Cleveland Cavaliers: Top 3 individual performances from the 2018-19 NBA season

The LeBron-less Cleveland Cavaliers squad was a trainwreck to say the least. In just one year, the team went from being the Eastern Conference Champions to finishing at the 14th position on the East standings with a miserable 19-63 (0.232) win-loss record.

Veteran Power Forward Kevin Love missed a large chunk of games due to injury and Cleveland went through their worst regular season run in recent years. Far removed from the playoff picture this year, the lowly Cavs did show flashes of brilliance led by a young core in Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson but could not sustain the energy enough to make a league-wide statement.

The reigning Eastern Conference champs were expected to be bad ever since LeBron jumped ship to join the Lakers, but the magnitude of actually how bad they could be in reality proved to be abysmal. Clearly in desperate need of a rebuild around Kevin Love and rookie Colin Sexton, the city of Cleveland is cognizant of the fact that the coming seasons are sure to be testing.

Nevertheless, the players did put on some scoring exhibitions every now and then throughout their 2018-19 campaign. Let's take a look at the three notable individual performances from the Cavs' roster during this past season.

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#3 Tristan Thompson's game-winning double-double against the Wizards

Tristan Thompson was averaging career-high numbers when the season started

Coming off a loss to the Sacramento Kings, the Cavaliers knew they needed help from every player on the roster. On the second night of a back-to-back, the 28-year-old center took over against the Washington Wizards that had both John Wall and Bradley Beal active in the backcourt.

Thompson dropped a season-high total of 23 points on 11-of-18(61%) shooting from the floor, along with pulling down 19 boards, dishing out 5 assists and getting a couple of blocks on the defensive end as well. Averaging just over 27 minutes for the season, Thompson played a grueling 42 minutes and helped his team pull through for an impressive 116-101 win at home.

It was dominating performances like these on the boards that led to Tristan averaging a career-high 10.9 rebounds per game during his 2018-19 regular season campaign.

#2 Kevin Love puts together a season-high total in win over Memphis

Love signed a four-year, $120 million extension with the Cavs last year

After missing considerable time on the court due to a surgery to repair a toe on his left foot, Kevin Love returned to action in February. In just his fourth game back from a long absence, the 5-time All-Star dropped a season-high 32 points at home against the Grizzlies.

His 12 rebounds on the night along with 6 three-pointers (on 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc) meant the Cavs would go on to beat Memphis 112-107. Love shot a blazing 60% (9-of-15) from the field and made sure the fans in Cleveland recalled what he brings to the table.

He was a perfect 8-8 from the foul line and also had a block and a steal to stuff up the stat sheets as best as he could. This was his most respectable showing on the basketball court among the only 22 games he played this past season.

#1 Jordan Clarkson shines bright in 3-OT loss against the Nets

Clarkson averaged a career-high 16.8 ppg this year.

In a game that tested the limits of both the teams, the 26-year-old backup point guard torched the Nets single-handedly. Coming off the bench, he played 48 minutes in a game that remained undecided till the 3rd overtime and notched a career-high total of 42 points (on 16-of-34 shooting from the floor).

Apart from providing a much-needed spark on the offensive end, Jordan Clarkson also had 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block and 1 steal. He took a mammoth 17 three-point attempts during the game and made seven of those. Also, keeping in mind how rare it was for the Cavs to see a performance like this, he became the first Cavs player to top 30 points this year when he racked up these numbers.

Even though his team was handed a heartbreaking 148-139 loss by the surging Brooklyn side, Clarkson had a game to remember.