1 stud and 1 dud for the Cavs in their win over the Blazers on Friday

Cavs dud versus the Blazers on Friday: Lamar Stevens

It’s hard to look at the bad in a comfortable win but considering Lamar Stevens‘ rough night, it should be discussed. On the day that his contract became fully guaranteed for the rest of the season, Lamar had a pretty forgettable game against the Trail Blazers. In 16 minutes of play, Stevens had just three points, shooting one-of-five from the field and splitting his only free throw attempts.

An elbow sprain to Isaac Okoro has caused Lamar Stevens to occupy the starting shooting guard spot and so far, the change has been not so good. Despite both Stevens and Okoro having similar body types, the lack of burst from Stevens that Okoro possesses is obvious. For Stevens, if the shot isn’t falling, the offensive flow tends to worsen, which makes it easier for teams to really close in on Garland.

Defensively, Stevens also doesn’t have the same prowess or energy on this end that Okoro does and may project as a better team defender than on-ball one.

Overall, Stevens is much better as an energy guy and hopefully he can return back to the role where he had found much success in when Okoro returns.

Looking into the future for the Cavaliers, they have a date with the Golden State Warriors in a game that is the much-anticipated return of Klay Thompson. After that game, the Cavs look to have a four-game stretch that includes the Sacramento Kings on Monday, a Utah Jazz team that projects to be without Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, and Mike Conley on Wednesday, the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, and finishing off with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.

It’s games like these that’ll be most important to the Cavaliers in terms of seeding and it should be fun to see how the team fares.