Previewing Cavs opponents: Northwest Division
Cavs news and links for Friday, October 4.
We’ve made it to the end of another week. We’ll conclude our preview of Cleveland Cavaliers opponents by reviewing the three Western Conference divisions starting with the Norwest.
The first sip
The Northwest Division is the most top-heavy division in the league. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Denver Nuggets all made it to the second round of last year’s playoffs and have aspirations for more this year.
The Thunder are poised to be the top Western Conference regular season team again. Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein are huge off-season pickups that cover obvious holes. Chet Holmgren and Jaylen Williams should continue to progress as they enter their second and third season in the league. OKC will be a problem for many years to come.
Losing Karl-Anthony Towns sets the Timberwolves back. Even though the fit wasn’t perfect, he provided much-needed offensive spacing on a team that struggled to create any. Swapping in Julius Randle won’t help in that department. Minnesota’s defense will keep them in games, but the offense taking a step back is going to hurt them in the playoffs.
The Nuggets have seen key supporting pieces from their championship team in Bruce Brown, Jeff Green, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk in recent years. Proven replacements have yet to step up in their place. Nikola Jokić is the best player in the league, but that won’t be enough to get through the West if the supporting cast doesn’t improve.
The Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers aren’t in their class. It’s tough to tell what the Jazz are exactly doing. The firsts coming their way in the Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert deals will help, but likely won’t be in the lottery. Yet, the Jazz haven’t torn it down to get top-five picks of their own. They also don’t have many — if any — foundational players for their next contending team. I’m not sure what the direction is.
The Blazers, at the very least, have a direction. Whether or not they have a bright future is less sure.
How the Cavs played the Northwest Division last season
- Thunder - The Cavs lost both matchups last season and have lost three in a row.
- Timberwolves - Cleveland split the series last season with a thrilling 113-104 overtime win in March.
- Nuggets - Craig Porter Jr. had the best games of his career in the Cavs lone victory last season. He scored 21 points and provided four assists. The Nuggets took care of the Cavs in Denver.
- Jazz - The Cavs won both matchups against the Jazz. Mitchell missed the game in Utah so he’s still looking for his first win there as a visitor.
- Trail Blazers - Portland’s November road win against the Cavs felt like a breaking point. It ultimately wasn’t, but seemed like it in the moment. They split the season series.
Cavs vs Northwest Division this season
- Home vs. Nuggets - Dec. 5
- Home vs. Jazz - Dec. 23
- at Denver - Dec. 27
- Home vs. Thunder - Jan. 8
- at Oklahoma City - Jan. 16
- at Minnesota - Jan. 18
- Home vs. Timberwolves - Feb. 10
- Home vs. Trail Blazers - March 2
- at Utah - March 23
- at Portland - March 25
Notable players who have been with the Cavs and a Northwest Division team
- Shawn Kemp played his best seasons with the Seattle Supersonics before spending three seasons with the Cavs.
- J.R. Smith was traded to the Nuggets in 2006. He was a part of the iconic Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson team that made it to the Western Conference Finals in 2009. He had to wait seven seasons before he could win a ring.
- Kevin Love was an All-NBA player in Minnesota but a champion in Cleveland.
- Donovan Mitchell has advanced to the second round of the playoffs with the Jazz and Cavs. He’s hoping to make it past that sometime soon.
- Andre Miller spent two seasons with the Blazers and three with the Cavaliers.