Next Two Weeks Key For The Wine And Gold

After playing 47 games, you would think a coach would know what his team is all about. We are guessing Kenny Atkinson doesn’t know what to think about this year’s Cleveland Cavaliers.

No doubt injuries have played a large role in the inconsistency. The Cavs have just five players who have played in 40 games (meaning have missed less than seven) thus far, and only two, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley, would be considered regular starters.

We talk about the lack of real size on the team, and one of the two reliable big men, Jarrett Allen, who played in all 82 games last season, has missed a dozen games already.

The Cavs have had a schedule advantage as well, playing 26 games at home so far, meaning they will have just 15 contests at the Rocket Arena for the balance of the regular season.

That’s why the next two weeks seem very important.

First, Darius Garland could be back by the end of next week. Garland has already missed 22 games this season after recovering from off-season surgery and injuring the big toe (guess we call it the “great toe” these days) on his other foot, the one that didn’t need a procedure in the off-season.

The first west coast trip happens this week too. After home games against Orlando and the Lakers on Monday and Wednesday, the home and road game disparity will even up with a five-game trip which will include games against Phoenix, Portland, the Clippers, Sacramento, and Denver.

The second trip west occurs at the end of the season, when the Cavaliers finish with five of their last eight on the road.

The trade deadline also looms, coming on February 5th while the team in on their trek west. Because of their position in the second apron on the salary cap, it will be difficult for Koby Altman to make a move, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a ton of speculation.

We will still insist the Cavs need more size, both height and bulk. De’Andre Hunter has been a disappointment this season, particularly his shooting, but we also wonder if a part of that is him having to play the “4” a lot, a position he isn’t very effective at.

The addition of Nae’Qwan Tomlin has helped a bit. So has Larry Nance Jr. getting healthy, but both of those players are lean and although they can block some shots, a physical rebounding opponent is still going to give the Cavs a problem.

Remember the Utah game where the Jazz bullied Cleveland on the boards.

It would be nice to also have less players who are one-dimensional. That’s why Jaylon Tyson has been a revelation. He’s a solid defender and can also play on the offensive end.

Atkinson has been playing Dean Wade down the stretch recently, and other teams don’t feel the need to defend him because he refuses to shoot, especially in the 4th quarter.

Tendencies like that will only be highlighted more when the playoffs come.

For all of the fussing and questioning of this team, they are still just two games out of the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference. So, if they can start playing consistently, with better effort on the defensive end especially, the Cavaliers will be fine.

But can they do it?

It feels like the next two weeks can be a litmus test for Atkinson and his squad. Will they survive the long trip?

A Year Makes A Huge Difference For Cavs

It is amazing what a difference a year makes for the Cleveland Cavaliers. A year ago at the halfway mark of the season, the wine and gold were sitting at 36-6 and visions of a playoff run into the NBA Finals dancing in their heads.

Today, they are sitting at 23-19 and if the season ended today, they would be in the Play In Tournament. At the beginning of the year, we said it was pretty much a certainty that the Cavs would end up in the playoffs. We still would be shocked if they didn’t make it, but it is no longer the certainty it was.

Yes, injuries are a factor. But Kenny Atkinson’s squad was healthy on Monday night against Utah, and they Cavs laid a gigantic egg at home, losing to the 14-25 Jazz by 11 points, falling behind 23-4 in the first quarter.

There clearly is something missing.

The obvious problem is the defense. Last year, Cleveland ranked 8th in the NBA in defensive rating and this year they have dropped to 14th. Since they held Golden State to 99 points in a loss on December 6th, they have allowed more than 120 points eight times in the last 17 contests.

And in three of those other games, they’ve given up 119, 118, and 117.

In their most impressive win in that span, a victory over San Antonio on the road, they allowed the Spurs just 101 points. Let’s just say it’s a lot easier to win when you don’t need to put up 125 points to do it.

And last night, another impressive win, and again, they held the Sixers to 107.

They have forgotten to defend the three-point shot. Last season, they ranked 13th, allowing opponents to hit 35.9% of the long-range shot. Currently, they rank last, giving them up at a 38.6% rate.

