Cleveland Cavaliers Player of the Week for Jan. 31-Feb. 6

This past week’s slate turned out to be another quality one for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were without emerging star lead guard Darius Garland because of back soreness.

Garland has taken his game to another level this season with 19.8 points and 8.2 assists per contest, but when he’s out, the Cavs have had some rough lulls, admittedly. With the team being without Collin Sexton (likely) and Ricky Rubio the rest of the season, it’s understandable that the Cavs has been seeking perimeter/wing help, too.

The club was reportedly trying to trade for the Indiana Pacers’ Caris LeVert, and seemingly Ricky Rubio’s expiring deal and draft capital was a potential framework for trades for perimeter help, for context.

With that having been rumored, and the team being linked to LeVert for some time, it was no shock to see Cleveland end up trading for LeVert and a 2022 second-round pick on Sunday for Rubio, a lottery-protected first and two seconds, either. You can view more on the further details here, anyway.

Looking back at these recent games with Garland out, though, in relation to this past week, the Cavaliers did find ways to go 3-1, and it was good to see them rebound after a disappointing loss to the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 30.

It wasn’t easy for the Wine and Gold in two of those Ws, as they had to scratch and claw to beat the New Orleans on Monday and their game at the Charlotte Hornets on Friday did involve a blown fourth quarter lead, but they got it done. I’m not getting into the ref miscommunication in that Charlotte game on that four-point play at this time, for what it’s worth. After that one, the Cavs beat the Pacers, LeVert’s now-former team, on Sunday to close out the week.

So who was the standout performer for the Cavaliers, then? I’m going to have to go with Kevin Love once again.

Love is my Cavs Player of the Week for Jan. 31-Feb. 6, with this being the second week in a row for him.

We’ve hit on it ad nauseam here at KJG, but Love as a go-to guy in a shift to a reserve role for Cleveland this season continues to be the gift that keeps on giving.

In this last week’s slate, he had a team-high 20.0 points per contest, and while he was largely off in the lost to the Houston Rockets going 8-of-20, and 1-of-7 from three, on the week, he connected on 37.8 percent from three.

In Cleveland’s last two wins over Charlotte and Indiana on Friday and Sunday, Love brought a much needed spark in his reserve minutes for the Wine and Gold, too. He was on a major heater for stretches in that Charlotte game, where he had 25 points, and connected on six big three-point shots, and had nine rebounds. He was a team-high plus-12 then as well.

Against Indy, a game where the Cavs chipped away into a 20-point deficit in the second and third quarters, Love and Cedi Osman were the key catalysts for Cleveland in a huge fourth quarter surge, too.

They had 19 and 22 points, respectively, and they combined for 27 then, and went 7-of-9 from deep in that stretch, which was the main reason for the Cavs at point having a 22-3 run. The Cavaliers then went on to win 98-85, and Osman, as quite a footnote, had 18 fourth quarter points, which were the most points in a single quarter for a Cav since LeBron James in 2018.

As we touched on, though, with what he provided in this past week, and with his work on the boards, I have to go with Love as the Player of the Week for Jan. 31-Feb. 6. He had the game-winning free throws at the Hornets with 1.2 seconds left, too, and in these last four outings, was a team-high plus-9.8.

Regarding other notable performers, Jarrett Allen comes to mind of course, and even with his struggles from the field in it, I do give Osman his credit for having a career-best 12 assists in a de facto lead guard spot start versus New Orleans.

In Allen’s case, he had a career-best 29 points and 22 huge rebounds at Charlotte, 15 points and 17 rebounds against Indy, and 16 points and eight boards versus the Pelicans. The Fro also was very active in crucial stretches on the defensive end, which gave Cleveland a lift.

And last but not least, I’m not glossing over Evan Mobley’s contributions, nor Dean Wade, Isaac Okoro and Lamar Stevens’ defensively, but I have to give Brandon Goodwin a shoutout, too.

The way-way guy in Goodwin had a tough game versus Indy, as he had two assists to three turnovers in 16 minutes, however, even with his struggles inside the arc, he did hit four big threes at Charlotte, to go with a career-best nine assists. I don’t read much into his five turnovers, given what he provided in other ways, and he had a career-high four steals, also.

Goodwin had eight assists at Houston, and tied a career-best with 21 points versus the Pels as well, so sans Garland, it was an encouraging week from him overall.

In general, though, props to Love for being the standout performer for Cleveland this past week.