Wednesday’s game didn’t result in a win for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first outing of their four-game preseason slate, as the Philadelphia 76ers eventually pulled it out at the end in the fourth quarter. Despite that, it was an encouraging performance from a Cavaliers’ perspective.
The new-look backcourt duo of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell had combined for 28 points and nine assists, with Garland having 12 points and four assists in 15 minutes, and Mitchell having 16 points and five assists in 18 minutes. Garland was four-of-seven from the field (and one-of-one from three), and Mitchell was six-of-nine from the field, which included him going three-of-four from three.
Other guys such as Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade and Raul Neto made their presences felt offensively, as did training camp invite Mamadi Diakite. Diakite had eight points, to go with three blocks and three rebounds, in just 12 minutes. I have to give fellow camp invite Sharife Cooper his credit, too, as he flashed on offense with 11 points in only nine minutes.
Defensively, Lamar Stevens was another standout, aside from Diakite, in my opinion, and Wade was often helping the team. I know, James Harden embarrassed Wade once, but that will happen to anybody.
Something that definitely jumped out on Wednesday from that close loss to Philadelphia, though, was the play of Kevin Love offensively, and I wanted to give him his due here.
Love’s performance on Wednesday at the Sixers was a reminder of how lethal he can still be for these Cavs when he’s in there.
To get the caveat out there, I’m aware this was preseason action for the Wine and Gold. I’m not going to be part of the overreaction crowd here, of which always is out and full at times in preseason among all NBA fan bases. The Cavs are no exception, either.
That said, Love was in a nice rhythm, and while the preseason asterisk was there, of sorts, his flamethrowing, really quick release and shooting impact was on display in his minutes.
Love got the start here with Evan Mobley out with a right ankle sprain; he’s seemingly likely to be available for Cleveland in their regular season opener at the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 19, as an aside. Preseason play for him is an uncertainty for now.
On the Love front, though, the veteran stretch big had nine points on three-of-six shooting, with all of his attempts being from three-point range. He tacked on seven rebounds, all of which were defensive, in his 16 minutes of work.
What resonated with me from his play was, most notably, how in-rhythm he looked in playing off of guys such as Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, and just the ease as to how Love got great looks stood out.
Granted, we should again see Love mostly in a key bench sharpshooting role this season, based on how much success he had in that shift to a bench role last season. Love was the runner-up for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award, and had 13.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, in an average of 22.5 minutes per appearance.
His impact for the Cavs it was minutes was significant, and he should be far more acclimated this go-round. Love’s 187 three-pointers made in 2021-22 was actually the third-most in a single season in Cavaliers history, and his 173 made triples off the bench were the most by a Cavs bench player in a single season.
Now, Love’s not likely going to lead the Cavaliers squad in three-pointers made again this season, with others involved, Mitchell in the fold and Garland’s continued emergence, among other factors.
But, in a key bench role again, I’d imagine, it’s clear that, even with him up there at 34, Love can be a big-time catch-and-shoot and still movement shooter for the Cavaliers, and his presence should help open up the floor for Cleveland’s key on-ball threats. And his flamethrowing in Wednesday’s preseason game at Philly was another reminder of how lethal Love can still be in his minutes.
In fairness, to help preserve him health-wise, and for the team’s outlook overall, it’s still apparent Love should mostly be a bench guy, but for some fill-in starts if needed, he can still aid the group.
Love connected on a healthy 39.2 percent of his three-point attempts last season, and in 2022-23, he should again provide a sizeable bench boost, if he’s mostly healthy.
Maybe if he is once again in that sense, and continually proves he’s a great fit off the bench, he/his representation and the Cavaliers could work out a reasonable deal next offseason. We’ll have to see.