5 Reasons For Cavaliers' 10-Game Win Streak
Late on November 9th, after losing to the Houston Rockets, the Cleveland Cavaliers were in deep trouble. Their record was down to 5-7 and their loss to the Rockets was the sixth in their last eight games. To makes matters worse, the loss in Houston was the first of a four-game road trip.
Everybody knew that the Cavaliers had a lot of new players on their roster that they were still integrating into the team. What was surprising about their slump at the beginning of last month was some of their losses came against teams like the New York Knicks, the Brooklyn Nets, and the Atlanta Hawks, all teams that were expected to pick in the 2018 Draft.
Fast forward to the first day of December and it looks the Cleveland franchise has everything figured out. Since being 5-7, the Cavaliers have ripped off ten straight wins but it's not like they have cruised to these wins. They have to struggle and persevere through tough situations.
What's been the difference? We list the five biggest reasons:
#5 Schedule and level of competition
Off these ten games, the Cavaliers played six on the road and four at home, so the results aren't based on whether they are playing at the Quicken Loans Arena or not. Six of the nine teams (they played the Charlotte Hornets twice) they played had winning records but you can't really judge the talent and competitiveness of a team so early in the season based on their record.
When you put aside the records, the Cavaliers should have lost only one of these games - the one against the surging Pistons in downtown Detroit but that they won convincingly. Every other team they faced, they were outmatching them on talent, momentum or experience.
Their opponents in this streak - Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets, Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, LA Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers and the Miami Heat - were all only going to win if the Cavaliers had dropped and not otherwise.
And the scary thing is, the team's schedule doesn't get any tougher. Their next four games are against the Memphis Grizzlies, Chicago Bulls, Sacramento Kings and the Indiana Pacers.