Aussies in NBA: Dellavedova hits season high, gets flagrant whistle

Despite being outrebounded, the Cleveland Cavaliers clinched a 105-100 home win over the Portland Trail Blazers on the back of a 33-point LeBron James performance.

Matthew Dellavedova delivered a big scoring punch tonight. He was featured in the starting lineup and was also one of four Cleveland players to score in double-digits. He had his highest scoring mark in this game, clinching 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting. He also had 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal in almost 37 minutes of play. He was comfortable in taking the shot whenever he had it, and the confidence showed itself in his shot efficiency (58.3% field goals, 3 of 5 from three-point).

Matthew Dellavedova flagrant foul on Mason Plumlee

Late in the fourth quarter, Matthew Dellavedova was stuck with a mismatch against Mason Plumlee. Despite the obvious size disadvantage, Delly fought for the rebound, not giving room, and hurled Plumlee to the floor in a brief tussle under the hoop. The hard foul was reviewed right after the incident, and Delly was issued a flagrant 1 foul.

https://youtu.be/q40GrqLUSSQ

Matthew Dellavedova highlights

https://youtu.be/prmVWVd6TNg

Stats talk

Dellavedova is undergoing an impressive surge in the early season. He is averaging 5.4 assists a game this season so far, and remains the the second best ball distributor among the Cavaliers, right behind LeBron James (6.4). His AST/TO (Assists to Turnovers) ratio is now the third highest in the league, behind Brian Roberts (10.0, 9 games) and CJ Watson (4.17, 8 games), showing his value as a point guard who knows to take care of the ball.

Delly is surprisingly, also the team's best three-point shooter. The guard is currently hitting 44.1% of his threes on 3 attempts a game. The runners up? James Jones, at 38.3%, on 2.4 attempts a game, and Kevin Love 36.6%, at 6.2 attempts a game.

The Cavaliers play against the Orlando Magic next on Saturday morning Australia time, at the Amway Center in Orlando, FL.