When the news broke earlier this week that the Cavs‘ 2021 first-round draft pick Evan Mobley would be sidelined for up to a month with a sprained elbow, it was heart-breaking for Cavaliers fans. Before the injury in the loss to the Celtics on Monday night, Cleveland had won six of their last seven games. Including Monday’s loss, the team has now lost two straight with a tough matchup with Golden State coming this evening. So while it is a bit of doom and gloom in Cleveland right now, everything isn’t all bad.
The loss last night to the Brooklyn Nets, their second straight, was an inconsistent roller coaster. At the half, Steve Nash’s squad was up 62-41 and had looked rather dominant against an injury-ridden Cavs team. However, by the end of the third quarter, Cleveland had mounted a comeback and was looking to pull out an upset.
Unfortunately, James Harden was just too tough to handle down the stretch and the Cavs fell to 9-7. Now if the playoffs started today the Cavs would slot into the six seed, and face off with Chicago in the first round.
The short-handed Cavs lost to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night. Who stood out, for good and for ill?
Overall the Cavs have still been a pleasant surprise so far this season, and there’s reason to believe in the future. However, they can’t continue to play like they did last night and expect to stay in the playoff race. So while it was a loss, there were some bright spots. Let’s take a dive into two studs and one dud from the loss last night.