Overall, they aren’t too bad, ranking 13th in defensive field goal percentage as a whole, but even that is a drop from last year’s #3 ranking. Isaac Okoro doesn’t make that much of a difference, folks.

Speaking of Okoro, the player he was dealt for, Lonzo Ball, seems to be out of Atkinson’s rotation. We liked the deal at the time because he added size and playmaking to the backcourt, but his shooting has fallen off a cliff.

He was a career 40% shooter overall and 36% from three, but with the Cavs is making just 31.2% from the floor and an abysmal 27.6% from beyond the arc.

And reports are that last year’s addition at the trade deadline, De’Andre Hunter, wants out. Hunter is still solid in the midrange and also provides the only real size Cleveland has on the wings, so hopefully that situation can be worked out.

However, a career 36.6% shooter from three, and last season, hit 42.6% for the Cavs, Hunter can’t find his long-range stroke, hitting just 31% this season.

And as a second apron team, team president Koby Altman’s options are limited. He will have to be very creative to make a significant move.

We will say it again; this team needs to add size. Long athletic teams give the Cavs trouble.

What Altman needs to do is add size, but if he works a trade involving Hunter, he is trading his tallest wing. So, that doesn’t do anything.

Sure, the Cavs could put it together and reel off six or seven wins in a row. But more and more it feels like this team is broken and the title window which appeared to be wide open last season, is only open very slightly.

Cavs Need To Start Playing Better…Now!

One can make a very good argument that the Cleveland Cavaliers are the most disappointing team in the NBA this season. As the season is closing in on the halfway point, Kenny Atkinson’s squad is around .500 at 22-18, currently the #6 seed in the East, but just a game and a half out of the 4th spot.

While no one was expecting the type of season the wine and gold had last year, starting off the campaign with 15 straight wins, and finishing at 64-18, we don’t think many had them being around the breakeven mark at this point in the year.

Yes, injuries have been a factor. Donovan Mitchell leads the Cavs in games played with 35, so every other player on the team has missed at least five contests. And it is difficult for a team to find a rhythm when there are different players on the court every night.

Still, in watching the 2025-26 Cavaliers, it is clear something is off. Can it turn around before the playoffs start? Of course, but again, the second half of the schedule is on the horizon.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said the other day that Atkinson sees a lack of intensity with his team. Against Minnesota on Thursday, he started Craig Porter Jr., a player who plays hard on a nightly basis, to have some intensity.

Minnesota took a 17-5 lead in the first quarter, and while Cleveland recovered and led at the half, they were obliterated in the third quarter.

Team president Koby Altman put together a roster of players with high character, stuck with them through three straight playoff disappointments, but no they don’t seem to be playing with intensity?

We aren’t putting the blame on all of them. Mitchell plays tough, second year player Jaylon Tyson plays hard, and we mentioned Porter does as well. Nae’Qwan Tomlin plays with his hair on fire. But the body language on most of the roster seems off.

And part of being playing with intensity is having a good basketball IQ, and recently we question the shot selection by the team. If the last two losses, to Detroit and Minnesota, late in the game, the Cavs took questionable three-point shots with the game in the balance.

Against Detroit, Lonzo Ball, shooting 26% from three was faced with a wide open 3 with the Cavs trying to comeback in the 4th quarter. He even hesitated before shooting. He knew it wasn’t a good shot. He took it anyway. He missed.

In the Minnesota game, with Cleveland down six with :35 seconds remaining, Evan Mobley got the ball beyond the arc. The big man has improved his three-point shooting, but he’s still at 34%. We are sure that’s not what the coach wanted at that juncture.

Anyway, Mobley shot and missed, and the Cavs couldn’t recover.

Yes, yes, we know, people will say they like the confidence there, but that’s where having a good hoops IQ comes into play. Mobley has to know either take the ball to the rim or find a better shooter.

And that’s part of intensity. Knowing when the team needs a basket or a stop to slow the opponent’s momentum.

