The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night (December 23). Amid injuries and illnesses (Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Caris LeVert, Sam Merrill and Ty Jerome all sitting) Cleveland managed to get the win and accrue some impressive stats along the way. Here’s a recap as the Cavs drop the Bulls 109-95.
This game Cleveland started Craig Porter Jr, Max Strus, Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade and Jarrett Allen.
Strus led Cleveland in scoring with 26 points and seven assists. He also played the most time at 41 minutes.
Behind him was rookie Craig Porter Jr with 19 points in 39 minutes. Pairing that with seven rebounds and eight assists, CPJ churned out an all around solid performance.
Allen, whose numbers finally indicate that he’s the primary big man, finished with 19 points and a hefty 17 rebounds. He’s the first Cavalier to produce these numbers while also dishing 7 assists and turning the ball over zero times. Three more assists and he would have had himself his first career triple-double.
Dean Wade and Isaac Okoro were the only other Cavs to score in double digits (11 and 12 respectively) as it was a relatively light night for scoring.
With Mobley out, Allen needs to be dominant in the paint. This game he showed that he can do that and more. Allen helped hold Chicago to only four total second chance points. Granted the Bulls are one of the worst teams in basketball this year (no offense to the record-setting Pistons) these are the kinds of wins they need.
Porter Jr also continues to be a stat-stuffing standout who contributes on both ends of the floor.
Strus, again, makes his case for best pickup of the offseason. While he was slated to be this squad’s starting small forward, he’s been playing a lot of the two and four spots. These positions require very different skill sets (and typically heights/builds) and not many players can effectively play both. Strus doesn’t just play both but he seems to be almost thriving in his role, putting up some of the best overall numbers of his career this season. If he can continue this productivity, or even a fraction of it, when this team is fully healthy, he could end up being one of the more effective Cavs this season.
Although the Cavs did shoot 44.3 percent from the field, they shot an abysmal 26.7 percent from behind the arc. Luckily Chicago finished with both a worse shooting and three point percentage, this kind of performance isn’t that of a contender.
They also shot 73.1 percent from the free throw line. Those points can make or break a post season run. Cleveland also scored only six fast break points. Although their best transition players are currently out, this still is short of expectations.
Cleveland turned the ball over twelve times for the fourth consecutive game.
Cleveland’s next game is this Wednesday night (December 27) at 8:30 PM in Dallas.
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Featured photo courtesy of NBA.com
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