Random dribbles following the Cavaliers’ 111-102 home loss to the Pacers on Monday.
1. Well, that went about as well as could be expected. The Cavs played hard, were in it for most of the night, and lost. This despite just having Collin Sexton and a bunch of guys who may or may not make the G-League All-Star team.
2. And Sexton went just 7-of-26 shooting. So the fact this game was once tied at 91-all is a testament to the fact the Cavs truly did give it all they had.
3. Yeah, I know. That’s all we can root for these days — the Cavs giving a valiant effort. Actually winning isn’t really part of the equation.
4. Anyway, we won’t spend a lot of time here. Mostly because I already wrote sort of a big picture offseason overview earlier. In case you missed it, you can read those dribbles right here: It’s time for Cavs to walk the walk.
5. I will say this much — I’m amazed at how many angry Cavs fans tweet at me during and after games to complain. Half the time, I don’t see the tweets until later. But I do read them. And it is evidence that passion still exists, in spite of it all.
6. The Cavs (21-48) entered the night with nine guys missing. One of them was Kevin Love. I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing. Overall, they have lost 11 in a row. Sunday’s finale can’t come soon enough.
7. Remember all the talk before the season about how the Cavs wanted to build off last year’s momentum? Remember how they actually did at the start of this year?
8. That’s all ancient history. Now, they can’t wait until this season is over and they get the opportunity to never think about it again.
9. Isaac Okoro scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for another nice night statistically. But I’ll be honest, I still think it might be years before we know if he is actually starter material on a good team.
10. Nothing against Okoro. I just can’t figure out whether he’s bound to have an actual big night because he receives so many minutes, or if he’s actually really promising.
11. Dean Wade added 19 points and 12 boards. I can’t figure out Wade, either. But at this point, he’s probably a better fit than Love. Then again, so are about 72 percent of the forwards in the league.
12. That’s a very unofficial stat, by the way. Here are some that are actual facts …
13. The Cavs are now 3-13 without Darius Garland. They are 4-8 when Sexton doesn’t play. They are 8-26 without Larry Nance Jr. They are 15-29 without Love.
14. Of those 13 losses without Garland, all but two have been by at least 10 points.
15. Of course, the only stat most people care about is this — as of this writing, the Cavs are tied with the Thunder for third-best odds in the draft lottery.
16. Vegas had the Cavs at 21.5 wins. A few of my friends bet the over. All of them were extremely confident at the start of the season. All are now texting me incessantly in utter panic.
17. Since the Cavs haven’t been giving me much to write about, I have been covering the Pacers pretty extensively. And hey, what do you know? Now they too have all sorts of drama. So maybe I really am to blame. You can check out all my Indiana coverage on this page.
