Just about a week ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers had just defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in LA 114-100. It marked the first time since 2011 that a Cavalier squad had beaten a LeBron James-led team. It was the team’s 8th straight win and gave them a quick stint atop the Eastern Conference. Oh boy how time flies.
On Friday night, five days after the epic win in Los Angeles, the Cavs lost their third straight game to a disappointing Golden State Warriors squad so far, 106-101.
Donovan Mitchell led the Wine and Gold in scoring with 29 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field. Evan Mobley had a solid game, pouring in 20 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in the loss. The Warriors were led by Stephen Curry, who had 40 points, while shooting 6-of-11 from three, and he had 18 points in the fourth quarter.
It was another late-game collapse from J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad, who fell to 8-4 on the season. The loss also dropped the Cavaliers another spot in the standings, slipping to the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. Even Mitchell’s and Mobley’s performances were sloppy, with each player having three turnovers.
Overall it’s another trip in the road for a young team, that has still only played with Darius Garland in just over half of its games. Before we move on to Sunday’s matchup versus a slumping Minnesota Timberwolves squad, let’s take a look at one stud and one dud for the Cavs from Friday night’s collapse.
Cavaliers stud: Evan Mobley
Mobley was simply the best player on the floor for the Cavaliers last night. His 20 points came on 53% shooting from the field. He was a mismatch for the Warrior defense all night, and the Cavaliers were looking for him often on offense. In the first half he used his offensive positioning well and even ran the floor with success.
On the defensive end, and in the rebounding category, Mobley was solid as well. He finished with a team-high 13 rebounds and swatted away two shots, and was particularly active off-ball on that end. In an off night for Jarrett Allen, Mobley made up for it with constant hustle on rebounding opportunities, and smart defensive positioning.
Overall, Mobley is still very much a work in progress. His offensive game is growing game-by-game, and you could see that last night with how he was able to attack defenders off the dribble. He’s also been calling for the ball more in the post area, showing massive improvement from his rookie season, and more so recently, looks to be far more aggressive.
However, his calling card has always been his defense, and it was on display in a good way again last night.
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.
Hopefully the Cavs can get back on the winning side before traveling to Milwaukee on Wednesday night.