The bigger problem is, because of the salary cap situation, there isn’t much Altman can do about it. The Cavs have hamstrung themselves, so either the players come together and play with more mental toughness and intensity, or it will be another disappointing post-season for the so-called “Core 4”.

Looking At Local Teams Heading Into ’26

Happy New Year to everyone and here’s hoping we will all be a little nicer to each other.

As we start 2026, we wonder what the sports year will hold for northeast Ohio with the three professional sports teams.

Looking at the Cavaliers, certainly there is some concern because last year’s regular season was so good with a 64-18 record, but a disappointing second round loss to Indiana in

the playoffs.

This year has been filled with injuries to key players, but still, something is different. It is true that Kenny Atkinson is doing some experimenting, but it can also be true the league has changed since Koby Altman put his team together with the emphasis being on Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen.

The NBA has gotten more long and more athletic and those teams seem to bother this group. With the Cavs over the second apron in terms of payroll, it will take a lot of creativity on Altman’s part to tweak the roster.

To the president of basketball operation’s credit, he did find a gem last year in Jaylon Tyson, who is averaging 13.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game playing the wing. If Atkinson hasn’t realized it yet, he is one of the Cavs’ best players.

The Cavaliers will probably make the playoffs this year barring injuries, but how much they can advance will depend on what tweaks Altman can make before the trade deadline.

The Cleveland Guardians have won back-to-back AL Central Division titles, but the latest came despite one of the worst offenses in the game. With spring training about six weeks away, the front office hasn’t addressed this problem, but we do think a move is coming.

The front office has talked about not wanting to block the development of some young prospects, but they need to have a “Plan B” in case those players don’t pan out.

What they should be doing is going into the season planning for Chase DeLauter and/or George Valera to have significant roles in 2026, but getting a couple of right-handed bats, proven hitters, to be improve the offense. And if the young players are as advertised, it will make for a group that can finish in the top half of the AL in runs scored.

And we wouldn’t mind getting another starting pitcher to add some depth.

One more wish. Increase the payroll to a level where they are on par with other smaller market teams like Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Cincinnati.

That shouldn’t be an issue.

That brings us to the Browns. So much of what will happen in ’26 depends on what happens after Sunday’s game in Cincinnati. They could (and should) be looking at a new GM and new coach, but based on what has been reported, we don’t think that will occur.

To think an NFL team, bring back a duo that has gone either 7-27 or 8-26 over the last two seasons seems ludicrous. Especially in their fifth and sixth years in charge.

And then you have the cloud of Deshaun Watson, who the Browns keep talking about to the media, hovering over the franchise. This is a team that has made three playoff appearances in the last 26 years and won just one post-season game.

Of course, keeping Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski would fall in line with the lack of accountability the Browns have had recently. And we are looking at you Bubba Ventrone.

On the other hand, we are thankful to witness the greatness of Jose Ramirez and Myles Garrett, two surefire Hall of Fame players, who play for our local teams. It would be nice for them to play for a title someday.

2026 will mark ten years since the Cavaliers won the NBA title. That’s not the 52 years we endured from 1964 to 2016, but when we started being aware of sports in 1965, it was just a year removed from the Browns’ title in ’64.

Ten years is long enough.

Loss To Knicks Leaves Us With Questions.

The book on the Cleveland Cavaliers is they lack size and toughness and that was on full display on Christmas against the New York Knicks.

The Cavs had a 17-point lead in the 4th quarter and watched one of their playoff nemeses from a few years ago, Mitchell Robinson dominate on the offensive glass, which allowed the Knicks to get back in the game and ultimately win it.

The good news for Cleveland is they played well after winning the two games prior at home against Charlotte and New Orleans, two also-rans, so maybe the malaise which was surrounding the team has passed.

Also, Evan Mobley returned to the lineup after a two-week absence due to a calf injury and earlier in the week, Sam Merrill came back, and his long-range marksmanship (shooting 43% from three) helps with floor spacing.

On Friday, long time NBA player and coach Sam MItchell, now an analyst on NBA Radio, said the Cavs are still a contender, but they lack size in the backcourt, and while they have height up front in Jarrett Allen and Mobley, they lack bulk.

