Eight observations from Cavs’ second win: Sexton’s dunk, rookie development and Thompson’s defensive presence
By Kelsey Russo Oct 30, 2019 10
CLEVELAND — When the Cavs came in for the start of training camp, coach John Beilein wanted Tristan Thompson to run through a particular test that measures if a player is in shape. The drill breaks down to a “suicide drill” in practice, but with a twist. Thompson had to run three consecutive sprints in 30 seconds, with 30 seconds of rest in between.
Beilein didn’t think Thompson would make the drill; he said bigs tend to have a harder time making it through the drill on the first try. Especially in preseason. But Thompson did on the first try, one after another, after another.
“He asked me to do it, gotta do it,” Thompson said. “Set an example for the other guys. It was a long practice, so I didn’t think I was going to do it, but I did it. I destroyed it and it’s on to the next challenge.”
Thompson’s shape has impressed Beilein since the beginning of the season, and the work has paid off.
Through four games, Thompson has been a crucial component for the Cavs on both sides of the floor. The Cavs’ 117-111 win over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday was the latest example of the veteran’s contributions, leading to the second win of the season. On the defensive end, Beilein wants Thompson to be the last line of defense and protect the rim. Thompson delivered. He had a career-high five blocks and recorded his fourth straight double-double of the season with 10 rebounds and 23 points.
“I’ve got goals, and Coach Beilein has put the bug in my ear, so I’m accepting the challenge. We want to protect the paint — last year in the pick-and-roll and our paint protection was bad — especially with not having John Henson in, so someone’s got to protect that rim. So I accept the challenge and that’s what I did tonight.”
Here are seven other observations from the Cavs’ second win at home.
1. Kevin Porter Jr. had a fourth quarter that truly showed off his potential when he took his shots. He hesitated throughout the first half to shoot, instead passing the ball off to a teammate.
“Throughout these four games I’ve been struggling from the 3, so everybody — players and coaches — have just been telling me to shoot, and once you see one go in, it’s going to be all right,” Porter said. “I was choosing the first half. I didn’t want to shoot. They got on me at halftime about that. They said, ‘Take the open ones.'”
In the fourth quarter, he drained a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer without hesitation, his first career 3-pointer. He then followed up with a dunk four minutes later. Seeing that first shot go down was a relief and a confidence booster. Porter said Kevin Love and Matthew Dellavedova have told him to shoot every day.
“That swing-swing that I had to him, I told him the ball was going to come and be ready to shoot it and he was,” Love said. “That’s why I looked at him and we started laughing on the way back down the floor. He had the ball in transition, he can be devastating when he plays downhill and I was really enjoying that, him just showing what he’s capable of tonight.”
Porter scored nine points, had one block and grabbed four rebounds.
2. There was a change in some of the early lineups, with Collin Sexton seeing minutes at point guard without Darius Garland or Dellavedova on the floor during the second quarter. It was short-lived, as Dellavedova came in for Sexton to take over at point. It happened again toward the beginning of the fourth quarter, when Porter, Love, Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson were on the floor, along with Sexton. Beilein said the reason for the change was to find a way to give Sexton more minutes.
“That was the whole idea there, that he’s valuable to us,” Beilein said. “But Jordan as well had been playing sub-20, and we thought it was good to get him to 20-25, so by doing that we keep Collin on the floor because he’s such an explosive player.”
Clarkson played 25:54 and scored 17 points with four assists. He hit a timely 3-pointer in the third quarter, along with a free throw in the final second of the game.
3. Love recorded his fourth straight double-double of the season in the first half against the Bulls. By halftime, he scored 10 points and added 16 rebounds. He finished the game with 17 points and 20 rebounds.
He dressed up as the character Jason Voorhees when he came to the game, and wore his Jason mask as he did his postgame interview. He also carried a bat that was signed by Cleveland Indians slugger Carlos Santana in honor of Game 7 of the World Series.
4. There were some offensive blips that appeared in the second quarter when it took to 7:43 for the Cavs to score off a driving reverse layup from Thompson. They shot 9-of-22 from the field and 2-of-7 from the arc in the second quarter. But the second half, and especially the fourth quarter, they quickly made up for those blips as the offensive production kicked into full gear.
Between Garland’s 23-foot 3-point shot, Porter’s 3-pointer and dunk, along with Sexton’s dunk, the youth of the team brought a life in the final quarter.
“I don’t know how (Garland) threw that one, he was sitting in my lap. To get those, we just needed those types of things,” Beilien said. “There was several times in there where they had a turnover or they did something and I said, ‘damn the youth.’ They got to learn from this play and I’m thinking right away we’ll show them that on video tomorrow. And then all of a sudden, boom, we made three plays that showed them why they are in the NBA right now.”
5. Sexton’s dunk in the final 30 seconds of the game gave a boost to the Cavs and to the arena. Love grabbed Sexton after in praise, while Porter ran over to him and expressed his excitement. The entire Cavs’ bench, and many of those in attendance, were on their feet for the final 30 seconds of the game.
“I had seen (Zach) LaVine, he stepped up a little too far and he gave me the back door so I just took it and Kev found me,” Sexton said. “I was going to try to lay it and I was like, ‘I might as well dunk it.'”
6. Through the first four games of the season, Brandon Knight has not seen time on the floor. While Beilein said he would be working through a 9-10 man rotation, Knight has not been a part of that mix. During a timeout in the first quarter, Knight appeared to be going through stretches to warm up; however, he didn’t check into the game.
After Knight did not see time in the season opener against Orlando, Beilein said it was important to evaluate the younger players in order to take stock of where they are and how they can grow.
“All I urged him was, ‘You be ready to be in position. When we need you then you’re ready,'” Beilein said at practice on Oct. 25. “Can’t check out of the game and think, ‘I’m not playing.'”
7. The Cavs exercised Sexton’s third-year option, a source told The Athletic on Tuesday, two days before the deadline on Oct. 31. It was officially announced by the Cavs on Wednesday afternoon. However, the Cavs did not exercise Ante Zizic’s fourth-year option on Wednesday, a source confirmed to The Athletic. He will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
8. Zizic is sidelined with plantar fasciitis in his left foot and has been out for almost two weeks. He is expected to be out for up to another two weeks. At morning shootaround on Wednesday, he was seen getting some work in taking shots at the rim.
Right Chiz?