Watching the Market: Cavs at Hornets
The offense was there in spades, but defense? Never heard of it.
Stock Up:
Max Strus’ impact returning from injury
For those who forgot how complete of a player Max Strus is, his return was a friendly reminder of why the Cleveland Cavaliers spent the bulk of their offseason budget on Strus. It became apparent quickly from the opening tip that Strus was not going to treat this game against Charlotte as a soft ramp-up.
Strus was firing away quite efficiently for a man who hasn’t seen action for 12 games due to a knee strain. Strus finished the game shooting 7-13 amounting to 19 points. Strus allows the offense to open up a lot more as defenses have to respect the gravity from the perimeter that Strus demands. Hopefully the time off will allow Strus to reset and this can be the trajectory we see Strus have going forward.
The team’s three-point percentage
If there was an aspect of this game the Cavaliers can hang their head high on, it would have to be the team’s three-point percentage and volume. Not only did the Cavaliers open this game firing away from three, but they played a huge factor in the team coming out strong in the first quarter.
The team as a whole had shot 44 three-pointers, converting on a nice percentage of 43.2%. Who else but Sam Merrill led the pack in terms of attempts (11) and makes (5) after starting the game shooting four for four from beyond the arc. Other notables from the perimeter in this game were Georges Niang (4-5), Max Strus (5-10), and Darius Garland (3-10). It has been instrumental in these past two games against Charlotte and helped to bail the team out tonight.
Stock Down:
Defensive effort
On Monday, it was evident the discrepancy in talent between the Hornets and the Cavaliers as the game progressed. It appears after taking care of business handily on Monday, the Cavaliers took their foot off the gas defensively. While the Cavaliers’ offense in the first half was rolling and playing to the level they are capable of, the defense was lacking and frankly lifeless.
Overall, there were many lapses on the floor and just a lack of effort in transition. It just felt like the team was missing the urgency and sometimes felt as if they were going through the motions. The Hornets as a whole shot a nauseating 57.9%, and they were able to live in the paint, somewhere the Cavaliers had defended well throughout the season.
Hopefully, this will be a short-term issue as even at half time Georges Niang voiced his frustration stating how this should occur especially given the fact this is a team they are more familiar with after just playing them on Monday.
A sense of urgency in a waning season
Let’s face it, this is a bad loss, at this point in the season, the schedule is tightening up. No more can this team have the off-night type of game. This was a type of loss, the defense was lacking, and the effort was never there through all four quarters. Things are heading in the wrong direction at the wrong time, even as the players appear to slowly come back into the fold.
With Donovan Mitchell slated to possibly return on Friday against the Sixers, this team has very little time to get some consistent level of play strung together. Tonight makes one wonder if this season is almost lost to the injuries that transpired. Between all the time missed and the identity of this team morphing into the talent on the court, this team has infinitely more questions than answers.