Practice Notebook: Looking to avoid a letdown, fairly judging LeVert, and injury updates

 Danny Cunningham covers the Cleveland Cavaliers for 850 ESPN Cleveland and TheLandOnDemand.com

Friday night in Boston was a statement victory for the Cavaliers. Even if the fifth game of the season is early and nothing declarative can be said about any team in basketball right now, the game against the Celtics was a bigger occasion than any of the team’s previous four games.

Friday night was a statement to the rest of the NBA that this Cavs team believes it is for real, even without All-Star point guard Darius Garland.

How the Cavaliers respond to winning an early season game like the overtime win against the Celtics will be telling, too. A let down following a big regular season victory is a relatively common occurrence throughout the NBA. It’s a difficult thing to show up for each of the 82 regular seasons. But showing up for the game immediately following a big win can say a lot about a team.

“How we go out and play tomorrow speaks about what happened last night,” Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after practice on Saturday in Independence. “We go out and play Cleveland Cavaliers basketball, that's the test of who we are, is if we can go out and do it every single night and not feel like we're rising to certain occasions but we're playing to our standard, so tomorrow will tell that story.”

The game on Sunday at home against the Knicks is no cakewalk, but it isn’t exactly a game that rises to the magnitude that Friday night did. It’s also an opportunity for the Cavs to continue their strong start to the season before the Celtics come to town for another premier matchup on Wednesday night.

Watching how Cleveland operates coming off of the win over Boston could be a moment that not only was a big win, but also a moment when guys in the locker room believed a little bit into what could be possible for this team.

“Winning in a place like the Garden when you’re playing against a crowd, playing against a really good basketball team, it tightens the grips so to speak because you’re in an environment where it’s a ‘you against the world kind of feeling,’” Bickerstaff said. “So, it does bring people together and you know like, ‘This guy, I’ve got to have his back. He’s got to have my back in order to go get it done.’”

Fairly judging LeVert

The Caris LeVert era in Cleveland got off to a rocky start last year. He was acquired from the Indiana Pacers via trade during the season, and only played in 19 games for the Cavs due to time missed as a result of a lower leg injury suffered in practice just before the All-Star break was over. His performance when he was on the court certainly left something to be desired.

Judging LeVert based on what he was last year isn't something that the Cavaliers are doing, and it's something they think is unfair.

"We know what Caris is capable of. We've seen him do it at a high level before, in critical games. The fair thing to do is allow him to get comfortable and then judge him based on that," Bickerstaff said. "Last year for him was a mess and it's unfair to judge him as he was trying to go through all that. He had a great summer, we're obviously hopeful that he gets all these games and preseason, training camp, and all that stuff, and we'll judge him on that and I think everybody will see what type of player he really is."

This season has been a different story for LeVert, highlighted by his 41-point outburst against the Celtics. Even if his shot hasn’t been falling every night, LeVert has generally been a boost for the Cavs, especially while Garland has been out.

But when his shot is falling for the Cavs, it totally changes things for them offensively because that’s something that’s being done in addition to play making for others and playing strong defense, not instead of it.

“He’s not being a selfish ball-dominant scorer,” Bickerstaff said. “Even the fact that he had 40, to get the seven assists, he was just making the right play. Sometimes the play was to shoot it. But when they brought bodies to him and his teammates were open, he made the right play and found the assist. He played a complete floor game last night and just happened to have 41 points to go with it.”

 

Friday night highlighted a different version of LeVert from what the Cavaliers saw last year. It’s something that players and coaches would tell anyone who would listen was on its way. Whether or not LeVert continues to be this good could help change the trajectory of this team.

Injury update

The Cavaliers will once again be without All-Star point guard Darius Garland on Sunday as he continues to recover from a left eye laceration suffered on opening night in Toronto. Sunday’s game against the Knicks will represent the fifth game that Garland misses with the injury.

There’s not an official timetable for Garland’s return to game action, but Bickerstaff said that he did practice on Saturday, however Saturday’s practice was non-contact. Following practice, Garland was getting in shooting work on the far court alongside Kevin Love. He was not wearing any protective eyewear while doing so.

Fourth-year wing Dylan Windler also took part in practice as he returns from an ankle sprain suffered during training camp but is unavailable on Sunday against the Knicks. He will have to take part in contact before he’s made available for game action this year.