Tag Archives: Collin Sexton

Cavaliers fall to Wizards at home

Posted on by
Advertisements

The Cleveland Cavaliers were unable to get back into the win column, losing to the Wasington Wizards by a score of 124-112.

When looking at the final box score the stats can be deceiving. The discrepancy between shooting percentages is just under 10%, but there were times when Washington was seemingly making everything and Cleveland simply wasn’t. The Cavaliers only made 36% of their shots in the 1st quarter and somehow only trailed by five.

Washington went on a run that went into the 2nd quarter which was quite alarming.

The Cavaliers defense was non-existent and their offense was unable to consistently make their shots. Again, somehow they only trailed by seven.

The Wizards extended their lead in the 3rd quarter, outscoring the Cavs 32-25. The second half has not been kind to the Cavs this season. It is usually when the opposing team takes an insurmountable lead or makes whatever lead that Cleveland has disappear.

The 4th quarter was essentially a wash, Cleveland outscored Washington by two points, but they were down by so much it really didn’t matter.

Kevin Love, Collin Sexton, and Larry Nance Jr. lead Cavs scoring effort

Collin Sexton was surprisingly efficient from the field (10-15 FG, 2-2 3PT) and made both of his free throw attempts, finishing with 29 points total. This is encouraging to see from the second-year guard as he has been inefficient all season long. Hopefully this is a trend that will continue as Cleveland really needs Collin Sexton to perform better than he has this season.

Kevin Love scored 29 points but was far from efficient. Love only three of his nine three-point attempts, but did manage to go 5-10 from two. Love rounded out his performance with five rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Larry Nance Jr had quite a performance coming off the bench, scoring 22 points on 10-14 shooting and making two three-pointers. Nance had a game-high 12 rebounds and finished with three assists.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will look to bounce back on Saturday as they host the Bulls at home.

Cavaliers lose fifth straight game

Posted on by
Advertisements

Returning home from a six game road trip did not help the Cleveland Cavaliers all that much as they fell to the visiting New York Knicks 106-86.

What is it about the 3rd quarter and the Cleveland Cavaliers? The Cavs have been outscored 176-106 in the 3rd quarter during their five game losing streak. Cleveland’s opponents just seem to have the upper hand when it comes to starting the second half. This has without a doubt contributed to their struggles as of late.

Like many of their recent games, the game was close as the second half started. Unfortunately it did not last as the Knicks outscored the Cavaliers 57-36 in the final two quarters. The only bright spots are that Cleveland only committed 10 turnovers and won the rebounding battle 53-49. Everyone else was pretty much a disaster.

Rough shooting night for Darius Garland and Collin Sexton

Rough is right. Darius Garland and Collin Sexton combined to go 10-40 from the field and only made two of 10 three-point attempts. When Garland and Sexton are taking nearly half the shots and missing 75% of them that is a problem. Sexton led all Cavaliers scorers with 17 points. This just shows how poorly this game went for everyone involved.

Kevin Love and Cedi Osman also struggled

Things were not that much better for Kevin Love and Cedi Osman. Kevin Love made four of his 10 three-pointers, but missed his four two-pointers. Cedi Osman also made four threes on six attempts, but went 1-7 on his other field goal attempts. Kevin Love at least grabbed nine rebounds to give the illusion of a respectable performance.

Tristan Thompson grabs 20 rebounds

Part of the reason Cleveland won the rebounding battle was Tristan Thompson being an absolute animal on the boards. Thompson finished with 22 rebounds, including 10 offensive rebounds. Thompson’s 22 rebounds, 10 offensive, and 12 defensive were game-highs, this includes players on the Knicks as well.

Larry Nance Jr. with a double-double off the bench

Larry Nance Jr. was the only other player in the game to finish with double-digit rebounds (10). Nance also scored 12 points on 5-9 from the field (1-4 3PT) and made only one of four free throw attempts. Nance was only one of three bench players to get considerable playing time. Part of that is due to the team letting Alfonzo McKinnie’s contract expire. McKinnie was playing a considerable amount of minutes for the Cavaliers prior to today.

The Cavaliers have two days off to regroup before hosting the Washington Wizards Thursday.

4th quarter collapse leads to Cavaliers loss

Posted on by
Advertisements

The Chicago Bulls outscored the Cleveland Cavaliers by 17 points in the 4th quarter as they lost their fourth straight road game.

This sounds a bit familiar doesn’t it? A collapse in the second half leading to the Cleveland Cavaliers losing a game on the road. This happened twice in a row in Los Angeles and the Cavs replicated the feat in Chicago Saturday.

