Cleveland Cavaliers: Lamar Stevens continues to provide energy

The Cleveland Cavaliers obviously have had their struggles this month, and in what was their toughest month of this season, that wasn’t shocking.

Cleveland had a 10-game losing streak leading into their past two wins in a back-to-back against the Atlanta Hawks and then Houston Rockets on Tuesday/Wednesday, and that was filled with games against postseason teams. Cleveland five-game West road trip that was wrapped up last week, for instance, was an especially rough set of games for them, for example, but it was nice to pick up those last two W’s.

Darius Garland and Collin Sexton, to go with Jarrett Allen, have largely been bright spots, anyhow.

And though I’m not excusing some issues involving him having rookie-type fouls on jump shooters too frequently in recent weeks, and it being evident he needs to develop a pull-up looking onward, it’s been a plus that Isaac Okoro has shown more confidence from three-point range lately. That’s played into him hitting 37.0 percent of his looks from deep in his past seven outings.

And Dylan Windler, albeit like Okoro, has had struggles largely from deep, he has hit his past nine attempts in the last two games from there. Per Elias Sports Bureau and as h/t the Cavs, Windler is the first Cavs rookie to hit their last nine consecutive deep ball attempts “in the last 20 years.”

If he were to hit his next two deep attempts, he’d tie Kyrie Irving for hitting the most consecutive deep attempts among Cavs players since 1996-97, also, via Fox Sports Ohio (/Cleveland on Twitter). That’s again seemingly since ’96-97, anyway, in regards to the below tweet.

Windler has done his part defensively and on the defensive glass, too, and has had 4.5 boards in 22.5 minutes per outing in his past six games active; he’s had 8.7 points in those appearances, too.

Another guy has aided the Cavaliers lately as well, though, and did do some good things even in rough outings; that’s two-way wing/forward Lamar Stevens.

Stevens has continued to provide energy for the Cavs.

Kevin Love, still (high-grade calf strain/aggravation), and Larry Nance Jr. still to be a solid bit even here (fractured left hand), having been sidelined has played into it with Stevens having played 53 percent of his minutes-share at the 4 thus far, but he’s done a nice job lately.

Stevens is clearly not a dude that’s a floor spacing presence, as evidenced by him having hit just two of 16 three-point attempts on the season, albeit he has shown some mid-range touch off the bounce. And when he’s had his mind made up on getting to the basket, he’s definitely had some success and hasn’t avoided contact, which has been nice to see.

Stevens having the Cavs’ game-winning dunk on Tuesday in the closing seconds after a Collin Sexton pass following a Hawks double to come was a really cool moment for him and us Cavs fans, too, for what it’s worth.

We’ve seen Lamar had other dunks in semi-transition at times as well, with him coming off of cuts originally, and that sort of thing has shown that he’s continued to provide energy for Cleveland in spurts.

Often when he’s had opportunities this month, although 4.5 points per game on the season won’t necessarily illuminate it, and he again needs to work on his perimeter shooting, Stevens has given Cleveland a spark as an energy player. For a two-way guy, that’s meaningful, from my perspective.

And defensively, Stevens has done an admirable job against opposing wings, and at times against 4’s. He’s done solid work when needed in some sequences walling up in the mid-post, and while there’s been some fouls on drives against perimeter players, they’ve been ones the Cleveland Cavaliers should live with, with them being of the aggressive variety.

Plus, Stevens, whose played 14.3 minutes per outing in 22 appearances, and keep in mind the two-way rules here in that sense for eligibility, has had a more than respectable 6.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals per-36 minutes.

That’s helped give Collin Sexton and the Cavs/himself some more opportunities to get quality transition looks, which has again, provided a spark.

Moreover, while I wouldn’t expect, from a roster flexibility standpoint, factoring in potential Andre Drummond trades, for instance, for Stevens’ deal to be converted during this season into a standard one, I’d think this upcoming offseason that could play out.

He looks to maybe have a real future in this league, perhaps with the Cavaliers, as a defensive forward that can provide some of a spark and be a tertiary driving threat. Good for Lamar, and the Cavs.