Cavs: Kevin Porter Jr. provided energy in return at Pistons

Cleveland Cavaliers rookie wing Kevin Porter Jr. provided much-needed energy at the Detroit Pistons coming off being sidelined due to a reported left knee sprain.

Fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers I’m sure were elated to see rookie wing Kevin Porter Jr. back on the floor for the Wine and Gold on Monday at the Detroit Pistons. Porter was sidelined since reportedly spraining his left knee in a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 5.

This was a big boost for Cleveland, as Porter was initially expected to be sidelined for four-to-six weeks, according to the Cavs at the time.

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It was of course a tough one I’m sure to get through for both the Cavs and Pistons, and for all other NBA squads playing on Sunday and Monday, and really for a while I’m sure for teams, given the tragic loss of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna on Sunday, along with seven others reportedly taken way too soon.

The Cavs and Pistons, as has been happening throughout other NBA games, honored Kobe with a 24-second shot clock violation and then an eight second shot clock violation (as shown per Fox Sports Ohio), because of Kobe’s two numbers that are both retired by the Los Angeles Lakers. The Pistons also wore number 8 and 24 jerseys with “Bryant” on the back during pregame introductions and during a moment of silence before the game, too.

Cleveland big man Larry Nance Jr., for example, really took to the loss of Bryant, and that’s even more so understandable, because of him being teammates with Bryant in Kobe’s last season in 2015-16, back when Nance was with the Lakers and before he was reportedly traded to Cleveland. You could see that lasting impact Kobe had on Jr. postgame with Fox Sports Ohio/Cavs sideline reporter Angel Gray.

Anyhow, after a brief sort of feel-out period between the Cavs and Pistons, the Wine and Gold really did well both in terms of team offense and defense. Granted, Detroit did not have the likes of Blake Griffin, who is out for the season due to a reported left knee injury, and the Pistons did not have Derrick Rose and were still without Luke Kennard.

At any rate, the Wine and Gold had a really balanced effort, as Kevin Love had 20 points and seven rebounds while just playing 24 minutes, Collin Sexton was big with 23 points and five assists (even with five turnovers) and Nance had 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks, as noted by ESPN. Tristan Thompson had 17 points and 11 rebounds and played a significant role in limiting Andre Drummond to eight rebounds and made Drummond work especially hard every step of the way when guarding him as a finisher and passer, leading to some mistakes/ill-advised decisions, too.

Alfonzo McKinnie was terrific with 15 points on six-of-10 shooting and was consistently in the right spots defensively, too, but the key for me, in a 115-100 victory for Cleveland, though, was that the aforementioned Porter gave the Cavaliers great energy minutes when he was in the game.

While Porter did have what looked to be a minor ankle tweak in the second quarter and had a reported right ankle injury for which he went early to the locker room, he came back and appeared fine.

In the game, KPJ had a good return, as he had nine points on four-of-eight shooting, to go with three steals and a block, as noted by ESPN.

Additionally, though Porter did not register an assist in Detroit and had two unfortunate turnovers, he moved the ball well overall to pieces such as Nance, John Henson and McKinnie, and that led to good shots a few times for bigs and/or led to hockey assists to other ball movement.

Porter’s aggression, even coming back from the knee sprain and even after suffering what looked to be a minor ankle sprain, was clearly seen going to the basket. This quick little pass leading to relocation and a cut to the basket after a pass to Tristan Thompson then a strong and-one highlights just what Porter brings in terms of added energy to the Cavaliers, whether he’s playing the 2 or 3.

We were starting to see more and more of that impressive off-ball feel from Porter leading up to his unfortunate knee sprain earlier this month, and obviously, his aggression going to the basket and also as a secondary passer played into him taking off some leading into the time of his injury.

Along with that, this sort of lob throwdown from KPJ on an awesome feed from Sexton in secondary transition or from weak side deliveries was definitely missed the last few weeks by Cavs head coach John Beilein and company.

When you factor in Porter’s anticipation defensively both when often beating ball-handlers to the spot and when shutting off adjacent passes off-ball, his impact again, really showed when he was given burn. It wasn’t surprising that KPJ finished as a plus-11 in 16 minutes.

Clearly, when Porter’s in there for the Cavs, he’s going to do his part a bunch in pestering perimeter ball-handlers, and while he is still prone to some unnecessary fouls, he definitely has plus defender potential. When he’s able to go (and Beilein noted how KPJ will likely play more 2 as he gets his health back gradually) his feel on that end, his athleticism and ability to slow down opponents even with momentum in transition/secondary transition helps Cleveland in a big way.

Hopefully Porter’s knee keeps getting closer to full strength, and his right ankle gets better after that scare on Monday.

Anyhow, it was really good to see KPJ out there again for the Wine and Gold. Perhaps Porter’s energy can help the Cavs, who ended a seven-game losing streak at Detroit, have another good performance on Tuesday.

A second leg of a back-to-back against the likes of Brandon Ingram, Jrue Holiday, J.J. Redick, Lonzo Ball, Derrick Favors and now Zion Williamson back at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse won’t be easy against the uptempo New Orleans Pelicans, however.