- The Cavaliers have lost two straight after starting out 3-0 and coach J.B. Bickerstaff believes his young unit is still learning to handle adversity, according to Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “There was doubt as a unit. There was doubt as a team. And you can’t survive playing against good teams without that belief,” Bickerstaff said. “We have good players. … When they play together, with confidence and a belief, they can be a good basketball team. And that’s what we have to get to. But it takes time.”
- New veteran Cavaliers reserve center JaVale McGee adds championship pedigree in Cleveland, writes Joe Gabriele of Cavaliers.com. “I didn’t realize how good of a passer he was, I didn’t realize the touch he has around the rim with the little floaters and the hooks,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff commented. “I think he’s definitely been a pleasant surprise all the way around.” The 7’1″ big man is averaging 10.5 PPG on 63% shooting from the field during the club’s 3-1 start this season.
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard will return to the lineup tonight, five days after being struck in the face by an accidental elbow from teammate Serge Ibaka, tweets Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Coach Tyronn Lue made the announcement in a pre-game session with the media.
Leonard missed two games with the injury, which caused him to bleed profusely from his mouth and required eight stitches. L.A. split the games, defeating the Timberwolves Tuesday night and losing by 51 points to the Mavericks on Sunday.
A second-team All-NBA selection last season, Leonard is off to another strong start, averaging 23.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.0 steals in his first two games.
There’s more injury-related news to pass along:
- The Trail Blazers will face the Clippers tonight without guard Gary Trent Jr., Portland coach Terry Stotts told reporters (Twitter link from Vardon). Trent suffered a strained calf in Monday’s game with the Lakers.
- Rookie swingman Isaac Okoro didn’t travel with the Cavaliers as they start a six-game road trip, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The fifth pick in this year’s draft suffered a sprained left foot in Saturday’s game and was recently placed into the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocol. The league announced today that there have been no new positive tests since December 24, so Fedor believes Okoro likely came in contact with someone who tested positive, which limits his ability to travel. The Cavs hope he can join them before the trip ends January 9.
- Nets coach Steve Nash said Nicolas Claxton is “steadily improving,” but remains “weeks away” from playing, tweets Malika Andrews of ESPN. The second-year center is dealing with tendinopathy in his right knee and hasn’t played yet this season.
- Hawks forward Danilo Gallinari had to leave tonight’s game with a sprained ankle, according to Andrews (Twitter link). It was his first game since suffering a contusion in his left foot in last week’s season opener.
However, that amount still falls well short of the team’s initial request. According to Fedor, the plan the Cavs originally submitted to government officials asked for an allowance of 4,596 fans, 23.65% of their arena’s capacity.
The Cavaliers received approval from the Ohio Department of Health to increase their crowd capacity for home games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. As Fedor details, the franchise will now be able to host 1,944 fans per game, which is the equivalent of 10% of the arena’s capacity.
Ohio regulations currently limit attendance at indoor sports arena or entertainment venues to 300 people or 15% of the seating capacity, whichever is less. So an exception is being made for the Cavaliers, who will be able to host nearly 2,000 fans.
We’re one week into the NBA’s 2020/21 season, and just four of the league’s 30 teams have yet to lose a game. A handful of Eastern Conference teams – the Pacers, Magic, Hawks, and Cavaliers – make up that unlikely foursome.
While all four of those clubs are 3-0, they may not be undefeated much longer. This NBA season has been an unpredictable one so far, with unexpected blowouts and upsets taking place on a nightly basis. And as good as these teams have looked so far, I don’t expect any of them to be a powerhouse this season — it seems unlikely that we’ll see a 10-0 run to start the season.
Here are the upcoming schedules for each of the NBA’s four undefeated teams:
- Indiana Pacers: vs. BOS (12/29), vs. CLE (12/31), vs. NYK (1/2), at NOP (1/4), vs. HOU (1/6)
- Orlando Magic: at OKC (12/29), vs. PHI (12/31), vs. OKC (1/2), vs. CLE (1/4), vs. CLE (1/6)
- Atlanta Hawks: at BKN (12/30), at BKN (1/1), vs. CLE (1/2), vs. NYK (1/4), vs. CHA (1/6)
- Cleveland Cavaliers: vs. NYK (12/29), at IND (12/31), at ATL (1/2), at ORL (1/4), at ORL (1/6)
We want to know what you think: Which of these four undefeated teams will be the last to lose a game?
While it may be tempting to write off the Magic and Cavaliers, given their modest preseason expectations, the Pacers and Hawks have tough games on tap — Indiana will have to beat a Boston team that it squeaked past by a single point on Sunday, while Atlanta will be facing a rested Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn tomorrow.
Of the four undefeated teams, the Cavaliers have the most favorable fourth game (at home vs. the Knicks), but they’re missing power forward Kevin Love. And even if they get past New York, they improbably have games on tap against the other three undefeated clubs.
