The Cleveland Cavaliers were able to win an ugly and sloppy game in J.B. Bickerstaff’s head coaching debut at the Washington Wizards on the road on Friday, and we’ll touch on a few takeaways from that contest.
This game wasn’t pretty for two teams who have struggled this season, but the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to win a sloppy game in J.B. Bickerstaff‘s head coaching debut at the Washington Wizards on Friday. This was a nice feel-good win for the young guys and an important one, considering how brutal the Cavs’ schedule is up until the second week of March.
Again this wasn’t pretty on either side, but the Cavs mostly played really hard all night and were able to grind out a win. When you’re a rebuilding team that’s had a long season like the Cavs, when you get down 16 points that can give you every reason to quit.
The Wizards were able to put up 41 points in the first quarter, and were again, up 16 at one point, and a few times they threatened to put this game away, but the Cavaliers were able to get back within striking distance at halftime being down five.
Neither of the focal points for either team played well tonight.
For the Cavs, Kevin Love obviously didn’t have his best game, as he finished the outing with only nine points on three-of-eight shooting and one rebound, per ESPN, but while on the other side Beal did have 26 points, it was on an inefficient nine-of-28 shooting and one-of-10 from three-point land.
Beal was off his game all night missing open shots, including a couple of technical free throws, but the Cavs were able to take advantage of it and pull out a come-from-behind win.
Takeaway #1: Late game growth from the young backcourt
During this 2019-20 season there have been a couple times against teams with similar talent level as them, with the Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks coming to mind, where the Cavs have blown leads that resulted in losses.
Collin Sexton and Darius Garland really showed some late game growth on Friday, and led the way in the fourth closing out the Wizards. Sexton had 25 points on eight-of-17 shooting, while adding two assists, as noted by ESPN.
Garland also had 15 points on six-of-11 shooting, including going two-of-four from three-point land, while adding four assists.
Additionally, Sexton led all scorers with 14 points in the fourth quarter, while Garland added eight points and hit some really tough shots in the closing period. Obviously, coming into the fourth quarter both struggled a little bit, but they came up big when it mattered most in the 4th quarter.
Moreover, Sexton has played pretty well over the past month, but it was nice to see Garland come through in crunch time. He had really hit a rookie wall, so seeing him have a game like this was an encouraging sign.
Granted, Garland is coming off a major injury in college in his reported meniscus tear and he only played in five games last year, so that shouldn’t be a surprise. I think out of everyone on the Cleveland Cavaliers, Garland benefited from the All-Star break the most.
I’ve said this before, but rebuilding in the NBA is long and so difficult. It’s not like the NFL when a team like the San Francisco 49ers can turn it around in a year.
That typically doesn’t happen in the NBA unless you land a transcendent, otherworldly superstar. Outside of that, if you have a ton of youth you’ll lose a lot of games and experience growing pains.
Factoring in that youth for the Cavs that has a ways to go, this was a good sign for their young backcourt to step up like they did in this game late, though.
Takeaway #2: The Cavs’ overall defense is, of course, still a major issue
This isn’t earth-shattering news when someone says the Cavs’ defense is a major problem.
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After Cleveland’s historically bad home loss to the LA Clippers, I highlighted how Andre Drummond helps the Cavs more on the interior, but he won’t fix a team that is still terrible 1-4 and doesn’t have a single guy that can guard premier guards or wings effectively.
That’s a huge problem in a league that has gone away from the big man and is dominated by wings and guards.
That being said, the Cavaliers’ effort on the defensive end was much better than it has been in a while. The way the Cavs are constructed it’s going to be a major struggle on the defensive end when you have two 6-foot-1 guards in the backcourt playing so much, Cedi Osman having physical limitations and Love isn’t known as a good defender, either.
The Wizards started the game off fast, scoring those aforementioned 41 points in the first quarter, but cooled off after that. For the contest, the Wizards only shot 38.7 percent overall and 24.3 percent from three-point land.
However, to the Cavs’ credit, they played really hard on defense in this game, and that played some into Washington’s struggles. The Cavaliers were scrappy and fought in this game, but again, they are at a such a major personnel mismatch so often.
Drummond and Thompson blocked a lot of shots in the paint, but the Wizards generally got what they wanted; they really just missed a ton of open shots.
The Cavs desperately need wings and if I’m the Wine and Gold, I would take a hard look at Isaac Okoro out of Auburn in the 2020 NBA Draft if he’s available at their selection. He won’t solve the Cavs’ issues, but he could help defensively on the wing right away, and give Cleveland a formidable presence on the perimeter they desperately need.
Takeaway #3: Tristan Thompson will likely be a big loss in the offseason
It will be a really sad day when Tristan Thompson leaves this offseason, which is reportedly likely to be the case, and plus, he’s on an expiring deal and his camp wanted him to be dealt before the trade deadline.
I really wish the Cavs could keep someone like Thompson, because I believe he’s someone you can really have around in a long rebuild like this. Even with his role reduced, he continues to go about his business like a true professional and continues to be a great leader for this team.
Tristan Thompson in the game had 10 points on five-of-eight shooting, to go with 11 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
As Cavaliers fans know, Thompson is one of the holdovers from their 2016 championship team and he’s still doing things that don’t show up in the basic box score. Even in a reduced role, due to the Drummond trade, the guy plays hard every night he’s on the floor for Cleveland.
He’s been such a positive influence on the young guys and his leadership can’t be talked about enough.
I would expect that some day his number 13 jersey will be retired by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but again, especially with Drummond seemingly likely to opt into his $28.8 million player option, based on a previous report from Sports Illustrated‘s Sam Amico, Thompson is likely gone this offseason. That would mark a huge loss for this franchise going forward.
At any rate, I think this was a key win for the young guys and obviously this group all together, because the schedule gets absolutely brutal for a few weeks now.
The Cavs have a quick turnaround against one of the top teams in the NBA in the Miami Heat on Saturday, and the Heat are coming off a tough loss against the Atlanta Hawks and plus, it’s the night they retire Miami legend Dwyane Wade‘s number 3 jersey, so they will be fired up.