Cavs: Won’t be much to write home about vs. massively short-handed Celtics

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ last preseason game is Tuesday against the Boston Celtics, but there won’t be much to write home about, at least in regards to if some of Cleveland’s key rotational players are active, because Boston will be so short-handed.

At this point, it has been a mixed bag for the Cleveland Cavaliers in their preseason play.

Cleveland had a pretty good outing in a 120-89 win over Argentinean club San Lorenzo de Almagro, where though they started slow, the Cavaliers did end up getting going and had consistent ball and man movement for the final three quarters, and it was nice to see rookie wing Kevin Porter Jr. have a promising preseason debut with 16 points on seven-of-nine shooting (per ESPN).

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Cleveland then had a pretty solid performance to build on, at least I would think, in their second preseason game at the Detroit Pistons, where they did build a 19-point lead at one point, but unfortunately had poor play down the stretch, and eventually narrowly lost 109-105.

In that one, there was quality offensive flow for most of the game, and though there were some costly turnovers, there were plenty of wide-open looks, and second-year guard Collin Sexton, who had 24 points and was three-of-five from three-point land (per ESPN), continued to show he’s an ever-improving catch-and-shoot player from the perimeter.

The third preseason matchup at the Boston Celtics was one where the Cavs had a bunch of key players out due to reported injuries/rest, which first included bigs Ante Zizic (left foot soreness) and John Henson (right groin strain) being out, as they’ve been all preseason, which has also been the case with rookie sharpshooting wing Dylan Windler, who is still dealing with a stress reaction in his left leg.

Additionally, star big Kevin Love was out due to rest, big Tristan Thompson was out due to reported right groin soreness, and rookie point guard Darius Garland did not play because of Cleveland using precaution with him spraining his ankle (though it doesn’t seem serious) in the Pistons game, and with a bunch of training camp invitee players playing considerable minutes, Boston blasted the Cavaliers, who had 27 turnovers and were out of sync all game.

Considering the clear lack of chemistry in that one, I don’t take much from that third preseason game for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and with the Celtics having so many key players not in the rotation in the meeting between the two teams on Tuesday, there won’t be much to write home about in Cleveland’s last preseason game, well at least when it comes to Cleveland’s likely key players.

According to a report from Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, Boston will be without star guard Kemba Walker, one of the team’s best two-way contributors in guard Marcus Smart, along with one of the better young wing duos in the NBA in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, solid veteran forward Gordon Hayward, quality post and rolling presence in Enes Kanter and one of the team’s most valuable interior defenders (and a good pick-and-pop player) in Daniel Theis.

With that being the case, and with Cleveland having so many key rotational players not appearing in the last preseason game, this second preseason matchup against Boston shouldn’t see a ton of reps for players such as Love or Thompson.

Instead, the Cavs should again give plenty of run to big Larry Nance Jr., so he can continue to get more comfortable as a secondary playmaker and spot-up threat in new head coach John Beilein and the mostly-new coaching staff’s offense, and bigs that were invited to training camp and are fighting for the team’s 14th roster spot in Jarell Martin and Marques Bolden should get plenty of run, as they did in Cleveland’s last meeting against the C’s.

The undrafted 6-foot-11 and 21-year-old Bolden, though the Cleveland Cavaliers do have plenty of bigs, looks like a player that could be worthy of the other two-way spot heading into the season (and rookie undrafted big Dean Wade has the other two-way, for reference).

Bolden leads the Cavaliers in blocks this preseason, and is a good screener/roller that finishes well near the rim, and this last preseason game for him, along with wing Sindarius Thornwell, who has been good defensively on the wing when he’s been in, could help their 14th roster spot or other two-way spot case.

This matchup against the massively short-handed Celtics should allow the Cleveland Cavaliers and Beilein to give plenty of minutes to the other training camp invitees in wings Daniel Hamilton, J.P. Macura, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot should have more chances to prove their case for a roster/other two-way spot, too, and again, this meeting won’t be anything to write home about for likely key rotational players such as guards Jordan Clarkson, Matthew Dellavedova and Brandon Knight, along with wing Cedi Osman, to go with Love and Thompson, if they play at all.

Though it’d be nice to see Garland, who did participate in practice on Monday, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, who also noted how Henson is on the injury report for this one with an ankle injury and seems likely to be out again (along with Zizic and Windler), play alongside Collin Sexton in the backcourt for the Cavs for a good bit to get some more of a rhythm heading into the regular season, I could also see Cleveland not playing either of Garland or Sexton much in this one, or at least not much together.

However, if Beilein and the Cavs did play Garland and Porter in this last preseason game a considerable chunk, given that they are rookies, even with Boston being so short-handed, I could also understand that mindset, too.

Moreover, when it comes to the vast majority of Cleveland’s likely key rotational contributors heading into the upcoming 2019-20 regular season, this last preseason game, again, won’t mean much.

Anyway, it’s at least awesome that the regular season is almost here starting on Oct. 23 at the Orlando Magic!