Cavs: 2 studs and 2 duds in tough loss to Celtics on Monday

It’s not often in the NBA that two teams play back-to-back games at the same venue over three days, but that’s what the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics did over this extended weekend in Cleveland. The Cavs weren’t able to pull out their second win against Boston on Monday night, instead they lost 98-92.

After their first encounter on Saturday, where the Cavs stormed back from a 19-point deficit to win the game in the closing moments, this latest game was a defensive slugfest in the first half. The Cavs were up 39-37 at the break. The second half saw the Celtics start to take control. However, the Wine and Gold fought back late only to come up short in the end.

There were several decent performances by the Cavs in the game despite the team missing several key players again. Cleveland wing Isaac Okoro had 10 points in the first half, which was the most points he’s had in any game this year. Cavs guard Darius Garland also added nine points in the half. In the second half guard Ricky Rubio came alive, scoring several times to help keep the Cavs in the game. He finished with 28 points on the night.

The bench play got support by little-used Denzel Valentine too in the first half where he connected on two three-pointers. Other bench superstar, Cedi Osman, also had another nine points early on to set the tone for the game early. He continued that great game in the second half. More on that in a minute.

Considering the team was without big man Jarrett Allen, and also Lauri Markkanen, Kevin Love and Collin Sexton on the evening, it realty was a testament on far this team has come and what bright future they still have to come.

So let’s look a little closer at the Cavs studs and duds on the night.

Cavs double studs

Both Ricky Rubio and Cedi Osman almost collectively brought the Cavs back late in this game. Rubio finished with 28 points, going four-for-eight from the three-point line. He was forcing the issue too, going six-for-seven from the free throw line and making the Celtic defenders work all night.

Rubio’s handling of the game down the stretch was a lot of fun to watch. His understanding on what to do late and to draw fouls on the opponent was realty smart and gave the team a chance. With so many players out in this game, the Cavaliers were limited in their offensive game but had several chances late to take the lead but just couldn’t execute.

Osman again came to play and almost worked his magic late again as he kept hitting three-pointers. He finished by making six of them and ended up with 26 points. His energy and trying to get the Cavaliers home crowd in the game as well and again that was a factor in the game late, though this time the team couldn’t quite get all the way back.

Osman is having a great season to date. He’s been very consistent and his confidence and skill set seem to be much better this year. His shooting from deep continues to be impressive. He went 6-for-12 on Monday night and he is now hitting over 40 percent from downtown. That’s well above his 35 percent career average.

Cavs duds

This category is tough to pick out a dud because this Cavalier team tries as a team so hard most nights and even though it was a loss and there were players that didn’t have their best games, the team almost pulled off the win.

Star big man, Evan Mobley, was really struggling on the night. He only had one point all night. He was 0-for-11 from the field. The good thing for Mobley is that he wasn’t shying away from taking the shots. The ball just wasn’t going through the hoop for him on the night. He still added nine boards, five assists and two blocks, so he understands the importance of doing all the other little things even when his shot isn’t falling.

As a last side note, Mobley was reportedly “tangled up,” seemingly regarding his elbow, and barely played in the fourth quarter, so we’ll have to see as far as updates. Hopefully he’s fine, but as of Monday postgame, Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff did not initially converse with the trainers yet; a further update came though, in what was deemed as a right elbow sprain, per Evan Dammarell of Fear The Sword and the “Locked On Cavs” podcast.

Per a report from Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, Mobley will seemingly have an MRI on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Cavs forward Dean Wade, who’s been subbing for Lauri Markkanen, as he’s been absent due to COVID-19 protocols, got the start again. Despite playing 35 minutes he didn’t score.

Again Wade does a lot of little things that make him a great defender but in this game, where all the big men were out of the game, the team really needed points from the former Kansas State star. He did add eight boards on the night, however, late in the game, Wade had two open looks at three-pointers to tie the game and missed both.

Now the Cavs will head to Brooklyn to play the Nets on Wednesday evening. Being 9-6 after 15 games is really a great start to a season that the Cavaliers weren’t expected to be that good.

With much more attention being thrown their way over the last few weeks it will be interesting to see how the team responds. It would help to get some of their injured players back as well.