1 stud, 1 dud, 1 shrug from Cavs’ agonizing loss to the Clippers

Five games in eight days, all on the road. Four of them in California. Facing off against some of the biggest names in the sport. This was supposed to be a stretch of the schedule that the Cavs aimed high but settled for good efforts and moral victories.

Then they laid waste to their opponents over the first few weeks of the season, demolished the Detroit Pistons without Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland to kick off the road trip and showed LeBron James what a functioning bench looks like. Suddenly, the expectations were sky-high, and against an LA Clippers team that was scuffling to start the season, another big win was ordered off the menu.

The Cleveland Cavaliers let go of the rope in an agonizing loss to LA Clippers. Who on the Cavs was the stud, the dud, and gets a shrug?

That win was all ready to be delivered on Monday night, in the nightcap to a packed 15-game NBA slate. The Cavs were up 111-98 with five minutes to go, with a win expectancy nearly touching the Crypto.com arena. Then something changed: the Cavs went cold, the Clippers started racking up turnovers and free throws, and they closed the game on a 21-6 run to steal the game.

The Cavs let go of the rope, in a way that was reminiscent of a young team not used to these high-pressure moments yet. In the grand scheme of things that’s fine; they lost by two points on the road against a title contender. Yet the Cavs need to focus briefly on the specifics to address the reasons they fell apart.

Let’s highlight the best player for the Cavs on Monday, the player who flashed some serious growth potential, and the player who had his best and worst game of the season against the Clippers. Who were the stud, the dud and the shrug from Monday night’s loss?