The Cleveland Cavaliers seek their first three-game winning streak since starting the season 15-0 when they host the Denver Nuggets on Thursday.
Cleveland improved the league’s best record (19-3) on Tuesday with a 118-87 blowout of the Washington Wizards in NBA Cup group play. Seven Cavaliers scored in double figures, including Evan Mobley, who posted 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Donovan Mitchell added 19 points, seven assists and five rebounds, and Georges Niang and Sam Merrill each scored 14 points off the Cleveland bench.
The win was not stress-free for the Cavaliers, however. Darius Garland, who is averaging 20.3 points and a team-leading 6.7 assists per game, went to the locker room after a collision with Washington’s Jonas Valanciunas.
Garland sustained an apparent head injury, though he told reporters after the game, “I’m good. I’m alive.”
“It doesn’t look like anything that will hold him out,” Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said.
Mitchell also went to the locker room at one point due to a stinger to his right shoulder. Mitchell’s 24.3 points per game lead the Cavaliers, and his 4.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game have all been crucial to Cleveland’s NBA-leading start.
“Everybody in this league pretty much knows me as a scorer,” Mitchell said. “For me, it’s just finding ways to become the best player I can be.”
Neither Garland nor Mitchell was listed on the Wednesday injury report.
The Cavaliers aim to continue their winning ways against Denver, which is built around one of the most multifaceted players in the league, three-time Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic.
Jokic paced the Nuggets to a 119-115 NBA Cup win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday with 38 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and five steals. The reigning MVP is averaging 30.2 points, 13 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game this season.
If he can maintain that production throughout the season, Jokic would become only the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a campaign. The others were Oscar Robertson (1961-62) and Jokic’s teammate, veteran Russell Westbrook, who has done it four times.
Westbrook has had a different role in his first season with the Nuggets, and he is averaging 11.7 points, six assists and 3.9 rebounds per game. However, Jokic said Westbrook and Christian Braun provided a defensive presence and hustle that were vital for Denver during the Tuesday victory.
“Those guys are winners,” Jokic said. “Winners make those kind of moves and those kind of plays. I’m happy to have them on my team.”
Westbrook and Braun (15.6 points per game) are two of six Denver players averaging double-figure scoring. They are joined by Jokic, Michael Porter Jr. (18.7), Jamal Murray (17.7) and Aaron Gordon (14.8).
Denver is averaging 118.1 points per game, fifth most in the NBA, and 30.4 assists, which is second in the league.
The Cavaliers are averaging a league-high 121.8 points per game. Cleveland leads the NBA in both 2-point field-goal percentage (.590) and 3-point field-goal percentage (.402).
–Field Level Media