Cleveland Cavaliers surprise player helping team move up NBA power rankings

The Cleveland Cavaliers are pouring it on the offensive end as of late, scoring 120 points or more in each of their last three games.

The Cavs' positive momentum on offense has them moving up the ladder in NBA.com writer John Schuhmann's power rankings. The team sits at No. 13 after being No. 15 last week.

"The Cavs were the first team to match their loss total from last season (64-18), but they’ve climbed a spot to seventh in the East and are 5-4 on a stretch where they’re playing 11 of 13 games against teams with winning records," Schuhmann wrote.

"The Cavs have won their last three games against teams that currently have losing records, and they’ll host the Jazz on Monday. Then they have a huge, two-game trip to Philadelphia, having won the first meeting with the fifth-place Sixers (behind 46 points from Mitchell) in early November."

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill celebrates after hitting a three point basket against the Minnesota Timberwolves. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Cavs make jump in NBA power rankings

The only teams ranked higher than the Cavs are the Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Austin Celtics, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and Oklahoma City Thunder. This is a sign that the Cavs are going in the right direction.

The team has struggled from the 3-point line this season, which wasn't the case a year ago. However, they have seen a recent uptick from Sam Merrill in the past couple of games.

"There hasn’t been a big jump in shot quality or the percentage of their 3-point attempts that have been off the catch over these last 11 games, but the Cavs have shot much better. Overall, they’ve still seen the league’s biggest drop in 3-point percentage from last season," Schuhmann wrote.

"Sam Merrill came off the bench in Minnesota on Thursday, but was back in the starting lineup two days later and is 25-for-43 (58%) from 3-point range over his last five games. The defense has held up well enough with Merrill, Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell all on the floor, and the Cavs have outscored their opponents by 13.8 points per 100 possessions in their 121 minutes together."

The Cavs are back in action against the Utah Jazz at 7 p.m. ET inside Rocket Arena before they head to the city of brotherly love to face off against Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and the Philadelphia 76ers for a two-game set on Wednesday and Friday.