1 stud and 1 dud for Cavaliers in thrilling OT win at Celtics on Friday

Cavaliers Dud: The bench

As great as LeVert and Mitchell were last night, the bench unit was the exact opposite for head coach J.B. Bickerstaff. Kevin Love and Cedi Osman both played over 20 minutes off the bench, but did not look as sharp as they have been the rest of the season thus far. After playing lights out to begin the season, Cedi Osman may have fallen back to earth, going 1-for-6 from the field, and 1-for-5 from deep. Love wasn’t much better, finishing with only nine points on the night in 21 minutes.

With all that said, Love and Osman are veterans and they are going to have their ups and downs during the season. However, the only other two Cavaliers to get minutes last night were Raul Neto and Isaac Okoro. The two combined for a total of seven minutes played, while going 1-for-4 from the field in their short stints.

This could become a much larger problem from the Cavaliers down the line. Neto has looked good at times, but he will need to be better to help the Cavs stay with the pack in the conference, while we await the return of Ricky Rubio. On the other end, you have Okoro, who has been downright awful this season, and was again last night. The two combined for a +/- of -21 in their limited roles.

Depth is a major issue for the Cavaliers, with both Rubio and Garland still injured, and Rubio for an extended period. Neto should be able to find his groove at some point, but Okoro might be a different story. It’s his third season in the league, and it’s looking like his worst.

The former Auburn swingman is averaging 1.6 points per game this year, while shooting an abysmal 4-for-23 from the field, including 0-for-8 from three. It sure looks like Okoro might not have been a smart pick, but we have the rest of the season to find out. If he makes it through the season still on the roster, that is.

Overall it was a thrilling game, and the fact that the Cavaliers won, made it much better. Even without their star point guard Darius Garland, the Cavaliers have flourished offensively. Bickerstaff can’t be happy with these defensive performances, but he’ll take them considering they are wins.

The Cavs host the New York Knicks on Sunday evening at 6:00 PM.