News Cavs Team Notes

[Cleveland Cavaliers]

3 Things to watch for in Cavs vs Warriors

The Cleveland Cavaliers play an old foe in the Golden State Warriors on their second night of a weekend back-to-back.

Injuries for both teams​

Any hype this matchup might have had has been diminished by the injury report for both squads. The Cavs, as we know, have dealt with bumps and bruises all season. As of now, they’ll almost certainly be without Sam Merrill, Jarrett Allen, Lonzo Ball and Max Strus.

The Warriors have it even worse.

Golden State will not have Stephen Curry on Saturday. Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green are also questionable. That’s all three members of the ‘big 3.’ So if you were hoping to see any of the Warriors’ aging stars, I’m sorry but you might be missing out.

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Grit and Grind​

The Cavs want to become a defense-first team. And for the first weeks of the season, they were tending that way as a top-10 defense. But that has slipped since then. Cleveland entered this weekend 13th in defensive rating and falling.

Now would be a good time to reverse that trend.

Golden State is 23rd in offensive rating. That’s counting the games they’ve had Stephen Curry. If you remove Curry, Butler and Green, then the Dubs fall to the 4th percentile in offensive rating.

Obviously, the Warriors don’t plan on playing many games without their big three. But since they won’t be on the court tonight, the Cavs have no excuse not to deliver a strong defensive game.

Deliberate Offense​

One could argue the Cavs have been attempting too many three-pointers this season. Kenny Atkinson might even agree with you, depending on the game.

The results speak for themselves. Cleveland is 9-2 when they score 50+ points in the paint versus their 3-7 record when they attempt 46+ three-pointers.

Playing offense with a purpose is key. There’s nothing wrong with a three-point attempt that comes naturally. Or even a heat check that feels warranted. But if you can’t buy a jumper, then you have to start attacking the paint. Cleveland made the appropriate adjustment in their win over San Antonio on Friday. Let’s see if they continue to make the right choices as they face Golden State.

Source: https://www.fearthesword.com/cavs-game-previews/41301/3-things-to-watch-for-in-cavs-vs-warriors

 

[Cleveland Cavaliers]

Winners and Losers: Cavs vs Warriors – Nae’Qwan Tomlin is a lone bright spot

The Cleveland Cavaliers fell to the Golden State Warriors 99-94. This one stunk.

Let’s see who won and lost the night.

LOSER – De’Andre Hunter​

This last week couldn’t have been any more different from the way Hunter had previously been playing this season. His offensive creation, both as a finisher and playmaker, has completely vanished. His defense has been even worse, and his rebounding has been nonexistent.

Certain things you can excuse. Every player goes through slumps in shooting the ball. But a 2-9 shooting performance wasn’t the issue tonight. It was the seeming lack of effort. The mental errors on defense, combined with being beaten off the dribble at every opportunity.

Hunter was guilty of most of these bad habits when he was in Atlanta. But he has proven that he can be more than this in Cleveland, even in a small sample size. We can judge him harshly because we know he can be better.

WINNER – Nae’Qwan Tomlin​

Tomlin’s impact this season has been more intangible than anything that necessarily shows itself in the box score. It’s energy, hustle and enthusiasm more often than not.

Tonight, all that excitement finally materialized into a huge rebounding game.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the Cavs gave Tomlin plenty of opportunities to grab rebounds with their poor shooting. Tomlin himself rebounded a handful of his own misses. But it doesn’t matter how you get them — it just matters that you get them.

Tomlin finished with 12 rebounds in 16 minutes. Not bad for a guy who isn’t even on a standard contract (yet).

WINNER – Darius Garland’s Mobility​

This is something to keep an eye on all season. How is Darius Garland moving? Does he look limited by the toe injury? That’s more important than the outcome of any individual game.

I thought Garland moved well in this one. He was shifty, using his handle and quick bursts to get into the teeth of Golden State’s defense. That didn’t result in an efficient scoring night — but it was encouraging enough from a mobility standpoint.

It's been too long since we last saw Darius Garland get in his bag pic.twitter.com/LRyE4j3W4X

— Tony Pesta (@Tony_Pesta) December 7, 2025

Again, Garland wasn’t particularly good tonight.

