Cavs

Mitchell made eight 3-pointers — one shy of his career high — and had six rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes as the Cavaliers snapped their three-game ...

Starting point guard [Fred VanVleet](http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/2991230/fred-vanvleet) missed his third straight game for personal reasons. [Pascal Siakam](http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3149673/pascal-siakam) paced Toronto with 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and [Jakob Poeltl](http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3134908/jakob-poeltl) had 13 points and nine boards. “Darius got us going scoring-wise and the rest of us took over from there.” [Donovan Mitchell](http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3908809/donovan-mitchell) scored 35 points and [Jarrett Allen](http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4066328/jarrett-allen) had 23 points and 11 rebounds, sending the [Cleveland Cavaliers](http://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/cle/cleveland-cavaliers) to a 118-93 victory over the [Toronto Raptors](http://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/tor/toronto-raptors) on Sunday night. [Darius Garland](http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4396907/darius-garland) added 18 points and 11 assists, and [Evan Mobley](http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4432158/evan-mobley) had 18 points and nine rebounds for Cleveland, which built a 110-80 lead in the fourth quarter and improved to 26-7 at home this season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have a great defense, but Darius Garland is holding the team back with his poor perimeter defensive play.

Rubio is the team leader in DBPM currently with +2.5 and has a RAPTOR grade of +5.2, the highest on the team. When looking at some of the most used, worst defensive lineups the Cavs have, Garland is often the common factor. That said, just looking at how the Cavs’ defense plays with Mitchell only, as opposed to with Mitchell and Garland, it is night and day. Out of anyone who has played at least 10 games for the Cavs this year, he’s dead last on the team in defensive box plus-minus. To be fair, RAPTOR doesn’t agree, and has Garland at a +0.3, while Donovan Mitchell has a -0.8. [The Cleveland Cavaliers are](https://factoryofsadness.co/2023/02/26/cavs-top-3-defense-implodes-in-two-consecutive-outings-for-the-cleveland-cavaliers/) one of the best offensive teams in the league when Darius Garland is on the court.

Cavs News! Cleveland gets revenge against the Raptors Sunday night, NBA Power Rankings, and why the Cavaliers can still catch Philly.

He hit 13 3-pointers, one off the NBA record, and went 14-of-14 from the free-throw line. In the season opener the Raptors eeked out a win over the Cavs in Toronto, and then on Cyber Monday the Cavs were dropped by 12 points and by 11 two days before Christmas. Donovan Mitchell had struggled to score against the Raptors’ OG Anunoby in previous games, but last night he erupted for 35 points and hit eight 3-pointers.

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach JB Bickerstaff sent a message to fans losing faith in the Cavs after the team's recent losing streak.

Now we have to go and respond.” We have to find a way to do it. “We all have to take that. The Cavs took losses to the Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks during a back-to-back series after the All-Star break. The Cavs will tip off against the Raptors at 6 p.m. I know their makeup, I know their character.

Donovan Mitchell led the way as the Cavs snapped a losing streak.

Being better on Sunday changed the game. Per Cleaning The Glass, Toronto had an offensive rating of 92.3 off of live rebounds. The Cavs were significantly better on defense against the Raptors than they had over their last three games. Bickerstaff kept the rotation to a lean eight players — the size the Cavs are likely to use in the playoffs. No one on the Raptors’ roster had a hope of staying in front of him. That was the signal that the game was officially over. The biggest improvement for Cleveland may have been its defense off of live rebounds. No one else played before Bickerstaff inserted Danny Green with 5:46 to go in the fourth quarter. The win snaps the Cavs’ three-game losing streak. Maybe foul trouble to one of Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley leads to some spot Robin Lopez minutes. Maybe Danny Green finds his way in here or Lamar Stevens sees some spot minutes. At 4:42, Raul Neto, Robin Lopez and Lamar Stevens came in to play with Green and Dean Wade.