Kevin Love

Cavaliers win preseason opener vs Celtics

In the grand scheme of things NBA preseason games do not mean much of anything. That being said, it is good to see a team play well in preseason opener. That is just what the Cleveland Cavaliers did on Tuesday, defeating the Boston Celtics 102-95.

Positives

Kevin Love appears to be ready to be the main man in Cleveland. With a team-high 17 points on 5-10 from the field, including 2-3 from deep. Love also went 5-7 from the charity stripe. The Cavaliers big man also grabbed four rebounds in his 17 minutes of playing time.

Cedi Osman drew the start and did not disappoint, scoring 11 points on 5-10 shooting and making both free throw attempts in 19 minutes. In addition to his scoring output, Osman had seven rebounds and four assists.

Rodney Hood put together a nice performance, chipping in 10 points on 3-6 from the field including making his lone three-point attempt. Hood also had one assist, steal and block in the contest.

Jordan Clarkson made five of his eight attempts from the field for 12 points off the bench. Clarkson made the only three-pointer he attempted and went 1-2 from the free throw line. Clarkson also had two rebounds and three assists.

Rookie point guard Collin Sexton scored 15 points on 5-11 shooting with four rebounds and one assist. Sexton attempted three shots from deep making two and made all three attempts from the free throw line.

Newcomer David Nwaba had an impressive scoring performance, going 4-5 on the night for 12 points.

The Cavaliers starters only played during the first half Tuesday. When on the court Cleveland did outscore Boston 59-40.

Negatives

To put it lightly George Hill was abysmal from the field. Hill missed all five shot attempts and did not assist on any of his teammates baskets. As the starting point guard this is a problem. Hill will need to improve his shooting and start setting up his teammates to score. If not Sexton could overtake him sooner rather than later.

The aforementioned Nwaba managed a -7 in plus/minus on the evening, the second-worst of any of the Cavaliers on the night. The only Cleveland player with a worse mark was Kobi Simmons with -8.

Speaking of Simmons, he went 1-6 from the field in 13 minutes. This is not necessarily a good performance, but to be fair he will probably not make the roster.

Kyle Korver went 0-3 from the field, missing his only three-point attempt. Korver will need to make his three-point attempts if he is going to be beneficial to the Cavaliers or any other team this season.

In the second half Cleveland was outscored 55-43 but were still able to pull away with the victory.

Cavaliers Previous post Cavaliers roster construction is concerning
Hue Jackson Next post Hue Jackson and his refusal to accept responsibility
Close