Cleveland Cavaliers: Studs and Duds as Cavs get first win vs Pacers

The Cleveland Cavaliers earned their first win of the season by knocking off the Indiana Pacers in their home opener. These are the studs and duds.

Following a horrible opening night performance against Orlando, the Cleveland Cavaliers sure looked to be in store for a long night against the Indiana Pacers.

Indy is still missing their star, Victor Oladipo, but the Pacers were more than capable of whooping a team like the Cavs without him.

In front of some of the greatest Cavs in team history, the current team put its best foot forward.

 Studs

1. Tristan Thompson was the Cleveland Cavaliers leading scorer for the second-straight night, meaning I’m living in a world I don’t understand. Smoke ’em if you got ’em, I guess, because  Thompson posted a double-double with 25 points and 13 rebounds, in addition to a team high of +/- of +23.

2. Kevin Love played the type of game he’s going to have to play if Cleveland’s going to have any kind of shot at being competitive on a nightly basis.

Love scored 21 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out nine assists and posted  +/- differential of + 21. He was 5-of-8 from 3-point range.

3. The Wolf, Jordan Clarkson, scored an efficient 15 points going 5-for-8 from the field, including 2-3 from 3-point range.

Duds

1. Kind of a cop out to name the uniforms, but for fans considered “old millenials,” these uniforms do nothing up but conjure up memories of mediocrity.

They symbolize the end of Mark Price‘s career from those magnificent years he dazzled at Richfield Coliseum. Brad Daugherty never being healthy enough to play. The Cavs scoring 89 points per game under Mike Fratello and getting bounced in the first round of playoffs.

In the late 90s to the early 2000 the Cavs mostly just lost a lot of games. Shawn Kemp had all but given up after getting traded to Cleveland and signing his lucrative extension. Ricky Davis tried to collect a triple double by shooting at his own hoop.

Fortunately, a uniform change coincided with winning the lottery and the selection of LeBron James in 2003.

Having all the players back for the 50th anniversary of the birth of the franchise was awesome, but the uniforms didn’t do the night justice. Unfortunately, the Cavs ran out of uniforms to bring back. The old Wine & Gold, in addition to those stellar orange and blue uniforms from the late 80s have already been back.

This is the year the mid 90s look gets its comeback, needless to say, I’ll pass and will continue to rock the Price jersey I got at the now defunct Westgate Mall (Koenig Sporting Goods) as a fifth graded back in 1993.

2. Cedi Osman was fresh off the news of his $31 million extension and managed to go 0-3 in 28 minutes. No, he’s not the No. 1 option, or even the second, but he’s the starting small forward. This is ugly. He finished with 1 point.

3. Darius Garland was 5-of-12 for 12 points with four assists, but posted the worst +/- of all the starters with a 0. Malcolm Brogdon was Indy’s leading scorer, posting 30 on the night. At times, Garland really struggled.

Following the game, John Beilein said he either pulled Sexton or Garland for not getting back on defense, but he wouldn’t specify who, via The Athletic (subscription).

Obviously, not a total boondoggle for Garland, because he was a contributor on offense, but the defense, or lack there of, will continue to be a storyline.