A year ago, the Sixers were the only team in the NBA to win more than three consecutive games to start the season. Will multiple squads do it this year? And which will remain undefeated the longest?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to weigh in with your predictions!
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love has reaggravated a right calf strain that he initially suffered during the preseason, the team announced today in a press release.
According to the Cavs, Love will undergo treatment and rehabilitation for his calf injury, and will be reassessed in about three or four weeks. His status will be updated as appropriate, per the club.
It’s a tough break for a Cavaliers squad that is off to an unexpectedly strong start in 2020/21, having already picked up wins over the Hornets, Pistons, and Sixers. Cleveland is one of just four NBA teams that remains undefeated at 3-0, but will be without its starting power forward for at least the next three or four weeks.
With Love on the shelf, the Cavs figure to lean more heavily on big man Larry Nance Jr., who will presumably take over as the team’s starting four. Reserve power forward Dean Wade should also be a more regular part of the rotation with Love sidelined.
The Cavaliers have a busy schedule in the coming weeks, so even if Love’s recovery progresses quickly, he’ll miss a good chunk of games. A three-week absence would result in 12 missed contests.
- Kevin Love and lottery pick Isaac Okoro are among a handful of Cavaliers players who will miss Tuesday’s game against the Knicks, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets. Love has a calf strain that kept him out of the team’s opener and limited him to nine minutes against Philadelphia on Sunday. Okoro will sit out for the second straight game with a foot sprain.
A nearly empty arena took away some of the excitement of Andre Drummond‘s return to Detroit on Saturday night, but the experience was still memorable for the Cavaliers‘ center, who spent the first seven and a half years of his career with the Pistons, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
“Overwhelming amount of feelings rushed through my body,” Drummond said. “Just being back in this building again, but on the other side, it was a lot of memories that just rushed through my head, hearing my name again in this arena. After that, the moment was over. Came out in the starting lineup, got ready to play and we came out with a great win.”
Drummond was a franchise cornerstone from the time he was taken in the 2012 draft, but he became expendable at the February trade deadline when Detroit decided to shed salary and embrace rebuilding. Pistons coach Dwane Casey has watched Drummond a few times since the trade and has noticed his growth on offense since arriving in Cleveland.
“Different seeing him on the other side,” Casey said. “I loved him. I got close to Andre and I took it as a project to try to work with him and develop him and put him in position to be successful. It was a business decision for us — the direction we were going in and the direction he needed to go in from an individual standpoint. Hated to see him go. (Owner) Tom (Gores) loved Andre. The whole organization loved Andre. He’s the Dennis Rodman of our game as far as rebounding. He has a knack and timing. Tried to develop some other skills and just didn’t have enough time to get there with him. He has a bright future.”
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Jrue Holiday is having the impact the Bucks hoped for when they made him the focal point of their offseason, notes Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Holiday was a difference maker in the Christmas Day win over the Warriors, contributing to 30% of the offense through the first three quarters and holding Stephen Curry to 6-of-17 from the field. “I just think our spacing we have, the athleticism that we have opens up everything,” Holiday said. “Giannis (Antetokounmpo) and Khris (Middleton) demand so much attention, so just to be able to run in space, to correct spacing and really just go from there.”
- Veteran guard D.J. Augustin made his Bucks debut Friday after suffering a calf strain during the preseason, Owczarski adds in the same story. Augustin credits the medical staff for making him take his time to recover.
- Gores is rejecting a call to sell the Pistons because of his ownership of a prison telecom company that is accused of charging inmates up to $15 for a 15-minute phone call, according to Eric Woodyard of ESPN.
- Kevin Love missed the Cavaliers‘ opener with a calf injury but he’s available for their first road game at Detroit on Saturday, according to The Associated Press. Love hasn’t played since the team’s first preseason game against Indiana on December 12, when he got kicked in the calf.
Rookie Cavaliers swingman Dylan Windler fractured the fourth metacarpal of his left hand after suffering a fall during the third quarter of Cleveland’s season opener last night, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. An initial postgame X-ray did not reveal any damage, but the fracture was discovered in subsequent tests.
Windler will be re-evaluated in a week, and a timeline projection for his return to game action could be made after that. The Cavaliers would not divulge whether the fracture was displaced or non-displaced, which can impact recovery time.
Fedor notes that the average amount of time missed due to a fourth metacarpal fracture has been about 15 games since the 2005/06 season.
Last season, Raptors forward Norman Powell suffered the same injury last year and missed about a month of action, while then-Celtics forward Gordon Hayward missed 13 games after incurring the same fracture.
Drafted with the No. 26 pick out of Belmont in 2019, Windler missed the entirety of the 2019/20 NBA season after suffering a left lower leg stress reaction at the beginning of the year. In his first nine minutes NBA action before the injury, Windler made one three-pointer and notched two steals. The Cavaliers went on to beat the Hornets in a 121-114 victory last night.