Preseason Recap: Cleveland 107, Indiana 104 (Reunited & it Feels so Good)

Reunited, and it feels so good
Reunited ’cause we understood
There’s one perfect fit
And, sugar, this one is it
We both are so excited ’cause we’re reunited

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26J0uDIGErM

I missed the Cleveland Cavaliers as much as Herb missed Peaches, and I’m quite sure that the Cavs missed playing basketball even more. It’s been a looong nine months, and the excitement even in a fanless gym was palpable as Cleveland rode a 42 point fourth quarter to close out the Indiana Pacers in resounding fashion. Rookie Isaac Okoro got a key stop on T.J. McConnell and then raced down the court to convert an and-1 layup off a perfectly placed pass from fellow newcomer Damyean Dotson to put the Cavs up three (after the free-throw) with .3 seconds left in the game. After Kelan Martin clanked a heave, the Cavs ambushed Okoro by the bench and baptized him with their water bottles into (hopefully) a career full of game winners.

The finish was an exclamation point on a fourth quarter that saw both squads trade baskets repeatedly — a surprising burst of offense after spending three quarters shaking off the rust, and if you watched this one, you know there was a lot of rust. The two teams combined for 35 first half turnovers, and the Pacers shot just 38% in those first 24 minutes. To be fair, the Cavs’ defense was solid as they got a lot of deflections and loose balls, but Indy was just bad offensively and was also missing T.J. Warren from the starting lineup.

Isaac Okoro was the star of the fourth quarter when he played with subs Delly, Exum, Dotson, and Thon Maker, but Cedi Osman was the undisputed star of the first half. Cedi got his hands on a lot of loose balls, and when the offense was looking ragged took it upon himself to get to the bucket and to the free throw line. Osman notched 17/4/1 in the first half and went 7-8 from charity along with 14 to lead the Cavs as he held onto his starter spot with a death grip. The big highlight came when he stole a lazy pass under the Pacers’ basket and flipped in an easy little J. Cedi’s free-throw routine looked noticeably smoother, with more rotation and a more fluid motion up through the release. Hopefully that is a sign of things to come for a player that struggled from there the last couple seasons.

Kevin Love and Andre Drummond played only in the first half, and seemed fine. Drummond had some nice plays defensively with a couple steals and a block, but still drives me nuts. He tries to be a player he’s not, driving from the perimeter and handling the ball in transition, which usually leads to unfortunate results, and he just strikes me as lazy sometimes, but whatever.

Darius Garland joined those three with Okoro in the starting lineup, and was OK. Garland’s handle was on point, and the offense seemed to flow when he had the ball on a string. He made a concerted effort to get his teammates involved, sometimes passing up open shots to do so. DG was credited with five turnovers, but a couple of them came because there was too much pepper on his passes and his teammates just weren’t ready for them. He also struggled in transition, jumping into his defender for no reason with no vision or athleticism to get the ball to somewhere else or put up a shot that wasn’t easily swatted away. He was also an absolute turnstile on defense, repeatedly getting beat one-on-one or misplaying the pick-and-roll. Darius deservedly finished a team low -13 in 22 minutes, but did have some nice drives to notch 14 points.

Larry Nance Jr. came in and was a total glue guy, flowing seamlessly with the starters and the bench guys. The Cavs ran their big lineup with him at the three a little, but it seemed to need a bit of work getting into sets. Nance was everywhere on both ends of the court and had some great buckets just picking up the trash around the bucket to finish with 7/10/2.

Dante Exum played lead guard off the bench and had five dimes, but also five turnovers. He seems like a solid veteran presence and he has the length to play three positions. Dylan Windler had some interesting moments. He plays a solid floor game and consistently makes smart plays with swing passes and cuts to the basket. Windler also lives up to the billing of rebounding well for his size with eight boards. I actually was really impressed with him despite the fact that he was 0-3 from downtown, and all the misses were airballs. Dylan also went just 4-7 from three. If you can be a positive force when your J isn’t falling (supposedly the best part of his game), you’ve intrigued me.

