Cleveland Cavaliers: What we learned from a narrow OT win over the Clippers

The injuries are continuing to pile up. 

The Cavs got some more bad news on the injury front Friday night. Before the game, they announced that Derrick Rose will be out at least two weeks, maybe three because of his sprained ankle. The team has decided to put his left foot in a walking boot.

On top of that, Iman Shumpert left the game due to left knee soreness. This forced Jose Calderon into action and made Wade play nearly 37 minutes.

With these two injuries, the Cavs are playing without two projected starters and two key bench players.

We’ve seen how the Cavaliers have missed Tristan Thompson. Jae Crowder and Love are forced into positions that they haven’t been before in their careers. Crowder has struggled to guard fours. He’s shown throughout his career that he is best when he is defending the wing. Love has also looked uncomfortable at a times at center. He has done a good job overall, but the Cavs pick-and-roll defense and rebounding has struggled severely without Thompson.

At the least, Isaiah Thomas is continuing to progress in his rehab. Hopefully, he is back as sooner rather than later.

Dwyane Wade will have a bigger role than anticipated.

The burden of picking up these minutes at point guard will likely fall on Wade’s shoulder. He showed on Friday night that he’s still capable of producing at a high level.

Wade was good throughout the night, but he was better in the first half where he put up 19 points. It’s not ideal to have him log nearly 37 minutes a night. The fact that he scored only 4 points on 2 of 6 shooting in the second half and overtime could be used to show that he wore down because of the amount of minutes.

However, he still had enough energy to make timely defensive plays like that were crucial in the win.

Wade doesn’t have near the explosiveness that he’s known for, but he does all the little things right on the court. He has really settled down into his role and has become a positive for the Cavs this season. As a result, Cleveland has played some of their best basketball with him on the floor. The team posted a 123.4 offensive rating, a 98.8 defensive rating, and a 24.6 net rating with him on the floor against the Clippers.

It’s safe to say that he’s still doing something right out there.