CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff had seen enough.
Midway through the first quarter of the Cavaliers 119-105 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Monday night at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Bickerstaff opted for wholesale changes and subbed out his entire starting lineup.
“We were looking for a spark. I think it was one of those nights for our starting group and we were just trying to find something to get us going,” Bickerstaff said.
Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Larry Nance Jr.
and Jarrett Allen all headed for the bench and in came JaVale McGee, Dylan Windler, Cedi Osman, Dean Wade and Quinn Cook. Cook was just signed to a second 10-day contract today.
They instantly provided a jolt, collectively going 7-of-9 from the field and scoring 18 points to close out the quarter.
But that burst of energy never translated back to the starting five. Playing on the second night of a back-to-back, and for the third time in four nights, the Cavaliers were noticeably not themselves.
Understandably, sometimes you just don’t have it. Tonight, was one of those nights,” Bickerstaff said. “We were just hunting for a group that could provide a spark for us.”
Two-games removed from scoring all of zero points through the first 33 minutes and change, the Cavs bench erupted for 52 points Monday night.
After combing for 58 points against the Spurs, the Cavaliers back-court duo of Sexton and Garland were held to a more modest 32 points between them.
Sexton’s eight-game streak of 20-plus point performances ended with a night of 15 points, four rebounds and seven assists.
“Definitely we need Collin to score, but as a group we need to be better defensively,” Bickerstaff continued. “There’s no doubt we need to score, but we gave up 119 points.”
Coming into Monday night’s matchup, the Cavaliers expected to Kings to play fast, but they still weren’t able to keep up
“They knew we were coming off that back-to-back and they wanted to push the tempo,” Bickerstaff said. “We talked about catching their speed before the game, but I thought tonight we weren’t able to do it.”
One night after holding the Raptors to 39-percent from the field, Sacrament shot 54-percent from the floor.
De’Aaron Fox scored 30 points for the Kings while Tyrese Haliburton added another 28. Buddy Hield contributed 19 points while going 5-for-10 from beyond the arc.
“We were scrambling too much. They got some open shots and a lot of them threes,” Sexton said.
Hield launches roughly ten 3s per game. Earlier this month he became the fastest player in NBA history to make 1,000 3-pointers in just 350 career games. Hield’s mark surpasses Steph Curry, who accomplished it in 369 games.
“If we were rotating and in the right spots, we would’ve been able to contest a lot better,” Sexton continued.
JaVale McGee led the Cavaliers with 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists, providing a much-needed lift to an otherwise sluggish performance from the Wine and Gold.
“He’s impactful on both ends. His energy is infectious. He’s leading the group,” Bickerstaff said.
Even Garland didn’t look himself, who despite scoring 17 points handed out just two assists.
Whatever the reason was we just didn’t have that fight, that spark, that energy,” Bickerstaff said. “We tried; I give our guys credit for trying. We just couldn’t put it together consistently.”