1 stud and 1 dud for Cavs from near-comeback against Timberwolves

Prior to their game on Sunday versus the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Cleveland Cavaliers had an underwhelming week. They dropped three straight games at the LA Clippers, Sacramento Kings and then Golden State Warriors to conclude their first lengthy road trip of the year.

The Cavs had rattled off eight consecutive wins prior to that, though, and this group should’ve won in two of those last three games, with losses at the Clippers and at the Warriors being the clear ones in that realm. Either way, heading into their last game on Sunday at home, Cleveland had a chance to right the ship a bit.

Donovan Mitchell (ankle strain) and Jarrett Allen (ankle soreness) were questionable coming into Sunday, so that was a storyline to keep in mind, of course. It would turn out that those two, along with Dean Wade (knee soreness), would not be in action here, so with that in mind, and this being the first game after that road trip, I had my doubts.

The Cavaliers were behind the eight ball from the opening tip practically, and after the first quarter, Minnesota had a 40-20 lead, and in the second quarter, despite some encouraging spurts here and there, Cleveland was down by 17 heading into halftime.

For the Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards was off, but D’Angelo Russell started off scorching hot, and finished with 30 points and 12 assists, and Karl-Anthony Towns added 29 points and 13 rebounds. Rudy Gobert was tough to account for as a roller with Allen out of the game, too, and his shot altering made Evan Mobley at the other end ineffective, as Evan had only four points, and had issues getting looks off.

Additionally, for Minnesota, Taurean Prince (a former Cav for a minute) had 19 points off the bench. All in all, the TWolves had their way here on offense, en route to putting up 129 points, and they shot 56.1 percent from the field. No, that was not a typo.

Needless to say, the way things were going for much of this contest, the Cavaliers looked to have no real shot at getting back into it by the end. Cleveland was down by 20 points, 104-84, heading into the fourth quarter, and with 5:14 left, Minnesota was up 117-100.

The Wine and Gold from there would get more unreal shooting from Darius Garland (we’ll touch more on that in a bit), and hustle plays from players such as Mobley, Lamar Stevens and Isaac Okoro helped the Cavs make the Timberwolves finish the game out with high leverage minutes. Nobody would’ve foreseen that coming in the third quarter, or feasibly, even at halftime.

Eventually, with more hot shooting from Garland, heady cuts from players such as Stevens, who had 15 points and six rebounds in a spot start, and Cedi Osman making some plays, the Cavs would climb all the way back to within two with 32.6 seconds remaining.

The Wolves did land a critical offensive rebound, Prince in fact, with 13.3 seconds left, and he made both free throws following that, and Cleveland would lose 129-124, but it was a valiant near-comeback attempt by Garland and company late.

So, moving along, we’ll examine the stud and dud for the Cavaliers from Sunday’s game.