Thank you Sam!

We have said this is has been a problem for four years now, and the front office hasn’t really done anything to address the situation. Sure, this year they signed Thomas Bryant, but when or if Allen and/or Mobley is out of the lineup, he’s the only big man they have.

Nae’Qwan Tomlin has been a find, but he’s not an interior player. He’s more of a perimeter defender and also has a slight build.

We like Kenny Atkinson, but felt he should have went back to Jaylon Tyson, who had a marvelous third quarter, 11 points when the Cavs outscored New York 38-24. Tyson started the fourth but left after four minutes and didn’t return.

In the fourth, the offense turned into the Donovan Mitchell show, as he took 11 of the Cavs’ 26 shots. The only other Cleveland player who took more than two shots in the quarter was Darius Garland, who hit one of his five attempts.

His main lineup down the stretch included those two with Mobley, Merrill, and Dean Wade. Merrill took just one shot in the fourth, the same as Wade, who to us is notorious for being afraid of missing shots, so he passes them up.

By default, it puts the offensive burden on the two guards.

Sam Mitchell also wondered about the idea of having Mobley shoots threes, feeling the best place for him to operate offensively would be at the elbow where he can be a “triple threat” guys. Mobley has improved from beyond the arc, but defenses aren’t going to chase him out there.

And that five who received the bulk of the minutes is basically a three-guard set, with a defensive minded wing defender in Wade, and Mobley, who isn’t a bulky presence near the basket.

It was just a curious coaching decision, and that doesn’t mean we want Atkinson replaced, we will see if he goes to the same group in a similar situation going forward. Tyson provides toughness and aggressiveness to the Cavs, something they need.

It was also a little curious that Lonzo Ball got just 13 minutes for the game. Ball is a good defender, but guilty of some questionable shot selection.

We are now past Christmas and isn’t that when the pundits say the season really begins. If so, the Cavaliers need to ramp it up, and worry less about being entertaining, and a little more about winning.

Cavs’ Current Style Is Not Conducive To A Title

There is something not right with the Cleveland Cavaliers. They had five days off following a loss at home to something resembling the Golden State Warriors G-League team, watching plenty of film of their recent struggles, and had a players only meeting leading up to their contest last Friday against Washington.

And then they needed Donovan Mitchell to rescue them after falling behind by 15 points to the 3-19 Wizards and steal a victory. Mitchell scored 48 points, half of them in the fourth quarter.

Yes, the Cavs are now 15-11 on the year. And it is true many starters and rotation players have missed a lot of game with injuries. Jarrett Allen has missed 11, Darius Garland 16, Sam Merrill 14.

And now Evan Mobley will miss 2-4 weeks with a calf injury.

Yet, something is off with this group after going 64-18 last season and finishing with the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

The most logical thing to look at is shot selection. Cleveland leads the league in three point shot attempts, hoisting up 44.3 per game, which is 48% of their shots. Unfortunately, they are making just 34% of those long-range attempts, and that ranks 28th in the Association.

Last season, the Cavs were 4th in attempts, but were second in percentage, converting on 38.3%. It may not seem like a lot, but that 4% is huge. To put it in players’ terms, it’s the difference in shooting between Stephen Curry, perhaps the greatest long-range shooter ever, and Jalen Brunson, a great player, but not known for his long range shot.

We are sure Kenny Atkinson doesn’t want to tell players not to hoist threes, but right now, Garland is shooting just 27% from beyond the arc, and Lonzo Ball just 26% from out there. Maybe get a little closer until you get into rhythm?

We understand teams what to play with pace, but pace doesn’t come from firing the ball up the court and shooting a three with :18 on the shot clock. Generally, that doesn’t work out well.

Worse yet, Cleveland’s opponents are shooting 36.5% from three, so the advantage they enjoyed in shooting a year ago is gone.

For all the newer basketball fans who don’t think Allen is an effective player in today’s NBA, it looks like he might just be. Yes, Evan Mobley is a superb defender, but in watching Friday’s game, he’s guarding smaller players around 15 feet away.

