This past week go ideally for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who closed out the 2021-22 regular season going 1-2. The Cavaliers found a way to get right back into the thick of it on Friday night at the Brooklyn Nets before ultimately falling to Brooklyn behind sorcery from Kevin Durant, and the Cavaliers seemingly ran out of gas in the fourth quarter in that one.
The Cavs cruised on Sunday afternoon with the Milwaukee Bucks seemingly resting their big guns, and the Wine and Gold did what they had to do, and were up 33 at halftime.
Prior to these last two losses for Cleveland, though, their loss to the Orlando Magic was really disappointing, particularly with the Magic very shorthanded in that contest. Orlando is a club in the early stages of a full-rebuild, so that one was head-scratching.
After the conclusion of the regular season for the NBA on Sunday, it’s been set that the Cavs are the #8 seed in the play-in tournament, and will face the Nets again on the road on Tuesday. It’s been an unfortunate fall from grace for the Cavaliers in recent weeks, and over the course of the past month-plus.
That being said, they’ve had key injuries throughout the season, and not having Jarrett Allen since March 6 (fractured finger) hasn’t helped. Let’s not gloss over Caris LeVert missing the first nine games post-All-Star break (foot sprain), either, and this isn’t even getting into the Collin Sexton/Ricky Rubio injuries earlier on.
In any case, even with the closing week not going how the Cavaliers would’ve hoped necessarily, there still were some positives, and the Cavs luckily still will have two chances in the play-in tournament. And looking onward, the arrow is pointing up for this Wine and Gold squad, no matter what transpires in the play-in tourney.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the standout for the Cavaliers in this past closing week of the regular season here.
The Cavs Player of the Week for the closing of the 2021-22 regular season was Darius Garland, who continues to shine in his third season.
I could go on and on about Darius Garland, who has been incredible this season in a breakout year. I’ll stick to a couple of great performances for this week, though, and honestly, I’m not going to get much into Sunday’s game from a Cavaliers perspective.
I’ll be the first to admit, as a side note. Cleveland’s loss at Orlando stunk. There’s no way to sugarcoat that one.
But Garland was still outstanding then, particularly in the second half, when he had 21 points and his dazzling drives were something else. He finished with 27 points then, to go with 10 assists.
From there, he had 31 points of 12-of-24 shooting, including 3-of-6 from three in the loss to Brooklyn.
He and the Cavs eventually ran out of gas with what it took to fight their way back and take the lead, but Garland’s shot-making and driving capabilities brought the Cavs back, largely. Rest assured, in big moments, it’s not as if Garland hasn’t delivered, even with the Cavs’ inconsistencies as a whole, no matter the injuries/lineup situation, etc.
I’d expect huge things from him in the play-in and/or moving forward, too.
Regarding other notable performers from this last week of the 2021-22 regular season, Lauri Markkanen was a bright spot from the Orlando loss also, and had 25 points, and knocked in six triples.
He had foul trouble in Brooklyn, and had five fouls then, however, he did have a decent showing offensively, and had 17 points. The foul trouble then did hurt his rhythm as the game progressed it seemed to some degree, though.
Along with that, while fouling in helping give some primary coverage on Kevin Durant hurt, Caris LeVert did do alright at Brooklyn, finishing with 16 points, and registered eight free throws, which he hit six of. He also tacked on four assists then, and had six at Orlando. To me, he’s starting to find his balance more with the Cavs as he’s gotten more acclimated, too.
Involving others, I thought Cedi Osman being re-inserted into the rotation again was meaningful for the Cavs, and I’d imagine he’ll get some legit time in the play-in. He gave Cleveland a spark I thought at the Nets with nine points and two assists in 26 minutes, and was a plus-6. I give Lamar Stevens his share of credit for his recent play, too, and honestly, he probably should’ve had more than 15 minutes at the Nets.
And while I’m never discounting what he does, Evan Mobley was solid on both ends of the floor at Brooklyn in his return from a five-game absence due to an ankle sprain, having 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks. Also, I do give him some credit for taking care of business when he was regularly in against the Bucks, taking advantage on several occasions in the first half against deep bench guys.
To that point, Kevin Love was alright at Brooklyn, although defense was a problem; he had nine points and 10 boards then. But regardless of circumstances, him having 32 points in just 15 minutes on Sunday versus Milwaukee, and hitting eight triples, was pretty insane. He had 10 boards then, too.
Taking all of that into consideration, however, I have to go with Garland as the Cavaliers Player of the Week for the last week of 2021-22 regular season play. Bring on the play-in.