Just one hour north of us, over on the courts, our very own Cleveland Cavaliers have been on a roll this season. This year’s roster has added many new records to their book, along with looking to break even more as they reach the end of their season, even aiming for their first championship since 2016.
Starting their season off strong, they opened with a record of 15-0, a franchise high, and became the fourth team in NBA history to start off a season with this record. This beat the previous record of 8-0 they once held back in the 2016-17 season.
While accomplishing their record of 15-0, they beat their record for most consecutive wins within a season. But this isn’t where the winning streaks ended, they added many more to their books. According to ESPN, after a 133-124 win against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Cavs hit another franchise high of 16 straight victories.
Then over on the road, they put up 11 straight wins, nearly breaking the NBA record of 14 straight wins the Los Angeles Lakers put up back in 2019. The Cavs didn’t stop there, according to YardBarker.com the Cavs became the second team in NBA history to have three 12+ winning streaks within a single season.
During a 144-110 win against the Dallas Mavericks the Cavs broke two franchise records by the end of the first half. According to an article on Sports Illustrated by Logan Potosky, the Cavaliers put up 50 points by the end of the first quarter, this marking the first 50-point quarter the Cavs have ever had. However it didn’t just stop there, the Cavs came out and put up 41 more points in the second quarter, to have 91 points heading into halftime. This is now adding to the record book with the highest scoring half in franchise history.
That wasn’t the only record beaten in their game against the Mavericks. The team drained 26-three pointers, the most threes they’ve scored in a game in franchise history. Shooting guard Sam Merrill led the Cavs scoring nine of the 26 threes off the bench. Merrill wasn’t the only player that contributed to the 26-threes. Darius Garland and Georges Niang both drained three. Evan Mobley, Max Strus, Donovan Mitchell, Ty Jerome and Caris LeVert each drained a pair. This game became a new single-game record with eight players draining more than one three-pointer.
After a 114-113 win against the San Antonio Spurs, the 2025 roster became the second team in franchise history to win 62 games in a season, according to a Sports Illustrated article by Tommy Wild. Unfortunately, they fell short of beating the record that the 2008-09 team put in place, but ended this year with a record of 64-18.
None of this success could be made without the Cavs head coach. With his first season with the team, Kenny Atkinson set all of these records with the roster he created. Atkinson was also a two-time Coach of the Month, for October/November and the month of December. Additionally, he became the fifth coach in NBA history to win 63 games in his first season as a head coach, and with a new team
Heading into the postseason tournament, the Cavs were the first team in the NBA to secure their playoff spot. They clinched this spot after a 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat on March 5th. Then only six days later, they achieved the central division title after beating the Brooklyn Nets 109-104. This would mark the first title the team has earned without LeBron James on their roster.
This isn’t the only title they won without James, they earned the number one spot for the Eastern Conference for the first time since their championship run back in 2016.
After their first playoff game on April 20, the Cavs lead the Miami Heat 1-0 in the best-of-seven games. Cleveland beat the heat with a dominant performance, with a final score of 121-100.
This year’s Cavs team didn’t just stop the records at the regular season, but added a new record for their post season. For the first time in Cavs history the Cavs’ had three players score 27-plus points in a postseason game. The Cavs will continue their run against the Heat for the hope of reaching the National Championship.
Article reflects information and statistics at time of publication.
