The Cleveland Cavaliers summer squad improved to 2-0 with a 95-90 overtime win over the Houston Rockets late Saturday night.
Here were some of the takeaways from the nail biter.
Kay Felder: Pros and Cons
The second-year point guard made some dazzling plays throughout the night and overall had a better game than Friday’s Summer League opener.
There were some pros and some cons.
The Pros: Felder was more of a playmaker and distributor than how he played Friday. Rather than take ill-advised long-range jumpers early in the shot clock, he looked to attack and draw attention, then dished it out to open teammates under the rim or found shooters for good looks.
Felder passed for a team-high six assists and scored a team-high 16 points, hitting 5-of-6 free throw attempts.
The Cons: Although he did a better job of not forcing jumpers than Friday night, the bar was pretty low to begin with because of how bad his shot selection was in the Summer League opener.
He finished Saturday’s game shooting 5-for-18 from the field and 1-for-3 from deep. The more encouraging number out of that was he only took three 3-point attempts, compared to six the night before.
Felder made some tough attempts, driving to the basket, which showed off his phenomenal ability to beat defenders off the dribble, but more often than not, he wasn’t able to convert.
He also made some beautiful moves to create separation and get room for a mid-range shot attempt, but couldn’t knock down the shot.
On defense, it wasn’t a pretty night for Felder. He committed nine fouls on the night (10 is the limit in Summer League play). Late in the game, Houston was clearly trying to exploit him on defense and went right at him, expecting to either get a good look near the rim or draw a foul.
That type of issue could come up in NBA games and it shows how much he has to work on his defense between now and the 2017-18 season if he’s going to be a regular contributor at the NBA level.
Edy Tavares a Non-Factor
Tavares is expected to make the Cavs roster, but it was an underwhelming night against Houston.
He finished with five points, two rebounds and two blocks in 21 minutes. He didn’t play much in the second half and it didn’t seem like Cavs coach Damon Jones and company made it a big priority to get Tavares significant minutes down the stretch, but he is supposed to be one of the standout players on the Summer League squad and didn’t look like it in this game.
**Let’s Talk About Some Positive Takeaways**
T.J. Williams’ Instant Offense
The rookie point guard out of Northeastern has been one of the most fun players to watch these first two games for the Cavs.
Williams has brought a spark off the bench in both games, shooting 4-for-5 on Friday night and was even better on Saturday.
The 6-foot-3 guard shot 5-of-7 from the field, scoring 15 points and passing for four assists.
Equally as impressive as his quick burst of scoring off the bench was his passing, as the guard created plays for others, including a beautiful assist to a wide open Brandon Paul for a clutch three with less than 25 seconds to play in overtime.
Williams faked a shot, deceived his defender and also gave the sharpshooting Paul separation for an uncontested triple.
He also found Malcolm Thomas in transition for a nasty dunk, much of which was set up by the playmaking of the undrafted point guard.
Through two games, Williams has scored 23 points and passed for seven assists in only 32 minutes of action.
Although he plays point guard, where Cleveland already has three clear-cut players (Kyrie Irving, Jose Calderon and Felder) in line for the 2017-18 season, Williams is making noise and turning heads in Las Vegas.
If he doesn’t get a two-way contract with the Cavs, it’s looking like he’ll be a great find for some other team and no one on Cleveland’s summer league roster has made more positive contributions through two games.
Brandon Paul’s Up and Down Weekend
Paul is one of the more deadly three-point shooters on the Cavs’ summer squad, but shot 2-for-8 from deep Saturday night.
On the plus side, he went 5-for-11 from the field overall and scored 14 points, grabbing six boards.
Paul’s motor has been evident in both games, as he swiped three steals for the second-straight night and has six steals in only two games.
With a shot like his, it seems like only a matter of time before he starts knocking down more jumpers consistently.
Even with the rough shooting numbers (2-for-12 from three-point range), he’s made some nice plays so far, including a clutch three in overtime, which basically sealed the game.
Anthony Gill, Rebound Machine
For the second time in two days, Gill hauled in double-digit rebounds.
He had 11 on Friday night and 10 on Saturday. Gill obviously has a nose for the basketball and also has shown through two games he’s putting in the effort to fight for every possession he can get.
Gill also knocked down both three-point attempts in Saturday’s win, shooting 5-for-8 overall from the field and scoring 13 points.
The 6-foot-8 forward has been one of the standouts through two games for the Cavs.
Casey Prather Making Presence Felt
The Florida Gator has been near the top of Cleveland’s scoring leaders in both games, putting up eight points on Friday and 14 on Saturday.
Prather showed off his long-range shooting Saturday night, knocking down 2-of-3 attempts from deep and also made a beautiful no-look pass to find Gill down low for an easy basket.
The 6-foot-6 forward has been solid on both ends of the floor and put together two efficient games so far in Vegas.
Malcolm Thomas Looking Like A Vet
Veteran forward Malcolm Thomas scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds, playing with a physical style and bullying some of the thinner guys in the paint.
Thomas also threw down a thunderous dunk, one of the highlights of the night. (Note: Williams made a great play to set him up)
Oh my.#CavsSummer @ESPNU pic.twitter.com/YX6qpwxkLY
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) July 9, 2017
Thomas did not play Friday, but was a big factor in the Cavs’ overtime win on Saturday, particularly making plays down the stretch and in OT.
Quiet Night for Cassell Jr., Jones and White
Sam Cassell Jr., Roosevelt Jones and Andrew White didn’t stand out as much as Friday, but there are only so many minutes to go around.
Cassell Jr. played 12 minutes and knocked down a three.
White only played six minutes and hit a three.
Jones grabbed four rebounds in 14 minutes, scoring two points.
Gerald Beverly also had a quiet night, scoring two points and grabbing two boards in nine minutes.
Those four players all made a big impact in Friday’s game, so we’ll see if they can produce similar results when they get more playing time.
What’s Next?
The Cavs are off Sunday and return to action Monday night at 8:30 pm ET against the Golden State Warriors on NBATV.
We hope to see more growth out of Felder, who has been given the keys to the offense and is making his fair share of great plays along with mistakes.
The Cavs also will look for Tavares to play like he’s capable of, as Saturday night was not one of his better showings.
Williams has been exciting to watch and I get the feeling he’s helped his stock a lot this weekend, whether it’s for the Cavs or for a future NBA team that signs him.
Paul, Prather and Gill all have put together back-to-back impressive games and those three happen to play a position where the Cavs could have a need for players with their size and skillsets.
It’s still early, but if anyone outside of Felder and Tavares has the best shot to make the club, my early estimation is it would be one of these three guys.
The Cavs’ coaching staff may have completely different opinions on that, but the play of the three forwards has spoken for itself so far.
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