Who would have thought that the Cleveland Cavaliers would be 7-4 to start the season.
Everything is going the team’s way so far. Players are making the necessary jumps in their play, new additions are showing their worth and most importantly, the young core is living up to the hype.
This New York Knicks game on Sunday was one where everything just looked to come together for the team as they defeated New York 126-109. 126 points are the most points they’ve scored on the season and they did so shooting 19-of-35 from three. What’s most impressive is that they were able to do so without Lauri Markkanen and Kevin Love as they remain in COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with the Knicks securing a one-point lead going into halftime. Going into the second half, the Cavs were without their leading scorer, as Collin Sexton would suffer a knee injury that would take him out for the rest of the game. Per a report from Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, Sexton is set to be further evaluated on Monday, as a side note.
The team still showed great fight and resilience against a playoff team, though, and that’s been their thing for the entire season. This team has had electric wins against the Atlanta Hawks and the LA Clippers, two teams who made the Eastern and Western Conference Finals, in their respective conferences, last season.
They defeated the Denver Nuggets two weeks ago in convincing fashion and are coming off nail-biters against the Portland Trail Blazers and Toronto Raptors. Even the losses have been competitive, showing they can stick around in games. This team is fun and last night’s game proves that.
With that said, here, we’ll take a look at the clear stud and dud from this Cavs-Knicks game on Sunday.
The biggest talking point from this game was Ricky Rubio‘s out-of-body experience and he was the clear stud that led the Cavaliers to this victory.
Cavs stud: Ricky Rubio
A career 32.6 percent three-point shooter, Rubio’s shot has been on this season and it was unstoppable last night. Ricky had a career-high 37 points off the bench, shooting an absurd 8-of-9 from three. His shooting can be looked at deeper seeing as his first miss from beyond the arc didn’t come until the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.
Rubio also had 10 assists to go with his career night, further showing his ability to keep the game at his pace. This is something that a young team like the Cavaliers needed as it helps to take the offensive burden off Darius Garland and Sexton.
Sexton’s injury paved the way for Rubio’s eruption as he took on the initiative to be the go-to guy. In the second half alone, Rubio had 26 points and played 17 of the 24 minutes. Not once did he show a sign of fatigue and when the Knicks would make any type of run, he was the one to continuously silence the Madison Square Garden crowd.
Looking at the fourth quarter, it was mainly Rubio making things happen, as you would expect. He scored or assisted on 26 of the team’s 37 fourth quarter points as the gravity he pulled as a shot-maker in this game helped open up the offense for others.
Rubio will continue to have a positive impact on the team, to echo our own Zachary Shafron’s sentiment from how he emphasized that Rubio would be a steadying presence. His play will be important for the team to remain competitive and though he may not have another game of this caliber, I expect him to have many more stud performances.
Cavs dud: Cedi Osman
It’s hard to point out the negatives in a win like yesterday’s but there are still some things that players and the team can work on.
In a game where it seemed like everyone was hitting their shots, Cedi Osman couldn’t hit anything, literally. In 31 minutes of play, Osman had just two points, missing all five of his three-pointers that he attempted. He also had two assists to three turnovers and it overall was just not Cedi’s night.
This isn’t an attempt to put Osman down of course as while there were sequences here and there where he was a bit off with his positioning, he still had solid defensive possessions and looked to let the game come to him rather than force the issue. It’s that part of his recent play that I feel should be most noteworthy.
In an article that I wrote discussing last season’s Cavs shooting woes, I made the argument that improved playmaking would help the team’s shooting and it has. Osman has had a lot fewer on-ball opportunities and has been used more as a spot-up shooter, which is a great thing.
Prior to this game, he was shooting 50 percent from three on 5.3 attempts per game and I fully expect him to bounce back next game. If Osman can keep up this high-level shooting, he may end up being a valuable complementary piece for the young core.