The Cleveland Cavaliers were unable to get back into the win colum, losing their third straight game on the road, a 113-109 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Looking at the final score in this one can be a bit misleading. This game was not as close as the 113-109 final score shows. Memphis controlled the game for the majority of the second half. Cleveland found themselves down 21 points before closing the gap in the 4th quarter. Even with their run, the Cavaliers were unable to snap their losing streak. That is the third straight road loss for the Cavs after losing to the Lakers and Clippers on back-to-back nights.
Collin Sexton, Kevin Love, Darius Garland highlight starters
Collin Sexton led the Cavaliers in scoring with 28 points on another rough shooting night. Sexton went 11-25 from the field, including 3-8 from three-point range. Sexton attempted over one quarter of Cleveland’s field goal attempts on the night. Collin Sexton has shown that he is able to score, but this is an unacceptable amount of shot attempts. It was more than double than any other player on the Cavs shot attempts on the night.
Kevin Love did most of his damage from the free throw line, making 9-13 attempts, six of which came in the first quarter. Love finished with 19 points and nine rebounds, but failed to make any of his six three-point attempts.
Darius Garland finished with 11 points and six assists. Garland tied Collin Sexton for the team-high in assists on the night. Shooting was difficult for Garland (4-12 FG, 1-5 3PT). Garland has been impressive in the assists department as of late, averaging 6.1 assists per game in January. This is more than double than his assist average through December. Cleveland appears comfortable with Garland in the point guard role.
Larry Nance Jr. and Alfonzo McKinnie lead the bench
There were only two players coming off the bench who scored in double-digits. Larry Nance Jr. and Alfonzo McKinnie.
Nance scored 16 points on 7-8 shooting and made both of his three-point attempts, he also managed to grab six rebounds.
The surprising performance came from Alfonzo McKinnie. McKinnie appears to be carving himself out a role on this Cavs team. McKinnie made six of seven field goal attempts to finish with 12 points and added 10 rebounds to his final line.
Tristan Thompson gets ejected
Apparently Tristan Thompson and Jae Crowder are not best friends. Both Thompson and Crowder received technicals after getting into it earlier in the game. Thompson received a second technical while he was at the free throw line.
Crowder clearly did not approve of Thompson’s actions and the second technical was issued rather quickly.