That’s great, he has the ability at 6’11” to be able to go out and guard outside. However, without Allen, there is no one to protect the rim and rebound. The Cavaliers were 5th in rebounding a year ago and have fallen to 8th.

The defense on the perimeter has been a problem. Too many guards are getting to the basket against the Cavs and as noted before, without Allen around the basket, these are turning into a lot of easy baskets.

We are almost 1/3 of the way into this regular season and Christmas, when it is said the NBA season really starts is less than two weeks away.

We have said this before, we believe Atkinson is trying different combinations right now, so he is still experimenting. That understanding doesn’t mean it’s not tough to watch.

It should not be on Mitchell putting on a red cape and being Superman in order to beat one of the worst teams in the NBA.

With or without the missing players, the Cavs should be better than that. At least playing a winning brand of hoops.

It’s Early, But We Have Some Fears Regarding The Cavs

We believe the Cleveland Cavaliers are experimenting for sure. They’ve had all kinds of key players missing to start the season, with the only real constants being Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and De’Andre Hunter.

They have provided several young players like Nae’Qwan Tomlin, Jaylon Tyson, Craig Porter Jr., and rookie Tyrese Proctor good opportunities to show they can contribute as the season moves forward.

And with all of this happening, they are still 13-10 and at least in terms of the ratings, a top ten offensive and defensive team.

But we do have a nagging lingering fear for this group. Perhaps the window to win a title was open widest the past two seasons.

The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder are sitting at 21-1. Two young, long teams in the East are off to great starts. The Pistons are 17-5 and the Raptors are 15-7. And long teams seem to bother the Cavs.

We have written about the lack of size on the Cavaliers’ roster over the past few seasons, and the move toward more size was never more evident than it this past NBA Draft.

Of the top ten picks in the draft, six of them were guards who were over 6’5″. This means the current duo of Mitchell and Darius Garland ranks even lower in terms of size among NBA backcourts.

We understand Garland is coming back from off-season surgery and he has missed time since re-aggravating the injury. He helps the offense greatly with his skill to penetrate and also shoot from distance.

On the other hand, one problem we have seen is his ability to take care of the basketball. It was an issue in his first playoff series against the Knicks, and it really hasn’t changed. He had two big turnovers down the stretch against Atlanta last week that cost the team a chance at a win.

Then we have the Mobley issue. The thought was always that the Cavs would be title contenders when he was the best player on the team. Can that happen? He’s a very good player, the Defensive Player of the Year last season. But does he have the temperament of an alpha?

We do think Kenny Atkinson is putting him in different situation to see where he fits best offensively. He’s bringing the ball up trying to initiate the offense, but his ball handling doesn’t seem to be strong enough.

Last year, he seemed to thrive with the ball at the foul line extended and set up his teammates from that spot on the floor or be able to take the ball to the basket. Again, our guess is Atkinson is trying some things out and may settle on what worked last season.

We know the Celtics won a title just a couple of years ago with heavy reliance on the three-point shot. However, they fell short a couple of years ago when they lost in the conference finals to Miami because of their shot selection.

Last year, 45.7% of Cleveland’s shots were from beyond the arc and they converted on 38% of them. This season, the number of long-range shots has increased to 48.8%, and even worse, they are making less at 34.8%. That 3% difference is huge.

Football people talk about “complimentary football”, but it can be used in basketball as well. The Cavs have two solid defenders inside in Mobley and Jarrett Allen, but when you miss threes, it generally results in a long rebound and a fast break by your opponent.

Fast breaks tend to make having interior defenders moot.

We know everyone loves to play with pace, but maybe it would be better to play a little slower, take better shots, and make better use of the two bigs you do have.

It is better to be playing their best basketball in March, April, and May (and hopefully June) than now. When the New Year hits, the Cavs need to tighten some things up.

Looking At Cavs, Looking For Toughness

Tomorrow night, the Cleveland Cavaliers will have hit the 20 game mark of the NBA schedule, about a quarter of the way through. Hard to believe right?

