Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 standouts of second half so far

Cavs standout #3 of second half so far: Collin Sexton

The final Cavalier that has stepped up during the second half of the season so far is Collin Sexton. Sexton’s production has been a hot topic amongst the media and fans alike throughout his entire career. Putting that debate aside, it is clear that Sexton is a key member of this team in the here and now, and likely will be going forward.

Sexton is putting up nearly 24 points per game in the second half of the season and is hitting 46.6 percent of his shots. Although, his three-point percentage has dipped from 40 percent in the first half to 29.6 percent through the 19 games in the second half.

While Sexton is averaging just 3.5 assists per game in the second half thus far (4.0 assists in the first half), Garland is becoming the primary playmaker when it comes to assists, while Sexton is playing more off the ball but still can distribute; Matthew Dellavedova has factored in as a key playmaker of late, too, for what it’s worth. From there, Collin has also contributed his fair share on defense as well, which is a positive sign.

An explanation for Sexton’s dip in some areas could be due to him dealing with injury issues and having to miss games, such as the past two before returning in a loss versus the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.

But when healthy, Sexton is one of the top young guards in the league, and with the majority of the team back healthy, he will be able to go back to his normal production and not feel the need to seemingly press.

Overall, Cleveland struggles to find consistency, albeit that can be attributed some to the many injuries suffered this season.

But through those struggles, there have been some bright moments and quality performances that leave the organization with some hope that they are not too far off from strongly competing for a playoff spot shortly. The Cavaliers could feasibly make a push for a play-in spot the rest of this season, too, of which we’ll see about.