The Cleveland Cavaliers easily topped this week’s NBA power rankings starting on Monday, November 18. NBA fans have been treated to the Emirates NBA Cup in the regular season schedule over the last two years, and this year’s regular season is no exception. The Emirates NBA Cup’s effects are rather light, as the Eastern and Western Conferences’ schedules are low-key in the first seven weeks.
The Cavaliers’ perfect 15-0 record is an impressive achievement in itself, as new Cavaliers Head Coach Kenny Atkinson has been basking in early season success in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers defeated the Charlotte Hornets 128-114 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland on Sunday, November 17, and helped themselves become the fourth team in NBA history to win their first 15 games of the season. But the Cavaliers shouldn’t stop there, and here’s the reason why. Will they be able to keep up their winning ways?
Cleveland Cavaliers At the Top
The Cleveland Cavaliers are at the top of this week’s NBA power rankings for their undefeated 15-0 record after investing in their core while hoping that good health will shine upon them in the 2024-25 NBA season. The Cavaliers also paid to keep their top talent, such as Jarrett Allen, Donovan Mitchell, and Evan Mobley. The Cavaliers’ efforts seem to be working well following a disastrous, injury-plagued season in 2023-24.
However, there have been 52 interconference games through the first four weeks of 2024-25. In those 52 games, the Western Conference won 37 of them, which accounted for 71%. But the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics have played just one interconference game so far, and the same goes for the Philadelphia 76ers. The Celtics will play the Cavaliers on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern at the TD Garden, which will be an interconference game — and the Celtics’ home games are widely known to be intense.
Cavaliers’ Opposition
Aside from the 2024 NBA champion Boston Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ opposition could be the Houston Rockets, who improved seven spots, the Detroit Pistons, who leaped six spots, and the Portland Trail Blazers, who improved five spots. So far, Cleveland has played the NBA’s easiest schedule regarding the cumulative opponent winning percentage of .395, with 10 of their 15 games coming against teams worse or equal to the 5-8 Charlotte Hornets.
15-0 is still 15-0, but the Cleveland Cavaliers’ schedule has been quite easy. The Cavaliers will face their toughest test when they visit the Celtics on Tuesday. According to NBA.com, Cleveland made just six fewer three-pointers than Boston in their five-game series in May 2024, but that was when the former was without Allen for all five games and without Mitchell for the final two games.
Western Conference Tops Eastern Conference
Despite the Cleveland Cavaliers’ red-hot 15-0 start, the Western Conference has been topping the Eastern Conference in this week’s NBA power rankings. The West was 37-15 (.712) against the East in interconference games after going 4-1 last week. For example, the Portland Trail Blazers were the West Team of the Week after sweeping a two-game series against the Minnesota Timberwolves and coming back from a 16-point deficit to beat the Atlanta Hawks 114-110 on Sunday.
The trends could change, but in the meantime, this week’s West-East games should be rather interesting to keep an eye on. Take, for example, the Phoenix Suns hosting the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks on Tuesday, November 19, and Wednesday, November 20, and the Timberwolves visiting the Boston Celtics on Sunday, November 24. The East hasn’t exactly put its best foot forward, but anything could happen in the coming days.
