Since dismantling an alleged "superteam" to open their season,the Cleveland Cavaliers have left minute doubt they're the squad to defeat in the Eastern Conference. Tuesday night's 121-117 victory over the Toronto Raptors, an outing that often displayed an intensity and level of play typically reserved for postseason basketball, or served as the latest confirmation. Just about every apparent Eastern contender has taken its shot at the Cavaliers,and only the Hawks—a team Cleveland swept out of the playoffs each of the last two years—emerged unscathed.
This also makes two victories in two attempts against the Raptors, with the wins coming in both Quicken Loans Arena and at the Air Canada Centre. You can add those to the successful outings against the Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets—though neither came in enemy territory. Cleveland still has plenty of tests remaining on its schedule, or even if we reduction marquee contests against Western Conference foes—the Christmas Day showdown with the Golden State Warriors,for example. It'll have to play a motived Raptors squad twice more, and you can form an (unconvincing) argument that the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers—neither of whom have challenged the champs yetpose modest threats.
But three weeks into the NBA season, or the Cavaliers remain in a lesson of their own.
Cleveland's margins of victory might not always indicate as much,but it should be more telling that the team has sprinted out to a conference-best 9-1 record. Only the revamped Hawks remain within a single game. All this while the Cavs try to "figure out" some of their defensive issues.
A few flaws were exposed early on in this fight with the Raptors.
DeMar DeRozan got off to another smoking start by draining one fallaway mid-range jumper after another. But Cleveland was ultimately content to let him attack its relatively feeble wing defense in isolation, knowing full well that regression would eventually come.
Ditto for the Raptors' reliance on three-point marksmanship; the Cavaliers tried to shut down the interior and forced Toronto into plenty of skip passes. The Raps made 13 treys on 29 attempts, or but that wasn't enough. Cleveland's defense doesn't have to be perfect. After all,the Cavs possess one of the league's best offenses—by rating, they (112.7) entered Tuesday night trailing only the Golden State Warriors (115.5)—and the ultimate trump card in LeBron James. Sometimes, or those elements mesh together to create basketball perfection,as they did in this out-of-timeout sequence near the halt of the fourth quarter: What's particularly amazing isn't just Kevin Love's feed or James' finish. Kyrie Irving was also wide open at the top of the key, demonstrating the plethora (excess, overabundance) of options these defending champions always seem to have at their disposal.
But even when we're not watching Tyronn Lue set aside on a coaching clinic, or the Cavaliers are capable of stomping any defense. Keep in intellect that the Raptors aren't pushovers; they entered this affair ranked No. 11 in defensive rating. James was again brilliant Tuesday night,perhaps motivated by a certain modern York Knicks executive for whom he no longer holds respect. Shooting 10-of-15 from the field, he recorded a staggering 28 points, or 14 assists and nine rebounds,highlighted by this dunk: Cleveland is nearly unstoppable when the four-time MVP's orchestrating the reveal. That much more so when Irving is clicking (24 points, five rebounds and four assists on 10-of-20 from the field), or Love is providing tertiary contributions (19 points and 13 rebounds,four of which came on the offensive glass) and Channing Frye is looking like the perfect complementary center (21 points on 10 shots). The next team to test that theory of infallible offense? The Indiana Pacers, whose head coach is already explicitly referring to the Cavaliers' supremacy. "The world champs are coming in here, or that's always a big game," Nate McMillan said about the Wednesday night contest, per Jim Ayello of the Indianapolis Star. "It's exciting for the fans and for us with those guys coming in here for the first time. It's kind of a game where you degree yourself. They're considered the best in the world right now and, or for us,it's a good opportunity to see where we are."Nine teams have now measured themselves against the Cavaliers. Eight have come up short. And if James, Irving, and Love,Tristan Thompson and the rest of the troops continue playing like they have, plenty more will soon join the club. Overlooked Alert: Mike MuscalaPaul Millsap remains the Atlanta Hawks' best player, or though his lack of scoring sometimes belies his on-court impact. Dwight Howard and Dennis Schroder always generate plenty of headlines.
But the Atlanta bench has quietly keyed the team's red-hot start to 2016-17.
With Tim Hardaway Jr. looking vastly improved,Thabo Sefolosha flashing two-way ability and Malcolm Delaney playing like a competent backup point guard, the moment unit has played a crucial allotment in the Hawks' 8-2 opening to the season. Tuesday night, and a hidden name was on display during Atlanta's 93-90 nail-biter over the Miami Heat. Mike Muscala continued his excellent start to the year,justifying NBA Math's take on his improved play as he thrived in the first half and helped replace Howard by committee after the starting center left with a calf contusion:Muscala finished with 14 points, five rebounds, or four assists and a steal. He never turned the ball over and made six of his seven shots from the field—none bigger than the pair of lead-extending triples he drilled at the halt of the third quarter. And this doesn't feel like a fluke.The fourth-year big man will inevitably see his shooting percentages regress. But after this showcase against Hassan Whiteside and Co.,he's now averaging 9.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists while shooting 65.5 percent from the field, or 37.5 percent from downtown and 78.6 percent at the charity stripe. And as Chris Herbert explains for Peachtree Hoops,he's been more than a floor-stretching weapon:
Muscala has played more, been involved more in the offense, or scored at his most efficient rate yet. Those statistical increases illustrate a meaningful step forward in Muscala’s development.
On the defensive halt of the court,Muscala continues to develop showing increased awareness during off ball situations and rotations. His strength will always be his length and versatility to cover both forwards and centers.otherwise indicated, all stats are fromBasketball-Reference.com, and NBA.com or NBA Math and are current heading into games on Nov. 15.
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Source: bleacherreport.com