The past two games have not been the best for the Cleveland Cavaliers. On Sunday night, they fell to a very bad Detroit Pistons team 115-105 in what was an inexcusable loss, where the fourth quarter of that one was especially rough to watch. It was our second look at number one overall pick Cade Cunningham this season, who looks to be the key competition for Evan Mobley for the Rookie of the Year, as an aside.
But, the Cavs had to move on quickly as they took on the New Orleans Pelicans Monday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in the second leg of their latest back-to-back.
In one of the ugliest games you’ll watch this season, putting it simply, the Cavs came back in the second half to beat the Pelicans 93-90. The Cavaliers were trailing for the majority of the game, but pulled out the home victory in front of a good crowd, which has the squad currently at 31-20 on the season. They held firm at fourth in the Eastern Conference.
With that being said, this was not the prettiest win, to say the least. It was a struggle for the home team was much of the way.
Brandon Goodwin and Cedi Osman, the latter of whom started at point guard actually, had noteworthy games, as Goodwin tied a career-high in scoring with 21 points and Osman had a career-best with 12 assists.
But let’s take a look at the stud and dud from last night’s comeback win from here.
Cavs stud: The bench
The Cavs certainly needed some players to step up after they got word point guard Darius Garland would be out for the last night’s game, due to lower back soreness. The starters did not come out ready to play, but the bench made up for it with a huge game.
Overall, the Cavs bench consisted of Kevin Love, Brandon Goodwin, Lamar Stevens, and Rajon Rondo. Love was once again brilliant coming off the bench. He shot 6-for-15 from the field and 3-for-8 from three. He also collected 11 rebounds. While Love’s play was great, the real spotlight in the win should be on point guard Brandon Goodwin.
The young man out of “Dunk City,” or as it’s really known, Florida Gulf Coast, had a wonderful outing last night. When the Cavs needed someone to step up in Garland’s absence, Goodwin was that guy. He was 8-for-11 from the field, including 3-for-4 from deep for, as we noted, 21 points, which tied a career-high.
If anything, this game showed that the Cavs need try and make a move at the deadline, though. The team just can’t self-destruct without it’s point guard Darius Garland.
So with that being said, it was a good sign from the bench, and an even better sign for two-way contributor Goodwin, who I would think has cemented himself some playing time in head coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s rotation.
Cavs dud: Slow starts
This was now the second game in a row that the Cavs starters came out looking like they just woke up from a nap, aside from the very beginning of the Detroit game. Their efforts following that were lackluster, largely.
And on Monday, regardless of circumstances, they were outscored 19-17 in the first quarter. It didn’t get better in the second quarter as the Pelicans took a 39-38 lead into the locker room at halftime. Considering this Pelicans team was without Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson, it was an ugly win last night.
However, the Cavaliers offense needs to start avoiding these slow starts. When playoff time comes around, you can’t start any game slowly, or the game will be over before you know it.
I would hope Darius Garland will be back from injury when the Cavs travel to Houston to take on the Rockets on Wednesday. But, that back soreness has to be managed; either way, it’s a little bit telling that without Garland, the Cavs looked terrible last night. It’s concerning watching that team without Garland being the leader on the court with them at all times.
He’s been great this year, and phenomenal, really. Even still, he can’t be on the court all the time. The Cavs need to find other ways to put the ball in the basket consistently off that, or else their hopeful playoff trip will be very short.