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Fear The Sword

Where LeBron and Kyrie bring home titles

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11 Stats to explain Cavs 112-84 win over Nets

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers did what they were supposed to do against the struggling Brooklyn Nets. Cleveland controlled this game wire-to-wire, which led to a one-sided 112-84 victory. The stats in the table below are taken from Cleaning the Glass. Now, let’s dive into the numbers.

Player Grades: Cavs vs Nets – Jarrett Allen continues to crush opponents

The Cleveland Cavaliers are on a roll. They’ve won six straight and are 13-2 since January 14th. Jarrett Allen has been dominant throughout. All grades are based on our usual expectations for each player. We also won’t be grading garbage time. Sorry, Tristan Enaruna. You were fun to watch. Donovan Mitchell 17 points, 5 assists, […]

James Harden leads the Cavs to another one-sided win

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers thoroughly dominated the Brooklyn Nets. They controlled from the opening tip and never gave the Nets a chance to get off the mat. This led to a runaway 112-84 victory. The Cavs asserted their control early on. They started the game on a 14-3 run that was capped off by […]

Kenny Atkinson weighs in on the NBA’s tanking debate

CLEVELAND — Tanking has been a bigger issue this season than most — at least it is based on how the national media is covering it. As a result, the NBA is trying to find ways to curb that. According to a recent report from ESPN’s Shams Charania, the league is looking into adding anti-tanking […]

NBA

Cavs say they would love to have Max Strus back before the playoffs

The Cleveland Cavaliers are still waiting for Max Strus to make this 2025-26 season debut. With just 27 games left on the schedule, the Cavs are simply hoping he’ll be back on the court before the playoffs begin in April. “Listen, getting Max back at any time before the playoffs would be a huge bonus,” […]

NBA

Return of Fear the Sword’s open gameday threads: Cavs vs. Nets

The Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Brooklyn Nets tonight. Open threads used to be a big part of the community that we had at Fear the Sword. That has slowly drifted away over the past few seasons. We want to change that. The open threads are back starting now. I’ll be in the comments throughout […]

‘I’m better than a lot of guys, if not all of them’ Cavs wing Jaylon Tyson has bigger goals than the Rising Stars Game

Jaylon Tyson doesn’t lack any confidence. That’s something fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers have quickly learned during the course of his sophomore breakout. When asked about his experiences in the recent Rising Stars Game, Tyson once again reminded us of how confident he is. “It was cool sharing the court with those guys,” Tyson said. […]

Cavs reveal why the Donovan Mitchell and James Harden pairing has worked

The James Harden Era with the Cleveland Cavaliers has gotten off to a great start. They’ve won all three of their games, and the chemistry between the backcourt duo of Harden and Donovan Mitchell has been impressive. Lineups with both Harden and Mitchell have outscored opponents by 11 points per 100 possessions (93rd percentile) with […]

Cup of Cavs: NBA news and links for Thursday, Feb. 19

Good morning, it’s Thursday, February 19th. The Cleveland Cavaliers are 34-21 and finally play basketball again for the first time since last Wednesday. A lot has happened since we last previewed a Cavs game. I totaled my car. Jaylon Tyson and Donovan Mitchell competed in All-Star weekend. And, Cleveland went a few days in a […]

Cavs vs. Nets: How to watch, odds, and injury report

The Cleveland Cavaliers have one of the easiest schedules in the league after the All-Star break, but they have a tough stretch to start things off. They play five games in seven nights, and they take on the Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons (twice), and the Boston Celtics over the next two-and-a-half […]

Donovan Mitchell agrees with James Harden, loyalty in sports is overrated

Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden made headlines after his home debut by saying loyalty is overrated after joining his fourth different franchise since 2022. “It’s basketball, the whole quote on quote loyalty thing is, I think it’s overrated,” Harden said last week. “I think this is a business at the end of the day, and […]

Cavs Injury Updates: Multiple key players are ramping up for a return

It’s been a long season full of recurring injuries for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Soon, hopefully, they can put those concerns behind them and finish the final 27 games strong. That means getting multiple key players such as Evan Mobley, Dean Wade and Max Strus back on the court. Head coach Kenny Atkinson says those guys […]

James Harden shouldn’t need your validation, but still does

James Harden is a walking paradox. The newest Cleveland Cavaliers star is a man who’s inarguably changed how basketball is played — especially by those at the top of the game. He has birthed an entire generation of players who put their own spin on the heliocentric, perfectly spaced, three-outcome offense he pioneered. Jayson Tatum, […]

Cavs star Donovan Mitchell gets hilarious results in NBA Player poll

Donovan Mitchell is having the best season of his career. If the rest of the league hasn’t noticed yet, at least Mitchell himself and one of his teammates certainly have. What am I talking about? Well, The Athletic released their latest player poll, conducted over All-Star weekend. In the survey, they asked, “Who is the […]

NBA

Why a draft tournament would fix the tanking issue

It’s that time of year again. It’s tanking season. And it’s bigger and better than ever. There are seemingly more teams tanking than ever before, and they are doing it earlier and bolder and in more innovative ways. Everybody is talking about it, so why not Fear The Sword? There have been lots of crazy […]

Cup of Cavs: NBA news and links for Tuesday, Feb. 17

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, February 17th. The Cleveland Cavaliers are 34-21 and don’t play again until Thursday. I hope you enjoyed the All-Star break. From here on out, the playoffs are going to be on everyone’s mind. But before we do that, let’s take a moment to discuss the weekend we just had. All-Star Recap […]

4 things to watch as James Harden gets acclimated with Cavs

The Cleveland Cavaliers took a big swing at the trade deadline by swapping Darius Garland for James Harden. Initial returns are positive. Harden showed up and blended in faster than anybody could have reasonably expected. His gifts in the pick-and-roll are obvious, and with them, Jarrett Allen is flourishing. Donovan Mitchell and Harden already have […]

The NBA’s incessant need to fix the All-Star Game illuminates a much greater issue

The 2026 NBA All-Star Game was an unquestioned success. The convoluted USA vs. the World format made the game competitive for three of the four quarters, which hasn’t happened in at least three decades. Watching the best players in the world participate in a game that somewhat resembled basketball was awesome. For once, the product […]

NBA

Donovan Mitchell’s Stripes team falls short in NBA All-Star game final

The new All-Star format was a win for the NBA, even though the Cleveland Cavaliers’ lone representative, Donovan Mitchell, didn’t end up on the victorious team. This year’s showcase was broken up into four mini-games. Mitchell’s veteran USA team, the Stripes, played against a younger USA team, the Stars, and a third team comprised of […]

NBA