The Cleveland Cavaliers did what they always do on Mondays: win.
They’ve played 12 games and won all 12, and lately those wins seem to come in very similar ways. Cleveland trailed the Bucks by eight with six minutes left against the Bucks last Monday. The Cavs trailed by 12 points early in the fourth quarter on Sunday against the Brooklyn Nets. And of course, on Monday night in Chicago, they fell nine behind the Chicago Bulls in the third quarter.
But none of those clues mattered for the return of the Cavs, who are now halfway to history.
The best start in NBA The story belongs to the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors. That team began its season with a staggering 24 consecutive wins. With 12 fewer wins, Cleveland has 12 left before the Warriors come into their sights. For now, however, they are climbing the all-time rankings. They are now the eighth team in league history to win their first 12 games. If they win one more, they will become the No. 6 team to reach 13. The all-time record among non-Warriors is 15, held by the 1993-94 Houston Rockets and the 1948-49 Washington Capitols.
The good news for Cleveland? They have a pretty clear path to 15th place. Their next three games look relatively easy. On Wednesday they travel to Philadelphia to face the 76ers in what would normally be a very difficult matchup. However, Tyrese Maxey is out due to injury, and while Joel Embiid has not yet been technically ruled out, he plans to make his season debut Tuesday at Philadelphia. NBA Cup opener against the New York Knicks. He said this offseason that he didn’t expect to play back-to-back games in the future, so that would likely rule him out against the Cavaliers.
Cleveland returns home after that for two games against lottery opponents from a season ago. The Bulls just gave them a very difficult game on Monday and Chicago will have another chance in Cleveland on Friday. Still, the Cavaliers will be big favorites in that matchup. They will also face the Charlotte Hornets at home on Sunday. The Hornets have won three games against the Cavaliers in the last two seasons, but Donovan Mitchell missed all of them. With him in the lineup, Cleveland should also be a relatively strong favorite.
Unfortunately, their fight for sole possession of second place in the all-time standings runs into a green and white buzzer-beater in Game No. 16: a trip to Boston to face the defending champion Celtics. Of course, Cleveland has played exceptionally well against Boston in recent years. They are 5-5 against each other over the last three regular seasons, which doesn’t sound very good until you remember how badly Boston has beaten everyone else in that time period. Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis will still be out when that game comes around, but since it’s an NBA Cup matchup and everyone else will be well rested. This is by far the toughest game on Cleveland’s short-term schedule and perhaps the entire regular season.
If Cleveland can get through Boston? There’s another clear path to 20. Their next four games would be home dates with the injury-plagued Pelicans and Raptors, followed by a home-and-away game with the disappointing Hawks. Those aren’t automatic wins by any means, especially if the Pelicans or Raptors can bounce back before then, but Cleveland, again, will be a heavy favorite in any of those games.
The final stretch against the Warriors is where things get difficult again. While game number 22 would be an easy home game against the Wizards, it is sandwiched between home games against the Celtics and Nuggets. The record win would come on the road in Charlotte, and the record win would come on the road in Miami.
In all likelihood, Cleveland won’t make it to 24. As daunting as that trip to Boston may seem, the reality of the modern NBA is that the three-point spread and the sheer amount of talent in the league today ensures that there really isn’t any easy games. As those comebacks demonstrate, getting to 12 hasn’t been easy for Cleveland. Even if 24 or 25 isn’t realistic, the Cavaliers’ upcoming schedule is pretty disappointing. Barring injuries, there’s no reason to believe they’re cooling off anytime soon.
