CLEVELAND — Entering the 2019-20 NBA season, the general consensus concerning the Cleveland Cavaliers was that the franchise is still in the early phase of what will likely be a multi-year rebuild.
And while that may still very well be the case, the Cavs are already showing signs of a promising future.
Following a season opening loss to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, expectations for Cleveland's home opener vs. the Indiana Pacers were relatively low. But it didn't take long for the Cavs to exceed those expectations -- and then some -- jumping out to an impressive 65-48 first half lead over Indiana.
While veterans Kevin Love (19 points) and Tristan Thompson (15 points) paced Cleveland in scoring, the team's younger players also managed to make positive early impressions. In particular, rookie point guard Darius Garland showed why the Cavs took him with the No. 5 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft despite only appearing in five college games, scoring 6 points and dishing out 4 assists -- including an alley-oop pass to fellow rookie Kevin Porter Jr.
Coming off the bench, Porter scored 4 points on 2-of-4 shooting, while second-year guard Collin Sexton scored 8 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out 2 assists. And while it may have only been one half of action, it'd be tough to blame anyone for feeling better about the upside on the Cavs' roster now than they did just days ago.