He shot 6-15 and only had 4 assists to 3 turnovers. But he also hasn’t moved this fluidly for most of the season. Let us have some hope that maybe DG can fully turn the corner on this injury.

LOSER – The Offense​

For the second time in their esteemed history, the Cavs and Warriors dared to ask the bold question: What if no one scored? In an homage to Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, neither team was able to buy a bucket for long stretches of this game.

The score at the end of the first quarter was 18-12. Yes, you read that right. The Cavaliers shot 0-10 from downtown while the Warriors were 4-23 from the field (17%) in the opening 12 minutes. Golden State actually had more turnovers (5) than made field goals in the first quarter. This type of basketball can be boring to watch. At the same time, it reached a level of absurdity that was almost entertaining.

It might have been more entertaining if it had ended in a win.

Cleveland continued their cold streak through the entire game. For a team that just scored 44 points in a quarter the night before, Cleveland couldn’t muster up more than 30 points in a quarter until the fourth, when they scored 32.

You just won’t win many games if you shoot this poorly. Cleveland’s 34.6% field goal percentage was the lowest they’ve had in a regular season game since March 2021.

Source: https://www.fearthesword.com/cavs-a...warriors-naeqwan-tomlin-is-a-lone-bright-spot

 

[Cleveland Cavaliers]

14 stats to explain Cavs’ 99-94 loss to Warriors

The Cleveland Cavaliers had their worst offensive display of the season as they lost to the Golden State Warriors 99-94 on Saturday night.

Here are the four factors from this game. These numbers are from Cleaning the Glass.

Effective Field Goal Percentage	Offensive Rebounding Percentage	Offensive Turnover Percentage	Free Throw Rate
Cavs	39.3%, 0th percentile	40.8%, 94th percentile	12.5%, 72nd percentile	9.4, 3rd percentile
Warriors	104.2, 16th percentile	28.3%, 48th percentile	14.7%, 48th percentile	24.1, 61st percentile

Now, let’s dive into some of the stats.

• Cleveland’s 97.9 offensive rating (5th percentile) for the game was their worst of the season. Their previous low was 98 during their Nov. 24 loss to the Toronto Raptors.
• This was the second time this season the Cavs were held under 100 points. This happened just once last regular season.
• The Cavs went 10-42 (23.8%) from beyond the arc. This was the fifth time they converted less than 30% of their threes, and the third time they’ve completed 25% or less. By contrast, they’ve only shot 40% or better from deep six times. Last season, the Cavs shot under 30% from three 10 times and 25% or under on three occasions.
• The Cavs are now 1-4 when they shoot under 30% from three and 0-3 when they shoot 25% or worse. It’s a make-or-miss league. The Cavs simply aren’t shooting well enough to be consistent. They’re taking the most three-point attempts of any team in the league, but are 24th in three-point percentage (34.3%).
• The offense wasn’t able to make up for it by converting at the rim as they went 13-35 in the restricted area and drew just two shooting fouls on those attempts. Their 42.9% shooting at the rim was in the first percentile for NBA games this season. This wasn’t for a lack of effort, as 35% of their shot attempts came in the restricted area (64th percentile).
• Donovan Mitchell only got one of his six attempts at the rim to go. He went just 4-9 on shots inside the arc and had no free-throw attempts. His inability to convert inside or get to the line heavily contributed to the poor offense.
• The Cavs as a team took just 12 free throws. This is the lowest amount they’ve taken in a game all season.
• The Cavaliers had 21 more shot attempts than the Warriors. Head coach Kenny Atkinson has often talked about wanting to win the possession battle. They did so handily on Saturday, yet it didn’t matter.
• Cleveland’s 24 offensive rebounds were their third-most this season. This didn’t help much since the Cavs shot 9-25 (36%) on second-chance field-goal attempts. Nae’Qwan Tomlin accounted for six offensive rebounds.
• The offense turned it over just 12 times. This was Clevland’s sixth-fewest in a game this season.
• The Cavaliers’ eight fast-break points were their third-lowest on the season. They registered a 58.8 offensive rating on transition possessions (2nd percentile). Cleveland was able to get out and run often, as 20.8% of their possessions were in the open court (88th percentile). This is one of the most efficient ways to score, but it wasn’t on Saturday.
• The Cavs held the Warriors to just 1-17 (5.9%) shooting on shots between 4 and 14 feet. This is a comically low percentage. Golden State’s offense also struggled mightily on Saturday, but they at least had the excuse of being without their top two scorers.
• Golden State went 1-11 (9.1%) on corner threes. The Cavs were in this game late because the Warriors’ offense was also awful. Golden State finished with a 104.2 offensive rating (16th percentile).
• Darius Garland continues to struggle as he went 6-15 from the floor and 1-6 from deep. He scored 17 points on Saturday. He’s only scored over 20 points once in the nine games he’s played this season. Garland is yet to shoot above 45% from the field in a game. He is now shooting 35.3% from the floor and 32.1% from three on the season.

