Cavs Top 3: CLE collapses late blowing winnable game against Wizards

The Cavs collapsed against the Wizards.

The Cavs collapsed against the Wizards in a heart-breaking loss. Cleveland maintained a lead for most of the game, and only saw Washington take over the lead late into the fourth. A late-shot attempt from Darius Garland didn’t go in and the Cavaliers ended up losing.

This was the first game without Collin Sexton and while the loss hurt, as Cleveland now falls to 7-5 on the young season following their 97-94 loss to the Wizards on Wednesday. Cleveland played great defense against the Wizards’ guards all game but a steady supply of points given up in the paint propelled Washington.

Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma did the damage, exposing Evan Mobley pretty bad all game. The good new is that the Cavs offense was mostly unaffected with the loss of Collin Sexton, but a lack of consistent three-point shooting made sure Cleveland didn’t get the win.

The Cavs top-three against the Wizards

As always, the bottom is in descending order with the lowest number being the worst and the top is in ascending order with three being the best.

The Bottom Three Performers

1. Isaac Okoro
2. Evan Mobley
3. Lamar Stevens

The Cavs are better without Isaac Okoro in the starting lineup. If the Cavs had Lauri Markkanen back, ok, maybe you bring back Okoro into the linup. Yet with Dean Wade mostly being a non-factor on offense, you really can’t survive with Okoro. His defense is good but not nearly good enough to make up for the lack of offense. Dylan Windler or Cedi Osman need to start because Okoro is just not it.

The rookie Evan Mobley falls second on the list. He had a good offensive game, but his defense was tested and bested. he had the second worst box +/- for the game at -11, and for someone that keeps getting mentioned for the Defensive Playeor of the Year award as a rookie, he can’t be the reason the offense scores. The Wizards attacked him all day inside and it worked.

Lamar Stevens wouldn’t be playing with Markkanen and Kevin Love healthy. So he’s not going to be held to the same standard as Okoro, the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. That said, he had a game-worst box+/-with a -12. He has no real offensive game on his own and his only redeeming quality is is the energy and defense he provides. If he can’t provide that then he’s just eating up minutes.

The Top Three Performers

1. Jarrett Allen
2. Darius Garland
3. Ricky Rubio

He played signifcantly more minutes than Evan Mobley, so it’s slightly understandable why he had a -8 box +/- on the night. The Wizards were relentless attacking Jarrett Allen and Mobley. Allen also had a timely block in the second half of the game, and finished with a double-double on the night, while also contributing four assists.

Darius Garland had a bad night shooting from three-point land but that may happen from time to time. He still had 19 points and four assists. His four turnovers was problematic, however. As was Allen’s for what’s worth.

We know Allen got one point and Garland got two, but Ricky Rubio is walking away with the top earner for the game. He had 20 points, five rebounds and five steals, all while coming off the bench. The Cavs would be better off putting Rubio in the starting lineup until guys start coming back.

Yearly Standing:

1. Jarrett Allen (16 points)
2. Ricky Rubio (14 points)
3. *Tie* Darius Garland/Evan Mobley (8 points)
4. Cedi Osman (7 points)
5. *TIE* Collin Sexton/Lauri Markkanen/Kevin Love/ (6 points)
6. Dylan Windler (1 point)