CLEVELAND -- Power forward Kevin Love has yet to play a game with the new-look Cleveland Cavaliers because of the broken bone he suffered in his left hand at the Detroit Pistons last month, but the veteran All-Star is very much looking forward to joining the team and getting acclimated with his new teammates.
Since making trades that brought in guards George Hill, Jordan Clarkson and Rodney Hood, as well as forward Larry Nance Jr. in the hours ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline, the Cavaliers (34-22) have extended their winning streak to four games, including a blowout win over the Boston Celtics and a hard-fought victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, both on the road.
“It's going to be interesting to see what happens because we feel like if we get a couple months under our belt playing together, we could be tough,” Love told the media at the NBA All-Star Game over the weekend.
In less than a week, Nance and Clarkson have gone from two of the four new guys in town to critical end-of-game players who do what they can to impact winning, which is exactly what happened in last Tuesday’s 120-112 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
In just his second game with the Cavaliers, Clarkson knocked down six of his 10 shots from the field, and his lone three-pointer of the game came essentially on the run in the waning minutes of the game.
With the Cavaliers holding a 108-100 edge on the scoreboard with just 3:23 to play in the fourth quarter, Nance hustled after and batted out an offensive rebound toward the three-point line, where Clarkson caught the ball, and in one motion, buried the triple.
“Larry Nance is a double-double threat every night,” Love said. “With a number of teams playing smaller basketball or position-less basketball in the league, he's a guy that can switch onto multiple positions.
“Jordan Clarkson is a selfless player and kind of has that swagger about him where he doesn't care if he starts, comes off the bench. He can go out there and give you 20 points and help our bench. I believe in our first two games with those guys, we scored over 50 off the bench in both games against two very good teams.”
Heck of a play here, @Larrydn22!
Straight to @JordanClarksons for the sinker!#CavsThunder pic.twitter.com/zr4jmn2hi8
In his two games with the Cavaliers, Hood is averaging 14.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals while shooting .524 from the field and .500 from three-point range. Hill is averaging 9.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists since arriving in Cleveland.
“It's been a small sample size so far, but just getting some new energy into the locker room and seeing how those guys play out there has been great,” Love said. “George Hill has stepped into the starting lineup right away, been super solid for us. Rodney Hood gives us a lefty with a lot of game. Kind of has a quiet confidence about him.”
