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Cavs: 3 reasons to tune into Saturday’s game vs. Warriors

By Robbie DiPaola

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton handles the ball. (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton handles the ball. (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Golden State Warriors guard D’Angelo Russell handles the ball. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /

Reason #1: The guard play could determine the outcome of this game.

As mentioned above, Russell is leading the Warriors in scoring this season. But his backcourt mate and ex-Cavalier Alec Burks is the second-leading scorer at 15.8 points per game among regular rotation players this season, while also hitting 36.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Cleveland counters with Garland, who is averaging 14.4 points and 5.3 assists per game this month, per NBA.com, as well as Collin Sexton, who is growing into his new position of being the two guard. Sexton is averaging 22.7 points this month and hitting 44.6 percent from beyond the arc and 92.6 percent from the foul line.

Related Story. Cavs' Collin Sexton not in Rising Stars Game is awful. light

Both did really well against the Raptors; Sexton, for reference, had 23 points on nine-of-17 shooting, to go with four assists and four rebounds, as indicated by ESPN. He did have four turnovers, but Sexton also made his presence felt in a variety of ways, though.

While both of the guard tandems can score the ball, they each have their own issues on the defensive end of the floor. Cavs fans are well-aware of the issues defensively in relation to Garland and Sexton being young guards, as Garland has a less-than-stellar defensive rating of 113.7 and Sexton has the worst defensive rating on Cleveland at 117.4, again, according to NBA.com.

In Golden State’s case, Russell, though, improved on that end, will still have some lapses on the defensive end and has a defensive rating identical to Garland’s.

Burks has historically, and this year, has been more of an offensive-oriented player, too, anyhow.

The four starting guards in this game positively affect their team more on the offensive side of the ball. Anyhow, these two matchups could come down to who steps up more on the defensive end and comes up with a timely stop or two.