after getting a convincing win over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.
Looking at the past 20 years, let’s see how the Cavs have fared during their home openers.
The LeBron James Era
The last 20 seasons align with the start of LeBron James’ rookie year, in which they lost in front of Cleveland fans 93-89 with Denver in town. The Cavaliers starting five were: Carlos Boozer, Darius Miles, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Ricky Davis, and James. James didn’t get his first NBA career win until his sixth game, which also happened to be home, in a 111-98 final over the Washington Wizards.
In James’ second year, the team opened up at home and lost to the Indiana Pacers in a wild 109-104, double overtime game. They won the next two home openers, but lost in 2007, won in 2008, and lost in 2009, in a close 95-89 defeat at the hands of the Boston Celtics.
Post-James, Kyrie Irving Era
The first post-James era game in 2010-2011 was a rematch with the Celtics, in which the Cavs won 95-87. The starting five for that game consisted of Jamario Moon, Anderson Varejao, J.J. Hickson, Anthony Parker, and Ramon Sessions.
The Cavs would go on to win two of the next three home openers, stringing together a 3-1 record in the span. The only one they had lost during that span was Kyrie Irving’s NBA debut — which came on the heels of the 2011 NBA lockout. The team fell 104-96 at home to the Toronto Raptors with the Cavs rolling out a starting five of Antawn Jamison, Omri Casspi, Varejao, Irving, and Parker.
James 2.0
James returned at the start of the 2014-2015 season, and the team lost at home on opening night against the New York Knicks in a physical 95-90. This was the first game James, Irving, and Kevin Love played together, with those three as starters alongside Varejao and Dion Waiters. The James-led squad would go on to win the next three home opener games before his second stint came to a close.
Post-James, Again
After James left the second time, the 2018-2019 Cavs were blown out of the water by the Atlanta Hawks on their home floor in a 133-111 rout. Trae Young was in his rookie season and put up 35 points and 11 assists on the Cavaliers.
The starting five for that game consisted of Cedi Osman, Tristan Thompson, George Hill, Rodney Hood, and Love. Osman, who had been with the Cavaliers since 2017, was just dealt this offseason.
Thompson, who was drafted by the team in 2011, was a member of the squad until signing with the Celtics prior to the 2020-2021 campaign. He’s since had brief stops with the Kings, Pacers, Bulls, and Lakers, until returning to Cleveland this season on a one-year deal.
Love, of course, stuck it out with the Cavs from 2015 until reaching a buyout during the 2023 All-Star break. Love has been with the Miami Heat since, and signed a two-year contract this offseason to remain there.
The Cavs’ lineup had also added Collin Sexton, who had just been drafted first round, eighth overall, in the 2018 NBA Draft. Sexton’s time here was shortened by a meniscus tear which resulted in season-ending surgery in November of 2021. Speaking of Sexton, he was of course involved in the trade that brought Donovan Mitchell here in a massive trade with the Utah Jazz.
The Cavs then drafted Darius Garland in 2019 and defeated the Pacers 110-99 on their home floor during the opener that season. Love, Osman, Thompson, Sexton, and Garland were all starters in that game. Isaac Okoro would then be drafted in 2020, and Evan Mobley joined the ranks in 2021 — in which the Cavs split their home openers, respectively.
Donovan Mitchell Has Arrived
Last season, with Mitchell adorning the hometown threads, they put together a 128-96 win over the Bulls, which had followed a tough, 108-105 road loss against the Raptors that opened the season.
The starters included Mitchell, Mobley, Okoro, Jarrett Allen, and Caris LeVert. Garland, who of course was a starter the game before, was sidelined with an eye injury he sustained in Toronto.
The Cavs, who are currently awaiting the return of Allen from injury, rolled out a starting lineup of Mitchell, Mobley, Garland, Okoro, and newly acquired Max Strus when they opened in Brooklyn. Strus would go on to set a franchise record with seven threes in his debut — also tying the NBA record for most deep balls with a new team.
Coming off of a 31-10 home record last season, the Cavaliers return to their home floor Friday night with playoff aspirations once again. The wine and gold have put together a 12-8 record over the last 20 years when playing in front of their hometown faithful, and are looking to notch another win tonight in Cleveland.
