Wednesday Wraparound: Tough loss to the Knicks

We did it, everyone, we made it to back-to-back Wednesdays! It helps that Northeast Ohio got hit with a snow blast, thus shutting down thoroughfares and places of higher education throughout the region. The days of waking up and having to wait for the scroll of school names along the bottom of the morning news are long gone, as I got inundated with all calls and text messages and push notifications alerting me to the canceling of school activities. A good thing too, as I was up later than normal watching the Cavs lose a nail biter to the New York Knicks last night, which brings us to our first point...

Bench Mob or Bench Sob?

CavaliersWhen the Cavaliers got WFNY favorite and actual real-life player Dean Wade back from injury in time for Saturday's win over the Milwaukee Bucks, it seemed like the perfect "oh yeah, it's all coming together" moment. Tuesday night was the next go around and would mark the first time since the opener that the entire roster ((Minus Dylan "Big Foot" Windler.)) would be available. It felt like there was finally an opportunity to string some good games together, get some rotations set up for the playoffs, and take off toward the No. 2 seed. Enter the Rotation Game from Hell.Head coach JB Bickerstaff has been dragged online for some curious lineups; swingman Cedi Osman often sees too much or too little of the floor while big man Kevin Love soaks up the minutes. But the 105-103 loss was a head-scratcher in many ways. There was at least a six-minute stretch between the first and second quarters where neither Donovan Mitchell nor Darius Garland was on the floor, and the team responded with only nine points and fell from being down three to being down double digits. Mitchell's groin strain has been barking and he missed the Milwaukee game Saturday with the injury, but there is little reason to go so long without any reasonable help for the struggling offense.https://twitter.com/JordanZirm/status/1618056055958933504?s=20&t=BvLzO83QvpuFRkHyNMYndwAs much as not having your big guns offensively was an issue, the continued trust in Kevin Love to play 20+ minutes a game is worse. I love Love, absolutely, and he will forever be a Cleveland fixture, but he needs put out to pasture. A rebounding icon and someone Bickerstaff can go to for some low post help if Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen get in foul trouble early, but his feet aren't the same, and the struggles he is having with his thumb are real. Wade only played four minutes in a winnable game; if the organization sees something in him, then he needs to get back up to speed and get some work with the starters. I am not ready to move on from Love, but I am past primed to see his minutes swap with Wade or Osman. Caris LeVert and Lamar Stevens are okay enough, LeVert should be the instant cooker offense with Ricky Rubio, but both played far too long in a winnable game on the road. The team desperately needs offensive help at the trade deadline to help this bench.What's next?: Cleveland travels to Houston and Oklahoma City for a back-to-back Thursday and Friday before returning home for a game against the LA Clippers on Sunday.And that's all I got. It's middle January, so there is little Guards news and nothing coming from Cleveland outside of Brian Callahan wanting to stick around in Cleveland and not interview with the new York Jets and their open offensive coordinator spot. It's a testament to Kevin Stefanski and his staff that the journeyman Callahan wants to stick in orange and brown despite the "on the hot seat" ness #BrownsTwitter wants to claim Stefanski has.