What we learned about the Cavs this week: Jaylon Tyson makes strong first impression
The undefeated season is over, but it’s difficult not to be encouraged by how the Cavaliers responded this week.
The Cleveland Cavaliers dropped their first game, but have still managed to play good basketball. Let’s take a look at what’s stood out over this past week.
Jaylon Tyson has looked good in first opportunity
Tyson made the most of his start on Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans after being outside of the rotation for the beginning of the season. He stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists in the win. The rebounding and ability to create extra possessions is what impressed his head coach.
“He’s just one of those guys that comes into the league and just understands, ‘I am a role player, I’m gonna do all those things, I know what’s going to get me on the court,’” Kenny Atkinson said.
Atkinson wasn’t sure how Tyson’s game would translate to the court. He had to be convinced by his assistants to give him a chance on Wednesday. His performance there gave him another opportunity the next game.
Tyson wasn’t great on Sunday against the Toronto Raptors. Atkinson took the blame for that post-game saying that he didn’t put him in the right lineups.
Tyson probably won't crack the rotation when Caris LeVert and Dean Wade return to the court. Even if he doesn’t, it’s encouraging that his first chance at real NBA minutes went well.
“He’s the ultimate role player,” Atkinson said. “He knows his role and he fits in well with the group.”
Ty Jerome continues to stay hot
Jerome can’t be stopped right now. That was evident in his three-point barrage in the wins over the Pelicans and Raptors. He’s been arguably the best bench player in the entire league to start the season.
“Since the moment he stepped in our gym at the beginning of September he’s been phenomenal, like every day,” Atkinson said. “He’s in this zone. ... When is it going to start dipping right? It’s open gym, okay. It’s training camp, okay fine. It’s okay, the first five games. Now, he just keeps going. It’s a real real credit to him.”
Whether or not he’ll be able to keep this going remains to be seen. At the very least, the three-point shooting isn’t going to stay above 50% for an entire season. What we do know is that he’s an incredibly useful player who will have a spot in the rotation going forward.
Darius Garland struggled in the matchup with Boston
Garland has had a great season which made his poor showing against the Boston Celtics stand out. He couldn’t get his shot going as he went 3-21 from the field.
It’s easy to point to Jrue Holiday and Derrick White as being the reason why that was the case. But, it’s also fair to say that he just missed some clean looks that he’s consistently knocked down this year. Especially in the paint.
It’s encouraging that Garland kept shooting, but you still would’ve liked to have seen some of them go in. I don’t think this poor game meant that he can’t hang with Boston’s guards, but this is a matchup he will need to prove he can win if the Cavs are going to be a title contender this season. Fortunately for Garland, he’ll get another chance to prove that in less than a week.
Jarrett Allen needs to show he can stay on the floor against the Celtics
The Cavs defense was bad against Boston. Allen wasn’t the only reason why that was the case, but he continually looked like the odd man out trying to defend the Celtics’ five-out offense. He wasn’t able to make up for it on the other end as he struggled to beat his mismatches on the other end. It was an all-around bad performance.
Allen has been great this season. That said, he will need to show that he can be a positive contributor in this particular matchup if he’s going to be a continual long-term fit on this team.
The Cavs aren’t far from the Celtics
Everything went wrong for the Cavaliers in their showdown in Boston. The Celtics couldn’t miss, Garland couldn’t make a shot, Allen was invisible at times, they were missing their wing rotation, and Jayson Tatum was outstanding. This should’ve all added up to a blowout loss. Instead, the Cavs stayed within arm’s reach in the fourth quarter and had a chance to steal the game despite everything going against them.
The Cavs have been the best team this season. You don’t luck your way into a 17-1 record, but the Celtics are still the team to beat. It will remain that way until someone knocks them off in the playoffs either this year or sometime in the future. Right now, the Cavs appear to be best positioned to do so. Their offense can keep up with the Celtics, they just need to tighten up a few things in order to make that happen.
We’ll see if they’re able to make any of those adjustments when they host the Celtics next Sunday.