Random dribbles following the Cavaliers’ impressive 96-91 road win over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
1. Boy, did the Cavs need this. A game on the road, against a young, promising opponent. The Hawks had also become all the talk after a 4-1 start that including a win over the high-profile Nets.
2. Not tonight, said the Cavs, who played with some grit, some guts and a real sense of pride.
3. It’s true that the Hawks were playing on the second night of a back-to-back after the win in Brooklyn. It’s also true that the Hawks looked gassed at the end, and that overall, this was a fairly ugly game.
4. But guess what? These are the types of games the Cavs used to lose anyway. They didn’t seem to care that they might be taking advantage of a tired opponent. They just went out and finished the job. In the first half, they trailed by double digits.
5. And suddenly, both teams are 4-2. Both seem determined to make the playoffs and make their skeptics go silent.
6. Collin Sexton was outstanding, giving his best performance in an early-season that’s been a chock full of good ones. He scored 27 points, passed for three assists and even compiled three steals.
7. Along with that, Sexton hit a biggie of a 3-pointer to put the Cavs ahead in the fourth quarter. The more the Cavs win, the more people are going to pencil in Sexton as the franchise’s next All-Star. He’s just been that good.
8. Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff on Sexton: “He’s a walking bucket. There are certain people that have a knack for putting the ball in the basket all sorts of ways. The kid is not afraid of the biggest moments. We needed a basket, and he went and manufactured one.”
9. Meanwhile, Andre Drummond recorded yet another double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. That makes him the first player in franchise history to compile a double-double in each of the first six games. Not too shabby, huh?
10. Drummond received lots of help in the middle yet again, and the man who’s the biggest surprise on the Cavs goes by the name of JaVale McGee. His 14 points were second-highest on the team, and he also collected nine rebounds and four assists.
11. McGee is just so determined to win that he may be forgetting he was traded to a team that wasn’t really supposed to be that good. Clearly, he could give a hoot about any of that.
12. Also performing an underrated role was guard/forward Dante Exum, who started for the second straight game in place of injured rookie Isaac Okoro (foot/safety protocol). Exum’s length and positioning really seemed to bother dynamic Hawks guard Trae Young — who scored a season-low 16 points.
13. In Young’s defense, he did make some great passes on his way to 10 assists. But Exum was a big reason why Young was distributing instead of shooting.
14. Larry Nance Jr. gave the Cavs yet another underrated performance in place of Kevin Love, with Nance scoring nine points and grabbing 11 rebounds. So much of what he does has a major impact on the outcome.
15. Cedi Osman added 11 points off the bench after a shaky start. Darius Garland struggled to just eight points on 3-of-14 shooting. He too looked totally spent by game’s end.
16. Former NBA coach and current NBA TV analyst Sam Mitchell on the Cavs: “This is a very underrated basketball team right now. Their togetherness is pretty impressive.”
17. Damyean Dotson added seven points for the Cavs in 13 minutes. De’Andre Hunter led the Hawks with 17, and Clint Capela tacked with 16 points and 16 boards.
18. Honestly, for most of this game, the Hawks looked like the better team. But it was the Cavs — and especially Sexton — who came through at winning time. That bodes well for the rest of the season.
19. Along with Love (calf) and Okoro, the Cavs remain without second-year shooing guard Kevin Porter Jr. (personal reasons) and point guard Matthew Dellavedova (concussion). Okoro could return for the next game Monday in Orlando, or the one after that Wednesday, also in Orlando.
20. So, this has been a decent beginning to a six-game road swing, as the Cavs moved to 1-1 with four to go. They also are now 2-1 on the road.
