Cavs: Isaac Okoro’s crunch time plays at Grizzlies were so on-brand

Isaac Okoro is showing why he’s a winning player for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

We know that the Cleveland Cavaliers are dealing with quite an injury bug, and Kevin Love (right calf strain/reaggravation) is still seemingly set to miss a few weeks.

Darius Garland (right shoulder sprain) could still be sidelined until mid-next week it appears, and Dante Exum, in crushing news earlier this week, is expected to miss six-to-eight weeks due to a right calf strain.

Dylan Windler (fourth metacarpal fracture in his left hand) hasn’t been in game action since Cleveland’s first game versus the Charlotte Hornets, and Matthew Dellavedova (concussion) and Kevin Porter Jr. (personal) haven’t appeared yet for Cleveland.

And for the first time in his Cavs career to this point, after a streak of 155 games to begin his career, Collin Sexton missed Cleveland’s game at the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday because of a left ankle sprain, albeit that doesn’t seem serious and he nearly played.

Needless to say, the Cavs will reportedly apply for a hardship exception this weekend, so one can get the gyst here; the Wine and Gold have been bit, and really chomped on by the injury bug. That said, their effort has not waned, and their team defense, and pieces such as Andre Drummond, Larry Nance Jr. and I believe Collin Sexton have been big for them.

And although the Grizzlies were without Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. and seemingly will be for still a considerable stretch, the Cavaliers got a blue-collar win on Thursday, on the second leg of a back-to-back. That was sans Sexton and as mentioned, a number of others, and again, hopefully Sexton can be able to go soon enough.

Drummond was making things happen in the second half after a tough first, and finished out with 22 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and two steals; albeit he did have six turnovers in the game. Nance was huge, meanwhile, and had 18 points on seven-of-seven shooting, including four-of-four from three-point range, and he had four assists and three steals.

From there, Cedi Osman and Damyean Dotson, who seemed alright after he injured his ankle on Wednesday, while they struggled as shooters, did combine for 13 assists and to only three turnovers, to go with four steals (Dotson had three). JaVale McGee had 13 points on five-of-seven shooting in 17 minutes, too, to go with six rebounds, and a steal/block apiece.

Anyway, what jumped out, though, was big plays from Isaac Okoro, who started at the 2 in this instance, with Sexton out/others/Dotson at the de facto 1.

Okoro’s traditional statline of eight points, two assists (he had two turnovers, too), two rebounds, two blocks and a steal wasn’t All-Star caliber, no. But the crunch time plays/his approach was a key takeaway from this one, in particular.

Okoro’s crunch time plays for the Cavs were so on-brand.

Again, the traditional box score for Okoro didn’t illuminate it, but Okoro’s contributions down the stretch in the last few minutes of the game were what stood out, and his cutting feel and finishing at the rim did as well.

As a quick side note, the Cavaliers did miss Okoro’s finishing for five games, in which he missed because of a left foot sprain and/or previously being in the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocol. On the season, Okoro has hit 69.2 percent of his shots in the restricted area, per NBA.com’s shooting data, for further context.

Circling back, Okoro I thought did the little things well throughout the contest, was active defensively in the team sense, and in crunch time, in particular, his contributions were so on-brand.

Okoro had a crucial block on a Kyle Anderson floater with 1:33 left for one, where he showed great timing, and although there’d eventually be Jonas Valanciunas free throws/makes out of that following a later offensive rebound, it showed he can erase plays at times with his feel.

Anyhow, nearly a minute following that, Okoro, as he displayed the ability to do at Auburn, made the play of the night in defensive transition, and really took away a play that looked to be a would-be go-ahead layup.

After a coach’s challenge, Okoro’s chasedown block after a lead pass delivery from Anderson on Tyus Jones was granted, and was not the initially called goaltending ruling. And the Cavs would get the ball back following an Andre Drummond jump ball win. But in that moment with 33.5 seconds left, it was a heck of a play from Okoro, who as Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor hit on, was great in his primary coverage of Dillon Brooks in the game, too.

And additionally, to go with the general quality defense, and at times good hockey assists/ball-swings, it was awesome to see Okoro get what would be the game’s winning bucket.

It was a busted play it seemed, admittedly, but after a terrific find from Drummond, Okoro with the shot clock ticking down snuck behind Brandon Clarke/Memphis and after a heady cut, was quick to slam home a two-handed jam with 10.6 seconds left.

The Cavs would eventually go on to win 94-90, albeit in the crucial moments, Okoro made significant plays, and showed why Cleveland was getting a winning player in him in the 2020 NBA Draft, as Larry Nance Jr. seemingly alluded to postgame with Cavs/Fox Sports Ohio’s Angel Gray.

Isaac’s going to make things happen defensively and be a smart off-ball/ball movement player; the scoring will come along gradually.

It’s evident that when he’s been in there, to a large degree, that Okoro’s impacted winning, and as the aforementioned Fedor pointed out, the Cavs are 3-1 when Okoro’s been in games. And Isaac has the best net rating among players that have realistically qualified, as again, Fedor highlighted.

Those crunch time plays at the Grizz, to reiterate, were so on-brand for Okoro, who Cavs fans seem to love already, and rightfully so.