1 stud and 1 dud for Cavaliers from Friday’s loss to the Warriors
Cavaliers dud: The Bench
Outside of Kevin Love, the bench was pretty non-existent last night. With that being said, even Love wasn’t on his “A” game, finishing with only nine points on 3-of-10 shooting. Cedi Osman continued his cold streak, dropping a goose-egg in the box score on 0-4 shooting, including 0-2 from deep.
The only other Cavalier to get on the court last night was Isaac Okoro, considering Dean Wade was ruled out with knee soreness before the game. In what would seem like a “prove-it” game for Okoro, he only gave Bickerstaff more reason to keep him buried on the bench. In 19 minutes he was 1-5 from the field and finished with a minus-9 in the plus-minus department.
As our own Josh Cornelissen pointed out only two weeks ago, Okoro has been as inept as Russell Westbrook this season, if not worse. And since that point, Westbrook has been much, more effective since being moved to the Lakers bench.
Last night Okoro finished with four points, one rebound, one steal, and five personal fouls. That is not a statline that will get him more minutes. The time for Okoro to prove himself seems to have come and gone, and the Cavaliers need to find a backup plan pretty rapidly.
Overall, whether it be the officials, the bench, or even Bickerstaff, the Cavs are just in a funk. Raul Neto once again did not see the floor last night, making the Cavs guard depth suddenly evaporate. Lamar Stevens on the floor has been a rare sight to see this season, so it’s not time to panic, but Bickerstaff needs to find some answers.
On Sunday, the Timberwolves come into Quicken Loans Arena as the Cavaliers return home from a disappointing mostly-West Coast road trip. The trip started in elegant fashion, but it ended with more questions than answers. Sunday’s game will be a big test for big men Jarrett Allen and Mobley as Rudy Gobert and Karl Anthony-Towns come to town.
Next. Should Cavs sell high on Cedi in this proposed trade for Jae Crowder?. dark
Hopefully the Cavs can get back on the winning side before traveling to Milwaukee on Wednesday night.