The Cleveland Cavaliers did what they always do on Monday: win.
They've played 12 games and won all 12, and lately those wins seem to come in a very similar fashion. Cleveland followed suit dollar at eight or six minutes before the end of the game against the Bucks last Monday. The Cavs trailed by 12 early in the fourth quarter against the Cavs on Sunday Brooklyn Nets. And of course, they fell behind on Monday night in Chicago Chicago Bulls at nine in the third quarter.
But none of those clues mattered to the comeback Cavs, who are now halfway into history.
The best start in The story belongs to the year 2015-16 Golden State Warriors. This team started its season with an incredible 24 wins in a row. Trailing by 12 wins, Cleveland has 12 more to go before targeting the Warriors. However, at the moment they are steadily climbing up the all-time leaderboard. They are now the eighth team in league history to win their first 12 games. If they get another win, they will become the No. 6 team and reach No. 13. The non-Warriors' all-time record is 15, held by the 1993–94 season Houston Rockets and 1948-49 Washington Capitols.
The good news for Cleveland? They have a pretty clear path to #15. Their next three games look relatively easy. On Wednesday they travel to Philadelphia to face it 76s in what is usually a very difficult duel. However, Tyrese Maxey is out due to injury, during Joel Embiid is not technically out of the question, he plans to make his season debut on Tuesday in Philadelphia Cup opener against the New York Knicks. He said this offseason that he didn't expect to play in back-to-back games in the future, so he would likely be sidelined against the Cavaliers.
After that, Cleveland returns home for two games against lottery opponents from a season ago. The Bulls just gave them a very tough game on Monday, and Chicago gets another win on Friday in Cleveland. Nevertheless, the Cavaliers will be the big favorites in this duel. They will be against it Charlotte Hornets Even at home on Sunday. The Hornets have won three games against the Cavaliers in the last two seasons, but Donovan Mitchell missed them all. With him in the lineup, Cleveland should also be a relatively strong favorite.
Unfortunately, their quest for sole second place on the all-time leaderboard hits a green and white bump in Game #16 – a road trip to Boston to face the defending champions Celtics. Admittedly, Cleveland has played exceptionally well against Boston in recent years. They are 5-5 over the last three regular seasons, which only sounds great when you consider how badly Boston has beaten everyone else in that span. Boston's Kristaps Porzingis will still be out come this game, but since it's an NBA Cup match, everyone else will be rested. This is by far the toughest game on Cleveland's short-term schedule and perhaps the entire regular season.
Will Cleveland make it through Boston? There is another clear path to 20. The next four games would be home games with the injury-plagued players Pelicans And Raptors followed by a back and forth with disappointment Hawks. These are by no means automatic wins, especially if the Pelicans or Raptors can get healthier by then, but Cleveland will once again be heavy favorites in each of these games.
Things will be difficult again on the home straight towards the Warriors. While game number 22 would be an easy home game against the wizardit lies between the home games against the Celtics and Nuggets. The record-breaking win would take place in Charlotte, and the record-breaking win would take place in Miami.
In all likelihood, Cleveland won't reach 24. As daunting as this road trip to Boston looks, the reality of the modern NBA is that the three-point variance and sheer variety of talent in today's league means there really isn't any simple games. As these comebacks show, getting to 12th place wasn't easy for Cleveland. While 24 or 25 isn't realistic, the Cavaliers' upcoming schedule is pretty disappointing. Barring injuries, there's no reason to think they'll cool down any time soon.