Star power was difference in L to Nets, but Cavs should feel fine

The Cleveland Cavaliers, just like in Friday’s game, were crushed in the first quarter on Tuesday at the Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference #7-8 play-in game. Brooklyn was up by 20 points after the opening period over Cleveland, and after the first half, held a 57-43 lead.

Between the two, the superstar duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving missed just one shot from the field in the first half. Durant was 4-of-5 and Irving was a perfect 6-of-6, and Irving was at one point an absurd 12-of-12 from the field.

In Irving’s case, he finished with 34 pints on 12-of-15 shooting, and he had 13 assists to go with that scoring production. Durant, from there, had 25 points, and had 11 assists himself, with both of those players hitting cutters and rollers on a bunch of occasions, and those played a role in the Cavaliers’ demise.

On the plus side, though, even with the horrendous first quarter for the Cavs, and with them losing to the Nets in Tuesday’s 7-8 play-in game, there’s reason for optimism. The Cavs will face the winner of Wednesday’s 9-10 play-in game between the Charlotte Hornets and Atlanta Hawks, and in turn, will have another shot at making the postseason.

But there were positives from Tuesday’s loss to the Nets, too, regarding that last outing. That plays into why the Cavaliers should be confident heading into Friday, whether that’s against the Hornets or Hawks.

Star power was the difference for the Nets, but the Cavs should feel fine even after their loss in the 7-8 play-in game.

It’s tough to say right now whether or not Jarrett Allen (fractured finger recovery) will be back on Friday in the #8 seed play-in game. That’s a tricky injury at this point, and while he could seemingly be back then, or in the postseason after that versus the top-seeded Miami Heat, I’m not necessarily expecting to see Allen back.

Still, I thought there were some good things to take from Cleveland’s loss on Tuesday to Brooklyn. Yes, the Cavs were obliterated in the first quarter, and Brooklyn was on fire then, and in plenty of times throughout the contest overall, Irving and Bruce Brown (8 assists) took advantage as playmakers throwing lobs and dumpoffs to rollers such as Nic Claxton and Andre Drummond. Claxton, for reference, was 6-of-6 from the field, with most being dunks.

That said, the Cavaliers did have more defensive success in the second quarter, and at least in the third and some in the fourth, did make the Nets make very difficult shots. Granted, with Irving and Durant’s shot-making capabilities, they still did end up with 34 and 25 points, respectively, and both shot a ridiculous and 80.0 and 56.3 percent, with both getting to mid-range looks.

However, some of the shots those two were making were again, very difficult looks, and though Cleveland needs to clean up some of the interior rotations, the rotations to catch-and-shoot threats were better, and that’s something I think they can build on.

Now, we’ll see what plays out with Isaac Okoro‘s minutes again on Friday, as he only had 13 of them, and Rajon Rondo played a bunch even with Darius Garland, and was off from three, but did have nine assists in 26 minutes, and was a plus-2.

Anyway, while I’d like to see Lamar Stevens get more than 7 minutes on Friday and/or in postseason play from here, another positive other than the Cavs fighting back to cut the Nets’ lead to six multiple times was how Evan Mobley and Darius Garland did.

Both had some mistakes, assuredly, and there were miscommunications on dumpoffs for Drummond early on, in particular, but Mobley in his first quasi-postseason game finished out well. He was a minus-3, which wasn’t terrible, and even with five fouls, I thought was opportunistic offensively off-ball, and made some plays for himself on the interior, leading to 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting, and he altered still several shots. He tacked on 2 blocks, too.

That play-in performance was very solid, all things considered, for the 20-year-old, who has had a terrific Year 1. And as we noted, Garland made his imprint, as is customary.

Sure, the first half was far from ideal for Garland, and Caris LeVert as a finisher, for that matter, but Garland eventually got it going, and was really feeling it for much of the second half. He ended up with 34 points on 13-of-24 shooting and five assists, and made a couple of heady off-ball plays, leading to two steals.

In fairness, Garland was pressing to begin the game, and had six turnovers. Brooklyn capitalized on Cleveland’s turnovers a bunch in that one as well, whereas the Cavs didn’t, conversely.

But overall, while the Cavs did end up losing by 7, and Durant and Irving did what they’ve shown they do so often in big games with their star power, the Wine and Gold should honestly feel fine after that game. Kevin Love played well, too, with a double-double, as an aside, and he can again be a player the Cavaliers turn to as a veteran bench presence, and leader when in there and in helping keep the guys more relaxed on the bench in-game.

There’s reason to be disappointed from Tuesday’s result, as I’m sure some fans are. From my perspective at least, though, with how the Cavs didn’t fold, stayed the course seemingly, and with how Garland and Mobley played, it’s not all doom and gloom for Cleveland.

And matter how Friday plays out, and whether or not Allen is available, this season has been successful, to me, anyhow.