Cavs Corner, Week 17: Cleveland is a basketball town
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo: Jason Miller/Getty Images
Cleveland is forcefully asserting itself as a basketball town with the Cavs thriving and the WNBA's Rockers likely to return.
Record: (44-10); Last week (43-10).
Weekly slate: Win at Toronto (131-108).
- Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell won the Kia Skills Challenge during Saturday's All-Star festivities.
The big picture: The Cavs enter the regular season home stretch with a five-and-a-half game cushion atop the Eastern Conference.
- With three all-stars — the most in the NBA — and a new weapon on the perimeter in De'Andre Hunter, the Cavs are poised to make a deep playoff run.
What they're saying: ESPN's Brian Windhorst said on air last week that he preemptively made reservations at a Cleveland-area hotel for the NBA finals in June.
🎯 By the numbers: Among the factors contributing to the Cavs' dominance this year, the collective shooting accuracy is especially noteworthy.
- Cleveland leads the league in both three-point shooting percentage (.393) and two-point shooting percentage (.585).
Zoom in: The raw scoring numbers are unprecedented in franchise history. With 131 points in the Toronto victory, the Cavs now have 15 games of 130+ points this season.
- That triples the previous franchise record (five such games in 2016-17 and 2017-18).
🎸 Weekly winner: Owner Dan Gilbert.
- Per reports, the WNBA is likely to award Cleveland its 16th franchise, thanks to a bid from Gilbert worth nearly $250 million. The revived Rockers could begin competing in the 2028 season.
- Gilbert and co. also rechristened the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse "Rocket Arena" to align with his all-in-one mortgage solutions brand.
What's next: Thursday at Brooklyn; Friday vs. New York; Sunday vs. Memphis; Tuesday at Orlando.