Cavs Top 3: Dean Wade and Cavaliers can’t overcome Trailblazers
By Chad Porto
A good night of shooting from Dean Wade was far from enough for the Cavs.
The Cavs fell way short against the Trailblazers on Wednesday night, losing 141-105. The Cavs were, as the story goes for the 2020-2021 season, close leaving halftime but then fell apart in the second half of the game. Tired legs were likely the culprit, with head coach J.B. Bickerstaff having a very thin bench to work with.
The Cavs had a few strong performers, most of whom we’ll get to but we should mention Kevin Love, who put up a respectable 18 points and eight assists, was also the worst defender out there, by a mile. Love couldn’t stop anyone and posted a real plus-minus of -45. One of the worst, if not the worst, single real plus-minuses of the year from a Cavalier’s player.
The only player who finished on the right side of that figure was Jarrett Allen who had nine points and 13 rebounds.
Top Three Game Performers
One Point – Collin Sexton
Collin Sexton had 15 points and four assists on a fair night of shooting, but still posted a -29 in the real plus-minus. He was brutalized by the Blazer’s star guard all night, as Damina Lillard went off for 32.
Two Points – Dean Wade
Top bench player Dean Wade went 5-6 from the field while going 3-4 from three-point and 3-4 from the free-throw line. He finished with 16 points and five rebounds. He’s easily one of the more consistent Cavs players and should be given far more time than he’s betting lately.
Three Points – Cedi Osman
While he didn’t have the same shooting as Wade, Cedi Osman went 5-11 from the floor, 2-6 from three, and 2-2 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points, along with two rebounds and two assists. Osman has been playing much better over the last few weeks and has even stepped up defensively, posting the second-best plus-minus of any Cavs player who played 10 minutes or more on Wednesday.