NBA
Cavaliers Win Eighth Straight Game, On Track For Record 72-Win Season
Olly Taliku has worked with highly respected sports and gambling websites such as The Sports Daily, Basketball Insiders, Augusta Free Press and Business2Community where he has produced hundreds of articles alongside being published with Burton Albion and Chesterfield FC. At Burton Olly worked closely alongside the women's team, producing mainly matchday content including reports and interviews, while at Chesterfield he worked in a similar role but with the academy side, as well as some first team content. He also has experience as an accredited Premier League and EFL writer for Prost International where he worked during the 2021/22 season to produce matchday content as an on location reporter. Olly specialises in football as well as long form SEO content plus news, tips and betting but also produces content on basketball, baseball and American football. Some of his sports betting work can be found on www.sportslens.com and www.thesportsdaily.com.
All posts by Oliver TalikuUpdated02 Jan 2025
Cleveland beat the Lakers on Monday night in another convincing performance, with their eighth win in a row keeping the Cavaliers on pace for a 72-win season.
Cavaliers Record Campaign
A win over the Lakers on Monday night continued the Cavaliers‘ impressive run in the league as the team extended their lead atop the East to five wins, ahead of Boston who have lost two of their last four games.
Jarrett Allen scored a season-high 27 points in the win on the road, while Donovan Mitchell added 26 points of his own in the 12-point win.
The win over LA was Cleveland’s eighth in a row, but they face a tough trip to Dallas on Friday night in a game that could really test just how good the side really is right now.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick had nothing but respect for his opposition after Monday night’s loss, saying that teams have to be near ‘perfect’ to beat the Cavaliers this year.
“With a team this strong, you have to play close to perfect basketball to come out on top,” Redick explained.
“The Cavaliers boast some exceptional shot-makers. Our defense executed with good physicality and intensity, but when you look at their three-point shooting—those extra 11 attempts they generated definitely made the difference.”
The win for Cleveland kept them on pace for a 72-win campaign in the NBA, something that has only been completed by two teams in history: the 1995-96 Bulls & 2015-16 Warriors.
Donovan Mitchell wants to follow in LeBron’s footsteps and bring a 2nd Championship to Cleveland Cavaliers 🏆 pic.twitter.com/FT9T6QJxm5
— Basketball Forever (@bballforever_) January 2, 2025
Donovan Mitchell Praises LeBron
On a night when LeBron James hosted the team that made him a superstar, players on Cleveland recognised one of the league’s all time greats.
Speaking after his team’s win on Monday, Donovan Mitchell praised LeBron as he hopes to emulate the 40-year-old’s stellar career.
“You respect his availability, his resilience,” Mitchell said. “You look at his career, he’s done so much, and there’s so many you pick from, but the biggest thing to me is he’s always there no matter what.
“He’s 40 years old still doing this. It’s the ultimate respect there; he’s savant of the game, won at the highest level,” he continued. “For myself growing up a fan, being in a Cavs uniform, yes it’s full circle. I’m looking to replicate what he did and bring a championship to Cleveland.”
Mitchell is a five-time All Star, but he has not yet managed to win a championship during the first eight years in his career although this season could be his best shot yet.
