Cleveland Cavs All-Star Donovan Mitchell caught fans’ attention on social media ahead of Friday’s game against the Denver Nuggets. After classic battles on Christmas Day between the Golden State Warriors and the Cavs over the years, Cleveland is not in this year’s marquee matchups. However, Mitchell hopes that changes will happen in 2025.
Mitchell and the 26-4 Cavs hold the best record in the NBA. They came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, leaping to a historic 15-0 regular-season start. The All-Star guard is hopeful Cleveland will be featured in a marquee matchup on Christmas, per Mitchell’s X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Christmas game soon… Cavs,” Mitchell said.
The Cavs last played a Christmas Day game in 2017. That should soon change in light of Cleveland’s reemergence in 2024-25. Mitchell averages 23.3 points on 45.3% shooting, including 40.8% from deep, 4.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. He’s a big reason why the Cavs have had such a successful regular season. However, starters such as Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley have made a collective impact under the direction of new head coach Kenny Atkinson.
The Cavs have become perhaps the biggest threat to the champion Celtics despite Isaac Okoro’s recent injury, Mitchell spoke to recently.
“With Isaac being out, we have to continue to take our physicality to another level,” Mitchell said. “And then you’re also missing the second-best 3-point shooter in the league. I say that, like, jokingly, but not jokingly. I’m also dead serious. He’s a guy that [has been] knocking down shots, and teams want to leave him. You obviously miss him on the defensive end, but offensively, he’s been playing phenomenally for us.”
It should be a competitive contest between the Cavs and Nuggets.
LeBron James compares Cavs-Warriors rivalry to ‘rap beef’
David Richard-Imagn Images
Donovan Mitchell watched the Warriors and Cavs make four consecutive NBA Finals appearances, and booking the Cavs on every Christmas Day slate was a no-brainer for the association. The budding rivalry between stars such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant was a must-see TV event.
Recently, in an exclusive conversation between the three, James likened 2010’s rivalry between the Cavs and Warriors to a longstanding rap beef between the two teams, per ESPN.
“Those four straight years, Cleveland versus Golden State… It was literally like East Coast versus West Coast… It was like a rap beef,” James said.
The Cavs enter Friday’s matchup against the Nuggets on a five-game winning streak. They’re 9-1 in their last ten games and are leading the champion Boston Celtics by 3.5 games atop the Eastern Conference.
