Cavs: Revisiting Larry Nance Jr.’s best games of 2019-2020 thus far

#2: February 12 vs. Atlanta

The February 12 matchup against the Hawks was a game against a team that is very beatable for the Cavaliers, as the Hawks are a very young team that lacks in NBA experience, unlike many players on Cleveland’s roster.

As they should have, the Cavs dominated the Hawks with the final score being 127-105 in favor of Cleveland. This was a game that Nance Jr. completely took over, though.

He simply could not miss, shooting 72.7 percent from the field in starting for Kevin Love, and yet again, shot 40.0 percent from three-point range. Taking into account that he attempted five three-point shots in this game, him shooting 72.7 percent from the field is remarkable in terms of efficiency.

He tied with Collin Sexton in leading the Cavaliers in points, with both totaling 23, and that total is Nance Jr.’s career-best to this point. Nance Jr. led the charge for the Cavaliers defensively, too, and really set the tone. He led the team in steals with three and tied with Andre Drummond for first in blocks with two, per Basketball Reference.

Being able to protect the rim like Larry did this game is extremely important for him to execute in every game, and Nance was especially active as a rotator in passing lanes. Moreover, while the Hawks are more of a perimeter-oriented team led by star point guard Trae Young, anytime a player can lock down the paint defensively it gives their team a vast advantage.

Once again in this game, Nance Jr. dominated the boards pulling down twelve rebounds, with five of them being offensive rebounds. This is very crucial as the offensive rebounds were giving the Cavs second chances to score and extend possessions.

This was an amazing performance for Larry and it is safe to say that without him, the Cavaliers would not have won this game so easily.

Lastly, we’ll take a look back at #1, Nance Jr.’s performance against the Wizards on January 23.