Cavs: 4 things we learned from the preseason finale against the Knicks

The Cleveland Cavs lost in a blowout to the New York Knicks to close the preseason, teaching fans four things about them in the process.

Fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to be in for a long year if the performance of the team in their preseason finale is any indication. The Cavs players were outclassed all night against a team that isn’t exactly that deep or talented.

It wasn’t just a night of bad shooting, it was a night of poor everything. If the team was counting on this game to see which players should make the team, the whole lot of them should be cut. Unfortunately, most of these players will be on the team when the league formally begins its season.

This was a game, however, that did see Kevin Love, Andre Drummond, and Larry Nance Jr., not play. So what did we learn from this game?

Here are the four things we learned from the Cavs in their preseason finale.

Darius Garland has not improved.

There really shouldn’t be a debate, Darius Garland has not improved to the level that reports led people to believe. Garland shot just 3-of-9 and was dominated by Knicks rookie guard Immanuel Quickley who dropped 22 points. Garland had a +/- of -30, and after his defensive performance, it’s more than a fair number.

Collin Sexton was rusty.

Collin Sexton went 2-for-11 and put up only six points. Sexton should have much better nights ahead of him, but he clearly had a rough night in his first action of the year.

Thon Maker has shown no consistency after his stellar first game.

Thon Maker showed up in his first game against the Pacers and put on a showing. He has yet to do anything of the sort. While Marques Bolden isn’t capable of making some of the plays that Maker did in that first preseason game, at least Bolden brings consistency. If you have to keep one, it’s Bolden.

Cedi Osman can shoot really well.

Cedi Osman shot 7-of-8 from the floor and 5-of-6 from three-point. A near repeat performance from his play against the Pacers. Osman has shown a lot of improvement in the preseason and the hope is that it continues over to the regular season.

Bonus:

Dean Wade should get some minutes in 2020-2021.

Dean Wade has been shooting the ball well with the absence of Kevin Love. Wade shot 63% from the floor, 47% from three-point, and 60% from the free-throw line. These are tight numbers, admittedly but he’s shown he can shoot so hopefully the Cavs give him a shot.