You're Probably Underrating The Cavs

Cleveland's historically elite offense and top-10 defense deserve more attention

Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

A few years back, there was a team that had the mark of a true championship contender that I didn’t think was getting its proper due, and so I wrote about it.

At the time, the Phoenix Suns were on a 55-win pace halfway through the 2020-21 season. They were eighth in offensive rating and sixth in defensive rating, and third in both net rating and Basketball-Reference's Simple Rating System, which adjusts point differential for strength of opponent. They had all the makings of a contender, but were still largely viewed as a curiosity.

We all know what happened next: The Suns revealed themselves as a contender of the highest order, and they stomped their way to the NBA Finals, taking a 2-0 lead before Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks stormed back and took it from them. Still, they were as legit a contender as it gets, just as it appeared they were at the midway point of the season.

This year, there’s a team that fits the same mold, but is even better than those Suns in almost every way. After last night’s destruction of the Golden State Warriors, the Cleveland Cavaliers are 28-4. In the history of American professional basketball, only 13 other teams have won at least 28 of their first 32 games. All of them have gone on to win at least 59 games that season, while six of them won 66 or more.

Cleveland’s plus-380 point differential is also the 14th-best in history through 32 games, though it could be surpassed when the Thunder play their 32nd game later today. And while that point differential supports an expected win-loss record of merely 26-6 rather than the 28-4 mark the Cavs sport, even that adjusted win total would put them on a remarkable 67-win pace. That’s the kind of territory we’re in with the Cavs right now.