The shorthanded Cleveland Cavaliers were not able to keep up with the Brooklyn Nets in their 109-99 loss Wednesday night.
Entering Wednesday’s game, the Cleveland Cavaliers were up against it as they were without four members of their starting lineup. Due to injuries, Darius Garland was the only regular Cavs starter that played in the contest in Brooklyn. In addition to Garland, Cleveland featured Ricky Rubio, Dean Wade, Isaac Okoro, and Ed Davis as their starters while Kevin Love and Cedi Osman were their main bench options. Considering the state of their roster, only losing by 10 in a game that they were once down 23 in is a slightly less worse result.
Rubio was the Cavaliers leading scorer with 25 points while making eight of his 17 shots from the field (3-10 3PT) and all six free throws. Garland was also productive, finishing with 24 points, six assists, five rebounds, and three steals. Garland’s shooting night was not great, making just 10 of 26 from the field including going 3-13 from three-point range. With the lack of offensive options, taking the volume of shots that Garland did is acceptable.
Love made his return to the Cavs lineup, finishing with 11 points and nine rounds in 21 minutes off the bench. This is about the production that Cleveland should expect from Love while he is in this role. Osman was the only other bench player of note as he had 11 points in the contest.
