Cleveland Cavaliers: Three things that jump out from recent games

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Cleveland Cavaliers big man Kevin Love reacts in-game. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

#2: The rock keeps moving, and so many have contributed to that

I have to give former Cavs head coach John Beilein, who constantly preached the importance of ball movement, some love in relation to the Cavs continuing to move the ball better even looking past into post-All-Star break under Bickerstaff.

Sexton making this kind of pass to Cedi Osman, who unfortunately had a rough game versus Boston, going three-of-14 from the field and had a tough go defensively against Jayson Tatum a bunch, was something I really wouldn’t have seen coming before. Realistically, even with Osman having a less than stellar game, this is the right play from Collin.

https://twitter.com/cavs/status/1235384130797367296?s=20

Following this close loss, Sexton touched on how he’s been working with Cavs assistant coach Lindsay Gottlieb seemingly a bunch, and that’s led to improved passing feel on drive-and-kicks, which got two thumbs up from me, per Davies. Keep it up, Coach!

Nevermind the 41: Collin Sexton's been working on being the orchestrator of the #Cavs offense at the point through film study with Lindsay Gottlieb. pic.twitter.com/6eAdIzRlY8
— Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) March 5, 2020

Along with Sexton, Darius Garland, though he’s missed the last two games, has led Cleveland post-All-Star with 4.2 assists per outing, and Kevin Love (3.9), Matthew Dellavedova (3.4), Kevin Porter Jr. (3.3) and Larry Nance Jr. (3.1) have all posted over 3.0 dimes per outing post-All-Star break, as noted by NBA.com.

Must Read. Cavs: Three goals for Larry Nance Jr. for rest of 2019-20. light

Osman has had a solid 2.5 helpers, too, and Thompson, though he’s missed the last three games, has averaged 2.4 in his five outings.

That being said, the Cleveland Cavaliers are still turning it over, as only three teams have had a higher turnover rate post-All-Star, but Cleveland being tied for ninth in assist rate in that span has been nice to see.

Love, Sexton, Garland, Nance and KPJ (who reportedly suffered a head injury early in the Boston game and is in concussion protocol, h/t The Athletic‘s Kelsey Russo) have really benefited from productive ball-swings and extra passes, and Bickerstaff has these guys playing the right way in that regard.

Cleveland’s effective field goal shooting clip is 13th in the league post-All-Star break, too, per NBA.com, which indicates that the Cavaliers, and especially the youngsters, are showing growth in terms of passing feel and unselfishness.

In terms of the third takeaway from Cleveland’s recent games, it’s evident that the Wine and Gold need to add a key factor on the defensive end in the 2020 NBA Draft.