Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton has continued to progress as this season has gone on, and here, we’re going to break down each of Sexton’s three best games thus far of the 2019-20 campaign.
Coming into this season, the jury was still largely out on Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton, and with the addition of point guard Darius Garland in the 2019 NBA Draft, it remained to be seen how Sexton would fit in the Cavaliers starting lineup.
But as the season progressed, Sexton began to take his game to the next level. Throughout almost every month, Sexton’s points per game total got better, reaching 22.7 points per game in January, and even though that total dipped to 21.9 points per game in February, Sexton did shoot 48.3 percent from three-point land, as noted by NBA.com.
Then in five games in March, Sexton’s points per game total reached a scorching 30.0, and virtually the whole season, Sexton has led the Cavaliers in scoring, and currently, has averaged 20.8 points per outing.
Not only did Sexton’s scoring increase, his court vision improved, and he became a better passer. Sexton averaged under three assists through January, but in February that increased to 4.1 assists, and then in March, that number jumped up again to 4.6 assists.
Some of that had to do with Garland being sidelined for five games due to a left groin strain, but it was evident that Sexton’s vision, especially when dishing out to shooters on drives, was much improved.
Even though the NBA season is still on hiatus due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Sexton is still putting in work every day and he remains in game shape, as was detailed by Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor. In relation to recent reported updates about potential alternative scenarios for a possible season resumption/the financial impact of a cancelled season, you can view those here and also here, per KJG’s Dan Gilinsky, and here, per KJG’s Amadou Sow.
So while we sit here and wait to see if basketball will even return this season, let’s take a look back at a few of Sexton’s best games from the 2019-20 season thus far, beginning with a heck of a performance on November 10 at the New York Knicks.
Sexton’s big game in the Big Apple:
Cleveland entered their November 10 game at the Knicks at 3-5, and this was their second game of a three-game road trip. Sexton began the game with the hot hand, scoring 11 points in the first quarter, helping the Cavaliers gain a 31-19 lead after 12 minutes, as indicated by ESPN.
By halftime, the Cavaliers held an 18-point lead thanks in large part to Sexton’s 16 first-half points.
For the game, Sexton finished 10-16 from the floor and five-of-eight from beyond the arc for 31 points, which was then a career-best for the second-year guard at the time.
While Sexton only had three assists for the game, he was extremely productive in his 30 minutes of playing time, finishing the game with a plus-minus of plus-26, per ESPN, and as you can see below, he was lighting up the Knicks throughout this one. The Cavs ended up winning this one in blowout fashion as well, 108-87.
While Sexton would go on to only score 20-plus points one more time the rest of November, this game in NYC was a sign of things to come for the “Young Bull.”
The second game for Sexton to me thus far that stands out of the 2019-20 season was on March 4 against the Boston Celtics.