10/12/22 Preseason Recap: Diakite, Okoro shine as Cavs win preseason thriller

    A step forward. That's what seemed so clear from Isaac Okoro tonight.

    Okoro worked tirelessly on every facet of his offensive game, and that work is very clear to see from the eye of every fan from casual to die-hard. Isaac had been playing well all preseason

Isaac Okoro shoots a three against the Atlanta Hawks 
Cavs.com

but had never had the scoring or shooting results he had tonight.

    Okoro walks away with 16 points, going seven of nine from the field, and making two of his four three-point attempts. His confidence to shoot from three, and his awareness to cut to the rim were so encouraging. And in Caris LeVert's absence, Okoro quickly changed the minds of many fans of who should start, and at the very least made it a competition once again. 

    Now for the other standout, preseason signing Mamadi Diakite showed out as well. He poured in a double-double, scoring 13 points and collecting 11 rebounds. 

    "He has a bright future," said Caris LeVert during his time on the Cavs broadcast tonight. 

    The Cavs organization has a lot of belief in this guy. The players love him, the coaches seem to like him, and in front of the fans tonight Diakite was not shy to prove himself to them as well.

    Diakite has an opportunity to be a solid down-roster 3-and-D type of player. And with the poise he's shown in the preseason, it would be hard to deny him a roster spot.

    As for the regulars, Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell played solid. Garland was better than Mitchell, but they both shot poorly from the field for most of the game. They combined for 16/47 from the field. Not ideal. Garland and Mitchell both went 4/10 from deep, and Mitchell did pour in a few buckets late when the game was on the line. Preseason or not, both teams had their starters on the floor in a game that was close in the fourth quarter. You could *almost* call them high-leverage buckets.

    Finishing around the rim will be something that Mitchell will probably want to sharpen up, having been sloppy last time out against Philadelphia and going 4/16 from within the arc tonight. 

    Jarrett Allen only put up five shots, but his defensive impact was immense. Allen casually put up six blocks tonight. He almost looked as good out there as Darius Garland did when Darius blocked Trae Young.

Mamadi Diakite shoots a three against the
Atlanta Hawks
Cavs.com

    Despite some of the shooting struggles from the guards, it was a much more encouraging night from the offense as a whole. 

    Cedi Osman was happy to prove many on Twitter wrong tonight. Osman was the spark of the first Cavalanche of the season, catching fire in the second quarter, and draining four of his nine three-point attempts overall.

    The preseason comes to a close on Friday night as the Cavs go on the road to face the Orlando Magic. With the starting three role seemingly still up in the air, we may have ourselves a fun one.