Four Cavs post career-highs in season finale

It was a great day for the Cleveland Cavaliers even if they didn’t get a win.

In the Cleveland Cavaliers season finale, with Kevin Love, Kyle Korver and Rodney Hood out — and LeBron James, George Hill, Larry Nance Jr., Jordan Clarkson, Jeff Green, J.R. Smith and Jose Calderon playing fewer than 12 minutes — it was the infrequently played players chance to shine.

That they did, as rookie Cedi Osman (18 points), rookie Ante Zizic (20 points) and two-way signing John Holland (21 points) would set single-game career-highs in scoring Wednesday night.

In fact, Osman would set career-highs in various categories. Along with his best scoring output of his first season, Osman had career-highs in rebounds (7), assists (6), field goals made (7) and field goals taken (18).

The Cavs lost 110-98, quickly losing momentum once James sat down with 10 points.

Having completed the task of playing all 82 games for the first time in his career and extending his NBA record to 873 consecutive games with double-digits (once held by Michael Jordan), the King was done for the night.

Zero Dark Twenty-Three Mode activated.

Despite a loss, this was a great night for each of the aforementioned players.

King James

James’ greatness and ability to defy Father Time have been noted all season.

It finally seems like league circles are once again fascinated by James’ dominance instead of using it as reasons his career should be better. I don’t know if appreciated is the right word but his phenomenal abilities can no longer be ignored.

He’s even gained significant ground in the LeBron vs. Jordan debate, with many people acknowledging that James is likely the better talent even if Jordan had a better record in the NBA Finals.

He could win his 5th MVP trophy this season. That would tie Jordan for the 2nd-most all-time.

“The First Cedi”

Osman is a fan favorite who provokes the memory of a beloved and deified former general manager David Griffin.

Griffin, whose wizardry in multi-step trades, willingness to do what it took to win and rapport with the players left a significant imprint on the organization’s roster and expectations, was the man in charge when the Cavaliers drafted him with the 31st pick of the 2014 NBA Draft.

After drafting Osman, Griffin notably said, “we feel Cedi is going to contribute more two years from now than anybody was going to be able to contribute right away.” Osman, who was seen as a three-and-D prospect by most”, would spend the next three years with Anadolu Efes in his native country of Turkey.

Being drafted by the Cavalier was seemingly a dream come true for Osman and for Griffin, he hadn’t just selected one of the best players in the draft but one of the hardest workers and a great person to boot.

Osman may have surprised everybody but Griffin in how he’s stepped into various roles this season, even starting 11 games, and not just being a solid role player but a galvanizing force.

His energy on the defensive end infected an aged Cavs team plagued by lethargy and frustration. He’s able to guard all three perimeter positions effectively and even the most elite players the league has to offer.

On offense, he’s shown the ability to hit the three-ball but he’s also been a solid distributor and ball-handler, operating at point-forward.

The fanfare surrounding Osman, due to Griffin’s appraisal and the long wait for him to make the jump to the NBA, is such that every shot he makes electrifies the crowd.

It’s spectacular. It’s fun to see.

He’s just a kid from Turkey and now being heralded as The First Cedi for a team led by the best player in the world.

“Big Z”

After such a tumultuous season, Zizic has become something of an afterthought after the offseason, when people were praising him as a sneaky good addition.

Zizic might be a household name, or close to it, in a few seasons.

He has a bevy of low-post moves, a technician’s footwork, soft touch around the rim, a face-up game out to the midrange, great size at  6-foot-11 and 250 pounds and he’s a solid rebounder too.

In this day and age, it’s often thought there’s no place for players with his combination of size and skillset. Yet, look around the league and the Jonas Valanciunas’, Jusuf Nurkics and Karl Anthony-Towns’, players with traditional low-post games, have found places to thrive.

That’s not to say Zizic is an All-Star caliber of player but given the right opportunity, he could be. At the least, he’d be a quality rotation player.

“Homie with the dreads”

“Homie with the dreads” as ESPN Cleveland’s Emmett Golden loves to call him, is has far more tread on his tires than Osman or Zizic and if the story of Los Angeles Lakers guard Andre Ingram inspired you, so can Holland’s.

The 29-year-old Holland had one career game — and one career minute — in the NBA prior to this season.

After going undrafted in 2011, Holland would spend four seasons playing internationally and the next three seasons playing for the NBA G-League’s Canton Charge.

In 2016, Holland was called up by the Boston Celtics with the season nearing an end (it was, in fact, April 11th) and subsequently waived prior to the start of the next season, despite signing a multi-year contract with the team. It was Holland’s second time being signed and waived before the start of the season, as it happened with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014.

Holland has been a volume scorer in the G-League, averaging 19.3 points per game (97 games) and shooting 47.7 percent from the field for his career. Due to his lack of a true position, it used to be hard to pencil him into a spot on the floor before the advent of positionless basketball.

He’ll be 30 in November so his best days as a player might be behind him but he’s still a player whose scoring ability and defensive pressure could earn him a spot on a team’s 15-man roster next season. Maybe even the Cavs’.

Related Story: Will Cedi Osman be in the playoff rotation?