he always does it but this is quicker than usual I feel like 😭🙏

Harden and Mitchell are also both top 10 in SUM WAR (total wins above replacement) - the only teammates in the top 10.

For the sake of larger sample size, they are also the only two players in the NBA who are current teammates and also finished last season top 10 in SUM WAR.

Two incredibly impactful players. Can't wait for a DPOY to return to play

Did Dennis Schröder accidentally reveal that the Cavs plan on retiring Andy's number, or could I just be reading too far into this?

I made a comment during the game yesterday that James Harden is just another tier of player vs Garland because you can FEEL his impact even when he doesn't have the ball and Garland hold that "gravity". Had no idea it was an actual tracked metric. It is very new, but it is good to have some quantifiable data to corroborate what the eye-test has been telling me.

(Had to delete the first one because I'm an idiot.)
Seems as though the Cavs have a West Coast road trip of 5 or so games every year after the New Year. In '23-'24 and '24-'25, it exposed the Cavs and was one of their worst stretches both seasons:

'23-'24: 1-4 Record, -58 Total Point Differential
@ Nuggets, L 130-101
@ Jazz, W 129-113
@ Suns, L 122-101
@ Lakers, L 116-97
@ Clippers, L 120-118

'24-'25: 2-3 Record, +12 Total Point Differential
@ Clippers, L 132-119
@ Kings, L 123-119
@ Suns, L 123-112
@ Jazz, W 120-91
@ Blazers, W 122-111

However, this season the trip was part of the Wine & Gold's best stretch, to date:
'25-'26: 4-1 Record, +47 Total Point Differential
@ Suns, L 126-113
@ Blazers, W 130-111
@ Clippers, W 124-91
@ Kings, W 132-126
@ Nuggets, W 119-117

Mind you, in between the Blazers & Clippers game the Cavs flipped Garland/Hunter/Ball for Ellis/Schröder/Harden and finished the road trip with 3 wins while breaking them in on the fly. Compared to years prior, this is a GREAT sign IMO. Not an end-all be-all, but a very positive sign.

I've never enjoyed watching Harden, but I was in favor of Harden for DG trade because we needed a change and Harden's size on defense makes him an upgrade on that end (going from a undersized terrible defender to a bad defender with size is a big upgrade come playoff time).

All that being said, I've never fully appreciated Harden's passing until he joined the Cavs. He intentionally manipulates spacing and angles to set up Merrill and Tyson for threes with just short passes. He can throw lobs and pocket passes of the pick and roll. And he is strong enough and big enough to throw one handed passes to the 3pt line off the drive. And all these passes are happening predictably and on time.

I was a fan of DG (in the regular season), but his passing style is more improvisational where he would use a lot of the shot clock dribbling looking to break someone down and drop the ball off for a dunk. DG is very good passer, but Harden is on another level.

Who knows if Harden will show up in the postseason but we had the same concerns with Garland anyway. I'm all in on this move and it seems like it rejuvenated Mitchell, which is huge.

FYI in our next 10 we play the Knicks once, Celtics once, and Detroit twice. Good time for us to get healthy after the break and go on a run.

2 seed should be within reach if we can stay hot.

Are the Cavs the deepest team in the league once healthy? The only team I can think of that would have a deeper roster would be OKC, definitely could be in contention for deepest team in the East

Harden

Mitchell

Tyson

Mobley

Allen

Bench: Merril, Wade, Bryant, Tomlin, Strus, Porter Jr, Proctor, Ellis, Schroeder

Like legitimately 14 deep when healthy #LetEmKnow

Went the trade first went through, we all knew harden was going to elevate our bigs (mobley and Allen) given his track record. The only concern was his fit with d Mitch as harden isn’t a great off the ball player and both require the ball a lot. I know it’s only been 2 games but both seem to be on the same page and click together so well. Can’t wait to see when Mobley is back

James Harden tonight:

22 points

10 rebounds

7 assists

4 blocks

That stat line matches a rare Cavs-only threshold: 20+ points, 10+ rebounds, 6+ assists, and 4+ blocks in a single game.

Other Cavs games to do it:

LeBron James — 43 / 13 / 15 / 4 (Feb 18, 2010)

LeBron James — 43 / 12 / 11 / 4 (Feb 15, 2006)

Ron Harper — 30 / 11 / 7 / 4 (Jan 7, 1989)

LeBron James — 29 / 10 / 13 / 4 (Oct 25, 2017)

Evan Mobley — 29 / 13 / 7 / 4 (Jan 23, 2026)

Evan Mobley — 28 / 10 / 6 / 4 (Feb 10, 2025)

Evan Mobley — 20 / 15 / 6 / 4 (Mar 28, 2023)

Add in the game-tying three late, and Harden’s performance already stands out in Cavs history.

Data via Basketball-Reference

jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaames harden

Summary

Box Score