1 stud and 1 dud for Cavs in convincing win over Knicks on Saturday

Cavs dud: Brandon Goodwin

By design, we have to hand out a dud for the Cavaliers in these, when it be for the team, or a player, and this go-round, I’m going with Brandon Goodwin for that designation.

Goodwin, on a number of occasions, has done quality work as a two-way contributor for the Cavaliers filling in some for Darius Garland, but at times, as is going to be the case for primarily bench guys, he didn’t have it this go-round.

Goodwin only had 10 minutes of playing time, and I’m not going to crush the dude, honestly, and him not being available for the postseason, with his deal not being converted to a standard contract, is still a bit odd to me. The recently-converted RJ Nembhard’s shot creation potential, and if Rajon Rondo can get healthy for a postseason run, conversely, is the other side of the coin, however, so I guess I do get that.

Anyhow, in this Knicks game, Goodwin didn’t seem to be able to make much of an impact or have much going, albeit in his brief time out there. In his 10 minutes, he was 1-of-2 shooting for two points, and had a steal, but seemed to be in compromising possessions a few times and had a turnover.

Objectively, on offense, he didn’t appear to be getting to his spots to create productive ball-swings, and the ball unfortunately was not hopping as we have seen in other instances with him in there. That sort of thing was likely why Goodwin was a minus-8 in his 10 minutes.

I’m not going to read too much into this from him, still. For two-way guys, you have to expect some rough outings. And Goodwin has had his share of solid games.

For the Cavaliers, this one was a quality game to build on, but Sunday night will be a tough one again. Joel Embiid, James Harden and the Philadelphia 76ers are next up for Cleveland, with both teams on the tail end of a back-to-back. Maybe the Cavs can steal one and avoid a regular season sweep from Philly; even that is difficult to forecast, still.