Before the 2022-2023 NBA season, most around the NBA seemingly thought the Eastern Conference was the tougher of the two conferences, especially at the top. With top teams like the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks bringing back their key players for this season, most thought the Cleveland Cavaliers would have a tough time cracking the top four seeds. Instead, the Cavs have been fantastic since dropping their opener to the Toronto Raptors, as the Wine and Gold have won four straight contests since.
On Friday night in a matchup with last year’s Eastern Conference Champions, the Boston Celtics, the Cavs showed the rest of the NBA that they meant business. After digging themselves into a 13-point halftime deficit, and at one point being down by 15 points, Cleveland got two strong second half performances by Caris LeVert and Donovan Mitchell to lead them to a comeback 132-123 victory in overtime.
On the night, the Cavaliers were lead in scoring by Mitchell and LeVert, who became the second pair of Cavalier teammates to score 40 points or more in the same game, per NBA History. The first pair? LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals, where each had 41 points.
It was a huge win for the Cavs early in the season, but there are still things that they need to work on to consider themselves a real title threat. That said, let’s take a closer look at the Cavs stud and dud here from this W in Boston.
Cavaliers Stud: Caris LeVert
DId you expect anybody else? Sure, Donovan Mitchell had 41 points as well, but that’s a performance most fans have kind to come to expect from the former Louisville star, who made three All-Star Games in five seasons with the Utah Jazz.
LeVert on the other hand, had his best game in a Cavalier uniform. He scored 41 points, while shooting 12-for-21 from the field, and a scorching hot, 6-of-8 from deep.
The former Michigan Wolverine wasn’t just an offensive star last night, he contributed to all facets of the game. LeVert had seven assists and four rebounds, while also coming up huge on the defensive end with three steals. LeVert was on fire on Friday night, and it showed in the closing minutes of regulation and overtime.
The defining moment from LeVert came when the Cavs were down 112-110 with just under two minutes to remain in regulation. Donovan Mitchell missed a tough three-point attempt, and LeVert soared out of nowhere to grab the offensive rebound. However, instead of taking the conservative approach, he popped out to the three point line, and hit a three-pointer that put the Cavaliers up by 1.
This was by far LeVert’s best game in a Cavalier uniform, and it came at the perfect time, particularly with Darius Garland still out with an eye injury.
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.