1 stud and 1 dud for Cavs from their win over Pistons on Saturday

Cavs dud versus Pistons on Saturday: Lauri Markkanen

He’s been playing really well for the Cavaliers, for the most part, since returning from an 11-game absence due to a high ankle sprain. However, I have to go with Lauri Markkanen as the Cavaliers dud from this Pistons game on Saturday night.

Markkanen has been shooting the ball at a great clip in recent weeks, and for most of this post-All-Star break stretch for Cleveland, as evidenced by a 37.5 percent clip from deep in his 11 appearances. He’s had 16.7 points per outing in that stretch as well, and has definitely settled in and gotten a solid rhythm down since returning from injury.

There still are some really rough nights for Markkanen, either way, though, and Saturday versus the Pistons was one of those.

Lauri only got eight shots from the field up, and made three of those, leading to a 37.5 percent not three-point, but overall shooting clip. He only registered two free throw attempts in this one, from there.

Needless to say, this was not Markkanen’s night. And at the other end, he was often out of position defensively, albeit in some compromising positions.

In fairness, Markkanen was big-time for Cleveland in their W against Denver in that OT win on Friday night with a season-high 31 points in that one, and he was a plus-21 in that contest, so in this second leg of a back-to-back, I’m giving the dude some slack.

Anyway, hopefully the Cavs can keep this winning going once again on Monday against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. I’d expect Markkanen to rebound in that one.