2 Cavs players that have found their rhythm of late

#1: Lamar Stevens

I’m not discounting the efforts of Garland (regardless of him being off from three of late), but I have to give Stevens a shoutout for his recent efforts.

With Dean Wade unfortunately suffering a partially torn meniscus and being sidelined for the rest of the season, Stevens has had some starts lately, and he’s done a pretty solid job, all things considered.

Stevens is not going to be a crucial offensive focal point, generally speaking, in his minutes, but he can create some for himself offensively via drives in catch-and-go instances and in transition, and his finishing at the rim has been impressive.

In Stevens’ last seven games, four of which have been starts, he’s had 11.7 points in 23.3 minutes per outing, and has hit 59.6 percent of his shots. That’s been on a volume of 8.1 attempts per appearance.

Along with that, even with the volume not being high at 1.0 per game, which is how it’s going to be with Stevens, no matter the minutes-share seemingly, Stevens has hit 57.1 percent from three in that span. Nobody’s going to refer to Stevens as a floor spacer any time soon, but his catch-and-shoot progression over the course of his second season, when the opportunities have come, has been meaningful.

And while his defense, physicality and toughness are going to be the selling points for him for minutes from here, and potentially for some in the playoffs, Stevens’ mid-range abilities at times have been jumped out, too.

There still are going to be some rough stretches at times for Stevens, admittedly, but his recent play has been a positive for Cleveland, and he’s looked pretty comfortable, more often than not.

For originally a two-way player that was an undrafted signing following the 2020 NBA Draft, Stevens has turned out to be a nice rotational player for the Cavaliers that could stick around next season and maybe beyond, also as a prominent locker room presence.