In a game that was incredibly exciting, yet undeniably frustrating, the Cleveland Cavaliers toppled the Indiana Pacers Tuesday night in Indianapolis, 127-124. Yes, it was a high-scoring affair, and no it did not go into overtime. But, we can get to that in a minute.
The game changed leads multiple times down the stretch, and Darius Garland led the way in the scoring department. He scored four of the Cavs’ final five points, on the way to a career-high 41-point performance. He was not alone on the offensive end, with Rookie of the Year favorite Evan Mobley pitching in with 20 points and 12 rebounds on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor.
The win pushed the Cavaliers record to 38-27 on the year, which is still good for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Only five-and-a-half games separate the Cavaliers and the Miami Heat at the top of the standings.
A win is a win, especially this late in the year, so the Cavs will undoubtedly leave Indiana happy. However, Cleveland continued to struggle on the defensive end of the floor. They’ve given up over 100 points in four of their last five games, and haven’t been close to the same defensive unit we’ve seen much of the season thus far. On top of that, three of those aforementioned games have been losses, with Tuesday night’s being the only win.
On the plus side, when it mattered most, the Cavs showed up and put the clamps down on the Pacers. So, without further ado, let’s get into our two studs and a dud from last night’s exciting win.
Cavs stud: Lamar Stevens
I would be the first to admit that I really haven’t been a fan of Lamar Stevens throughout the course of the season. With that being said, whenever he’s on the court, good things tend to happen. I don’t really know how to explain it, but take the end of the third quarter for example.
With just over two minutes left in the third quarter, the Pacers’ Jalen Smith hit a three-pointer to put Indiana up 94-86. On the other end, Stevens tips in a rebound off a miss to keep the Cavs within six. The Pacers would then come down to hit another triple, putting them up 97-88 with about a minute-and-a-half to go in the quarter. Stevens then took a bad shot on the ensuing possession and missed.
However, he made up for that with a big block on Chris Duarte’s shot attempt to keep the Cavaliers within single-digits of the Pacers. Finally, Stevens and Garland ran a perfectly executed back door cut and Stevens slammed home the final points of the quarter to cut the Indiana lead to eight (at roughly the 6:00 mark in the above clip).
I could go on to say that he would come out and make the first basket of the fourth quarter, but I think you get the point. Stevens plays incredibly hard and is very athletic. Yes, he’ll make some dumb mistakes, and force some bad shots, but in the end he’s an asset to the team more often than not, as evidenced by his huge block in the closing moments.
The only further proof you should need is that behind Garland, who was a crazy +18 last night, Stevens was the second-highest Cavalier at +12.
Obvious Cavs stud: Darius Garland
Look, I’ll make this one pretty short and sweet because pretty much every game Darius Garland is the best player on the court. Last night he did it all once again. He finished with that career-high 41 points, 13 assists, and five rebounds. It’s about time we start hearing about Garland when talking about the NBA MVP.
If you would have told any NBA analyst, or regular fan for that matter, that the Cavs would be fighting for a top four seed in the Eastern Conference, this late in the year, they would have laughed at you. A lot of it has to do with Garland’s rise as one of the best point guards in the entire NBA.
In my eyes, he seems to have taken his game to another level, following the All-Star break. Not only is he dealing with his own back problems, but he has a lot of weight on his shoulders, especially with Caris LeVert and now Jarrett Allen out. Garland is now leaned on to take and make more shots, as well as be the primary ball-handler.
It can’t be easy, yet he seems to have embraced, and starred in the role already. His confidence is sky-high, considering he was hearing it from Indiana fans all night, yet he was the one blowing kisses in their direction.
Finally, Garland really has the look, skill set, and insane finishing ability as another guy the Cavs drafted in 2011 NBA Draft, Kyrie Irving. Irving is still the king when it comes to finishing around the rim in my book, but some of the buckets Garland put down Tuesday were outright silly. He really could be the most entertaining player in the NBA today.
Cavs dud: The defense for much of the game
As I alluded to before, the Cavaliers defense has been pretty bad lately. Giving up 124 points to any team is pretty bad, but giving that many points up to the league’s 18th-rated offense is something that would have been crazy before the All-Star break. The Pacers shot a scorching 16-of-32 from three, and on top of that, they shot nearly 54% from the field. Granted, it’s not every day Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield combine to go 8-of-11 from three, but still the defense needs to improve.
When the defense begins to improve, the offense only gets better. With Allen out, it will be up to Mobley to hold down the paint. Tonight he did well with 12 boards, and a block. After tonight’s defensive performance, it should be getting very hard for head coach J.B. Bickerstaff to deny Lamar Stevens more minutes.
Even though the dud last night was assuredly the defense, there still seems to be a lot of times where the offense gets stagnant. When the offense isn’t scoring, it becomes increasingly hard to continue to put the clamps on the opposition. However, in my opinion the Cavs best offense comes from great defense.
The Cavaliers roster is filled with guys like Isaac Okoro, Lauri Markkanen, and even Dean Wade, who are great in the open floor. On top of that, Darius Garland has become quite the wizard with the ball on the break. So when Okoro is shutting down a ball-handler on the perimeter, forcing a contested shot, it gives Mobley a great look at the rebound, then the outlet pass to get the move going. Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing Mobley run the break when Garland is not on the floor.
I could go on and on about how exciting the Cavs offense has been at times, and how it can be much better, but it all starts with the defense. Even without Jarrett Allen in the lineup (unfortunately indefinitely), the Cavaliers are a much better team than the Pacers.
So like I said, a win is a win, but let’s learn some things about last night’s outcome. The good, and the bad.