The Cleveland Cavaliers post-All-Star break return did not go well as the New Orleans Pelicans blew them out.
To be blunt, the Cleveland Cavaliers were awful Friday night as they were completely outclassed by the New Orleans Pelicans. A nine point 3rd quarter highlighted their struggled as the Cavs ended up on the wrong end of a 36-point blowout. Nothing went according to plan and that was very obvious.
There were only three players for the Cavaliers to eclipse the double-digit mark, Collin Sexton (19), Larry Nance Jr. (11), and the recently acquired Quinn Cook (13). New Orleans had five players have 10 points or more including Brandon Ingram with 28 and Zion Williamson with 23.
The return Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr. were the only positives for the Cavaliers. Love has been out since the third game of the season while Nance has missed the previous 12 games and 17 of the last 20.
As far as players who did not play go, Darius Garland and Taurean Prince did not play in the contest. While their presence could of helped, they would not have made up a 36-point differential. At best they cut it in half and make the game just a little bit more competitive along the way.
Losing in this fashion could be the beginning of an all-out disaster scenario for the Cavaliers. Cleveland has a tough stretch coming up including games against Miami, Boston, San Antonio, Toronto, Los Angeles, and Utah over the remainder of the month. Any outside chance of postseason play could be completely erased by the end of March. This could also lead to a firesale of sorts and that could make the rest of the season absolutely dreadful.
