Cavs 102, Raptors 101 (or, a Tale of Two Halves)

Hello CtB!

The Cavs pull off a huge early season win on the road against conference rival Toronto Raptors 102-101. It didn’t look good in the first half, with the defense failing to put much pressure on the Raptors and Collin Sexton turning the ball over three times and shooting an abymsal 2-9 from the field. In spite of the poor first half, the Cavs were only down nine to start the third quarter. The second half was a completely different story. The Cavs held the Raptors to only 44 second half points, with Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland leading the comeback to a nail-biting win. Let’s dive right into last night’s takeaways…

1. Game co-MVPs: Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland

JA might be on the best playing streak of his career, turning in another MVP-type of performance with 16 points, 15 rebounds, three stocks, and leading all starters in net rating (+10.0 in nearly 39 minutes). He imposed his will on the game especially in the second half, topping it off with a very clutch bucket down the stretch off of a Darius Garland feed. What’s most encouraging about last night’s performance is his offensive impact going to another level, with the Cavs posting a 115.5 offensive rating while he was on the floor. The Cavs’ offensive rating with Allen on the floor this year so far has been a subpar 100.9. Allen taking his game to another level on offense is going to massively improve the team’s outlook, and the team’s outlook is pretty damn good right now!

DG was a complete non-factor in the first half with only four points and three assists. In the second half, DG took his game to another level, especially on the offensive end scoring 17 points and dishing out five assists, including the game winning free throws that secured victory. The Cavs posted an elite 116.7 offensive rating in the 36 minutes DG was on the court, and the Cavs’ offense has been totally lost so far this season whenever DG’s not on the court. By the calculator and by the eye test, DG has made the leap to a winning player this season and should only improve as chemistry and confidence keeps building off of wins such as this.

2. Honorable Mentions: Cedi “the Jedi” Osman, Ricky “Spanish Fly” Rubio

Cedi continued his best Kyle Korver impression with another five threes in this game, which kept the Cavs in the game especially in the first half. Without his offense, the Cavs wouldn’t have had a chance in this game. It’s getting harder and harder not to believe that Cedi has made the leap from end of bench guy to key rotation piece. Rubio had another steady offensive game, shooting well and dishing the ball. The Spaniard did struggle with Toronto’s length and athleticism on the defensive end, but the competitive fire he showed diving for loose balls and being scrappy set the tone for the Cavs in the second half comeback.

3. The Yin and Yang of J.B. Bickerstaff

Last night spectators received the full spectrum of J.B. Bickerstaff’s decision making regarding player rotations. First with the bad: bringing in a severely struggling Collin Sexton down the stretch nearly cost the Cavs a victory. There’s overwhelming evidence at this point of the year regarding Young Bull’s struggles on offense, yet J.B. called his number over and over in the last five minutes of the game to no avail. There were other viable options (Rubio, Windler, Cedi) and J.B. chose not to use them. Secondly, J.B. needs to find more rest for Evan Mobley. Mobley played over 38 minutes and posted the worst net rating on the team last night (-9.2). J.B. could’ve easily milked a couple more minutes from Dean Wade or Lamar Stevens. At the end of the day, J.B. can’t be expecting a rookie big to log nearly 40 minutes in a regular season game in the beginning of November. Show some trust in the backups.

To J.B.’s credit, he did expand the rotation to nine players last night, including a Lamar Stevens sighting in the second half. Further, J.B. had Stevens playing the power forward position, and it was wildly successful in the few minutes Stevens played. In the nine minutes Stevens played, the Cavs posted a net rating of +62.2! Stevens’ length and speed clearly matched up better with the Raptors’ length and speed and the Cavs reaped the benefits of it in the second half. With Windler, Wade, and Cedi playing well, it seems like there’s some opportunities to roll out some versatile, “small ball” lineups with Stevens playing a big position instead of wing.

4. Quick notes about the Raptors

The much hyped matchup between Rookie of the Year candidates Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes did not disappoint, with both players putting up decent numbers against each other. Cavs’ fans witnessed the quintessential Barnes’ game: struggles to shoot but does everything else on the floor to win. Gary Trent, Jr. was an absolute menace to deal with, posting eight stocks and dropping 17 points on the Cavs. Luckily for the Cavs, Toronto Raptors’ head coach Nick Nurse decided to coach the game like a playoff game, refusing to ride some of the more impressive bench players such as Malachi Flynn and the rookie from Nebraska Dalano Banton. One thing’s for sure, Toronto continues to be a problematic team to deal with in the Eastern Conference race to the playoffs.

5. Cavs to the Big Apple

The Cavs travel to the Mecca of basketball, Madison Square Gardens to take on one of the Eastern Conference’s toughest teams, the Tom Thibodeau-led New York Knicks. The Cavs will be gunning for their fourth straight victory, while the Knicks will be fighting to remain in the race atop of the Eastern Conference. Tip off is scheduled for 6:00pm ET, don’t forget that daylight savings time will be over! GO CAVS!