Cleveland entered halftime with a 73-56 lead and things appeared to be in control. Even after the 3rd quarter the Cavs still led by 15. Chicago held Cleveland to only 14 points in the final quarter as the Bulls scored 31. Everything that went right for the Cavaliers in the first half went wrong in the second. Turnovers, poor shooting, and the Bulls making shots. While some players on the team may know how to win, the team on the whole does not.

Kevin Love, Collin Sexton, Darius Garland lead starters in first half, struggle in second

Kevin Love started out hot, but cooled off in the second half. 23 of Love’s 29 points came in the first half. Love went 10-20 shooting (4-8 3PT) and made all four free throw attempts. Love’s cold spell certainly led to the scoring drought that Cleveland experienced, but he is not the only one to blame.

Collin Sexton also started out hot and finished rather unspectacular. Sexton was taking and making shots and not forcing things in the first half. 17 of Sexton’s 26 points came in the first half. Like Love, his struggles did not help matters later in the game.

Darius Garland scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half, but the story with Garland is turnovers. Garland turned the ball over eight times in the game. This was twice as much as any other player on the Cavs. Garland did finish with five assists, but those eight turnovers are definitely concerning. This appears to be more of an outlier when looking at his performance in January (3.2 turnovers per game).

The Cleveland Cavaliers will return home Monday to take on the New York Knicks at 5:00 P.M.

Cavaliers lose third straight road game

Posted on by
Advertisements

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.

https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1218364911543296000?s=20

Crowder clearly did not approve of Thompson’s actions and the second technical was issued rather quickly.

Cleveland finishes their road trip Saturday in Chicago as they take on the Bulls.

Cavaliers drop second straight game in L.A.

Posted on by
Advertisements

The Cleveland Cavaliers did not have better luck with the Los Angeles Clippers, as they managed to lose to both teams in a two day period.

Time for the Cleveland Cavaliers to do their best Snake Plissken impression and “Escape from L.A.”. Back-to-back losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers on back-to-back nights. The difference with the Clippers loss is that the game was never really close. Cleveland briefly led 3-0 and after that it was all Clippers. Los Angeles slowly built momentum through the first half until breaking things wide open in the second half. At one point Cleveland trailed by 36 points. Cleveland simply lacked the talent to compete in this one. While Kevin Love did not play, his presence would not have made that much of difference. That is how large the talent gap is between these two teams.

Rough shooting night for Darius Garland, but still has a noteworthy performance

Darius Garland went 5-16 from the field including 2-7 from three-point range. Garland’s 14 points and how he got there is not the important takeaway here. Garland became the second rookie this season to finish a game with 10 assists. This is Garland’s first career double-double.

This is some good news for the Cavaliers. Collin Sexton is not much of a passer, he’s more of a shooter. Cleveland needs some to be their point guard and appears that Garland is trending towards becoming the person that keeps the offense moving.

Collin Sexton and Cedi Osman lead Cavs scoring

Speaking of Collin Sexton, he led the Cavaliers in scoring on the night. Sexton scored 25 points on 10-18 from the field (4-6 3PT). Just another game from Collin Sexton. This is bit better than some other shooting efforts, but is in line with what Sexton usually ends up.

Cedi Osman made five of his eight three-point attempts, leading to his 21 points on the night. Osman would go 2-5 from two and make both free throw attempts. Cedi Osman has been feeling it lately, making 11 of his last 19 three-point attempts. Cleveland has been making an effort to get Osman involved and that effort is paying dividends, even though they have lost their last two games.

Cleveland is off until Friday as they travel to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies in their fifth game of the road trip.

Second half collapse leads to Cavaliers loss

Posted on by
Advertisements

The Cleveland Cavaliers were outscored by 30 points in the second half which led a blowout loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles.

The Cleveland Cavaliers kept things close in the first half, they even held a one-point lead. Unfortunately, this did not last. The Los Angeles Lakers predictably went on a run in the second half. Cleveland was outscored by 30 over the final two quarters, leading to their blowout loss.

The Cavaliers lost the turnover battle yet again (20-9). Cleveland continues to be on the worst teams in the league when it comes to turnovers. Their 16.4 turnovers per game are second-most in the league.

Bench scoring was also a major factor. Cleveland finished with only 14 points from their bench players. 21 of the Lakers 60 bench points came from just Dwight Howard. The depth of Los Angeles clearly had the advantage.

Cavs starters score in double-digits, but not enough to keep the second half competitive

Kevin Love (21), Cedi Osman (15), Tristan Thompson (17), Collin Sexton (16), and Darius Garland (16) all had productive scoring efforts. Some were more efficient than others.

