One stud and one dud for Cavs in loss to Grizzlies on Tuesday

This season for head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and the Cleveland Cavaliers started off incredibly well. Before COVID-19 outbreaks forced the NBA to move games and caused players to miss multiple games, the Cavaliers were playing well, and sat as high as third place in the Eastern Conference over the past couple of weeks. However, they now find themselves having lost four of the last five games and searching for answers on both sides of the court. Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen are just four of the Cavalier players that missed at least some time in the last couple of weeks.

On Tuesday night, the Cavaliers got Darius Garland back from the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocols at the perfect time, as the Cavs took on Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Unfortunately, Cleveland lost a nail biter 110-106. Ja Morant paced the Grizzlies with 26 points and Jaren Jackson Jr. also put up 22 points for them. For the Cavaliers, Garland was the high scorer with 27, while Rookie of the Year candidate Evan Mobley pitched in 17 points for the home team.

It was another tough loss, and things don’t get much easier as the Cavs will head out West for a road trip in the coming days. On the plus side, the Cavs offense is finally coming alive and as long as they can stay healthy, they should be in the playoff mix throughout the entire season.

As I said previously, Garland paced the Cavs with 27, but Jarrett Allen was the most important contributor as he put up a another double-double last night. But, before we get into the Cavs’ upcoming road trip, let’s take a look at one stud and one dud from last night’s loss to the Grizzles.