Cavs: One stud and one dud from latest loss to the Brooklyn Nets

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Ricky Rubio, Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by David Richard-USA TODAY Sports) /

Cavs dud: The bench

No, Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff didn’t use his bench much last night. The two regulars off the bench were Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio. Both contributed well.

Love only played 17 minutes but added eight points and 12 rebounds. Rubio had another good outing going for 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. But that was it for the bench. The Cavs bench got outscored 49-24 by the Nets bench. This just points out the biggest deficiency for this Cavs team right now.

With the injuries, the team has pushed forward Dean Wade into the starting lineup. Lauri Markkanen, who returned from COVID-19 health and safety protocols, coming back was a lift. The Cavaliers are still starting Isaac Okoro, in his second year on the team. He had a nice game last night, hitting several three-pointers and going for 15 points, which is a season-high for him. Yet, Okoro, in my opinion, is better suited to come off the bench.

The only other two Cleveland players that came off the bench last night in limited action were Dylan Windler and big man and NBA journeyman Ed Davis. They both were on the floor for eight minutes. That’s not enough time to do much and neither scored or added a rebound.

This is again, where my concerns with Coach Bickerstaff come into play long term. As I recognize the injuries that are hurting this team, at the moment, I still don’t believe he has the best grasp of his players’ strengths and weaknesses. Can this team win and be better than in past seasons? That jury is still out for me.

As much as it’s been fun watching the Cavaliers this season, they are now falling back down to Earth. A year ago, the team was 10-11 at the start of the season. Now they are 9-9. Pretty similar.

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Let’s hope that those devastating losing streaks from a year ago don’t start occurring again this time. The team is on one of those now and the coaches and players need to get on the same page and work even harder if they want to break the cycle of losing.