CLEVELAND, Ohio – Scribbles in my notebook as the Cavaliers face their biggest game of the season Friday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse against the Atlanta Hawks:
1. Anyone surprised by the 115-108 loss to Brooklyn in the first round of the play-in tournament? The Cavs are a young team. Brooklyn has two future Hall of Famers in Kevin Durrant and Kyrie Irving. It would have been delicious to cut down the Nets on their home court in a big game, but highly unlikely.
2. The disappointing part was being behind 40-20 at the end of the first quarter. The Cavs had just played Brooklyn last week in Cleveland. In that game, they fell behind 34-19 at the end of the first quarter. They actually grabbed the lead in the third period, but went on to lose 118-107.
3. In both games, lousy first quarters were the difference. That’s one of the few times this season where I have a few second-guesses for the coaching staff. Few adjustments made between last week and Tuesday night, at least in terms of the first quarter.
4. Having Kevin Love come off the bench all season was wise and it worked. Love played in 74 games, had his healthiest season since 2015-16 (77 games). In Tuesday’s loss, he had 14 points and 13 rebounds in 29 minutes. The Cavs outscored the Nets by 10 points with Love on the court.
The Cavs outscored Brooklyn by 10 points with Kevin Love on the court.
John Kuntz, cleveland.com
5. Time to start Love in the biggest game of the season – which is Friday. The Cavs need a good first quarter at home against the Hawks. How about a return to the big front line of Evan Mobley, Lauri Markkanen and Love starting for the injured Jarrett Allen? The team was built on size, Love can help that.
6. That’s especially true with Isaac Okoro suddenly being utterly lost. He played only 13 minutes vs. the Nets, missing all three wide open 3-pointers from the corner. In March, Okoro averaged 9.3 points. He shot .510 from the field and .452 on 3-pointers. That’s gone.
7. I’m not counting the season-ending home game vs. Milwaukee where the Bucks rested all their starters. But in four other key games (two vs. Brooklyn, one vs. Philadelphia and Orlando), defenses have been ignoring Okoro. He’s played 103 minutes in those games, scoring 11 points and shooting 3-for-11.
8. Some of Okoro’s minutes should go to Lamar Stevens. In seven minutes, he scored seven points on 2-of-3 shooting Tuesday night. The problem is defenses are allowing Okoro or Stevens to shoot from the outside, and both struggle in that area. Stevens is playing with more confidence now.
9. I still like Okoro, reminding myself he’s only 21 and this is his second NBA season. We have been spoiled by the rise of Darius Garland and the amazing Mobley. Those two young men were ready for Brooklyn. Garland had 34 points (13-of-24) and tried to carry the offense. He had six turnovers because he sometimes dribbled into trouble vs. multiple defenders. But he’s only 22!
Evan Mobley had 19 points and seven rebounds in the loss to the Nets.
John Kuntz, cleveland.com
10. The 20-year-old Mobley has averaged 18 points, 7.0 rebounds and shot 54 percent in the two games vs. Brooklyn. He is so poised. If you’re a Cavs fan, watching the performance of Garland and Mobley in these games is exciting. The best from them really is yet to come.
11. A major disappointment was Caris LeVert. He missed seven of eight shots to open the game. He finished with 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Usually, he draws fouls, but was only 3-of-3 from the foul line. Not many attempts. He often drove to the rim, was swarmed by the defense and put up a bad shot.
12. LeVert had a better overall game than I realized. He had seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals. LeVert is 27. He came into Tuesday night having played in nine postseason games for his career, averaging 20.7 points. He can be an effective scorer, but he’s a driver and a mid-range shooter. Friday is huge for him.
13. Rajon Rondo had a decent game with eight points in 26 minutes. The Cavs outscored Brooklyn by two points with him on the court. He had a team-high nine assists. But he is not a scorer. LeVert has to help Garland in that area. Cedi Osman played 21 minutes, missed all four shots from the field and seemed overwhelmed. His inconsistency makes it hard to trust him in big games.
14. Markkanen was matched up with Kevin Durant, no bargain. It also pulled him away from the basket. He had only four rebounds and 13 points in 29 minutes. Markkanen has played well in the big April games, averaging 18.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and shooting .515 from the field.
15. This is fun, writing about the young Cavs in a big playoff games. Now let’s see how they respond under the pressure.
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