Damyean Dotson was pure sizzle off bench, going 5-6 from the floor to drop a dozen in 19 minutes with aggressive drives and a sweet three ball.

The real revelation this game was a guy the Cavs literally got off the scrap heap, Thon Maker. The South Sudanese Aussie by way of Canada was the 10th pick of the draft by the Bucks in ’16 and was traded to the Pistons the season before last. No one gave him a sniff this summer after 4.7/2.8/0.7 in 12.9 minutes a game and 34% from three (solid for a 7-footer), so the Cavs threw him a training camp contract. But Thon seemed noticeably bulkier and though he seemed to be finding his legs in the first half, he was everywhere in the second half.

Domantis Sabonis got the best of Thon in the first half, when the Lithuanian American put up 14/12/1 and repeatedly got into Maker’s body. But in the second half, Maker backed off a half step and used his length to stuff Doma. After Sabonis went to the bench, Thon’s defense continued with great positioning and rotations to pick up blocks and stop possessions. As his confidence grew, Thon started calling out assignments and gobbling up rebounds. Maker also got involved in the offense as the screener in the pick-and-roll. While his screens seem a little light, he is a big body to get around, and doesn’t offensive foul. I was also really impressed with his passing. He fired an overhead laser to Windler on a cut, which got Dylan a trip to the free throw line, and slung him a sweet feed to the left corner from the post (which Windler shot into the side of the backboard).

Maker was 0-3 from downtown and 0-2 at the line, but finished with authority inside, going 5-7 inside the arc. He had a sweet drop step hook which bowled over Cassius Stanley, and split a double team to lay in a key bucket late. Maker also smashed a dime from Larry Nance. I don’t mind the shooting. Fire away in pre-season to get the rhythm. Maker’s shot is a bit mechanical but it’s workable for a big and he is very very long. The Cavs didn’t draft anyone in the second round, but the 23-year old could easily fill the role of a development big with a lot of upside and he’s noticeably more muscular than he was earlier in his career. Thon finished with 10/10/3, two steals, and +16 in 27 minutes. He looks like a keeper.

Maker was key to the late game units which featured him at the five and four swing men with Windler, Matthew Dellavedova, Dotson, Exum, and Okoro all rotating through. Delly was his old reliable self, diving for loose balls, etc. but he also got out-Delly’ed by T.J. McConnel a couple times when the younger version of the Wombat stole a couple balls in the back court. Isaac “Ice” Okoro was the best part of those lineups in the fourth quarter. While Okoro fit in fairly quiet with the starters, content to run the lane and play defense, he picked up his scoring in the fourth when he dropped 16 and went 5-5 from the floor and 2-2 from the line. He’s a really good finisher and absorbs contact well. Also, his jumper looks absolutely fine, even if his arms flail a little weirdly on the follow through. Okoro scored all his points either in transition or in catch-and-shoot situations where he drained the shot or attacked the closeout to get to the rack and finish through contact including a sick reverse as he was being fouled.

It was an impressive debut for the Cavs who missed a starter in Sexton and a rotation player in Kevin Porter Junior. They’re going to be very deep this year, and hopefully run a long, energetic lineup. Two guys that don’t look like they have any shot at that lineup: Marques Bolden and Dean Wade. Both just failed to look like they belong in the NBA. Bolden picked up four fouls in 12 minutes, and Wade was barely noticeable in his four minutes. They combined to shoot 0-5, and went -12 and -10. It’s safe to say that they’re way behind Thon when it comes to Making (see what I did there?) this team.

As for the Pacers, they didn’t seem to care nearly as much as the Cavs with Brogdon, Justin Holiday, Turner, Oladipo, and McDermott all scoring in the teens, but the Cavs looking much deeper and having a lot more craps to give. They rematch Monday night in Indy, and I’m going to bet that the Pacers’ bench tries to make a better impression than the did in this one. Until then, it was great to be back, and go Cavs!