After coming home from a 2-3 Western road trip, the Cleveland Cavaliers returned to the friendly confines of Rocket Mortgage FIeldHouse for the first time in nearly two weeks for a matinee matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans on MLK Day.
Despite New Orleans being down a trio of starters, the Pelicans were not a team the Cavaliers could take lightly on Monday.
As seems to be the case in many of their recent games, Cleveland’s three-point shooting started slow as they connected on just 1-of-6 attempts in the opening 12 minutes. However, Cleveland was strong from inside the paint, scoring 18 points, led by Evan Mobley’s eight points.
But, Cleveland found themselves down by a point entering the second quarter. The Cavaliers and Pelicans would play a back-and-forth second quarter, but going into halftime, Cleveland trailed by three points primarily due to their 10 first-half turnovers, which led to 16 points for New Orleans.
The back-and-forth battle continued into the third quarter, as both Cleveland and New Orleans scored 31 points. The Cavaliers went just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc, while the Pelicans were 4-of-8.
However, the Cavaliers continued to do damage in the paint, outscoring the Pelicans 16-8 as both Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley carried the Cavaliers into the fourth quarter.
While the Cavaliers trailed by just three points entering the final quarter, they would have to get the win without Donovan Mitchell, as he was out with a groin strain suffered in the game.
Cleveland’s defense stepped up in the fourth quarter, as they held the Pelicans to 22 points on 43 percent shooting and also scored nine points off of five turnovers by the Pelicans.
Allen and Darius Garland stepped up in the final quarter as they combined for 26 of the Cavs 35 points in the fourth.
Several players for Cleveland stepped up during yesterday’s win, but a couple stood out above the rest.
Cavs two studs from Monday’s win over the Pels: Darius Garland and Isaac Okoro
The addition of Donovan Mitchell this offseason gave Cleveland one of the top backcourts in all of the NBA. However, with how well Mitchell has performed this season, it has sometimes overshadowed Darius Garland.
Yesterday afternoon, Garland would have to be the one to lead the Cavaliers’ comeback, as Mitchell did not play the final 12 minutes.
Garland entered the fourth quarter just 5-of-14, going for 16 points, but in the final quarter, Garland nearly doubled his scoring total as he scored 14 points, including knocking down a trio of three-pointers.
In addition to his 30 points, Garland was also excellent at distributing the basketball, as he racked up 11 assists. Garland is currently No. 7 in the NBA for the season, averaging 7.5 assists per game.
A performance like this from Garland serves as a reminder that he can have a big night on the offensive end of the floor, and yesterday was Garland’s fourth game of 30+ points and his 10th game of 10 or more assists.
The other player worth highlighting from yesterday’s win is Isaac Okoro. There were other Cavaliers that had more significant statistical impacts on the game than Okoro, but recently the Cavs wing has taken a step forward in production.
Focusing on yesterday’s game, Okoro scored 11 points (2-of-4 from three-point range), grabbed four rebounds, and recorded a pair of steals.
The hope for Okoro was to turn into a serviceable three-and-D wing player. While Mitchell and Garland have the responsibility to shoulder the scoring load, having Okoro knock down timely three-pointers is a key to the Cavaliers offense.
On the season, Okoro is connecting on 30 percent of his three-point attempts. But, over his past eight games, the third-year wing has connected on 11-of-20 (56%) of his three-point attempts.
Okoro’s shot wasn’t falling early in the season, and it appeared he lacked confidence. With this surge from Okoro lately, he looks confident shooting the ball. Okoro also excels at driving to the hoop and finishing around the rim. He is shooting 64 percent on shots five feet and in this season.
If Okoro can routinely knock down his three-point looks, that will significantly help the Cavs, as J.B. Bickerstaff likes having Okoro out there for his defensive ability.
That said, not all Cavaliers played their best yesterday.
Cavs dud from Monday’s win over the Pels: Kevin Love
For how well Kevin Love thrived a season ago off the bench, this season has not fared as well for the veteran Cleveland big man.
Love averages 8.2 points per game, which would be a career-low if the season ended today. Love is also connecting on 35 percent of his three-point attempts, which is about four percent less than a season ago.
Recently, Love has struggled mightily with his long range shooting. Over his last eight games, Love is connecting on just 19 percent of his three-point shots, and for January is just 6-of-36 shooting from three-point range.
Overall, Love is shooting just 28 percent this month and is scoring just 6.3 points per game.
Focusing solely on yesterday’s game, Love was just 1-of-7 shooting and missed all four of his three-point shots. Love did grab eight rebounds and dished out three assists, but Love’s role off the bench is essentially to be a stretch big man.
All players go through rough stretches of their careers, and for Cleveland’s sake, they are hoping Love can work out of this slump because he is a pivotal piece to their success on offense. Perhaps the return of Ricky Rubio, his former teammate on the Minnesota Timberwolves as well previously, can make a difference, too.