Recap: Cavs 105, Raptors 108 (or, A Grotesque Display of Refereeing)

The Cavs took a haymaker (actually had their eyes clawed out SMFH) from the Toronto Raptors as they lose a high intensity one-sided brawl 105-108. Why one-sided? Because the NBA referees put their thumb on the scales gifting the Raptors with carte blanche to mug every Cav with impunity. Yours truly quite literally never mentions the refs as a standing policy, but they’ve forced yours truly’s hand since they wanted to insert themselves into the game… let’s dive in!

1. Darius Garland a victim of the Raptors’ dirty play

Apparently DG took a finger to the eye from Gary Trent Jr.’s trash defense, and ended up with a lacerated eye lid and is unable to see since it’s swollen shut. Even more outrageous, there was no foul called on the play. (REFS YOU SUCK!) Why characterize the play as dirty? Because Toronto’s game plan on defense was simply to take cheap shots to try and intimidate the Cavs into quitting and dare the refs to call them on their bullshit. Fred VanVleet nearly rolled up Donovan Mitchell’s ankle/knee on a layup, thankfully Mitchell was OK from the fall. Here’s the latest from Chris Fedor on DG:

#Cavs Darius Garland had additional examination at the Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute today that revealed no structural damage and surgery was not required for his left eye injury suffered last night. He will be re-evaluated over the next couple of days.

— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) October 20, 2022

2. The Donovan Mitchell MVP agenda begins

The debut couldn’t have gone much better for Donovan Mitchell, who put on an MVP level performance with 31 points, nine assists, and a couple of steals to go along with a team high plus/minus of +10 in a three point loss. The Cavs would’ve had no chance without him, especially in the absence of DG. He and Caris LeVert really settled the game down for the Cavs in the backcourt with their veteran poise. It was great to see Mitchell get comfortable immediately with the team, now the team has to figure out how to support Mitchell’s offensive arsenal.

3. Bench MVP: Cedi “The Jedi” Osman

Probably the most overlooked/forgotten player on the roster this offseason was Cedi “the Jedi” Osman. He had an up and down season last year that coincided with the injury to Ricky Rubio, and basically was talked about as salary filler in discussions about how to upgrade the roster. What Cedi actually did this offseason was ball out in Eurobasket 2022, and now he’s hit this season running with stellar performance off the bench with 17 points, three rebounds, and a bench high +7. The Cavs posted a stellar +14.9 net rating in his 28 minutes on the court, which was the team high narrowly beating out DMitch. If he’s able to replicate these types of performances with any kind of consistency, he could go from regular season body to the highly sought-after “16 game player.”

4. Expectations weigh heavily on the young guys

As you can see from the table, the young guys clearly had trouble finding their offensive rhythm in the game, with Evan Mobley, Dean Wade, and Darius Garland posting three out of the four worst net ratings on the night. It should be unsurprising that the young guys come out of the gate a bit tight. This was the first time in their careers they played under the weight of playoff expectations. Hopefully they understand that they can rely on guys such as Mitchell, LeVert, and NBA Champion Kevin Love to navigate their way through the season. I expect them to look completely different by game 20.

5. Sneaky stat of the night

The Cavs’ rebounding woes have continued on the defensive end, giving up 12 offensive rebounds and losing the rebounding battle 41-38. It’s truly a collective failure to hustle and compete for the ball after a missed shot, which is inexcusable. Because of their lack of efforts on the defensive boards, they weren’t able to capitalize on some excellent on-ball defense that they played.

6. Quick note on the Raptors

Credit where it’s due, the starting lineup for the Raptors is solid. Their bench leaves a lot to be desired, especially in terms of offensive playmaking but it seems like their rookie draft pick Christian Koloko out of Arizona seems to be a ready-made NBA player. But they play ball like trash and should be banished from the NBA forever (parody, satire, I guess…)

7. Next up, the Windy City

The Cavs will lake hop to shores of the Great Lake Michigan to square off against the Chicago Bulls in a Central Division showdown on Saturday night. Tip off is scheduled for 8:00PM Eastern time. Until then, Go Cavs!