  • Kevin Love: 7-17 FG, 1-4 3PT, 6-6 FT
  • Cedi Osman: 5-12 FG, 4-6 3P, 1-1 FT
  • Tristan Thompson: 8-11 FG, 1-2 FT
  • Collin Sexton: 6-16 FG, 0-2 3PT, 4-4 FT
  • Darius Garland: 7-13 FG, 2-6 3PT

Collin Sexton continues to struggle with consistency. It seems like a frequent occurrence that he misses at or near 10 shots a game. Cedi Osman’s night was only saved by making four shots from deep.

Cleveland continues their road trip Tuesday

Monday’s loss to the Lakers was the third game of the Cavaliers six game road trip. Cleveland came out victorious in their first two games against the Pistons and Nuggets. Game four will be in the same building as game three. This time their opponent is the Los Angeles Clippers. Tipoff is at 10:30 P.M.

Cavaliers top Nuggets in Denver

Posted on by
Advertisements

The Cleveland Cavaliers managed to defeat the Denver Nuggets by a score of 111-103, winning their second consecutive road game.

This road trip for the Cleveland Cavaliers is off to a great start. After slugging out a win in Detroit, Cleveland took down the Nuggets in Denver 111-103.

The Cavaliers led for the majority of the game, the first time they trailed was in the 4th quarter with 4:46 to play. At that point Denver took a one-point lead which did not last long. Cleveland managed to to go on an 18-7 run to close things out and come away with a victory.

Three Cavs starters finish with double-doubles

Kevin Love, Cedi Osman, and Trsitan Thompson all had a double-double. This was expected from Love and Thompson, but not Osman. Osman can certainly be hit or miss when it comes to just about everything. Saturday was night was apparently more of a hit for Cedi than anything. Osman grabbed 12 rebounds and went 4-8 from the field (2-4 3PT) while making his lone free throw attempt.

Kevin Love had a rough night when it came shooting from deep, only making two of his nine attempts. Love did manage to go 5-9 with his two-point attempts. Love also had 12 rebounds and four assists.

The difference between Tristan Thompson’s double-double and the double-doubles from Love and Osman are that Thompson had offensive rebounds. Love and Osman only have defensive rebounds. Thompson had seven offensive rebounds (13 total) and 18 points.

Sexton and Garland put together an impressive performance

Collin Sexton led the Cavaliers in scoring with 25 points on 9-18 from the field (4-7 3PT) and 3-4 from the free throw line. Efficiency still seems to be an issue for Sexton. Sexton is still young and can improve upon this particular area of his game.

Darius Garland led the Cavs in assists with eight. Garland has become the clear point guard for the Cavs with Sexton shifting to the shooting guard position. Garland is averaging 5.8 assists per game in January. This is much improved upon his previous monthly averages (3.5 in October, 3 in November, 2.7 in December). Garland did more than just set up his teammates, he also scored 18 points (8-16 FG, 2-9 3PT). Not the best shooting night for the rookie point guard. Like Sexton, his shooting should improve, but as long as he racks up assists it is a bit more forgivable.

Cleveland continues their road trip on Monday in Los Angeles as they take on their old friend LeBron James and the Lakers.

Cavaliers unable to hold on against Pistons

Posted on by
Advertisements

Kevin Love’s game-high 30 points were not enough for the Cleveland Cavaliers as they are edged out by the Detroit Pistons 115-113.

With 0.4 seconds left on the clock, the Cavaliers had a chance to win. Unfortunately the halfcourt lob from Kevin Love to Tristan Thompson was not meant to be and Cleveland fell 115-113 at home. Cleveland lost all four games of this home stand.

The Cavaliers entered the 4th with an 11 point lead but struggled in the final quarter. Detroit outscored Cleveland 31-18 in the 4th, which led to the Cavs loss.

Kevin Love led all scorers in the game with 30 points on 12-15 from the floor. Love made 4-6 attempts from behind the three-point line and made both free throw attempts. Even with this excellent scoring effort, Love did not attempt a field goal in crunch time. This is part of the reason why Love has been frustrated this season. In the closing moments of the game the Cavs needed someone to score and Love was hotter than hot. He was the perfect person to take a shot with time winding down. Kevin Love’s final shot attempt came with 2:57 left in the game to give Cleveland a 111-105 lead.

Collin Sexton did not have his best game. Sexton’s scoring again came with a lack of efficiency. Sexton went made seven of 19 attempts, including one of three shots from deep. Sexton was efficient from the line as always, but his shooting from the field continues to be sub-par. Collin Sexton had the Cavaliers final legitimate field goal attempt in the game. He missed, leading to a shot clock violation and a turnover.

