The Cleveland Cavaliers are getting into rarified air. With their 128-114 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, they improved to 15-0 to begin the season. The Cavs are just the fourth team to begin a year with as many as 15 wins, and all three of the previous teams to do it went on to play in the NBA Finals. So that’s good news for Cavs fans.
The 1948 Washington Capitols lost Game 16, as did the 1993 Houston Rockets, so if Cleveland can win just one more game, that will make them only the second team to get to 16-0. The other team to do it was the 2015 Golden State Warriors, who went to win an NBA-record 24 straight wins to begin a season.
Win 16: At Boston
In order to get to 16-0, the Cavaliers will have to upset the Boston Celtics in Boston. Not an easy task – the Celtics are 4-2 at home this season – but not impossible, either. The Celtics are 3.5-point favorites, but Cleveland has won twice as the underdog during their streak. The Cavs were three-point underdogs against the New York Knicks, but won, 110-104. The Milwaukee Bucks were two-point favorites against the Cavs, but Cleveland won by one.
A good sign for the Cavs, along with the constant winning, is that they won on Sunday while resting their leading-scorer, Donovan Mitchell. Without Mitchell’s 24.6 points in the lineup, the Cavs still scored 128 points, five points above their season average.
Last season, in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Celtics, Mitchell averaged 32 points in three games. He missed the last two games of the series with a strained calf, and in the final game of the series, the Cavs were without three of their best players, Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, and Caris LeVert.
Allen missed the entire series with the Celtics, and coming off his 21-point performance against the Hornets, he is looking forward to the test against the defending champions: “It’s a rematch. I know they didn’t have some players. And we didn’t have me, so I want to try and beat them and test where we are with them.”
The Road to 24 Wins
If Cleveland beats Boston and gets to 16-0, they would be eight games away from catching the Warriors. That will require back-to-back wins over the Atlanta Hawks (November 27 and 29), another win over the Celtics (December 1), and a game at home against Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets (December 5).
Betting odds for the Cavaliers first loss are paying -170 for Tuesday’s game in Boston. The next night, Cleveland plays at home against the New Orleans Pelicans, and that pays +1400 as potentially the Cavs first loss of the season. The first game against the Hawks pays +1200, while the second game plays +900.
The Celtics in Cleveland on December 1 pays +1000, and you get +750 on the Washington Wizards game on December 3, or any date after that game.
With over 25 years of experience as a distinguished sports writer for renowned platforms such as Fox Sports and ESPN, Kyle Garlett is a sports betting specialist who has been at the forefront of documenting the global surge in sports betting and online gaming. Based in Denver, Colorado, Kyle hosts an NFL betting YouTube show and podcast. Kyle also has two sports books published by HarperCollins.
Kyle graduated the Azusa Pacific University in 1996 with a B.A. Degree in Communication and Journalism.
