Through their first six games of the campaign, the Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t look quite like the dominant squad that won a whopping 64 games last season. They won just three of those contests to start 3-3 this season, and they lost some games to inferior opponents such as the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics during that stretch.
But ever since the calendar flipped to November, there’s been a lot to like about how they’ve been playing. They’re undefeated in the month at 2-0 and on the heels of beating a strong Philadelphia 76ers team on Wednesday.
With how well the Cavaliers have fared of late, several signs point to the idea that they’re about to embark on a winning streak. Let’s look at three reasons to believe they’re about to rattle off a whole lot of wins.
1. Donovan Mitchell is on a heater
We wondered back in October whether Mitchell was pushing himself too hard so early in the season. He appeared on the injury report with hamstring tightness before a game against the Celtics but played anyway. He then sat out the next game against the Raptors. However, he’s put any concerns about his health to rest with his recent play.
Since returning to the lineup, he’s scored the ball at a level that would make any player in the league blush. He’s scored 83 points in just his last two games and went off for 46 on 15-of-21 shooting from the field against the 76ers.
Mitchell is incredibly dialed in at the moment, and when he is scoring the ball at a level like this, the Cavaliers are incredibly tough to beat. Cleveland is 4-0 on the campaign thus far when he’s scored 35 points or more.
With the rhythm the Cavs’ best scorer is in, opposing teams are going to struggle to keep up as long as he stays hot, and Cleveland is going to win plenty of games just by overwhelming opponents with barrages of points from Mitchell.
2. The Cavs’ upcoming schedule is loaded with opportunity
Simply put, there should be a lot of games up for grabs for the Cavs over the next week-plus with how their schedule is looking.
After facing the lowly Washington Wizards on Friday, they’ll have a contest against the 6-1 Chicago Bulls on Saturday. To be clear, that Bulls matchup will be a good test for them. Chicago has been maybe the biggest positive surprise in the league this season, and rising star Josh Giddey is playing some of the best basketball of his life.
But after that game, Cleveland won’t face a team that is currently above .500 until it hosts the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 17.
The Cavaliers will play several games between those Bulls and Bucks contests, and all of them are winnable. Cleveland is catching teams like the Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies at the right time. Stars Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo are both sidelined with injuries for Miami, and Memphis is dealing with some drama regarding star Ja Morant, which may be impacting vibes around the team.
The Cavs have already won two straight. If they make it three straight with a win against the Wizards on Friday and then pull off a big win over the Bulls, they’ll be at four wins in a row with four contests coming up against teams that they should beat.
3. Cleveland’s “core four” is healthy at last
Finally, all four of Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen are available at the same time for the Cavaliers.
Garland was sidelined for Cleveland’s opening seven games of the season while recuperating from toe surgery, but he made his season debut on Wednesday. He certainly showed off some rust against the 76ers, but he at least managed to rack up four assists and knock down a pair of 3s.
Allen, meanwhile, sat out two games with a broken finger but also played on Wednesday, and as previously mentioned, Mitchell has been available since he missed one contest on Halloween. Mobley is the only member of the quartet who hasn’t been on the shelf for a single game in the 2025-26 campaign.
While the Cavaliers are still looking to overcome some playoff demons with their “core four,” we know that their nucleus can win a lot of regular-season games and spearhead some incredibly long winning streaks. Just last season alone, the Cavs started the campaign by going 15-0 and then put together a 16-game winning streak that extended from February until March.
Barring an unforeseen and unfortunate injury to one of their four best players, the Cavaliers are in good shape to go on their first impressive run of the 2025-26 campaign in the coming games.