Cedi Osman Red-Hot, Cavaliers Beat Wizards
Cedi Osman. We all love him for his effort and enthusiasm, but he’s starting to give us the play to back it up.
Cedi Osman is starting to become more than just a mascot. He’s making huge plays for the Cavs during the last four games, and it has resulted in two straight Cavalier wins.
Cedi is averaging 24.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists over his last four, the streak starting in Boston. Osman broke out of his shooting slump, going 8-11 from the field and 6-7 from three for 25 points. Despite a Cavalier loss, it was good to see Cedi finally find his shot. He kept it up, scoring a career-high 29 against Miami in a 6-point Cavalier loss, this time going for more of an inside game with 8 two-point field goals, 3 threes.
He experienced a slight dropoff in Chicago, scoring 17 on 6-17 shooting, but it was a Cavalier win, snapping a 6 game losing streak.
Cedi got right back on track Tuesday night against the Wizards. He went on a little mini-run at the end of the 2nd quarter and the beginning of the third. Finishing with 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists on the night on 10-16 shooting, 4-8 from three. The result appeared to be best-case-scenario, with Cleveland leading 105-80 with 6:52 to go. However, Washington pieced together an incredible comeback and had the ball, down three, with the shot clock turned off. The Cavaliers needed a big play, and Cedi Osman gave them just that, stripping rookie Troy Brown Jr. of the ball with around 3.5 second left and throwing it ahead to Larry Nance Jr. as the clock expired.
What’s changed about Cedi the last four games?
It’s really pretty simple. To me, Cedi simply looks much more confident out there. He’s letting it fly off the dribble with confidence, and he’s caught fire with his jumper. He’s also attacking smaller players and taking advantage of his size, another sign of more confidence. From what I’ve seen, this isn’t just a hot streak. If Osman can keep this mentality, he’ll continue to play at a high level throughout the course of the season.
We know Cedi has a lot of talent. We’ve seen flashes of it, we saw him dominate the summer league. He has just lacked confidence, and he has that now. I don’t think he’ll necessarily average 24 points for the remainder of the year, but I can see him putting up much improved numbers over the 12.4 points he’s averaging right now. Then again, maybe this is an overreaction and it is just a little hot streak. Hard to say, but I think we all hope the former is true.
In other news…
The same Tuesday night as the Cavalier’s win over the Wizards, it was announced that Cedi will play on the “World” team in the Rising Stars game on All-Star Weekend. He’ll play against teammate Collin Sexton, who will represent the U.S..