Speaking of turnovers, Cleveland was on the wrong side of the turnover margin yet again. The Cavs turned the ball over 18 times compared to only nine for the Pistons. This is just a recurring theme that is not going to go away.

The Cavaliers begin a six game road trip starting Thursday in Detroit.

Cavaliers drop final game of decade in Toronto

Posted on by
Advertisements

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost their final game of the decade north of the border in Toronto, falling to the Raptors by a score of 117-97.

The final result of the game seems a bit familiar. The last time the Cleveland Cavaliers faced the Toronto Raptors they also lost by double-digits. In fact, it was also by 20.

The real difference between the teams was three-point shooting. Cleveland and Toronto both attempted a near equal amount of shots from deep (37-38). The difference was that Toronto made 17 three-pointers compared to Cleveland’s 10, that amounts to 21 points. Toronto is a superior three-point shooting team, Cleveland did not really have a chance.

The Cavaliers were led by 22 points from Collin Sexton. Sexton went 5-11 from the field, 1-4 from three, and made all five free throw attempts. This was the first game since December 12 that Sexton attempted more than two three-pointers. It was only the third time in the month of December that more than two three-pointers were attempted. Collin Sexton only made three shots from long range (11.1%) for the month, not exactly what the Cavaliers expect from their 2018 first round draft pick.

Tristan Thompson was the most efficient Cavalier on the night, making five of six shots and four of five free throw attempts. Thompson did finish with a double-double (11 rebounds).

Cedi Osman made the most three-pointers of any Cleveland player with four. Osman was 1-4 on all other shots, this has been a pretty consistent theme this season. Osman also had four rebounds and four assists.

Darius Garland finished 12 points on 5-11 shooting (2-7 from three). Garland was tied for a team-high with four assists.

Kevin Love also had a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds). Love struggled from the field, making four of 11 attempts and 1-7 from three-point range. With Love struggling in this manner, it would be difficult for the Cavaliers to keep the game close.

Cleveland returns home to face the Charlotte Hornets Tuesday at 7:00 P.M. as they look to kick this decade off with a victory.

Love-less Cavaliers defeat Timberwolves

Posted on by
Advertisements

Kevin Love was held out of the game, but the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 94-88.

Kevin Love was held out of Saturday’s contest with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Cavaliers caught a break of their own with Minnesota being with out their best player in Karl-Anthony Towns. Even without Love, Cleveland was able to bounce back from Friday night’s loss to Boston with a 94-88 victory in Minnesota.

Collin Sexton and Darius Garland led the Cavaliers scoring attack with 18 points each. Garland was a bit more efficient from the floor (8-11 FGA, 2-4 3PT) than Sexton (5-17 FG, 0-1 3PT). Sexton was able to go 8-11 from there free-throw line to make up for his troubles shooting the ball and grabbed a surprisingly high seven rebounds.

Tristan Thompson had a typical Tristan Thompson game. Thompson scored 12 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Four of Thompson’s rebounds were of the offensive variety. Thompson also struggled shooting the ball (2-9), but was able to salvage the evening with his effort at the free throw line (8-11).

Larry Nance Jr. started in place of Kevin Love and finished with nine and nine. Nine points and nine rebounds. Nance did his best Kevin Love impression, going 1-3 from deep.

Like many other Cavaliers, Kevin Porter Jr. struggled when shooting the ball. Porter went 3-10 from the field and 0-3 from three-point range. Porter also went 4-6 from the free throw line, helping him get to 10 points on the night.

Highs and lows for the Cavaliers

Cleveland out-rebounded Minnesota 61-39. Rebounding made free throws (26) and the final score were the only positive areas for the Cavaliers. There were plenty of issues for Cleveland.

One of the main issues with Cleveland has been turnovers. Committing the second-highest amount of turnovers per game, Cleveland committed another 29 Saturday. The Cavaliers are not going to get away with almost 30 turnovers and win often, but they managed to that against Minnesota.

Three-point shooting is another area of concern. While they attempted only 20 three-pointers, they only made four. Minnesota also struggled in that area, but made double the amount that Cleveland made.

The Cavaliers were also on the wrong side of fast break points and points in the paint. Minnesota was able to score 15 points in transition compared to Cleveland’s six. Minnesota was also able to dominate points in the paint, edging Cleveland 50-44.

The Cavaliers managed to win despite being outplayed in several key areas. This is unlikely to be a common occurrence for a team like the Cavaliers who are young and lacking talent across the board.

Cleveland will take on the Raptors in Toronto on New Year’s Eve at 7:00 P.M.