It would have been understandable, if not conventional wisdom, to expect the Cavaliers to struggle a bit early on this season.
After swinging a stunning late-offseason trade for three-time All-Star Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland lost the ability to develop true on-court chemistry during the preseason when Evan Mobley suffered an ankle injury that kept him out of the lineup. Then, in the team’s season- opening loss two weeks ago, Darius Garland, the other All-Star member of the Cavs backcourt, was sidelined with an eye laceration that he’s still yet to return from. The predicament made for a bit of an uphill climb for Mitchell, who’d now be a lone, star wing surrounded by a completely different sort of offensive talent than what he had with the Jazz, who led the association in offense last season with an elite screener and an abundance of floor spacing.
In the five games since Cleveland blew a late lead in Toronto, though, the Cavs have been just fine. Better than fine, actually. They’ve reeled off five straight to open the campaign 5-1 without Garland as Mitchell has picked up the slack with MVP-caliber averages: 32.2 points and 7.3 assists on 49.6% shooting overall and 45.5% from three while playing a league-leading 39 minutes per night.
