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I’m feeling positive tonight, so here’s an all positive two for one (so, really a three for zero) to end this portion of the Cavs season.
POSITIVE: Collin Sexton, showing poise
Collin Sexton is in a stretch of strong performances as he seems to figuring out the game more and more of late. Wednesday continued that trend — Sexton finished with 24 points on 10-21 shooting with five assists and just two turnovers. He also made a shot right at the end of overtime that was everything you would want to see from him in that situation. He reset the offense, didn’t rush into a quick shot and used his speed to blow by the slower-footed Allen Crabbe. What Sexton did here was correctly breakdown what was happening in front of him in real time. That’s not an easy thing to do, especially when the game is on the line.
It’ll be a while before it becomes clear as to what Sexton is exactly. But this the kind of play you want your rookie point guard to make in the big moments. Just ignore the flop.
POSITIVE: Marquese Chriss, making the most of an opportunity
Chriss was a forgotten man with the Suns — who drafted him the lottery — and the Rockets. He may not even be with the Cavs at this time next year. But to his credit, he is making the most of his opportunity in Cleveland.
Against the Nets, Chriss finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and, despite a few mistakes, generally positively impacted the game. He even hit two key three-pointers in overtime to keep the Cavs in it. He’s been unexpectedly useful so far in his brief time in Cleveland, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can keep it up after the All-Star break.
Oh and he did this to poor, poor Jarrett Allen:
POSITIVE: Jordan Clarkson, 30-point scorer
It wasn’t Kevin Love. It wasn’t Sexton or Cedi Osman or Alec Burks or Rodney Hood. It was Jordan Clarkson who put up the highest scoring performance of any Cavalier this season.
With a career-high 42 points against the Nets, Clarkson became the first Cavalier to score 30 points or more in a game this season. It did take until game 58. And he didn’t get it until the end of the second overtime in the first three-overtime Cavs game in almost four decades. But it counts for something. And while Clarkson has warts, he gets buckets.