Cavs Top 3: Cleveland disappoints but Darious Garland shines

The Cleveland Cavaliers disappoint against the Pistons despite Darius Garland.

It wasn’t too unsurprising, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in a huge showdown for the Central Division. Hangovers happen in sports, and that’s exactly what happened after several days off and an emotional win; the Cavs came out and laid an egg. Darius Garland did what he could, having a fantastic game but it wasn’t enough.

The Cavs had an 88-84 lead heading into the fourth but their defense fell apart against the Pistons and Detroit was able to hang up 31 points in the final quarter of action. Jarrett Allen was unable to get much going offensively and Rajon Rondo couldn’t find his shot, going 1-4 from three, and finishing with three points.

The team was without Lauri Markkanen, but his backup, Dean Wade, had a great game on both ends of the court. The issue seems to stem from a lack of bench scoring to help dig the defense out. As two of their better options, Cedi Osman and Kevin Love, are three-point shooters, sometimes shots just aren’t going to fall and when that happens, the secondary unit will struggle. Osman, however, did not struggle, putting up 13 points on pretty good shooting.

The Cavs fell 115-105 and dropped to 30-20 on the season.

Cavs Top 3

1. Dean Wade
2. Evan Mobley
3. Darius Garland

The first point of the night goes to Dean Wade, who finished shooting 5-6 from the floor and 4-5 from three. He had 14 points, four rebounds, a steal, and a block. The defense as a whole was iffy but he provided a much-needed pop on the perimeter.

The two points for the game go to Evan Mobley, who finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, and two assists while shooting 58% from the floor. He finished with a box +/- of +5, one of only two Cavaliers to finish in the positives. The other was Lamar Stevens.

The three points for the game go to Darius Garland, who shot 50% from the floor and 50% from three and finished with 24 points and seven assists.

Yearly Standing:

1. Darius Garland (55 points)
2. Jarrett Allen (51 points
3. Kevin Love (44)
4. (*Tie*) Lauri Markkanen/ Ricky Rubio (32points)
5. Evan Mobley (30 points)
6. Cedi Osman (27 points)
7. Isaac Okoro (8 points)
8. Dean Wade (6 Points)
9. Lamar Stevens (4 points)
10. Rajon Rondo (3 points)
11. Dylan Windler (1 point)