The Dallas Mavericks and the Cleveland Cavaliers were two of the more surprising teams to start the season, but for very different reasons.
The Cavs, with the new addition of Donovan Mitchell, jumped out to the front of the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, Dallas bringing back largely the same squad that made its conference finals run, stumbled out of the gates. Since then, both teams have trended back toward the median, hovering just above .500.
Home cooking
For as well as they’ve done this year, Cleveland – still third in the East – has not fared well away from home, going just 5-9 on the road.