The Cleveland Cavaliers can advance in the NBA Cup despite their loss to the Toronto Raptors in group play. They are currently holding the Eastern Conference wildcard spot heading into the final day of
group stage action on Friday. But a lot can change between now and the end of play on Friday.
Point differential is important in this tournament. Cleveland currently has the best point differential of the non-group leaders at +36. The Cavs cannot win their group due to losing to Toronto. The Eastern Conference’s Group Play standings can be seen below.
For the Cavs to advance, they will need to win on Friday against the Atlanta Hawks and have a better point differential than the rest of the non-group leaders. Here are the teams you need to root for as a Cavs fan.
Orlando Magic over Detroit Pistons. Orlando currently has a +61 point differential. Right now that doesn’t affect the Cavs because they lead their division. However, if the Magic were to lose to the Pistons, it would.
The winner of that game wins Group B due to the head-to-head record being the tiebreaker. And unless Orlando lost by 20 or more, they would be in a good position to overtake the Cavs in the wildcard spot, barring a 30+ point Cavs victory in Atlanta.
Milwaukee Bucks over New York Knicks. This isn’t as necessary as the top one, but it would help the Cavs if the Bucks won. Milwaukee doesn’t have a chance of winning Group C, but the Knicks still do. If they defeat the Bucks, they will win the group and cause the Miami Heat (+49) to be in the wild-card chase.
Miami doesn’t have any more games. They can’t improve on their +49 mark. However, if the Knicks were to win, then the Cavs would have to defeat the Hawks by 16 or more to advance. That’s doable, but not exactly ideal.
The Bucks don’t have a good chance of overtaking the Cavs if they were to win. They currently have a +13 point differential, which is 21 points behind where the Cavs sit.
The ideal scenario for the Cavs to advance would be beating Atlanta, Orlando defeating Detroit, and Milwaukee overcoming New York. That would essentially mean just a win by the Cavs by any amount would get them into the wild card spot. It’s not impossible if another scenario happens, it would just require the Cavs to defeat the Hawks by a significant number of points.
If the Cavs were to advance, they would take on either the Magic or Raptors on the road. That game would be either Dec. 9 or 10.
If they don’t advance, the Cavs will play two regular-season games between Dec. 11-12 and Dec. 14-15. One of the games will be at home, and the other will be on the road.
The NBA Cup can be a little confusing. The most important thing to remember is that the Cavs need to win, and winning by more certainly doesn’t hurt.