The team has had to deal with a lot of injuries. No Cavalier player has appeared in all 19 games to date. Evan Mobley has played in 18, Donovan Mitchell in 17, and next up is De’Andre Hunter with 15.

Max Strus has been out all season, while Darius Garland has seen action five times.

Pretty amazing considering they’ve only played 19 contests.

This has led to a lot of experimenting from Kenny Atkinson, so we really don’t have a true reading on what this team can be in 2025-26.

On the plus side, some players who probably wouldn’t have seen the court this season have emerged as possible rotation players for this team as the season progresses.

Most notably, we are talking about Nae’Qwan Tomlin, who Atkinson said the other night is a guy he has a hard time taking him off the floor. The 25-year-old is averaging 7.1 points and 2.8 rebounds, 1.5 on the offensive end and at 6’8″, has played at guard and both forward spots.

When everyone gets healthy, we would like to see Tomlin replace Dean Wade in the rotation to see if the rookie can continue to produce like this once word gets around the league. If he doesn’t, we think you can always go back to Wade and he will be, well Dean Wade.

Craig Porter Jr. has done well too, and although we would like to see a better handle from Porter, the one thing he can do is create his own short, which is in short supply with the Cavs.

Porter is scoring at 5.8 per game, getting 2.9 boards and 2.5 assists per contest with 44.8% shooting from the three-point line. He should also keep getting time when the roster is whole.

And second year player Jaylon Tyson has earned his spot, mostly by being a defensive force, and unlike Isaac Okoro, has to be respected by the opposition when it comes to his shot. He’s scoring 11.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and is in the top ten in the league in shooting from three.

Conversely, Atkinson and the staff have to figure out why Mobley seems to be in a funk. Right now, he seems very passive when on the court. It could be because of using him differently offensively. He seems to be on the perimeter more often this year, rather than be at the elbow where he can attack the basket easier and also be a distributor.

However, we have concerns about Mobley’s aggressive nature. One comparison for him when he came into the league was Kevin Garnett, but their personalities seem so different, and frankly the Cavs could use Mobley to have more of Garnett’s mindset.

But can someone develop having that? Mobley looks to be a pretty quiet guy, can he adopt an alpha mindset? It’s one thing to have size, something we have advocated for, and certainly the team is bigger.

It still seems to lack toughness, particularly from the bigger players. We have no qualms about Mitchell’s will to win, but it would be great if one of the bigs adopted a “take no crap” philosophy.

That’s a real concern, particularly as the playoffs get nearer. That’s still the biggest question from our perspective.

Cavs Winning While Testing Things Out.

Do you want to know how you can tell the Cleveland Cavaliers are a real good basketball team? It’s because they haven’t played very well to date and yet they have a 10-6 record after the first five weeks of the NBA season.

There have been a lot of injuries for sure. Max Strus hasn’t played yet and like won’t until the middle of December at the earliest. Darius Garland has played in only three games. Sam Merrill has missed time. De’Andre Hunter has missed three contests. Jaylon Tyson has been out the last four games in concussion protocol.

So, there hasn’t been very much continuity for Kenny Atkinson, yet this team is so good, they still have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.

Frankly, we are fine with this. We have been saying since training camp started, we would be happy if the wine and gold got off to a slower start and approached the playoffs playing their best basketball.

Last year, Cleveland relied on the three point shot quite a bit and it worked. They took 45.7% of their field goals from behind the arc and converted on 38.3% of those long range tries.

This season, they are taking even more threes (49.1%) but making less at 34.9%. In watching the games, we don’t see enough of what analyst Brad Daugherty talks about, which is playing inside out, meaning getting the ball in the paint or in a post-up situation and then kicking out to a wide-open shooter.

One of the things about last season’s squad was the guys who took the most 3s also shot at a very good percentage. The leaders in three-points attempts last year were: Donovan Mitchell (36.8%), Darius Garland (40.1%), Sam Merrill (37.2%), Strus (38.6%) and Ty Jerome (43.9%).

The league average was 36% and all five of the players taking the most long distance shots for Cleveland a year ago were above league average.

