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The Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Charlotte Hornets 106-95 on Sunday afternoon in the team’s final regular season game. The loss means the Cavs finish the regular season 51-31.
This wasn’t a game that featured much from the regular rotation players on the Cavs. It was a game that featured an opportunity for a few bench players to play, including Sam Merrill who set a career high with 17 points off the bench.
Here are the takeaways from Sunday’s loss against Charlotte.
Rest vs. no rest
The Cavs rested a number of guys on Sunday afternoon against Charlotte. Starters Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland both watched the game from the bench, as did sixth man Caris LeVert. Isaac Okoro was also out for the Cavs with a knee injury. We’ll get to him later.
On the other side of things, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen both did play for the Cavs in the first quarter but didn’t come off the bench after the first 12 minutes.
For the Cavs, that plan was individualized for each player.
“Yeah, so I had a conversation with all those guys about where they felt they were at, what they needed at this point,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bikcerstaff said before the game on Sunday. “And he was one of the guys who said he wanted to get some minutes to try to maintain a rhythm.”
The Cavs will next play on April 15, meaning an 11-day layoff between many members of the regular rotation sharing the floor together. That’s not something the team is overly concerned about.
“I think if you look around the league it's pretty common. Obviously, we’ll do things throughout the week to make sure that guys are getting the reps that they need at game speed,” Bickerstaff said of the layoff. “I think it's a great opportunity to get those reps, but get those reps where you can emulate your opponent coming up also. We're going to look forward to it and take advantage of it.”
Danny Green, first off the bench
There’s not too much to take away from Sunday’s game without many of the regulars playing for the Cavs. What could be something is that Danny Green was the first player to come off the bench. He had a terrific game on Thursday night in Orlando in what was his first extended run with the team.
Sunday afternoon wasn’t quite as a good as Thursday’s 21-point performance, but it was still a step in the right direction. Green played three separate stints against the Hornets – not including checking in for the final nine seconds of the first half. On Sunday afternoon he finished with 13 points on three made 3-pointers. He did all is scoring in the first half but cooled off after the break.
Over the last two games Green has shown that he can be a viable option in the playoffs for the Cavs. But knowing that he hasn’t spent very many minutes alongside the starting group for the Cavs does make things more difficult to envision him having a huge impact in postseason games.
“Very challenging,” Green said of playing in big moments with a group he hasn’t spent much time alongside. “But part of this league is being a professional and being able to adapt and adjust and we have some great players. I think they'll make it easy for me and vice versa. My job is try to make it easier for them when we play with each other. If that happens, we don't know if that'll happen or not, so we'll see.”
If this is an avenue the Cavs want to pursue, they’ll have the next week to get it ready. Having an entire week off between the regular season and postseason has its drawbacks, but it could serve as an opportunity to have Green ready to be in the rotation in the playoffs. He says he’s healthy, he’s shown he can still shoot. Only time will tell if he’ll be on the floor when it matters.
Isaac Okoro's impact
When the playoffs begin next weekend, the Cavs still do not know whether or not Isaac Okoro will be available for them. Okoro is still day-to-day with a knee injury. He last played two weeks ago when the Cavs played against the Houston Rockets. Since then he’s not gone through a practice with the team.
That’s certainly concerning for a piece as essential as he is to the Cavs on defense. When the Knicks were in town at the end of March, Jalen Brunson had a career-high 48 points against the Cavs. That’s at least partially due to Okoro not being on the court. It’s not to say Brunson still wouldn’t give the Cavs problems, but Okoro is built as the ideal defender for that type of matchup.
“I think it's one of Isaac's strengths defending a guy like that. Obviously, Brunson is a heck of a player. He's extremely talented and has proven to be clutch in the moments, in the brightest moments,” Bickerstaff said. “But those are the challenges that Isaac accepts and he loves. So again, without getting into too much of it, it's one of those matchups where Isaac looks forward to and has an ability to get the job done.”
Okoro’s availability and status is important for the playoffs for the Cavs. Maybe he doesn’t decide who wins or loses between the Cavs and the Knicks, but not having him certainly gives the Cavs less room for error.