As the season has worn on, Lamar Stevens has had more playing time for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and that’s enabled him to have more of an impact on both ends of the floor.
Injuries have had some to do with that, with Dean Wade, for example, having been out because of a partially torn meniscus, and Wade will miss the rest of the season. Stevens has also been favored it’s seemed over the likes of Cedi Osman, also, but those two both have been in the same bench lineups a number of times, too, for reference, and Osman seems to be back in the rotation.
Either way, it’s been nice to see Stevens get more playing time for the Cavaliers over the past month-plus, in particular, and since then, he’s often answered the bell.
Stevens has had 21.6 minutes per outing in his last 17 appearances, and in that span, he’s averaged 9.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest, and five of those games were starts. Those spot starts came sans Wade and when Caris LeVert was seemingly getting acclimated again upon his return from being sidelined with a foot sprain, for context.
Nonetheless, while there’s others involved, with him having more chances to make things happen in the past month or so, it’s been good to see Stevens as a defensive bright spot for stretches, and he’s made his presence felt on offense.
With that in mind, to me, he should have his share of chances in stretches in Cleveland’s 7-8 play-in game at the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night.
Stevens should have his share of PT for the Cavs in their play-in game versus the Nets on Tuesday night.
It’s not as if Stevens hasn’t had his chunk of minutes lately, as he’s had 23.3 minutes per outing in his last nine appearances. In that span, he’s put up 9.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest, which is almost identical to the aforementioned stretch of his last 17 appearances.
I was a bit puzzled as to why he only had 15 minutes of playing time for Cleveland in the Cavs’ loss to Brooklyn on Friday, though, considering what he’s given the Cavaliers in recent weeks.
That’s not in the realm of him simply being in for garbage time minutes, but he was giving the Cavs a defensive boost, particularly in the Wine and Gold’s third quarter run. And in this play-in game on Tuesday, to me, he should get 21-24 minutes again, as opposed to Friday.
Now, at first glance, Stevens’ statline on Friday night may have seemed minimal to some fans, as he had just two points on 1-of-5 shooting, was 0-of-3 from three-point range. That doesn’t exactly scream out that he was giving the Cavs a notable boost when he was out there.
He missed on a couple of great looks, too, and I don’t dispute that. However, Stevens has provided very good finishing way more frequently over the past month-plus than in that instance, and he’s consistently found ways to contribute as an off-ball presence, and while I’m not saying it’s been at high volume, he can create for himself here and there in spurts.
In addition to that, Stevens is a player that the Cavaliers can put on Kevin Durant, and can at least make him work more than some others. There will still be plenty of attention drawn to Durant anyway, but even with it not being for a ton of the time, Stevens did have success in spurts on Friday as the primary defender. And with some help in driving lanes, and Evan Mobley, I’d like to see Stevens get more opportunities on Tuesday on Durant.
Granted, I get that the play with both Stevens and Isaac Okoro likely won’t be a high number of minutes, along with Mobley seemingly in the mix, too, but in my opinion, given Okoro’s offensive woes lately, I do believe Cleveland could increase Stevens’ minutes and reduce Okoro’s a bit.
I acknowledge that the Cavs will have Okoro out there still a bunch as a primary defender on Irving, in fairness.
Even still, I just personally think with how Stevens has been playing in recent weeks, in which he’s gotten more time in there, and with him feasibly being able to guard Irving a bit as well with Cleveland mixing in some zone as an aside, I’d imagine, he should get more play here than he did on Friday. In his PT then, he was a plus-2, and I thought should’ve had more chances.
Maybe I end up being wrong with that thought process heading into Tuesday night, but that would appear to be something that could prove worthwhile here regarding him potentially having more PT than then. That’s with how Stevens also has found ways to be in fortuitous spots as a cutter on offense, has gotten some putbacks, and with how he can make plays at times getting through gaps as a driver.
Circling back, though, I get that others are involved, and perhaps there ends up being a similar number of minutes for Stevens as that 15 that he had in the last Nets game. It’s just something I’ll be watching on Tuesday night, and if Cleveland loses, maybe in their second play-in game for the 8 seed in that instance.