Cleveland takes on the Wizards in our nation’s capital, in a game that’s become a must win for the wine and gold. Missing Donovan Mitchell for the first two games after the all-star break, the Cavs have gotten disastrous performances from Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, and J.B. Bickerstaff the last two games to drop two two conference rivals. LeVert has been 3-21 across the last two games, forcing up garbage mid-rangers, and missing wide open threes. Niang has been a pylon on defense to the tune of -26, most specifically getting cooked by Franz Wagner in the Magic game.
J.B. has had some head scratching decisions, leaving Merrill, Dean Wade, and Damian Jones on the bench while Caris could clearly not hit the broad side of a barn the last two games, and Niang looked like a bumbling fool who was being targeted every other play. The bigger issue though is that the Cavs have been reticent to put up the deep ball: shooting 22 and 27 threes the last two games, when they were averaging 40 across their hot streak. The Cavs played the last two games like they spent the all star break on the couch.
Its frustrating because this is the third season the Cavs have had this issue coming out of the break. When people talk about Donovan Mitchell not being long for the Cleveland, it’s this dearth of team seriousness that makes people think he’ll leave. Complicating matters is the inconsistency of Evan Mobley, who seems hesitant on offense again, and who the Cavs were throwing in the corner as opposed to the wing where he’s more conformable. Finally, while Darius Garland hasn’t been bad, he needs to shoot more and consistently push the pace, while Caris LeVert needs to get his shit together, and cede some minutes to Sam Merrill.
The Cavs are letting Caris cook too much instead of involving Mobley and Allen at the elbow and running the offense that was winning them ballgames. The argument that Niang is has to play because of the offense is silly when the Cavs’ use their defense to get into their offense, and all stats point to Dean Wade being about 4 points of net rating over Niang, and comically better from the three point line (Wade on top).
The good news is the 9-47 Wizards are missing Deni Avdija and Isaiah Livers while Donovan Mitchell is probable for Cleveland. The Cavs brutal schedule starts in March and they have about four games to show they’re a serious team. If things don’t pick up soon, I’d expect J.B.’s seat to start scorching.
