Last night was a game that a lot of Cleveland Cavaliers fans were looking forward to since the Donovan Mitchell trade in the beginning of September. To be fair, the game didn’t have the fireworks that most anticipated simply because Collin Sexton missed the game due to a hamstring injury.
In any fashion, the Cavaliers dominated this game from the opening tip, and pretty much cruised to a 23-point victory at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Monday.
The Cleveland Cavaliers demolished the Utah Jazz in their highly-anticipated matchup on Monday night.
Interestingly enough, former Cavalier Lauri Markkanen led all scorers with 24 points, on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. Outside of Markkanen, another former Cavalier Jordan Clarkson also had 23 points, including going 3-of-6 from the three-point line. Rookie center Walker Kessler was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and finished with 11 points, but overall it wasn’t enough to overcome a lackluster shooting night from the Jazz (40% FG) and a streaking Cavaliers offense.
On the Cavaliers’ side of things, they were scalding from the field last night, particularly the three-point line where they were a simmering 15-for-26. Potential All-Star Starter Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland in scoring with 23, on 8-of-12 shooting including 4-of-5 from three. Jarrett Allen notched another double-double (20 points, 12 rebounds) and even had three blocks.
However, it was the bench that really provided the spark for the Cavaliers, with one player, in particular, doing the heavy lifting.
Cavs stud: The bench, and especially Cedi Osman
After a series of inconsistent and largely lackluster performances, the bench really showed up last night. The star of the show last night was Cedi Osman, who pretty much put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter on his own. Out of the Cavs’ 32 points in the fourth quarter, Osman scored 20. He was 7-of-8 from the field, including an impressive 5-of-6 from deep.
Osman’s 112.6% true shooting percentage was incredibly impressive, but he was also his usual active self in the other facets of the game. He was aggressive in passing lanes and really brought energy into the game, which led to him also pitching in a steal and block.
Not to be completely outshone, Caris LeVert also had a solid game off the bench for the Cavaliers. LeVert finished with 13 points on 50% shooting from the field. It’s always encouraging to see him have a solid effort off of the bench because it is a completely different role that he plays as opposed to when he is a starter.
Coming off the bench, he’s asked to score, and facilitate at times. Last night he did that, while also being patient, and very efficient on the offensive end.
Cavs dud: Limiting of turnovers
There really isn’t a lot to point out in the negative column after Monday night’s win. The Cavaliers were hot from the field and played a very efficient game. The only real problem last night, and it’s something that has happened many times before, is the turnovers. Utah, a team that only forces opponents into 14 turnovers per game, forced the Cavaliers into 20 turnovers last night.
While a lot of the turnovers happen on the break when the Cavs can be at their best, it’s still tough to stomach 20, considering six are coming from the point guard. Darius Garland‘s turnovers are slowly becoming a problem on the offensive end. He seems to be trying to get too deep into the paint at times and is also over-dribbling.
Hopefully, as Garland and Mitchell become more seamless as a backcourt duo, the turnovers will start to slow down. But, for as good and efficient as the Cavaliers were last night, the only thing that kept the Jazz in the game, for the most part, was Cleveland’s turnovers.
Now, during a game in December, you’ll take the win and not think twice about it. Even having said that, if the turnovers are still a major concern three or four months from now, that may be a much bigger problem.
After their embarrassing loss to the San Antonio Spurs a week ago, the Cavaliers have reeled off four straight wins, with three coming in the friendly confines of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. They still sit in third place in the Eastern Conference, two games behind the Milwaukee Bucks at the head of the Eastern Conference.
Speaking of the Bucks, the Cavaliers will welcome Giannis Antetokounmpo and company to Cleveland on Wednesday night. In the only other two meetings between the two this season, Milwaukee has collected both victories, winning by an average margin of victory of 15.
In what will surely be one of the last big matchups of the 2022 calendar year, the Cavaliers will have to try and find a way to slow down Antetokounmpo, who’s averaging 31 points per night this season, while shooting an absurd 53% from the field.
Luckily the Cavaliers, and Cedi Osman, put the Jazz to bed early last night so Donovan Mitchell and some of the other starters were able to get a little bit of rest.
They will absolutely need it if they want to beat the best team in the Eastern Conference on Wednesday.