Cavs Top 3: Collin Sexton and Cedi Osman not enough in loss to Mavericks

Collin Sexton and Cedi Osman couldn’t overcome powerful Mavs.

The Cavs saw nice performances from Collin Sexton and Cedi Osman, but very little else to talk about in their loss to the Mavericks on Friday, falling 110-90. The Cavaliers were without a number of players and will be for the foreseeable future, but one unexpected absence was Kevin Love, who sat out due to “knee soreness”.

It wasn’t all bad, as Anderson Varejao got some more time after making his regular-season debut on Wednesday. Varejao played a few minutes at the end of the game, which isn’t too surprising seeing as he’s just on the team as a farewell tour of sorts to close out the regular season.

The Cavs are so depleted at the moment, that the Mavs didn’t even play their starters for more than 25+ minutes, with star player Luka Doncic only playing 23 minutes. The Cavs are far from a competitive team right now.

Top Three Game Performers

1 Point – Isaac Okoro

Finishing a night with 15 points and five rebounds is usually a sign of a good game, but not when the rest of the team played so poorly. Okoro is starting to develop nicely as a scorer but he’s a project, not a prospect. He needs a lot more time.

2 Points – Collin Sexton

Collin Sexton actually had a game-high 27 points, and had four assists, doing most of the damage from the free-throw line. The problem comes from the fact he only attempted two three-point shots all night. That style can’t work from your best player, there has to be more play at the perimeter. Especially when most of the team is out.

3 Points – Cedi Osman

Give it up to Cedi Osman, who’s having a great run to close out the season after finding himself benched for a stretch of games. Osman had 24 points, on solid shooting, while also contributing seven assists and five rebounds. While Osman only had four turnovers, as the primary passer on the team, he has got to reduce that. He can be a contributor on this team as a point-forward type but he has to get better at not turning the ball over.