Beijing time on January 5, the NBA regular season continued, the Cavaliers lost to the Grizzlies 106-110 at home, no chance to win consecutively, the first half of this game Cavaliers almost always led, the end of the second quarter by the Grizzlies to tie, the second half became a tug-of-war, the largest point difference did not exceed 6 points, and finally the Grizzlies won the victory with a better performance at a critical moment.
Considering that the Grizzlies have been in good shape recently, the Cavaliers have lost rubio, and lost 3 of the last 4 games, the result is actually not particularly unexpected, but even if they lose, the Cavaliers' cores are still playing quite well:
— Garland, who shot 9-of-26, had 27 points, four rebounds and 10 assists
Jarrett Allen, who shot 11-of-14, had 22 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks
Mobley, 6-of-12 shooting, had 17 points and eight rebounds
— Markkanen, 5-of-11 shooting, had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists
And on the bench, Love also handed over two doubles.
In the whole game, Lefu played a total of 29 minutes off the bench, with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists, Lefu did not feel good on the inside line today, only 7 shots 2 of a total, but outside the three-point line, Lefu shot 4 of 11, maintaining an average level.
It is worth mentioning that just before this game, Love had won 20+ in 5 consecutive games:
Against the Pacers, he had 6 of 13, 20 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists
Against the Hawks, he had 10-of-18, 35 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists
Against the Wizards, 7-of-15, 14 points, 11 rebounds and 1 assist
Against the Pelicans, he was 7-of-14, with 24 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists
Against the Raptors, he shot 7 of 12, with 22 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists
Five consecutive 20+ games set a personal longest record for the past four seasons, including against the Hawks, and Love also became the first bench player in Cavaliers history to win the "35+10" since 1975.
Zooming in to December, Love's performance is definitely a surprise, he averaged 17.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, shooting 49.1%/49.1%/88.5% of the three-point shooting rate, and shooting a true shooting rate of 71.6%, during which he shot a total of 57 three-pointers, setting a new record for the most three-point shooting in the history of the Cavaliers.
Throughout the season, Luck played a total of 30 games, including 28 bench games, averaging 14.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, shooting 44.3%/42.9%/90.0% of the three and shooting 63.2% of the actual shooting.
Defensively, Love also changed his usual impression, shooting only 42.6% of the players he was in this season, down 4.1% from usual, and 30.5% from three-point range, down 3.4% from usual.
It is no exaggeration to say that if the Cavaliers can continue Rubio's pre-injury form and Love can continue to play as steadily as he did in December, he could well be a popular candidate for the best sixth man of the season.
Who would have thought? Love turned into a bench killer.
Last season, Love had what was probably the worst season of his career, playing just 25 games due to injury and other reasons, averaging just 24.9 minutes per game, 12.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists, shooting as low as 40.9 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from the field, a new personal low since Luck joined the Cavaliers.
During this period, there were constant rumors about The Lefour deal, and there were discordant voices inside the locker room, because Lefu's annual salary was as high as 30 million, and his 4-year contract of 120 million yuan was also considered a "garbage contract" - from various points of view, you really can't deny this, even this year, Lefu handed over not the performance of a Mr. 30 million.
But, at least Love played better than last year, and the Cavaliers' record exceeded the expectations of fans - winning can solve a lot of problems, last season, Love was unattended in the trading market, at that time it was thought that this contract was planted in the hands of the Cavaliers, and now although it does not match the value, but better than last year is absolute, what needs to be said is that Love will enter the contract year next season, when his annual salary will drop to 28.94 million, it will not be no one wants.
Of course, it is still time to pay attention to this season, the Cavaliers can be so amazing this year, Lefu, Mobley, Garland, Jarrett Allen, Markkanen have all contributed, as far as Lefu is concerned, he has transformed from the former All-Star to the sixth man, the data, attention may be less, but the number of goals won has become more, and it is also happy for him to see it now.