Cavs Top 3: Ricky Rubio and Darius Garland do the best they can against Nets

The shorthanded Cavs lost to the Nets on Wednesday.

The Cavs have lost two straight, falling to the Nets on Wednesday night 109-99. Cleveland got back Kevin Love and Dean Wade had one of his better shooting nights on the year, but not having Evan Mobley, Collin Sexton, Jarrett Allen, and Lauri Markkanen isn’t a good thing for a team with renewed playoff hopes.

The Nets did have a big lead at the half but Cleveland was able to cut down the difference a bit. Still, the team was lacking too much of its regular punch. With the Warriors on deck next, these three games could be a very rough stretch for Cleveland.

That said, we’re not looking forward to Golden State, we’re looking back at the Nets game to see who impressed.

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.

Cavs top and bottom three performers from the Nets game

The Bottom Three Performers

1. Dylan Windler
2. Isaac Okoro
3. Ed Davis

When you don’t take a single shot, and you get roasted as bad as Dylan Windler did on defense, you’re going to make the top spot. Windler has the potential to stretch the court and his defense isn’t usually this bad, but the Cavs should consider trading Windler and Wednesday’s No. 2 bottom performer in a trade to improve the bench.

The ceiling on Isaac Okoro isn’t very high. His defense is good, no doubt about that, but the Cavs could’ve gotten a player with better defensive skills and a higher play-making ceiling in Deni Avdija. Okoro could still improve but to what level is really up in the air. He’s such a negative on offense at the moment, however, that even if he does improve, he’ll likely never live up to a top-five pick.

Ed Davis played admirably, but he can’t replace Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley’s production. The Nets knew that and took advantage.

The Top Three Performers

1. Kevin Love
2. Darius Garland
3. Ricky Rubio

Kevin Love had a nice night in limited minutes. He nearly had a double-double and shot alright considering he missed nearly three weeks of action. On a full lineup, regular night maybe Love doesn’t make the Top 3, but this team is wrecked by injuries and illness at the moment.

Someone said in the comments that Darius Garland played poor but he really didn’t. Sure, he shot under 40% on the day but looked at everyone the Cavaliers are missing. He’s a 50/50 pass-shoot point guard, and when he’s lacking some of his best scoring options, games like this are possible. He still had 20+ points and that’s not anything.

Ricky Rubio is not just proving to be the Cavaliers’ most dynamic play-maker, but he’s also quickly earning a contract extension with the Cavs. If he continues to play this way all year, then the Cavaliers would be foolish to not sign him to a new deal. Something over the next three years would make sense.

Yearly Standing:

Ricky Rubio (22 points)
*TIE* Darius Garland/Jarrett Allen (16 points)
Evan Mobley (12 points)
Cedi Osman(11 points)
Kevin Love (7 points)
*TIE* Collin Sexton/Lauri Markkanen (6 points)
Dylan Windler (1 point)