After bouncing back from their first loss of the season, the Cleveland Cavaliers, with the best record in the NBA, will look to stop the Toronto Raptors’ rare winning streak when they face off on Sunday night.
The Raptors had lost seven games in a row before finally defeating the Indiana Pacers 130-119 on Monday. They followed that up with a 110-105 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, marking their first back-to-back victories of the season.
RJ Barrett led Toronto with 31 points and seven rebounds against Minnesota. Jakob Poeltl added 15 points and 12 rebounds. Scottie Barnes was key in the win, scoring nine of his 17 points in the fourth quarter.
Before this current winning streak, the Raptors had also faced a four-game losing streak. With a 4-12 record to start the season, veteran guard/forward Garrett Temple believes the team is better than their record suggests.
“It’s different if we’re 2-11 and eight of the games were blowouts,” Temple said before Toronto’s modest winning streak. “We’re playing really, really good basketball, and I think everybody understands how close we are to reaching that potential. … So I think that’s where the positivity comes from, and it’s great to have all these young guys cracking jokes all the time.”
Cleveland, on the other hand, has plenty to be positive about. After beating Toronto 123-112 in the season opener on October 23, the Cavaliers started the season with an impressive 15-0 record before losing 120-117 to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.
Only three teams in NBA history have started a season with 15 straight wins: the 1948-49 Washington Capitols, the 1993-94 Houston Rockets, and the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors. Golden State went on to win their first 24 games that season, setting a league record.
The Cavaliers quickly bounced back from their loss to Boston with a dominant 128-100 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. Despite missing starting guard Darius Garland due to a groin injury, and star Donovan Mitchell scoring only 10 points, Cleveland was able to secure the victory. Ty Jerome stepped up, scoring a season-high 29 points in place of Garland, and Georges Niang added 20 points off the bench.
Garland is not listed on the injury report for Sunday’s game against Toronto.
The Cavaliers were also without Caris LeVert (knee), Isaac Okoro (ankle), and Dean Wade (ankle) on Wednesday, so coach Kenny Atkinson gave rookie Jaylon Tyson the start. Tyson responded with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists in 37 minutes of play, a big increase from his previous high of eight minutes in a game.
“We got to start Jaylon because it’s important for a young guy to be around vets to start,” Atkinson said. “And I thought that was great.”
