Cavs still a work in fitful progress

It was no “Battle of the Titans” at Quicken Loans Arena on November 26.

The Cavaliers, owners of a two straight uplifting victories and a 4-14 record, played host to the Timberwolves.

Winners of five of seven games since ridding themselves of malcontent guard Jimmy Butler on Nov. 10, the Timberwolves were 8-11 and coming off wins over Brooklyn on the road and Chicago at home.

Here are some takeaways from the Cavs’ 10295 loss to Minnesota.

Not their night, quite

The Cavs spent a large chunk of the wintry evening playing from behind. They trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half before closing to 5447 at halftime.

Minnesota pushed out to a 12-point lead in the third quarter, but the Cavs finished the quarter on a 14-6 run to narrow the gap to 75-71.

When the Timberwolves and former Cav Derrick Rose opened the fourth quarter on the fly to lead, 86-74, the Cavs appeared to be on the brink of getting run off their home floor.

But they kept battling, narrowing the gap to 8884 before the Timberwolves finally pulled away in the latter stages of the final quarter.

Rose was terrific in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of his 12 points and making some nifty passes.

The Cavs managed to hang tough despite shooting an ordinary 41.9 percent from the field overall and a mediocre 32.3 percent from 3-point range.

Two weeks ago, before they started finding themselves under new coach Larry Drew, they’d have lost this one by at least 15 points. Consider that an indicator of modest, discernible improvement.

Encouraging signs

Veteran shooting guard Kyle Korver paced the Cavs with a season-high 22 points. He scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, cashing in four of his five attempts from 3-point range.

Korver, his 43.1 shooting percentage on 3-pointers and salary capfriendly contract ($7.56 million this season) make him an obvious trade chip to be played by the rebuilding Cavs.

Already, there have been rumors of Korver going to the Philadelphia 76ers for enigmatic guard Markelle Fultz. Can’t see why the Cavs would want Fultz, but it will be a major surprise if Korver isn’t moved before the NBA trade deadline rolls around on Feb. 7.

Shooting guard Rodney Hood was a factor against Minnesota with 20 points. So were veteran center Tristan Thompson (16 points, 11 rebounds) and power forward Larry Nance Jr. (16 points, eight rebounds, seven assists).

Struggle city

Rookie point guard Collin Sexton and back-up shooting guard Jordan Clarkson took steps back from their recent fine form.

Sexton managed 11 points and missed 14 of his 19 fielders. He’d averaged 21.1 points the previous five games.

Clarkson was bottled up by Minnesota defenders and scored four points. He’d averaged 16.8 points in the previous five games.