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A Closer Look at the Cleveland Cavaliers Must-See 2017-18 Games
Oct. 17 vs. Boston Celtics
The Cavs have a wins total of 52.5 for next season, but that’s only second-best in the East to the Celtics, who have a total of 54.5. Of course Boston was the East’s No. 1 seed last season after Cleveland struggled down the stretch. The Cleveland Cavaliers basically conceded the East’s top seed to the Celtics at the end of the regular season by opting to rest their starters in advance of the playoffs. It didn’t matter in the playoffs as the Cavs ousted the Celtics in five games. In that fifth game, the Cavs set an NBA record by winning their 13th consecutive series closeout opportunity. Boston was without leading scorer and All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas for the final three games of the series after he injured his hip. The Celtics look much better on paper this season with the addition of free-agent Utah Jazz All-Star Gordon Hayward. Plus they added good-looking rookie Jayson Tatum at No. 3 overall in this year’s draft. The Cavaliers have struggled on opening night lately – going 1-2 over the past three seasons. The franchise has traditionally gotten out of the gate slowly in compiling a 14-33 record in openers dating back to the inaugural 1970-71 season.Oct. 29 vs. New York Knicks
Could the Cleveland Cavaliers trade All-Star guard Kyrie Irving to the Knicks and Irving plays against the Cavs here? Cleveland is determined to get an elite young player for Irving and they are asking New York for Kristaps Porzingis. However, that’s a conversation that can occur only with Cleveland’s willingness to unburden the Knicks of the three years and $55 million left on Joakim Noah’s contract. For now, the conversation is a nonstarter for the Knicks. New York would be happy to trade Carmelo Anthony for Irving, but Melo has a no-trade clause that he reportedly will only waive for Houston. Teams believe that the Cavaliers expect more aggressive conversations in September, closer to the start of training camps.Dec. 25 at Golden State Warriors
These two have met in the past three NBA Finals and are favored to make it a fourth. It’s also the third time these two have met on Christmas. Last year, the Cavs beat the Warriors 109-108 on a game-winning shot from Irving. Two Christmases ago, the foes locked up in a defensive struggle at Oracle Arena won by the Warriors. Golden State visits Cleveland on January 15.
This should be a shootout. We know how good the Warriors are on offense. The Cleveland Cavaliers averaged 110.3 points per game in 2016-17, which ranked 1st in the East and 4th in the NBA. It was also the second-highest scoring average in franchise history, behind only the 1979-80 season (114.1). Cleveland had never led the Eastern Conference in scoring prior to this past season.
