Finally healthier, the Cavs are getting back on track amid 3-game win streak

It’s stating the obvious that the Cleveland Cavaliers have been better as of late due to improved health, but few consider the importance of this on an individual level. Athletes are creatures of habit, and when those routines are altered or interrupted because of injuries or roster moves, it throws things off. In basketball, that can mean different responsibilities, playing up or down a position, or lineup variations.

With 18 different starting lineups and 42 different five-man combinations that have played 10 minutes or more together — and only nine of which have played for at least 20 minutes — it’s hard to establish any sense of rhythm, regardless of a team’s intent. Since Cleveland’s injury list has gradually shrunk, the process has improved, and the results have followed.

“I think that always helps, when you have your team whole, when you have guys you know,” Cavs All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell said after his team’s 113-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets. “When you have your guys and you have your collective group, it always helps. I’m not using that as an excuse to our start or whatever, but when you have guys back, everybody’s able to shift into what they do.”

“It’s huge,” De’Andre Hunter added. “All-Star break’s coming up, so it’d be great to have a whole team, see how it looks before we go on break. I think just having that confidence in each other, having that steady lineup and steady rotation helps guys in that rotation and in that role. It’s a lot easier to be ready when you know you’re going in. I think that’s kind of what we have now.”

Coming off a well-timed, solid performance after back-to-back DNPs, Lonzo Ball agrees with Hunter.

“Just getting reps together,” Ball said Saturday. “We’ve had a lot of guys in and out this whole year, pretty much. It’s still fairly early, but we definitely want to tune in those things hopefully before All-Star and then coming out of All-Star super strong.”

“Personnel is everything, knowing who you’re playing with,” Jaylon Tyson added. “But Donovan, I know he likes the short roll. DG [Darius Garland], I know he likes to kind of space and then let him do what he does, find an open shot. So I feel like personnel is huge, and then, obviously, we’ve got really good players… I feel like that’s gonna help. The more we play together, the more it’ll naturally come together.”

The Cavs have now won five of their last seven games, looking more cohesive and energetic than they have all season. It started with back-to-back triumphs over the Charlotte Hornets and then-hot New Orleans Pelicans. Cleveland lost a heartbreaker in New York despite an incredible effort on Christmas Day, then was boatraced in Houston with an inexcusable effort.

It turned out to be an anomaly, though, as the wine and gold defeated the formidable San Antonio Spurs in their own building, a hard-playing Phoenix Suns squad on New Year’s Eve, and an undaunted Nuggets group at Rocket Arena.

“We’re just finally able to be consistent with how we’re going out there and playing,” Jarrett Allen said Friday. “Instead of having three different guys having to switch roles every single game, we can reliably count on people to be there every single night, to be able to be in the same spot every time.”

Consistency is the name of the game, which is the next step ahead from what has been the Cavs’ best stretch of the 2025-26 campaign. Though part of Cleveland’s lack of it has to do with who’s been available, that doesn’t tell the whole story.

“Every NBA team’s going through it,” Tyson said. “It’s not 82 games of being healthy, being the same rotation, so I wouldn’t blame it on that, but I feel like it could help.”

Still, Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson feels that his “elite” starting five sets the tone as a constant because of their familiarity with each other, which allows for players who’ve had more on their plate to return to a more defined role.

“Everybody is kind of getting back into their slots,” Atkinson said pregame on Friday. “Even Sam [Merrill] off the bench, right? [We] were starting him, and that was kind of not his slot. I think he’s much better coming off the bench, so that is the key. It’s kind of a domino effect when you get healthier, and you start those two bigs, that changes instead of one big. Not bringing Evan [Mobley] off the bench gets everybody in their spots.”

With a 20-16 record at the turn of the new year, the Cavs have their work cut out for them because they didn’t take care of business early on. Next up on the schedule is a revenge-minded Detroit Pistons team, the Indiana Pacers on the road, and a home-and-home series against Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“Still got a ways to go,” Mitchell said. “We’re playing well. And maybe I’m being overly [critical], a little too much, but that’s just the way it is. We’ve done it for 10, 11 days. Obviously, the Knicks’ loss was tough; the Houston game was tough. But outside of those games, we’ve shown that… there’s a different vibe, right? You guys see it on the court. It’s different.

“Now, we have to be stars in what we do, and on a continuous basis. I think we’re showing that, and now, the goal is just to do it again. We’ve got a tough stretch coming up; we’ve got to be locked in and continue to be that team… We can sit here and tell you, guys what we need to do all we want. It’s January, so it’s time to put our foot on the gas. And we’re doing it, but now we’ve got to continue to do it.”

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