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Cleveland Cavaliers Receive Perfect Regular Season Grade
Jan 8, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) celebrates with center Jarrett Allen (31) after the Cavaliers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Heading into the season, the Cleveland Cavaliers were widely viewed as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference and as a potential threat in the playoffs.

However, even with high expectations coming into the year, no one saw this coming.

The Wine and Gold convincingly finished as the No. 1 seed in the East with a record of 64-18, including three double-digit winning streaks throughout the year.

One analyst has high praise for the Cavaliers following their incredible 82-game stretch.

Jasmyn Wimbish of CBS Sports graded Cleveland's regular season as a perfect "A+" for a variety of reasons.

With a grade like this, the analyst clearly views Cleveland's season as just about perfect, and it's easy to see why.

"The 64 wins are the second most ever in franchise history, coming in right behind the 2008-09 Cavs, who finished with 66 wins en route to an Eastern Conference finals appearance. The Cavaliers are hoping this team can go a bit further than that LeBron James-led team did, and they have every right to think they can," wrote Wimbish.

Peter Creveling-Imagn Images

As the analyst notes, the all-NBA type play from Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley's progression, and Darius Garland's bounce-back season are all key reasons for Cleveland's success.

While Wimbish doesn't mention Jarrett Allen, his consistency throughout the year can also be factored into this flawless regular season.

However, it's more than just the core four that made this such a special regular-season team. "They're all backed up by a second unit that ranks eighth in the league in scoring," continued Wimbish.

While the regular season was memorable and had plenty of fun moments, what will determine this group's success is what they do in the playoffs, which is something the Cavaliers are well aware of.

"Cleveland has proven to be the best regular season team in the East. Now we'll need to see if that success translates to the postseason."

Read More Cleveland Cavaliers Coverage

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This article first appeared on Cleveland Cavaliers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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