Recap: Cleveland 115, Detroit 100 (or, 24×24)

Larry Nance and Kevin Love each played 24 minutes Monday. That kismet paid tribute to Kobe Bryant as they combined for 30 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists. After teams traded Mamba inspired 24 and eight second violations to start the game, the Cavs beat their worst opponent of the season, a Detroit squad that was absolutely non-Mamban. Cleveland won quarters one and two and played their best third frame in weeks with a 36 point outburst against a Pistons squad that refused to run. If I’m fair, Detroit was without arguably their best player, Derrick Rose. Reggie Jackson in his third game back since an October injury couldn’t keep up with Collin Sexton. And Andre Drummond was barely moving, embracing full on “don’t get hurt before free agency” mode.

Cleveland smoked Detroit’s lousy lineups by feeding Kevin Love in the first half. Kev gobbled up 20 points on 6-8 from deep, while Collin Sexton (you read that right) and Darius Garland dished some pretty dimes to Tristan Thompson who went 4-4 for 10 points in the first 24. There were a variety of good looks: drives and dishes, hitting TT in transition, cuts to the rim… Sexland was absolutely communicable as the pair combined for seven dimes and even had had some nice defensive plays. (I see you chucking the roller, Darius!)

Despite being red hot, Kev didn’t get a look in the second half. Why? Because Collin Sexton had it rolling in the third and Detroit clearly didn’t want to run. Kev was grabbing boards and firing outlet passes like he was Wes Unseld and hit McKinnie, Cedi, and Sexton all on the move. That’s the thing about Kev. Even when he’s got it going, he’s going to do the right thing on offense. That’s just who he is. Yeah, Kev could’ve gotten a few more touches, but it was hard to argue with the results. He also didn’t play in the fourth after Cleveland ran their lead to 25 before both sides played out the string.

The real magic came when Kevin Porter Junior checked in at the four minute mark and started running the floor and snaking his way to the basket for nasty drives. KPJ was coming off a monstrous oop in the first half, which might have been the best Cav dunk of the season. In his first game back since spraining his knee, we all held our breath after Junior limped to the locker room shortly after that oop, and were relieved to see him back on the floor in the third. He’d just rolled his ankle. Kev the younger had seven in the quarter and was +12 with some nasty and-1s and a not-so-nasty pair of stepback bricks. Hope yelled “Kobe!!!!” during those.

Collin did get a little shot happy, but Detroit absolutely could not stop him and was caught flat footed against him on drives and in transition. Sexton knifed to the basket time and again to go 8-13 in the third. Despite getting blocked by Thon Maker from behind on a drive where Sexton took off too early, Collin showed patience on his drives and adjusted and kept his dribble one bounce longer a couple times to get a superior finishing angle and a quicker jump. I mean he still got blocked three times on the night. We can’t expect miracles. Sexton finished with 23/3/5, but added five turnovers. Good news: his three second half giveaways were the Cavs’ only turnovers in the second half after 10 in the first.

After a clearly emotional Larry Nance Jr. addressed the crowd before the game, he played inspired ball in the third and into the fourth. He played from the elbow much more than the wing and directed the entire offense in the half court, telling guys where to go. One time, Detroit tried to spring a matchup zone on Cleveland, and Larry destroyed it : directing Henson to flash to the post and cut and then cutting there himself to find McKinnie on the right side for a triple. We didn’t see that defensive look again.. Nance also touched passed a lob to TT for a dunk and found him for another dime in the third. Larry finished 10/5/3 with two steals, a block, and zero turnovers in just under 24 minutes. Tribute.

Cedi Osman had a game high +19 with a 7/5/4 line. He’d be so good as a primary guard ball-handler. Hopefully we see that next year when the Cavs aren’t trying to lose. Darius Garland? Not so much. He’s hesitant shooting the ball again, and I was super annoyed to watch him run out the clock at the end of a quarter instead of putting up a pull-up three, protecting his shooting percentages. He finished 3-10 and 0-2 from deep with a 6/0/4 line in 25 minutes. The rookie wall is no joke.

Heyyyyy! Alfonzo McKinnie is the real deal. Despite KPJ, the Fonz is Cleveland’s best bench wing. He absolutely slammed the jukebox and had his best game as a Cav. He scored 15 points, threw down some monster dunks, filled the lane on the break, and has one or two “WHOA!” offensive rebounds a game (Monday he had three). Oh, and he’s tied with Cedi as the best perimeter defender on the squad. The Fonz had an absolutely brutal shooting month from three before Monday (1-17) so seeing him go 2-4 there was very nice. Yeah, he finished -6, but most of that was due to extended garbage time after the Cavs were up big in the early fourth. Exum took Delly’s Guard minutes and looked a’ight, and Henson was a swat machine and remains a fantastic backup big with an all-around 4/6/3 night.

For Detroit, the struggle to give a s**t was real. Drummond pitched a zero shot attempt, two rebound third quarter, and went on to finish with a ho-hum 15/8/4. Svi Mykhailiuk started at the two and was vaporized by Sexton, Nance, Porter, and <insert Cavalier here> all night. Svi was comically bad, but can still shoot and at least he tries. At one point KPJ tapped the ball away, pushed him over and ran to the other bucket for a dunk, causing a Dwane Kasey tirade. It was nice to be on the other end of bullying like that for once.

Mr. October, Reggie Jackson didn’t even try, waiving a red cape at Sexton all game. Only Sekou Doumbouya’s jaw dropping athleticism and raw potential, Langston Galloway’s shooting, and Christian Wood’s scrappiness impressed me. I made fun of Bruce Brown but he finished 3-3 with a 8/4/6/4to line. At least he cared enough to argue some calls incredulously. To say Detroit missed Rose was an understatement. I can’t even call them a dumpster fire, cause that would imply they played with some fire. I would even have felt bad for whichever Morris Brother is on this team, but then I remembered that Markieff is the dumb one.

Cleveland needed that win, and finally ended a brutal seven game losing streak. I still don’t think they had their legs back from the road trip till Monday. A followup game against Zion and the Pelicans Tuesday should get the blood flowing, but I worry about TT and Kev’s old bones. Maybe McKinnie can have another big game before they cut him again. Can’t risk winning too many. Koby is not Kobe.