The Sixers are set to conclude their second back-to-back of the season in Cleveland on Wednesday night when they face off against the Cavaliers for the first time in 2025-26.
Cleveland has not gotten off to the red-hot start this year that they enjoyed last season, but still look like one of the elite teams in the league with a serious chance of winning the Eastern Conference. Star guard Darius Garland could make his season debut against the Sixers after missing the first two weeks of the season because of a toe injury that derailed his last playoff run.
Here to get us up to speed on all things Cavaliers is Danny Cunningham, who covers the team for The Inside Shot and hosts Locked on Cavs.
Let’s talk to Danny:
Adam Aaronson: Many teams facing the second apron after a disappointing playoff exit would have looked to make major moves to shake up their roster, but the Cavaliers are running back their group built around Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen. What compelled Cleveland to stick with that group, and how seriously should it have considered sweeping changes?
Danny Cunningham: The lack of postseason success, particularly last season for the Cavaliers, was alarming, but given that they were a non-tax team last season (thanks to the midseason trade that sent Caris LeVert and old Sixers friend Georges Niang to Atlanta in exchange for De’Andre Hunter) and are in the second-apron for the first time this year the organization felt it was best to bet on internal growth once more.
It’s the same bet they made before last season, when they entered the year with very little roster turnover. Had the Cavs been fully healthy during the postseason and lost in the second round I think it should have more sparked potential changes, but given the injuries to Garland (turf toe that required surgery), Hunter (dislocated thumb), Mitchell (calf strain) and Mobley (ankle sprain) against the Pacers, the Cavs owed it to themselves to see if they can get a healthy postseason out of this group.
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AA: Mobley is on a very short list of players in the NBA whose growth (or lack thereof) in 2025-26 could help determine who wins the NBA Finals. How does Mobley need to progress in order for Cleveland to reach greater heights?
DC: Mobley needs to become more of a force offensively when he’s on the floor without other star players. He’s had the opportunity given that Garland hasn’t played yet this season while recovering from foot surgery, and it hasn’t totally clicked yet. There have been flashes – the game against the Toronto Raptors last week is how it needs to look more frequently – but overall it hasn’t been good enough.
Mobley has upped his usage significantly this year, but his shot diet has changed for the worse as a result of that. Last season, he shot over 65 percent on attempts near the rim, and is in that same neighborhood this year. The issue is that last season 63.8 percent of his field goal attempts came in that area, compared to just 35.2 percent this season.
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AA: The Cavaliers and their fans seem to be in a position very familiar to Sixers fans: nobody will be impressed by dominance in the regular season until the team succeeds in the playoffs. Is there anything the Cavaliers can do or show during these 82 games to meaningfully change the way people view them heading into the playoffs?
DC: Nationally, no. The Cavs, despite their slow start to the season, are going to win a lot of regular-season games and few people will bat an eye at them. It is, in my opinion, a little short-sighted to have that take, however. This roster has really had one postseason shortcoming. If you go back to the start of the Donovan Mitchell era in Cleveland, the Cavs lost to the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. Disappointing? Absolutely. But that was an entirely different roster. There are only six players left from that group, and one of them (Sam Merrill) wasn’t in the rotation yet. After that they won a playoff series and lost in the second round to the Boston Celtics, who went on to win it all without being seriously challenged. That’s not a disappointment. Last season, however, was a complete failure. Sorry for the rant.
Anyways, to actually answer the question: if the Cavs can be better defensively this season, I think it will give more confidence in the group as a whole heading into the postseason. Last year, the Cavs were the No. 2 offense in NBA history in terms of efficiency. Offense can disappear in the postseason and the saying is that defense wins championships. The goal for this group should be to be one of the five best defenses in the NBA. If they do that, people should feel better locally about their championship outlook. People nationally won’t feel good about their chance to win a title until they have three wins in the NBA Finals, though.
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