Recap: Cavs 127, Hawks 94 (Or, Gaze in Awe at the Meteor Shower)
2014-11-15
The Hawks are a good team. With a healthy Al Horford, a Spursian offense, and one of the best starting 5s in the East, this figured to be a tough challenge for the Cavaliers, who miraculously survived a much-less-talented Celtics squad last night. The Cavs made their first six threes but could seemingly do nothing to stop the Hawks’ dribble penetration. With three minutes left in the quarter the Cavs led just 24-21, despite converting 6/6 from downtown. LeBron was involved in everything. Then Coach Blatt sat LeBron down and I thought “this is gonna get ugly”. It did. For the Hawks. The Cavs went on a 41-8 run, threw a lead anvil on the gas pedal, and started setting all-time records.
1st Quarter: I’m not ready to say LeBron is totally back to being LeBron, but he looks completely and utterly different than when the season started. He scored 12 points in the first three and a half minutes, and the Cavs were assisting on every shot. Dion checked in around mid-quarter and dished to Kevin Love for a three. On the next possession, he took a “my turn” iso jumper. I worried Dion was going to kill the Cavs’ offensive flow. In the words of click-bait Facebook posts, “you won’t believe what happened next…” Dion scored or assisted on four of the next five possessions, Joe Harris canned two 3s (including a slick buzzer beater), Kyrie Irving darted all around the court like Nightcrawler, and the Cavs scored on their final seven possessions of the quarter to take a 41-25 lead. They did not look back.
Sometimes it looks completely possible for the Cavs to win a title while ranked 29th on defense
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) November 16, 2014
https://twitter.com/HPbasketball/status/533789244892803073
https://twitter.com/JonesOnTheNBA/status/533790862761672705
All part of the Cavs plan to get the whole world cackling like Austin Carr
— Will Gibson (@wjcgibson) November 16, 2014
2nd Quarter: Kyrie, who’d been basically creating havoc and setting everyone else up, was the recipient of three dimes in the first minute and a half of the quarter. (Two 3s and a 20-footer). So, yeah, the Cavs were violently button mashing the heck out of their cheat code and then they went on a 16-0 run. It’s hard to remember crucial moments from this stretch. One, because it was a head-spinning blitzkrieg, and two, because I spent so much time wildly fist-pumping and white-boy dancing (family calls it “convulsing penguin”) in my living room that all I remember was the emotion. There were two things that stood out (“Now for your analysis…”): first, Joe Harris chased Kyle Korver all over the court on a a number of possessions. He had a hand on Korver’s jersey the whole time. He fought through screens, he denied Korver the ball, and he did something I haven’t seen any Cav do so far this season: he effectively ignored the team-defense concept, and just made it his goal to never lose Korver. This is a good thing, I think. Fluid NBA offenses, like the Hawks, know how to get their knock-down shooters open. Whatever the Cavs lost in wild switching and trapping and hedging and rotating (with Harris ignoring everything and focusing only on Korver), they made up in droves. Korver entered the game 30/52 from 3. Tonight, between Harris and Marion (who also did a great job keeping an eye on Korver), Korver didn’t even get a chance to attempt a 3. The other thing that stood out was that the rest of the Cavs played much smarter defense. The guards were scooting over the screens against Teague, and after Dennis Schroder drove into the teeth a few times, Dion checked him and went way under the screen to cut off the dribble penetration. Schroder is not a 3-point threat at all. With no other options, and a healthy distance between he and his defender, he launched a sidewinder that clanked off the backboard. Additionally, whenever the Cavs were forced to help on defense, the guy they were least worried about recovering towards was Thabo Sefolosha. Here’s how that worked out:
So yeah, the offense. After Kyrie hit three straight deep Js, he missed a 3, the first missed triple of the evening. The Cavs sunk their first 11. (!) LeBron, apparently, had seen enough of the Meteor shower. He checked back in and ripped a chasm in the fault line underneath the Q. The Cavs next five possessions: Layup, Dunk, And-1 layup, Low-post shooting foul, Dunk, Layup. ALL ASSISTED! The Cavs amassed 62 points and there was still seven minutes left in the 2nd quarter. (!) With the Hawks’ defense reeling at the 3-point barrage, LeBron and the Cavs just destroyed the basket. The Hawks called a mercy timeout, with the score 62-27. For all intents and purposes, the game was over.
Austin Carr got cracking up over here
— Hiram Boyd (@hiramboyd) November 16, 2014
HALFTIME: CAVS 71, HAWKS 43. CONSULT A DOCTOR IF YOUR BASKETBONER LASTS OVER FOUR HOURS #peakcavs
— Ben Cox (@CoxSportsOhio) November 16, 2014
First half recap. Guess who the Hawks are. pic.twitter.com/U34bDlkxYp
— Eric Knappenberger (@CavsWITNESS) November 16, 2014
And now we turn to Hermione for first half analysis: pic.twitter.com/Hn9aD3x2S4
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) November 16, 2014
3rd Quarter: The Cavs didn’t want LeBron to play the 4th quarter. David Blatt didn’t want LeBron to play the 4th quarter. After the Hawks started out the 3rd on a quick 5-0 run, LeBron decided that it was up to him to make sure he didn’t play the 4th quarter. He scored the Cavs’ next eight points and was tenaciously disruptive like it was still a close game. His energy was off the charts, a stark contrast to much of this early season. Kyrie followed suit. They were everywhere. The Hawks tried to match energy by going small, so LeBron started calling for the ball in the post, and he punished the Hawks. Kyrie and the Cavs did a great job keeping Jeff Teague from getting going. They hounded him and he responded by pressing the issue, leading to missed shots and turnovers, creating transition opportunities for the Cavs. Shawn Marion threw down a monster dunk with a minute left in the quarter, the Cavs went up 101-64, and LeBron ensured a comfy courtside view of the 4th quarter.
