Random dribbles following the Cavaliers’ disappointing 116-109 home loss to the Orlando Magic on Thursday. …
1. Well, that’s no way to start the post-break portion of the season. To put it simply, the Cavs were just outworked.
2. It’s true that leading scorer Donovan Mitchell was out with an illness. It’s also true that the Cavs have still won 18 of 21. And I don’t think there’s anything to worry about big picture-wise.
3. But there are still some troubling trends lately.
4. Namely, each of the Cavs’ last three games were at home. In those games, they lost to the shorthanded and struggling Philadelphia 76ers, needed a rally to beat the even worse Chicago Bulls, then lost to Orlando.
5. So yeah, the Cavs (36-19) have lost two of three. All were against teams below them in the standings. All were at home.
6. What gives?
7. On Thursday, I can tell you what gave, and that was the ball on Cavs possessions. They committed a whopping 20 turnovers, and forget the Orlando Magic — you won’t even beat the Barberton High School Purple Magics that way.
8. There are no excuses for that, and I know fans often blame Darius Garland. Frankly, it does make you wonder. He is the man with the ball most of the time. As the point guard, it’s his job to run the offense and keep things crisp.
9. Garland finished with 18 points and 10 assists — but also committed four turnovers. Max Strus also had four. That’s your starting backcourt. The Cavs will tell you offense isn’t the problem, they scored plenty of points. But it’s a problem when you keep coughing up the ball.
10. Strus and Jarrett Allen each added 18 points on a combined 13-of-20 shooting. Allen also grabbed 10 rebounds. Isaac Okoro was dynamite with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Evan Mobley had 14 points, eight boards and six assists.
11. So yeah, the offensive numbers were there. And Orlando (31-25) is no joke this season. Still, the Cavs don’t want to get into the habit of bad habits. They’ve done it for three games now.
12. I wrote this before, but I wondered if the Cavs might move Garland to shooting guard and let Mitchell control the offense after Garland returned from a broken jaw. That wasn’t intended as a knock on Garland as much as it was praise for Mitchell — who ran the offense masterfully in Garland’s absence.
13. It doesn’t mean Mitchell would only play point. But maybe he could still play it plenty with Garland on the floor. The Cavs have been good with Garland at the helm; but they’ve been better with the ball in the hands of Mitchell.
14. That said, I’d give it a few more games. Let’s see if things work themselves out. Garland is a quality point guard, no doubt. But the Cavs gave up a bunch of first-round picks and some nice young players when trading for Mitchell. The idea was to give themselves their best chance to win NOW. They’ve been winning, yes. They haven’t looked great lately, though. What’s changed?
15. Okoro also brought up a valid point. “They were just being more physical than us,” he said, via Bally Sports Ohio. “When we allow teams to be more physical than us, then we aren’t playing our best basketball.”
16. Amen to that. Coach JB Bickerstaff also credited the Magic for using their size — and they do have plenty of it. “We’ve played really good basketball and we just have to do that,” he said. “We’ll be fine.”
17. I’m with Bickerstaff all the way. I think the Cavs will be fine. It’s just not been a great example of that lately.
18. On the bright side, this is the NBA and by the time you read this the Cavs may have already arrived in Philadelphia. They left right after the game. I’m guessing Mitchell will play, but maybe not, too. Depends on the severity of his illness. He did attend shootaround on Thursday.
19. And before we get too worked up, let’s not forget that the Cavs won in Philly earlier this season without Mitchell. Garland was superb. The 76ers had All-Star center Joel Embiid for that game. They won’t on Friday and the Cavs owe them one.
20. So, yes, go ahead and keep having faith in the Cavs. This loss won’t be remembered. But it is frustrating. The Cavs are better than they’ve shown in the last three games and need to get back to being themselves.
21. Magic reserve center Moritz Wagner has been very good lately and he outmuscled the Cavs with 22 points and seven rebounds. Orlando’s bench really outplayed Cleveland’s, and that is a rarity.
22. But on to Philadelphia. There’s always another game in the NBA, another chance for you to start feeling good again. The Cavs have a chance to do that in Philadelphia on Friday and at Washington on Sunday. Take care of the ball, move the ball, stay after it defensively. They say they know all that. Now just go out and do it.
23. Finally, in case you missed my weekly Cavs show on Facebook news outlet 330 To Go, you can check it out here. (Or directly below.)
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