Key: On the Road Again
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On Friday night, following a fruitless five-game homestand, the Wine & Gold get back on the road, seeking to snap an eight-game skid in the first of a home-and-home series against the Mavericks.
Playing their final six games of the regular season – three at home, three on the road – the Cavs are coming off a one-sided loss to Portland the night after leaving everything on the floor the previous night in an overtime loss to Phoenix. Cleveland rallied to get within striking distance near the end of the third period, but the Blazers closed the quarter on a 15-3 run to essentially seal the deal.
One of the evening’s highlights was the appearance of longtime fan favorite, Anderson Varejao, who inked a 10-day deal and fared well in the action – grabbing six boards in six minutes of work.
The Mavericks have been red-hot as they try to cement their Western Conference Playoff status outside the Play-In Tournament. They’ve won eight of their last 11 games – and if they hadn’t played Sacramento three times in that span, they wouldn’t have lost any. Dallas has also won its last two, including a narrow home victory on Thursday night against the Nets.
The recent history between tonight’s two opponents slants heavily towards the hosts – with Dallas taking each of the previous four, the last two meetings in one-sided fashion. They’ll square off again on Sunday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Key: The Luka Show
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Luka Doncic has faced the Wine & Gold three times in his three-year career, and he’s done all kinds of Luka stuff in all three.
In those three games, the No. 3 pick in the 2018 Draft has averaged 31.3 points on 55 percent shooting to go with 10.7 boards and 11.7 assists per – two of those, double-doubles, and a triple-double.
The Cavs don’t need to feel bad. The two-time All-Star, who just turned 22 in February, does that against everybody. He’s already the Mavericks’ all-time leader in triple-doubles (46) and recently joined Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook as the only players in NBA history to put together a 30 / 10 /20 triple-double – netting 31 points, 12 boards and 20 assists in a win over Washington.
The MVP candidate is almost un-guardable, but Cleveland’s rapidly improving rookie Isaac Okoro will likely be the man who gives it a shot.
The rugged youngster has been outstanding of late, but even he’s not impervious to the NBA grind – finishing with seven points the night after going off for 32 in an overtime loss to the Suns, scoring his squad’s final five points in regulation.
During Okoro’s career-long recent stretch of six games in double-figures, the Atlanta native averaged 16.3 points on 47 percent shooting.
Key: Seeing Red
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Okoro’s streak wasn’t the only one to come to an end on Wednesday night.
Collin Sexton had run his 20-point scoring streak to 15 games in that overtime thriller against Phoenix – finishing with 29 points to go with seven boards and a team-high seven assists. But, like Okoro, the Young Bull didn’t have his legs the following night, tallying 15 points on 6-for-15 shooting.
But Sexton’s run was impressive. Taken five picks after Luka back in 2018, the former ‘Bama standout averaged 25.8 points per during that 15-games stretch, shooting 50 percent from the floor to go with 4.3 assists and 4.3 boards per.
Dallas is one club that Sexton has not had his usual success against. In four career meetings, he’s only topped the 20-point mark once and has struggled to shoot the ball in three of those four contests.
Josh Richardson will likely get the start on Friday night, but Sexton will also see plenty of Jalen Brunson, who’s been playing very well on both ends of the floor of late.
Over the Mavericks last six games, Brunson – who’s started just one of them – has averaged 13.3 points on 52 percent shooting, 62 percent over his last three games.
If the Young Bull hopes to top the 20-point plateau on Friday night, he’ll have to contend with Villanova product drafted 25 spots after Sexton in 2018.