Source: https://www.fearthesword.com/cavs-a...e-warriors-cleveland-cavaliers-darius-garland

 

[Cleveland Cavaliers]

Cavs show their bond by supporting Max Strus Family Foundation: ‘We’re in it for the right reasons’

Cleveland Cavaliers wing Max Strus still fondly remembers going to an annual charity bowling event with his hometown Chicago Bears while growing up.

“I always thought, if I was ever in this position, this is an event I’d like to do,” Strus said when addressing the attendees at the Max Strus Family Foundation’s second annual Bowl the Land event. “I wanted to bring that here and bring that to my foundation.”

Sunday’s bowling event was a fundraiser for the Max Strus Family Foundation. Since their first event last season, the foundation has donated $160,000 to non-profits that support mental health, cancer advocacy, education, and youth empowerment.

While the goal of his foundation is to support and invest in organizations doing good in the Miami, Cleveland, and Chicagoland areas, that isn’t what Strus has found to be the most rewarding part of his foundation’s work.

“Giving the money to those organizations that are doing powerful things in their communities [is great], but I think the most important thing is going to meet these people, going to be a part of the organizations,” Strus said. “There’s a couple of Cleveland-based communities that just came to my game with Project NICU, and then Empower Sports. Getting to meet the people, getting to see them, getting to see the smiles on their faces…is truly what makes it all feel great.”

This includes going to visit Empower Sports — a non-profit in Cleveland that hopes to use sports to promote kindness, character, and relationships.

“I went to go watch Empower Sports play basketball and to see what they do and see how they’re affecting people’s lives is something that is truly special and near and dear to me,” Strus said. “To be able to see that the money that we’ve given can help them in any way is just something that I’m very grateful to be a part of.”

The Max Strus Family Foundation has donated grants to eight organizations so far.

“We’re here to support [groups] anywhere from youth sports, youth education, cancer outreach programs, mental health,” Strus said. “We’re really trying to spread our light, spread our awareness to any field in the Greater Cleveland Community in those areas.”

Strus was joined by all of his teammates and coaching staff at RollHouse on Sunday. Attendees were able to bowl with a member of the team.

“Them alone being here is more than anything I could ask for,” Strus said of Mitchell’s support. “It shows how close-knit we are as a team. … We’re always going to support each other no matter what. So for them to be here is truly special.”

Some of the Cavaliers were good bowlers like Lonzo Ball and Evan Mobley. Others seemed out of place like Donovan Mitchell bowling left-handed.

Donovan Mitchell is here at the Max Strus Family Foundation Charity Event

Sorry Spida, we can’t erase this footage pic.twitter.com/BBQp8cp7Q9

— Tony Pesta (@Tony_Pesta) December 7, 2025

Even though Mitchell wasn’t the best bowler there, he and his foundation, Spida Cares, helped sponsor the event.

“Don’s foundation donated on his behalf,” Strus said. “He doesn’t have to do that. He wanted to do that and make sure he’s part of it and helping. It shows you about our team. We’re in it for the right reasons.”

While Sunday’s event was fun, Strus is excited to see how his foundation can continue to impact the community.

“We just started,” Strus said. “We’re only one year in, and feel like we’re already making a huge impact. So we just want to keep doing that and keep spreading goodness.”

Source: https://www.fearthesword.com/cavs-n...cavaliers-community-outreach-donovan-mitchell