Cleveland Cavaliers: What’s next for the NBA’s most surprising team?

Playtime is over for the Cleveland Cavaliers and it’s time to buckle down and figure out how the rest of this season will go.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are back! And, if all things continue to go well, the team might compete for their first playoff appearance since LeBron James – and their first postseason berth in over 22 years without the King.

Their 3-0 start to the season was filled with inspiring victories. Then a three-game skid had fans worried the team was falling back into old habits. The fun appeared to be over once they fell down 15 points in the second half to the Atlanta Hawks.

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Then, miraculously, the Cavaliers used their grit and defense to crawl their way back into the game. A dominant fourth quarter from Collin Sexton (15 points on 4-of-5 from the flor) pushed them to a win. Somehow, behind excellent defense from Dante Exum, the Cavaliers held Atlanta to just 91 points, 23 points fewer than their previous season-low.

Cleveland has vastly improved in just about every aspect this season, transforming from one of the worst defensive teams into a competent one behind Andre Drummond, JaVale McGee, Larry Nance Jr. and a revitalized backcourt of Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, and of course Exum.

Cavaliers’ League Rankings: This season (Last Season)

• Steals – 1st (25th)
• Forced Turnovers – 1st (26th)
• Defensive Rating – 3rd (30th)
• Assists – 7th (24th)
• Blocks – 12th (30th)
• 3-Point Percentage – 12th (20th)
• Rebounds – 13th (19th)

Heading into the season, the Cavaliers were ranked in the bottom-three of most NBA Power Rankings. Through two weeks, they stand at fourth place in the Eastern Conference, delivering the only loss to the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers.

It’s hard NOT to be excited about how the Cavaliers are playing so far. Especially considering they have already been forced to put out four different starting lineups due to injuries. The team has looked good under rough circumstances and we are all wondering how much better they can be.

Let’s take a look at a few factors that have been impacting the Cavaliers and readjust our expectations for the remainder of the season.

Missing Players

This is one thing we need to keep in mind – the Cavs are down some key assets. Kevin Love hasn’t played since the first half against Philly, while names like Isaac Okoro, Matthew Dellavadova, Kevin Porter Jr. and Dylan Windler have missed nearly the entire season.

Love has quickly become the most underrated player in Cleveland. It’s easy to forget how much of a luxury it is to have an All-Star caliber talent on your team – but it’s become evident how difficult it is to score when the Cavs don’t have a reliable shooter and post-threat like Love on the court.

The Cavaliers have a plus 11.9 Net Rating with Love on the court, versus a basically neutral rating of 0.2  with him off. A healthy Love will go a long way for this team due to his ability to spread the floor and score in the paint.

As for the rookie, Okoro’s per-game averages of 5.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists don’t jump off the page – but his impact was notable. He is already the best perimeter defender the Cavs have to offer and he showed that he is capable of making winning plays down the stretch of a double-overtime thriller in Detroit.

It’s uncertain when Porter will return to the court due to personal reasons, but his ability to create shots off the dribble is going to work wonders for the Cavs struggling offense. An additional offensive threat is all the Cavs are missing in their second unit right now.

Once the Cavaliers have all of their weapons back, this team will have the depth needed to be competitive in just about any game.