Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 pluses in Cavs’ knock out of Philadelphia 76ers

Sexton’s development takes a step in the right direction.

Sexton had a strong outing in Philadelphia as he finished with 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting with five rebounds and three assists. Sexton did a great job of attacking in transition and getting to the rim as he finished four-for-eight in the paint. He is now averaging 18.3 points per game in seven games filling in for the injured George Hill as a starter, with a true shooting percentage of 54.7 percent over that stretch, per NBA.com.

Sexton is still a work in progress, but there are certainly signs of progress. His ability and willingness to get to the basket by changing speed and using his agility to get to the rim and finish. Speed and athleticism are two of his best attributes and he is learning how to use them in the halfcourt which didn’t appear to be the case at the beginning of the season.

The rookie still has room to grow in playmaking and shot selection. Sexton’s assist-to-turnover ratio is still an abysmal 1.29 since becoming a starter and is still a huge area of improvement. He also falls in love with the mid-range shot, which can be useful but is not an efficient shot.

He’s shown signs of being a better three-point shooter as he’s shooting 60.0% from deep since becoming a starter, but he isn’t taking that shot enough. Sexton settled for 10 mid-range shots and didn’t attempt a single three in Philadelphia.

Experience is sometimes the best teacher in the NBA and Sexton is getting a lot of that. He’s shown incremental improvements since being inserted into the starting lineup. At the end of the day, that is all you can ask for from a raw rookie like Sexton.