Cavs: 3 players to watch in second 2019-20 matchup vs. Mavericks
By Dan Gilinsky
The Cleveland Cavaliers will face the Dallas Mavericks for the second time in the 2019-20 season on Friday, with them as the road team this go-round. Here’s a few players to watch in that one.
It’s been a rough patch for the Cleveland Cavaliers, as they’ve been losers of five straight games, and Cleveland got waxed by the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
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In the first full month of the 2019-20 season, Cleveland is just 2-8, and they’ve been blown out in their last four games.
Key reserve big Larry Nance Jr. missing matchups against the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks due to a banged-up thumb, along with star big Kevin Love being out due to back soreness against the Knicks, didn’t help.
Starting 5 and crucial piece Tristan Thompson having a rest day at the Heat didn’t make things easier for Cavs head coach John Beilein and company, but the beat must go on for the Wine and Gold.
Cleveland will look to snap their five-game skid on Friday, where the Cavaliers will face off on the road against budding superstar playmaker Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. That will be no easy task.
Anyway, let’s look into three players in particular to watch in this second 2019-20 meeting between the Cavs and Mavs.
Boban Marjanovic
When looking at the Mavs’ bigs, it of course starts with power forward Kristaps Porzingis, who has been very good. Porzingis is putting up 18.6 points per game, and is shooting a solid 35.1% from three-point land on 6.4 attempts per contest.
He’s proven to have pretty nice chemistry with Doncic in pick-and-rolls, and is one of the Cavs’ most potent shooters, of which Cleveland will put a bunch of attention to. Porzingis has put up 2.2 blocks per game, too, and he and Maxi Kleber (also a quality floor spacer) are going to make it tough to get points in the paint for Collin Sexton and the Cavaliers, as was proven to be the case in the first meeting, of which Kleber wasn’t able to go.
A player that hasn’t been used much, but is so efficient when called upon, is massive 5 man Boban Marjanovic. Marjanovic, due to him being totally paint-locked, has only been active in six games for Dallas this season, of which he’s averaged only 13.1 minutes per contest.
The 7-foot-4, 290-pound mammoth is going to be make his presence felt when he’s in there, for Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle, though, and he’s had 7.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in his minutes this season. He also has a plus-minus of plus-5.3 and a net rating of 23.0, according to NBA.com.
Boy did he make his presence felt in the first meeting between the Cavs and Mavs, in what was a 131-111 loss for Cleveland.
The Cavaliers, though reserve big Ante Zizic was not healthy in that last meeting due to reported plantar fasciitis complications in his left foot, had no answer for Marjanovic.
Though it was really no fault of his own, the 6-foot-7 Nance and the Cavaliers simply had no answer for Marjanovic, who was parked right near the basket when he was in the game on both ends.
As ESPN noted, Marjanovic had 12 points on six-of-11 shooting, along with eight rebounds, and especially with with the 7-foot-3 Porzingis on the floor with him, played a huge role in deterring shots in the paint when he was in the game.
Boban had a plus-25 plus-minus in 15 minutes, and in this matchup, even with Zizic feasibly putting some, Marjanovic could make a significant impact against a smaller Cavs squad. If Boban’s in the game in this one, it will spell doom for Cleveland’s offense, and most notably, drivers.