The Cleveland Cavaliers are technically 0-2 in the preseason thus far, a fact that concerns absolutely no one in the Cavaliers’ organization. Sure it would be nice to come out and dominate all competition, but the preseason is about getting everyone into game shape, experimenting with lineups and gaining chemistry.
After losing a thriller on Tuesday night against the Atlanta Hawks, the Cavs were in another close game on Thursday, ultimately losing 108-105 when a furious last-minute rally fell one shot short. A number of players had impressive showings in the game. Let’s highlight five players who razzled and dazzled against the Magic, and then end with one who didn’t.
Darius Garland was on fire to start the game. He aggressively hunted his shot, but not by dominating the ball; instead, he sprinted off-ball to find open pockets on the 3-point line. Max Strus hit him early for a wide-open catch-and-shoot 3-pointer that he drained. From there he couldn’t miss, going 6-for-6 to start the game.
Garland cooled off from there, ending the first half 7-for-12 and not playing in the second half. That was still good enough for a game-high 19 points, including a trio of triples as part of a strong shooting night for Cleveland (17-for-44 on the night). He made a few slick passes as well, with Cleveland threading in some more pick-and-roll actions than in Tuesday’s game, which is Garland’s bread-and-butter.
We’ll get the bad out of the way: Max Strus at 6’5″ had no chance of defending the 6’10” Franz Wagner (it’s possible he’s grown even taller than that over the summer). Wagner is poised to be a breakout star this season, and the Cavs had no size to throw at him while also defending the 6’10” Paolo Banchero and 6’11” Wendell Carter Jr. Strus fought hard, but he has no shot against gigantic wings like Wagner.
Now let’s move to the positives, as Strus did everything the Cavaliers hoped he would do when signing him this summer. His floor-spacing was evident on every play, as defenders were incredibly loath to leave him in any way. He went 3-for-7 from 3-point range with one additional layup, his only 2-point attempt of the preseason. He also chipped in six rebounds and a whopping five assists. He made any lineup he was in hum offensively.
Heading into the season, it was and is a real question where Dean Wade stands in the pecking order, and whether that meant he would be in the regular rotation or just outside. That question is yet to be answered, but with Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert both out the combo forward got extended minutes and made the most of them.
Wade’s shot abandoned him last season but it’s back to its former glory thus far in the preseason, as Wade shot 4-for-6 from deep and 5-for-8 overall. What’s more, he was the Cavs’ best defender (non-Mobley division) taking on the Magic’s star frontcourt and more than holding his own, including one possession early in the third quarter where he stayed in front of Banchero and forced a miss. He crashed the glass, getting two key offensive rebounds in addition to four on the other end, and his 14 points were second-most on the team.
The hype train is out of control with Emoni Bates, but his shot is so smooth he’s only feeding the fire each time he steps onto the court. He has poor passing vision, his lack of athleticism makes him a poor finisher if any defender is in the paint, and he is a major defensive liability, even against third-stringers.
But that shot. Bates has clearly been given the green light by J.B. Bickerstaff and he never looked back. The first four times he touched the ball he took four shots, including an ambitious step-back 3-pointer that went in. He ended the game with 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting, including 3-for-6 from deep, in just 12 minutes. That included a contest on defense that he ran through, leaking out in transition for a hit-ahead dunk.
On the penultimate possession for the Cavaliers, he took and hit a 3 to cut the lead to 3, mirroring his go-ahead 3 from Tuesday night. If nothing else, Bates is entirely unafraid of the moment. If he continues to shoot this well he may force the Cavs to try him out in regular season games at some point this season. As it is, he may be coming for the G League record for made 3-pointers in a season.
Craig Porter Jr. is nothing more than the emergency point guard right now as an undrafted rookie on a two-way contract, but he continues to look good whenever he is on the court. He ran the offense during the Cavs’ 12-0 run to close the game, tallying two assists, two baskets and two fouls drawn in his 7.5 minutes (going 3-for-4 from the line). He rebounded his only missed free throw himself for a layup.
Porter has good size and is a tough defender, is not afraid of crashing the glass, and seems like the kind of player who makes winning plays whenever he is on the court. He’ll need to work on his shot and tighten up his passing (he had a great pass to Mobley on the roll late in the fourth, but on the final possession a poor pass was picked off), but he looks like a player who can earn the backup point guard job early in his career.
There were a number of Cavaliers who didn’t have their best nights. Donovan Mitchell shot just 3-for-14 from the field, missing six 3-pointers and a number of shots in the paint that he normally hits. He was only 1-for-3 from the free-throw line! Ty Jerome was a defensive liability even while he racked up six assists. Isaac Okoro went 1-for-5, and Evan Mobley was consistently outrebounded by the size of Orlando’s front line.
Each of those players also showed some helpful things, however. That can’t exactly be said for Damian Jones, who was thrust into the starting lineup to replace Jarrett Allen. In just under 11 entirely forgettable minutes Jones did just about nothing to impact the game. That’s not exactly hyperbolic, either; Jones had 0 points, rebounds, assists, steals or blocks. He shot 0-for-1 from the field and his only presence on the box score was a turnover and a foul.
That wasn’t because he was elevating the players around him and fading into the background, either, as Jones was a game-worst -17 on the night. He did fine defensively 1-on-1 with Wendell Carter Jr. for most of his minutes, but his help defense was entirely ineffective. Carter did get the advantage late in the first half, though, dunking right in Jones’ face.
On offense, Jones was mostly ignored, although Mobley did hit him for a nice pass when Jones was in the dunker’s spot. He proceeded to lose the basketball, which thankfully bounced off of a Magic player on its way out of bounds. He didn’t create any advantages and wasn’t able to do much of anything, including grab a single rebound.
If Jarrett Allen is not ready to start the season, or misses time during the year, Jones was going to be first in line to replace him. If he continues to turn in ineffectual performances, however, he could easily lose that spot in the rotation to Tristan Thompson.