Random dribbles following the Cavaliers’ clunker of a 135-115 home loss to the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
1. The Cavs gave up 47 points in the first quarter. So it’s safe to say they weren’t exactly feeling motivated at the start.
2. This against an opponent that was missing its three best players — Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet. And the Raptors aren’t very good even when they have those three.
3. The Cavs were coming off back-to-back road wins against San Antonio and Oklahoma City. Then they came back home and … thud. Like I wrote last time, young teams can be maddening.
4. Young teams can take a couple of small steps forward, followed by some brutally ugly steps back.
5. Ladies and gentlemen, meet your 2021 Cleveland Cavaliers. These types of weeks have defined the season.
6. Most of the issues for this particular version of the Cavs have come at the defensive end. When they can’t stop anyone, they really do it right. Some of it is the result of a lack of focus, determination, energy, and other defensive buzzwords.
7. Some of it is because they are still missing Jarrett Allen and Larry Nance Jr.
8. And a lot of it is because they just don’t have very good defensive players.
9. Allen and Nance should help fix some of that. But rookie Isaac Okoro was supposed to be a guy who “makes an immediate impact” on defense. He’s nowhere close to that yet.
10. By the way, the 47 points were the most in a first quarter for a Cavs opponent in the 51-year history of the franchise. Worse, the Raptors did it on 17-of-20 shooting. Then the Cavs gave up another 40 points in the second, for a franchise-worst 87 points in a half.
11. That’s embarrassing.
12. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff may have pointed out the embarrassing part at halftime, because the Cavs only surrendered 13 points in the third quarter. How this happens, we’ll never know. But it sure seems to happen a lot for the Cavs. You never can be certain what to expect from one moment to the next.
13. Don’t feel bad. They don’t seem to know, either.
14. Bickerstaff on the loss: “We just didn’t have any grit. I thought we let them do what they wanted to do. They were beating us up one-on-one. We weren’t good helping one another. It was a bunch of different things, but it starts with the fight and the toughness that I don’t think we started with.”
15. On the bright side, the Cavs have another home game Sunday (vs. New Orleans). So they can forget about this one. Then again, they may want to remember it long enough to avoid a repeat. This may have been a pro basketball game, but it was far from a professional effort from the Cavs.
16. Collin Sexton at least was able to score, putting up 29 points. Darius Garland added 19 points and eight assists, leaving briefly after twisting his ankle. He appeared to be OK, but the Cavs haven’t offered an official update yet. Kevin Love added 18 points.
17. Garland hurt his ankle with 2:51 to go and the outcome already decided. Really have to wonder why the Cavs keep their starters in so long sometimes.
18. Gary Trent Jr. absolutely lit up the Cavs for 44 points on a sizzling 17-of-19 from the field. He came over in a trade with Portland last month, and he’s undoubtedly a nice player. But the Cavs turned him into Ray Allen.
19. Rookie point guard Malachi Flynn added 20 points and 11 assists. Flynn entered the night averaging 3.9 points.
20. Bottom line: The Cavs (19-33) be frustrating for their fans. We had a decent hunch that would be the case. But this one was inexcusable.
