1 stud and 1 dud for Cavaliers from their win over Lakers on Tuesday

Cavaliers dud from Tuesday’s win: The bench

While the win over the Lakers last night was a signature win for the Cavaliers, some concerns still arose.

The biggest of those concerns last night was the lack of bench production. The regular bench rotation for Cleveland scored a combined 18 points, led by Caris LeVert with seven points.

Kevin Love, who, in fairness, is getting over a hairline fracture in his thumb, is having trouble shooting the ball. In his three games since returning to the rotation, Love is shooting just 3-of-12 from beyond the arc and has scored a combined 10 points the past two games, factoring in Cleveland’s ugly loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday night as well.

Love was a team-worst minus-14 in the plus-minus department, and he played just 9 minutes. He also has had trouble defensively, and on Tuesday, had four fouls in those nine minutes. Granted, once Love’s injury is healed, his shooting percentages should improve, but his lack of production off the bench, and at times his defense is hurting the Cavaliers now.

Overall, regarding the offensive end, the trio of Cedi Osman, LeVert, and Love can be counted on to hit a timely shot or two most nights, but last night, that trio combined to shoot just 1-of-8 on threes.

Cleveland’s backcourt is averaging north of 50 points per game, and Allen and Evan Mobley can get their points every night, but a key to the Cavaliers success this season will be their bench production, and it has to start showing some improvement.

While their next game is not until Friday, Cleveland has a couple of days to rest and recharge.

With eight of their next 10 games at home, the Cavaliers have an excellent chance of improving their position in the Eastern Conference standings as the calendar creeps toward 2023.