The Cleveland Cavaliers are looking to enter the second half of the season with some strong momentum.
Fortunately, after a 10-game losing streak against an especially tough stretch of opponents, in what was their toughest all season, really, the Cavs did have wins in their last two outings on Tuesday and Wednesday versus the Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets.
When looking at the second half of the season, though, they’ll need balance, but a few players come to mind that I’ll be keeping an eye on, in particular.
We’ll highlight three Cavs to watch in the second half of the season here, in that realm.
The first is their elite shooting big, who the Wine and Gold need back in there, ideally fairly soon.
Three Cavs to watch in the second half: Kevin Love
Kevin Love has barely played this season but has made strides as of late to make his return soon regarding his high-grade right calf strain, of which he reaggravated in a Dec. 27 win versus the Philadelphia 76ers. The Cavs are missing depth at power forward, with Larry Nance Jr. still seemingly set to miss most of March (fractured left hand) and have lacked three-point shooting all year.
Love getting back to the lineup automatically creates more shots to be put up from behind the arc, one would imagine, with his deep shooting ability. And he hit 37.4 percent of a career-high 7.0 three-point attempts per outing last season.
Obviously, Cleveland needs to get their power forward depth back to create any sense of momentum. Not only that, but Love brings a strong leader and veteran back to a young, scrappy team.
Love, as we all know, is a monster on the boards as well. Even when Andre Drummond was in there, Cleveland’s overall defensive rebounding splits were not great, albeit both Drummond and Jarrett Allen have done their part in that way generally.
Anyhow, we haven’t seen much from the longest-tenured current Cavalier this season, but him getting back will help Cleveland immensely.
From there, the second Cavs player to watch is Dylan Windler, who is getting more comfortable it seems.
Three Cavs to watch in the second half: Dylan Windler
The young buck, Dylan Windler, is an essential piece to the Cavs moving forward. After the decision by Koby Altman to deal Kevin Porter Jr. to the Houston Rockets, Windler’s window of opportunity with the team has grown immensely.
The 24-year-old is now shooting 41.8 percent from three this season, although, that’s due to a flurry of deep balls he knocked in the past two games. That said, Windler has also hit nine straight threes, which has put him in great company within the Cavs among polished shooters.
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Windler has slotted in at forward and has produced some of the best minutes by any Cavs player recently. He’s been vital to Cleveland in some of their recent successes. He’s been better than anyone could ask for on defense as well.
Moving forward, Cleveland will need him to keep shooting at a high volume in his minutes-share off the bench, when the opportunities are there, at least. The Cavs have struggled to shoot the three-ball at a high rate, but getting Windler more involved in the second half of the season can help fix that problem.
If Windler can continue to shoot and defend as well as he has, it’ll be key for a swing of momentum in favor of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
And lastly, Lamar Stevens comes to mind.
Three Cavs to watch in the second half: Lamar Stevens
There are a few other Cavs I had in mind for this final spot, but two-way guy Lamar Stevens has quickly become a fan favorite in Cleveland has played great lately.
Stevens brings a very different aspect to the Cavs. He’s a defensive wing who has shown some nice things offensively.
Stevens hasn’t shot the ball well from three, having made just two of his 16 triple attempts this season, but that is something he can improve on in the future. For now, the Cavs can utilize his mid-range game and driving ability along with his proven lockdown defense, and 1.3 steals per-36 minutes for him this season has been impressive. The 23-year-old is a talented mid-range shot-creator offensively, though.
He’s earned a lot more playing time as of late, partly because of injuries, but Stevens has shown he’s worthy of being in the rotation and providing key minutes off the bench, albeit the two-way element is factored into that.
The undrafted rookie out of Penn State has opened some eyes as of late, though. The Cavs should look to keep Stevens involved throughout the second half of the season and develop him as a rotational bench piece in short spurts.
Moreover, you can view the Cavs second half schedule here, for reference.