There’s no place like home! At least that’s how the Cleveland Cavaliers had to feel after they returned to the friendly confines of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Wednesday night.
After a rough shooting night north of the border in Toronto on Monday night at the Raptors, where Cleveland shot just 38 percent from the floor and an even worse 18 percent from three-point range, the Cavaliers were eager to put that game behind them.
Wednesday night was a different story for the Cavaliers on offense versus the Philadelphia 76ers. After shooting 55 percent from the field in the opening quarter, Cleveland took their offense to another level in the second quarter.
Cleveland shot an unreal 94 percent from the floor in the second quarter, connecting on 16-of-17 shots, including five-of-five from beyond the arc, which led to 44 points in the quarter led by Evan Mobley with 10 points, and Donovan Mitchell with nine points.
Cleveland led by 21 points at the half, as they held Philly just 44 percent shooting overall, including 3-of-14 from three-point range.
As the third quarter tipped off, Cleveland’s shooting cooled off a bit, but they still managed to shoot 50 percent and held Philly to 18 points on 32 percent shooting.
By the start of the fourth quarter, the Cavalier lead had reached 24 points, and they were able to maintain that lead through the final 12 minutes and secure a 113-85 win.
Granted, the 76ers were without two key starters, to say the least, in James Harden and Tyrese Maxey, but this was still an impressive win by the Wine and Gold. Cleveland frustrated superstar center Joel Embiid all evening and held him to 19 points on 6-of-16 shooting.
With the win, Cleveland moved to 9-1 on the season at home, as opposed to them having more issues as a young team on the road, and with 10 of their next 13 games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Cavaliers have a great shot to stack wins together.
As for last night’s win, let’s get to the stud of the game.
Cavaliers stud from Wednesday’s win: Caris LeVert
Caris LeVert began the year by scoring double digits in Cleveland’s first five games, including 41 points in Boston at the Celtics.
Then after just scoring a point against the New York Knicks, he opened November by scoring at least 11 points in six of seven games. However, LeVert would go cold in the next three games and then suffered an ankle injury against the Miami Heat that caused him to miss the next four games.
LeVert had a rough outing on Monday against Toronto, shooting just 2-of-9 from the floor.
But, he came out of the gates more determined on Wednesday night in his bench minutes (where he’s now at in the Cavs rotation). His first basket was a fastbreak dunk, setting the tone for the rest of his night. He finished the first half a perfect 5-of-5 with 13 points.
Most importantly, LeVert looked confident when shooting the ball from outside and driving to the basket. When LeVert goes from point A to point B off the dribble, he typically can get what he wants near the basket, given his natural slashing capabilities. However, he tends to get into trouble when he starts dribbling excessively and attempts too many hesitation moves.
LeVert would finish the game 8-of-11 shooting for a team-high 22 points and hitting 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.
While Cleveland’s success on the offensive side of the floor starts with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, LeVert is a crucial component of the Cavaliers offense when he is in there.
LeVert being able to hit shots from all levels and pulling defenders away from Garland and Mitchell is important still for stretches. Caris will likely have his ups and downs throughout the season, but last night’s performance was encouraging.
Also, an honorable mention goes to Mamadi Diakite, who started for the Cavaliers on Wednesday night with Lamar Stevens not quite back yet. The third-year forward out of Virginia got just his fourth career start last night and played well for what the Cavaliers asked of him as a two-way player, in particular.
Diakite hit a pair of three-pointers and played quality defense in his 22 minutes of action last night. The fact that J.B. Bickerstaff can rely on Diakite at times will help Cleveland’s depth moving forward, as Diakite is a versatile wing player.
Cavaliers dud from Wednesday’s win: Cedi Osman
After watching the Cavaliers performance on Wednesday and then looking at the box score afterward, there were no true “duds” in their 28-point win.
But the play of Cedi Osman lately has been a bit concerning. As noted in previous articles, Osman is a key rotation player for the Cavaliers and was a part of several of their big-time runs and comebacks over the past two seasons.
In two of Cleveland’s more recent wins against Miami and the Atlanta Hawks at home, Cedi played a vital part in those wins as he scored 20 and 23 points, respectfully.
The issue is, with Cedi, you get the good and the bad. Starting positively, Osman is a capable three-point shooter and has sometimes shown that he is good at getting to the basket and finishing in traffic.
Nonetheless, in his last five games, Osman is shooting just 37 percent, including just 22 percent on three-pointers, and has scored in double figures once. And on the other hand, to the prior point, Cedi can sometimes become too dribble-happy and make careless passes or turn the ball over with poor ball handling.
With Osman, you will have to take the good with the bad. For the sake of the Cavaliers offense, they hope there are more good games than bad games for Osman in the near future.
After all, he is one of the better bench players on Cleveland’s roster when all is right.