
It’s safe to say that this was anything but a stellar week for the Cleveland Cavaliers, in what was their first full week’s slate following the All-Star break.
Cleveland lost three of its four games this past week, with the low point being a blowout loss to the Charlotte Hornets. The defensive end for the Cavs, which has been this teams’ calling card for most of the season, has been so underwhelming in recent weeks, dating back to before the All-Star festivities held in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers have often been falling behind in this stretch, which has made sustained success for stretches obviously difficult, and they have to find ways to start better.
In fairness, backcourt injuries of late haven’t helped the Cavaliers’ cause. Darius Garland missed Cleveland’s first three post-All-Star break games, and Caris LeVert is yet to play since the break. Rajon Rondo has missed five of the six games, too.
LeVert and Rondo could seemingly be back soon, though, which should help, I’d imagine, and alleviate some pressure on Garland.
Less live-ball turnovers from the group overall will need to be a point of emphasis moving forward, either way, to help the defense get back on track, as an aside.
All of that said, there were some positives from this past week, as Cedi Osman and Jarrett Allen played well, and Garland himself looked great.
In that realm, regarding the Cavs standout, it was clearly Garland, who hopefully can be involved in most games looking onward.
Garland was the Cavs standout for the rest of the past week after that loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and we know how valuable he is for Cleveland.
I’m not discounting what Garland did in that loss to the Timberwolves on Monday, which helped get the team back in it, along with Kevin Love’s 26 points off the bench. Here, we’re going to highlight the last three contests for Cleveland, though, whereas Cedi Osman was the Cavs standout for that initial slate of post-All-Star games.