Before the start of this year’s season, most people certainly did not expect that they would dominate the Eastern Conference this year, and that the team that has dominated the league since the beginning of the season and has been alone has been the Cleveland Cavaliers without a big star combination . The Cavaliers only lost one game in December, and the team’s running-in status has reached a high point. The recent eight-game winning streak has continued. Currently, it has 29 wins and 4 losses, with a winning rate as high as 87.8%. Fans and media can’t help but have discussions and even look forward to this team. With the Cavaliers at their peak, is it possible that after the 73-win Warriors in 2015-16, another team could once again achieve the historic achievement of at least 70 wins in a single season?
Looking back at history, the Bulls in the 1995-96 season had 30 wins and 3 losses after playing the first 33 games. After playing 41 games in the first half of the season, they still had 3 losses. They had an unprecedented 72 wins and 10 losses throughout the year. It was not until 2015-16 that the Bulls achieved 30 wins and 3 losses. In their prime, the Warriors broke a 20-year-old record. Back then, the Warriors started the season with a 24-game winning streak. After playing the first 33 games of the regular season, they had an even better record of 31 wins and 2 losses. In the first 41 games, they had 37 wins and 4 losses. In the end, they finished with 73 wins and 9 losses and went down in history.
However, even if the Cavaliers currently have almost no opponents in the league, it will not be easy to surpass or tie them. The 73-win Warriors star’s pre-game winning rate is as high as 90%. However, if the Cavaliers aim for 70 wins in a single season, the error tolerance rate will increase a lot. If the Cavaliers can maintain their current winning rate of 87% and 88% in the remaining 60% of regular season games, or even accept the winning rate dropping to 75% in the last 16 games, they will still have a chance to set a milestone of 70 wins throughout the year.
Without big stars to form a giant, the Cavaliers rely on their strong and balanced team strength to produce top offensive and defensive statistics: second in the league with an average of 122.4 points per game, first in the league with an offensive index of 121.9, and ranking first in the league with a defensive index of 110.1. Eighth, they ranked 10th with a loss of 110.5 points, and their net points margin was as high as 11.9 points, almost the same as the 12-point lead of the Oklahoma City Thunder, which ranked first.
The Cavaliers’ style of play is fast, with PACE ranking sixth in the league at 100.4. In addition, the shooting accuracy and quality are both high. The team’s three-point shooting percentage is 40.7%, and the single-game output of 16.4 three-pointers ranks first and second in the league respectively. The overall effective field goal shooting rate is 40.7%. The rate also ranks first. What’s commendable is that they can actually reduce their turnover rate in such a fast style of play, averaging 13.2 turnovers per game, ranking among the top four in the league.
From a poor offense that only ranked 20th in points per game last season to being unstoppable this season, Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson ‘s system transformation is definitely the key to it. He has created a team that is suitable for the team. The tactical system unleashed the talents of these players, the bolder and more balanced strategy of using troops, and the tension between Donovan Mitchell’s personal performance and the team’s record was appeased. These are all factors that have made the Cavaliers the king of today. Many small links.
