The Cleveland Cavaliers seem to have found their groove again this season. They closed out their six-game West Coast road trip last night with a resounding win in Oklahoma City. Down as many as 18 at times in the third quarter, the Cavaliers ended the road trip in style.
Darius Garland had a career-high in assists with 18, and was also the leading scorer for the Cavaliers with 27 points. Rookie of the Year candidate Evan Mobley was held to four points in the first half, but stepped up in a big way in the second half, finishing with 20 points, 16 of them in the second half. It was a solid win for the Cavs as they now head back home, to prepare for the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.
Darius Garland led the way for the Cavs in a comeback victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder last night to close out the road trip.
Garland’s 18 assists proved that he is the clear leader of this young team, and knows when to put the team on his back, and take over a game. The dynamic duo of him and Mobley are looking like a new version of “lob city.” Isaac Okoro was also huge in the fourth quarter, holding Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to only 7-19 shooting, while also turning the ball over three times.
Overall it was a total team effort to close out the long road trip. During the west coast trip, the Cavs played 6 games in six different cities, all in nine days. However, the Cavs need to keep this momentum going and come out prepared for a huge game Monday night versus Kyrie Irving and the Nets.
Stud of The Game: Lauri Markkanen
Lauri Markkanen has been criticized a lot recently, however, last night he came up big in a huge situation. With the Cavs leading 103-102 with only about ten seconds remaining on the game clock, the “Finnisher” took a pass from Garland and launched a three, that found the bottom of the net, to put the Cavs up for good. It was a huge play from the new Cavalier player and showed how important he is to this teams’ success. Last night he came up big in an even bigger spot. Overall, Markkanen had a pretty good road trip and closed it out in style.
Over the course of the six-game west coast adventure, Markkanen seems to have drawn a lot of criticism, which is, if you look at the numbers, very unfair. In the last six games, Markkanen has shot over 50% from the field and connected on over 41% of his three-point attempts.
When Koby Altman made the move to acquire the big man, it was looked at as an underwhelming off-season addition. However, that could not be further from the truth. Markkanen’s size and versatility have allowed the Cavs to play a lot of minutes with their “big” lineup, and a lot of that is because of Markkanen’s versatility. Not a lot of 6’11” players can play the wing, but Markkanen can and he’s been huge for the Cavaliers this season, especially of late.
Dud: Rebounding
Honestly, there weren’t a lot of negative things to point out in last night’s win. However, when you take a look at the stat sheet one number sticks out to you, and that is rebounding. The Cavs were out-rebounded last night 51-37, and that’s the main reason the Thunder kept it close for most of the game. I know rebounding isn’t all about size, but with a front-line of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, they should almost never be out-rebounded.
Allen, for his sake, pitched in the thirteen rebounds and had his 23rd double-double of the season last night, so he isn’t really the problem. Mobley has started out so well that at times it’s hard to criticize the young man, However, he does need to work on his rebounding. With that being said, Mobley is also in charge of protecting the basket so it’s not all on him.
Either way, the Cavs need to find a way to pick up their rebounding numbers, Yes, it was nice to get a comeback win last night, but it never should have been that close. Hopefully, if Markkanen and Mobley add some muscle to their frame, they should then be almost never out-rebounded.
Overall, what a way to end a road trip. Going 5-1 on a six-game road trip is pretty damn impressive for such a young team. In the past, we’ve seen teams crumble because of inexperience on some of these long road trips.
However, it seems like Darius Garland and Kevin Love have become two of the biggest vocal leaders for the Cavs. On top of that, Mobley has been on a tear recently, so they should be able to stay with, if not beat the Nets on Monday. Either way, ending this road trip with a win is a huge morale boost for such a young team.