Cavs Top 3: Darius Garland and Lauri Markkanen not enough to cut the Nets

The Cavaliers continue to spiral despite big games from Darius Garland and Lauri Markkanen.

The worst part of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 118-107 loss to the Brooklyn Nets is the fact that the Cavs actually wrecked Kyrie Irving all came long. Sadly, it wasn’t enough as the young core fell apart in the fourth quarter, where the team got dog-walked to the tune of 35-19. The Cavs have fallen off since the injury to Jarrett Allen, and are just 2-8 in their last 10. The Cavs wasted a 31 point performance from Garland and some fine sharp-shooting output from Lauri Markkanen.

The Cavs now sit in the eighth seed in the play-in tournament with the Nets in the seventh. The Hawks and Hornets are ninth and tenth respectively. There’s one game left for the Cavs to play, but if the season ended today, the Nets and Cavs would play first, with the winner going on to face the second seed (currently the Milwaukee Bucks), while the loser of the 7th vs. 8th seed game facing the winner of the 9th vs. 10th seed game. The winner of that last game would be the 8th seed and would face the Miami Heat.

Which looks to be the easier matchup.

The Cavs fell apart against the Heat due to turnovers and rushed possessions. Something that can be hopefully negated with the return of Allen, who is the fullback of the Cavs’ offense. Whenever the team wants an easy two, they just throw it to Allen, and he makes quick work of it. Without him, the Cavs don’t have the same ability to score inside.

Hopefully, he’s back for the play-in but his availability is unknown at this point.

The Cavs couldn’t cut the Nets down

Cavs Top 3

1. Caris LeVert
2. Lauri Markkanen
3. Darius Garland

Caris LeVert had an all-around fine game, with 16 points, four rebounds, and four assists. That was helped by Kyrie Irving having just an awful game, meaning his BPM was only a -7. Had Irving been on, that would’ve been much worse. For his solid play, LeVert gets the first point of the night.

The two points of the night go to Lauri Markkanen, who should’ve had much better numbers but he sat a lot in the second half due to his four personal fouls. Still, he shot 50% with 17 points and four rebounds.

The three points go to Darius Garland, who had 31 points, and three assists on 50% shooting from the floor and from behind the three-point line.

Yearly Standing:

1. Darius Garland (101 points)
2. Jarrett Allen (68 points)
3. Kevin Love (67)
4. Lauri Markkanen (63 points)
5. Evan Mobley (51 points)
6. Cedi Osman ( 39 points)
7. Ricky Rubio (32 points)
8. Isaac Okoro (19 points)
9. Dean Wade (10 points)
10. Lamar Stevens (8 points)
11. Caris LeVert (7 points)
12. Rajon Rondo (6 points)
13. Brandon Goodwin (3 points)
14. (*Tied*) Moses Brown & Dylan Windler (1 point)