The Cleveland Cavaliers have been getting blown out a ton recently, and with their injuries, that’s understandable at this point.
If the Cleveland Cavaliers were healthier, they would have a more realistic chance to stay in games. Granted, they don’t have the star power to win against most NBA teams, but they could be much more competitive than they’ve been in a number of games where they were blown out in the last few weeks, where injuries have been even more of a problem.
For Cleveland to only have Kevin Love for four games thus far due to a reported toe injury, and with the Cavs being without Larry Nance Jr. likely until at least the end of January, and minus even Tristan Thompson, who missed last night’s game over the Utah Jazz and has missed 11 games this season with a reported foot sprain, it’s really difficult for Cleveland to be competitive against good NBA teams.
Those three guys are Cleveland’s best frontcourt players, and they have seemed to establish themselves as the primary leaders on the team as well. Thompson is averaging career-highs in points, rebounds and assists, and Nance leads qualified Cavaliers in assists (both per NBA.com), and we obviously know what Love brings when he’s reasonably healthy for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
On the bright side, though, Ante Zizic has gotten more playing time than he normally would, and he’s shown solid offensive capability on the interior, and could be a key piece for Cleveland’s future, as our own Robbie DiPaola recently highlighted.
Zizic has posted 10.8 points on 67.4 percent true shooting and 6.7 rebounds in 21.4 minutes per game in his last six contests, per NBA.com. Nonetheless, Zizic’s lack of lateral quickness and limited passing vision on the offensive end have made his impact very limited when he’s been on the floor against quality teams.
I’m all for Cleveland going small anyway, but against some matchups, such as the Utah Jazz yesterday, it doesn’t work well. Cedi Osman has not been very effective as a 4 for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season, and although he’s contributed a solid 4.0 rebounds per game, it’s not realistic for Jaron Blossomgame to be counted on as a key interior presence for Cleveland with the Cavs’ injury bug.
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David Nwaba, who has been the Cavs’ best perimeter defender, has only appeared in 21 games, and a reported ankle sprain hasn’t been easy for him to shake, so really it’s unclear how much we’ll see him in the next few months, anyhow.
As our own Eli Mooneyham recently demonstrated, Nwaba’s injury problems have hurt him and the Cavs as a whole, which really has been unfortunate, considering Cleveland could really use his ball pressure and great defensive instincts to help others right now.
Matthew Dellavedova missed time with a reported foot sprain, and that reportedly a key reason why Cleveland initially signed Cameron Payne to a 10-day contract (and Payne is now on his second 10-day deal).
Payne has played well for Cleveland, as he’s posted 10.2 points on 65.6 percent shooting and had 2.7 assists in 19.3 minutes per game, per NBA.com.
That being said, with Cleveland being down so much after huge runs from opponents, some of the optimistic bench statistics are misleading; this month, Cleveland’s plus-minus is a league-worst minus-18.3, according to NBA.com. So clearly, some of the positive statlines from Payne and a player such as Zizic don’t tell the whole story.
Off the bench, Jordan Clarkson is getting more and more attention from opponents, and Collin Sexton has had the same treatment often with Cleveland’s lack of spacing in the starting unit.
In the last two games, these sort of injury pile-ups have really really reared their ugly head. The Portland Trail Blazers thrashed the Cavaliers by making 16-of-29 three-pointers on Wednesday, and the Jazz had 33 assists and shot 51.8 percent Friday night (per ESPN), essentially getting whatever they wanted.
Cleveland is in a very tough spot right now, and with how little of a margin for error they already have even when reasonably healthy, it’s even more difficult for the Cavs to stay in games against good (and probably even average) teams if those teams are locked in.