3 studs and 2 duds for Cavaliers in their win over Magic on Wednesday

The Cleveland Cavaliers had been getting an All-Star effort in points scored from Donovan Mitchell over the first three games of the season as they came into the game against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday evening. Mitchell wasn’t able to provide another 30-point game as he had in the first three games, but he did involve his teammates with his outstanding passing game as he ended up with eight assists and helped the team win 103-92.

The game was tight at the beginning, but the Cavs were able to start being the better team as they grabbed a 30-24 lead at the close of the first quarter. After that lead the Cavaliers cooled a bit as the young and upcoming Magic team came back to only trail 54-50 at the break. Cleveland would try and pull away again in the second half but every time they extended the lead by eight or nine points, Orlando would bounce back and close to within three or four points.

Without a big scoring game by Mitchell, who finished with only 14 points on 5-of-19 shooting, the team really got many contributions from several other players to pull off the win.

Here are a few studs and two duds from the game that now give the Cavaliers a nice 3-1 record to start the season.

Cavaliers Stud No. 1: Caris LeVert

Caris LeVert didn’t go overboard scoring buckets either, but he did get everyone involved early as he had several assists as he finished with 10 points and had six assists. When the team was looking for a spark early it was his timely dishes to players like Cedi Osman and Dean Wade for three-pointers that got the team rolling, and that sort of playmaking help has carried forward from LeVert. He finished the game as a plus-20 when he was on the floor.

It’s not always the points you score that is the difference and that was very clear with LeVert’s game on Wednesday. He seemed to be everywhere, either being aggressive moving downhill on offense or playing good defense.

Cavaliers Stud No. 2: Dean Wade

Wade got his first start of the season, and he made the most of the opportunity as he finished with 12 points by nailing most of his three-point attempts. He hit two in the first half and helped the team gain the lead early.

He got into early foul trouble but still played 29 minutes and his standard excellent defense was helping as the team pulled away from the Magic in the fourth quarter. Generally good things are happening for the team when Wade is on the floor and that was evident throughout the night in this Cavs’ latest victory.

Cavaliers Stud No. 3: Evan Mobley

Evan Mobley hadn’t had a big offensive game this season until now as he finished with 22 points in this game. He got off to a slow start as he had only a few buckets going into the break. But his contributions increased in the second half.

The active young player struggled a bit on defense, but he made some nice moves around the rim on offense and helped the Cavaliers separate late from the Magic.

Moving along from there, let’s take a look at Cleveland’s two duds.

Cavaliers Dud No. 1: Kevin Love

It was just one of those nights for Kevin Love where nothing was dropping as he went one-for-seven from the field and 0-for-5 from beyond the three-point line. He finished playing 18 minutes, but he just couldn’t get comfortable all night.

Fortunately, players like Dean Wade and Cedi Osman were able to fill the Love void as the team stayed ahead of Orlando for most of the night.

Cavaliers Dud No. 2: Isaac Okoro

Isaac Okoro only got 11 minutes of playing time so he didn’t have much time to produce for his team, but he only finished with two points and was a minus-11 when he was on the court. He was the only Cleveland player with a negative point differential for the game.

It’s been a rough start to the season for Okoro as he’s only registered six total points now in four games while averaging close to 18 minutes a game.

Those type of stats will keep him on the bench.