4 losses in a row and the Suns

 The 4th quarters in this four game losing streak have been painful to watch and they have highlighted the Cavs complete lack of a star.  Too many people overuse the term star, so they invented super-star so that they could immediately overuse that word as well.  Star here is subjectively defined as someone who can impose their will on a game, and the Cavs have missed that.  They might have squeezed out a few wins during this stretch if they had just the right unavailable guys at just the right time, but that is indicative of a starless team.  

Part of me is gratified that the Cavs can, while down multiple starters, force Curry to go nova in the 4th for GSW to win, or for Harden and Durant to pull out their PnR that they normally reserve for tough circumstances against better teams.  The rest of me wants to claw my eyes out when they put up 8 points in a fourth quarter or give up a 13 point lead in the 3rd.  

The good:

Okoro’s useful rebounding.  My hopes for Jimmy Butler 2:  Isaac Okoroboogolo have diminished greatly this year, but the hopes for Isaac Okoro glue player have risen a little since his return from injury.  Adding solid rebounding numbers is one necessity for that to work, and his improvement on both ends so far this season is one large step in that direction.  His shot selection is good for that role, and his finishing at the rim and foul drawing are both looking good so far.  He has to maintain this while not shooting 18% from 3 for the year, but if he gets that back to 30% his clunky offensive fit becomes more of a suboptimal offensive fit.  Still a long way off from the hoped for 35% from 3 that would make him a ‘not dragging down the offense’ fit.  Defensively he looks solid but not spectacular.  

Lauri:  Markkanen is an offensive swing piece for this team.  Not just his scoring but his willingness to toggle back and forth based on his matchup.  Against Brooklyn he was stepping out on the larger LMA and posting up against Griffen/Millsap.  Getting Mobley back who can (assuming his 3pt shot continues to fall decently) can do both of those as well will stall out defenses.  

Generating 3pta:  44 attempts in each game against BRK, 38+ in their last 5 games averaging over 41 per game in that stretch, more than 36 a game in November so far.  There is a world in which the Cavs can run a fringe top 10 offense on high volume 3pt attempts and offensive rebounding when Mobley returns along with a top 5 defense.  

The bad:

Mismatch recognition.  Posting up on James Harden is not a mismatch.  The guy is a tree trunk supported by two more tree trunks.  When Harden is down low against Allen or Lauri you want to call for a screen from your big and then have them slip it or fake set it a large amount of the time.  Use this to open up lobs and offensive rebounding position.  

No go to guy.  Garland has improved in a few ways on last season but he hasn’t shown a leap.  Rubio is having a career year, but he doesn’t have top level scoring in him.  Sexton is missed.  

Coming up:  The Suns.  The Cavs loss in Phoenix was the start of their current 13 game winning streak over what might be the softest injury adjusted run for a team so far this year.  Two wins over Dallas came without Luka and one against Denver without Jokic, their best wins in this stretch are against teams just at or above the 0.500 mark in Portland, ATL and Cleveland, and have 8 home games in that stretch.  Still 13 in a row is impressive against even an easy schedule but they aren’t rampaging through playoff teams and are beatable if Garland can play, Cedi returning (probable) would help give the Cavs some size back and some depth.  That depth here is going to be important, Phoenix isn’t bad at any one thing, and the Cavs will need a complete game against them to win, starting (again) with actually making their 3pt attempts, and Love/Lauri will be looked at to exploit their 4 wings and a C look which is their bread and butter.