Random dribbles from the Cavaliers’ 127-122 home over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. ..
. 1. The Cavaliers needed a game like this.
Not just the win, though that was nice. They needed a playoff-type atmosphere, a few obstacles to overcome throughout, and to play with some toughness. 2.
All of those things happened. And now the Cavs (60-15) have 60 wins in a season for just the third time in franchise history. 3.
Let’s start with that. “I didn’t expect 60 wins,” first-year coach Kenny Atkinson admitted. “My internal goal was, ‘Can we improve on last year?’ We can still add to that, it’s not the end goal — but we should take a breath and celebrate this.
It’s hard to do in this league.” 4. It is quite an accomplishment.
It shows just how well things have gone this year. It shows that the hiccups in March were exactly that — hiccups. This game proved that.
5. Granted, the Cavs didn’t win in blowout fashion. The Clippers were missing star forward Kawhi Leonard (knee).
But throw all that out. What matters is that this looked like the Cavaliers we saw during earlier winning streaks of 15, 12 and 16 games. They looked like the Cavs we’ve grown accustomed to seeing most of the season.
6. As Donovan Mitchell said, “For us, it was kind of getting back to what we do.” 7.
It was also a bit of a rollercoaster. The Cavs led by 17 points in the first half. Then by just one in the second half.
Then by 17 again at the end of the third quarter. And you gues.