This year, the league wide percentage is about the same (35.8%).

And two of the top five shot takers from beyond the arc, Hunter (31%) and Lonzo Ball (31.3%) are well below the league average. Both are historically better than that. Hunter has made 36.9% for his career, while Ball has knocked them down at a 36.1% clip.

So perhaps those two should take the ball to the hoop a little more until they regain their touch from long range.

Much has been made about the lack of minutes for Jarrett Allen in the fourth quarter of games, but at this point in the season, we chalk that up to experimentation by the coaching staff. Allen is still a solid defender and good rebounder, and that’s greatly needed if you have a lead down the stretch.

If you haven’t noticed, the NBA is getting longer and having more size, particularly on the wings will be even more important. We have talked about the Cavs not having enough size for a few years now. That’s why we are happy to see Nae’Qwan Tomlin have some success.

He’s 6’10” and very active on the glass, particularly on the offensive end. And having Tyson and Ball, both at 6’6″ adds some size to the backcourt when needed. Think about it, without the injuries, does Tomlin get any playing time?

But having Garland’s shooting is also important for offensive spacing. Perhaps in the playoffs it will be like baseball. Get the lead and then bring in the defenders.

We haven’t moved off of our belief that this is the time for the Cavs to see what works and what doesn’t. It’s a good thing they are able to do that and still win more often than not.

Garland Helps The Offense For Sure, But…

The Cleveland Cavaliers are finally getting healthy. Friday night against the lowly Washington Wizards, coach Kenny Atkinson was finally able to put the starting lineup he projected over the summer on the floor.

Darius Garland figured to be out until the middle or end of November, but he made his first appearance of the season on Wednesday against Philadelphia. The offense immediately looked a lot better, as the Cavs have scored 132 and 148 points in his first two games back.

And that would figure because Garland is a terrific offensive player and can penetrate and dish very well. Adding someone who scored 20.6 points and doled out 6.7 assists last season should make the offense look better.

After Garland’s debut, all of the people who cover the Cavs were reporting how much better the ball movement and shooting was with Garland back. And it was. However, Sam Merrill, who missed three games and is shooting the three pointer at an outrageous rate so far this season (26 of 45,.578), was also back and shooting like that helps as well.

The pundits said it showed Garland’s importance to the team, and indeed he is important.

However, one of the things we are concerned with and some people who cover the NBA are also, is the size of the Cavs’ backcourt. Remember, and we have said this both last year and this season, what Cleveland does in the regular season is not that important for this group.

It’s what happens in the playoffs.

While Garland contributes a lot to the team, our question is simply this: Would a bigger, taller version of Garland help the offense more? And we continue to say it would. And that’s not a rap on the player. It would also be beneficial to the team if Donovan Mitchell were 6’5″ and not 6’3″. But he isn’t and that’s kind of the issue.

And although it’s one game, we saw some the issues that you can’t have in the playoffs. For example, the Cavaliers had a 20-point lead heading into the fourth quarter against the Sixers and won by 11.

Atkinson mentioned after the win Friday night that this is a point of emphasis for him and the team, get a lead and build on it. Don’t let the opponent back in the contest.

They did that against Philadelphia, mostly because they had six of their 15 turnovers in the final quarter. Two were by Evan Mobley and two more from Garland. For his career in the post-season, Garland averages a half a turnover more per game than in the regular season.

No doubt, the reason the team traded for Lonzo Ball was to have a bigger guard who can handle the basketball, someone that Atkinson can pair with either Garland or Mitchell to provide some size but still have someone who has a plus handle.

Ball leads the team in assists despite missing two games and playing only about half the minutes in the games he does appear in.

If a trade doesn’t occur before the playoffs, Cleveland will need Garland for sure, but if the things that have plagued him in the post-season before, turnovers and opponents attacking his defensively, they now have Ball as an alternative.

What are we saying? Yes, Darius Garland is a good player. He’s made two All-Star teams. But remember, many basketball people worry the small backcourt is something the Cavs have to overcome. Can it work in the spring?

That’s still the biggest question surrounding the Cavs.