Cavs Top 3: Ball movement goes extinct in loss to Warriors

The Cavs forgot what it was like to facilitate ball movement against the Warriors on Thursday night, losing 119-101. Cleveland, who got Collin Sexton back, looked good after the first quarter, but then struggles with the second unit and selfish basketball curbed any chance the Cavs had at pulling off the win.

Key players over the last few weeks, like Dean Wade and Isaiah Hartenstein, were left rudderless throughout the game and didn’t even play that much, to begin with, despite their impact. Kevin Love only took 10 shots and struggled to score, mostly due to the ball movement throughout the game.

Darius Garland looked good and played Steph Curry surprisingly well, yet it was Collin Sexton who seemed to dominate the game and not in a good way. While he put up 30 points, he was also spending entire positions with the ball and not facilitating movement. Instead, playing selfish basketabll. His defensive abilities, or lack thereof, were on full display as well, posting a game worse +/- of -29.

That’s pretty telling.

Top 3 Game Performers

1 Point – Collin Sexton

We know by now that Collin Sexton will always be able to put up points, but what else can he do? He passes up open looks to dish for a three-point play, he drives to the paint far too often, and should instead work on his perimeter shooting, so he can help the offense keep pace. Defensively he’s just absolutely awful.

2 Points – Darius Garland

It’s becoming slowly, but surely more apparent that Darius Garland and not Sexton may be the man to build around (if either). Garland has statistically become a better defender than Garland and is only slightly off being a better offensive player than Sexton according to advanced metrics. Advanced metrics or not, Garland is a better passer and gets more of his teammates involved. Something the Cavs need more of.

3 Points – Jarrett Allen

17 points and 14 rebounds by Jarrett Allen. He’s good. The team needs to find a way to make Allen, Kevin Love, Dean Wade, and Isaiah Hartenstein all work well together.