Cavs: Cedi Osman all around skill set and 3 more things from Grizzlies win

The Cavs ground out a win, 94-90 against the Grizzlies on Thursday night behind Cedi Osman’s all-around outing and stellar defense.

The Cleveland Cavs are down seven people right now for a variety of reasons. Kevin Love, Darius Garland, Matthew Dellevadova, Dylan Windler, and Dante Exum are all out with injuries, while Kevin Porter Jr. continues to sit due to his off-court issues from last calendar year. Then Collin Sexton was ruled out mere minutes before the game. With a make-shift lineup and a lot of ugly shooting to come, the Cavs took the court and defeated the Grizzlies 94-90 behind the offensive outing of Cedi Osman, Larry Nance, and Andre Drummond.

Osman took over a majority of the point, despite Damyean Dotson starting for Sexton – who was previously penciled in at the one. Osman had a rough night shooting from three, going 4-for-11 (but 6-of-19 overall) for 16 points, but also added five rebounds and seven assists on the night as well. Drummond added another double-double with 22 points and 15 rebounds, while Nance was perfect from the floor all night, going 7-for-7 from the floor and 4-of-4 from three-point, for 18 points.

The Cavs needed every point they could get, plus impressive outings from JaVale McGee (13 points, six rebounds) and Isaac Okoro. McGee continues to be a gem for the Cavs off the bench and Okoro’s defense was timely to close out the game but streaky throughout the night.

The Grizzlies were without key players in Ja Morant, Jarren Jackson Jr., and Justice Winslow.

Four things from Thursday’s game.

Cedi Osman’s complete skill-set

Cedi Osman was essentially the point-forward for the game and the Cavs lucked out, as he did a wonderful job driving the offense forward. While his shooting can be streaky at times, the other aspects of his game are complete and beyond-sound, which makes him a must-have on the floor as often as possible. Unlike some players who can only do one or two things really well, Osman doesn’t need to score to be useful.

The team needs to stop living and dying on three’s

Osman’s biggest issue is settling for three’s but that’s the issue with this team. Osman jacked up 11, while Dotson shot eight, hitting one. Okoro also shot four while hitting just one as well. At least Osman hit four, but he still only shot 36% on the night. You could easily make an argument that he’d have four or six more points if he stepped in for a runner or a layup. The team also only shot 16 free throws, which was still double what the Grizzlies shot.

Defense is working

J.B. Bickerstaff deserves all the credit in the world. Drummond, McGee, and Okoro have become so useful for this team because of their defensive skills and his defensive playstyle. The team is a real two-way team, and while it’s still too early to say that this team is a legit contender for the playoffs, once everyone gets healthy this team will be a much harder out.

Dean Wade deserves more opportunities

With the injuries mounting, Bickerstaff should give Wade more shots. He only played 12 minutes, going 2-for-2 from the floor, both three-pointers, with two assists and a rebound but the Cavs could’ve easily given him more time from Thon Maker or Dotson. Nance played small forward a few times tonight when Drummond and McGee took the court together for a few minutes, so you could give Wade more opportunities then as well. He’s shown to have a really good shot, at least mechanically, and should get more opportunities while the rest of the squad recovers.