The Cleveland Cavaliers have steamrolled through the first third of their schedule and now face one of their toughest stretches when they open a four-game road trip at the Denver Nuggets on Friday night.
The Western Conference swing is the longest road trip of the season so far for Cleveland, which has won five in a row. The Cavaliers are coming off a close win against Utah without forwards Dean Wade (knee) and Isaac Okoro (shoulder).
Wade could be back Friday night, but Okoro is expected to miss a couple of weeks with his right shoulder sprain.
Without those two available against the Jazz on Monday, the Cavaliers employed a smaller lineup at times but got good production from forward Evan Mobley, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds. The third overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft, Mobley is averaging a career-best 18.5 points and pulling down nine rebounds a game.
He has been a good compliment to guards Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, who have led the Cavaliers’ early success.
Mitchell (23.3 points) and Garland (20.4) lead the team in scoring average, and center Jarrett Allen is averaging a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds), with Mobley adding another layer to a deep team.
“We’ve all said it, for us to be the team we want to be … Evan had to take that step,” Mitchell said recently. “And the best part about it is Jarrett Allen is his biggest cheerleader.”
Friday is the last of the two games between the teams, and Denver is trying to get even after losing 126-114 on Dec. 5 in Cleveland.
Denver star Nikola Jokic recorded a triple-double in the loss, one of his NBA-leading 11 this season. He has 141 triple-doubles in his career, which ranks third all-time behind Nuggets teammate Russell Westbrook (200) and Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson (181).
The Nuggets, who have won five of their last seven games, may not have forward Aaron Gordon available against Cleveland after he left Wednesday night’s 110-100 loss at Phoenix with a right calf strain.
Gordon missed 10 games earlier this season with the same injury.
“Hopefully, Aaron is going to be ready to go for Cleveland, but we’ll have to wait and see these next 24, 48 hours,” Denver coach Michael Malone said.
Gordon is fifth on the team in scoring at 13.7 points a game and he is the team’s most versatile defender, with the ability to guard every position. If Gordon can’t go, most likely Peyton Watson, the team’s leading shot blocker (0.9 per game), would get the start.
Jokic leads Denver in scoring (30.7 points), rebounding (12.6) and assists (9.4) and is putting together another MVP-worthy campaign. But the Nuggets will need production from Jamal Murray, who is second in scoring at 18.8 points a gain, despite battling injuries.
Murray sat out Monday’s win over Phoenix with a right ankle sprain and had only 13 points in his return Wednesday.
“I’m just trying not to use (injuries) as an excuse. Not mention it,” Murray told The Denver Post. “I know I get slack for it, but (I’m) just going out there, and if I’m good enough to play, I play. That’s how I look at it.”
