Cavs remain true title contenders, insiders say

The Cavaliers aren’t headed for 15-0 Monday against the Bucks, and not everything has gone incredibly smoothly. 

But they’ve played most of the early season without All-Star Darius Garland, all of it without starter Max Strus, and some of it without other key guys.

When it comes to the Eastern Conference, they remain near the top — both in the standings and the everyday basketball eye test.

ESPN’s Zach Kram and Kevin Pelton, for two, still rank them on their list of legitimate title contenders.

“November hasn’t gone as smoothly as last year for the Cavaliers,” Kram wrote. “So long as Darius Garland can get healthy, Cleveland still stands with New York as the most likely East winners, given track record and full-strength potential.”

That said, there are still some areas of needed improvement. But for contenders, that’s what this time of year is for. Focus on the areas where you’re not doing well, while not losing sight of the things you are.

The Cavs realize this.

“It’s 14 games in. I wish we were a little bit ahead of that, but we’re not,” star guard Donovan Mitchell said after Saturday’s ugly win over the Grizzlies. “We’ve got to be better. We’re going to build the way we need to build. It’s not pretty right now.

”Unfortunately it’s not. We know that. We’re going to work on that and get better. But it’ll all come together and we’ve just got to keep building.”