https://twitter.com/HPbasketball/status/533804377891680256
4th Quarter: Cherry Bomb! Sweet Lou! James Jones! Brendan Haywood! Brendan Haywood baseline Js?!? I gotta say, when Joe Harris splashed back to back 3s and the net barely moved, and the Cavs went up 116-75 with seven and a half minutes left, I sort of lost my mind in a euphoric trance. It’s just a few games, but Joe Harris looks like a “star at his role” as David Blatt would say. The Cavs deep bench struggled to do anything the final seven minutes but it certainly didn’t matter. They coasted to the 127-94 victory.
Only difference between what Cavs are doing tonight and Mavs did Thursday is Cleveland is doing it against a team that's not tanking.
— Brian Mahoney (@briancmahoney) November 16, 2014
Things I Didn’t Like: Nothing. I mean, OK I can always find bad stuff. The Cavs interior D was soft but that was about it.
Things I Liked:
1.) Joe Harris. Sticking 3s (4 of 5), playing smart, making good, decisive moves…he looks like an integral part of this lineup.
2.) Dion Waiters. There was a moment in this game where Dion was 1 on 2 under his own basket after a Cavs’ steal and instead of forcing it he passed it out the Harris. The ‘Stache waited for Dion to emerge at the perimeter and hit him with it back. Dion thought about the three, but drove baseline and eventually found a cutting TT who just destroyed the hoop. His patience there was palpable. He led the Cavs with 8 dimes and looked to get the deep bench guys going in the 4th.
Dion Waiters is a PLUS 45 tonight, for whatever that is worth.
— FearTheSword (@FearTheSword) November 16, 2014
3.) LeBron looked like the most athletic player on the court tonight. He was completely dominant. I could write 2000 words about LeBron’s game tonight. I’ll just say that he was able to impose his will however he wanted in all facets of the game – outside shooting, attacking the rim, running the offense, anchoring the defense, chase-down blocks….incredible game.
4.) Kyrie is playing the best basketball of his life. 20 points on 9 shots, another 3 steals, ANOTHER ZERO -TURNOVER night, and just all-around awesome basketball. He’s going on these back-breaking stretches where he hits three or four shots in a row and then he’ll seamlessly fade back into the flow and create for his teammates. He hit LeBron was a sick bounce pass in transition tonight. His game is expanding. He was working hard on Teague tonight too.
5.) Tristan Thompson was once again trying to tear the rim off the glass. He looks like a beast down low and he is finishing with authority. He led the break on a steal (his steal) and was just generally springy and strong.
So, Dion. 8 assists, 4 steals…+45. I predicted that.
Unrelated, but glad to see Tristan is springy again. That disappeared last 2 years.
— Kevin Hetrick (@hetrick46) November 16, 2014
6.) Varejao only took three shots but grabbed 10 rebounds and dished five assists in just 20 minutes. He really keeps the offense moving. Glad he and LeBron got some rest tonight.
7.) Shawn Marion is starting to make an impact defensively. We saw how his length affected Rondo last night on the final play of the game. He did a great job tonight on Korver and his activity and length helped the Cavs hold the Hawks to under 100 points.
Ok, time for the Live Thread All-Stars To Chime In:
Here’s what EvilGenius Liked:
1) LBJ has looked better each game, but we finally got treated to the REAL LBJ tonight. He was absolutely a man on a mission tonight. Hitting his jumper early in the team-wide barrage of threes, which opened up his freight-train drives to the hoop, which he executed with impunity tonight.
2) ALL OF THE BALL MOVEMENT! What a difference it makes when everyone plays like they’ve bought into Blatt’s system. Everything worked tonight and it all started with completely unselfish, and decisive ball movement.
3) A Clockwork Dion. Speaking of unselfish ball movement, Dion was acting like he was auditioning to be the poster boy of sharing the rock tonight. I said earlier in this thread that at times it looked almost like Blatt planted a chip in Dion’s brain to make him unable to shoot the ball (I kept expecting him to stop at the baseline and puke everytime he thought too much about shooting). The microcosm of this was the possession in the third quarter where Dion started with the ball, passed to Joe Harris twice, kept getting the ball back, drove the baseline and then amazingly found Kyrie open beyond the arc on the opposite wing for a three. Just bottle this game Dion and play this way all the time.
4) TT in full on CANADIAN DYNAMITE GLASS MONSTER mode. Man, I don’t know what his workout routine was in the off season, but I kept expecting him to tear his jersey completely off his body after every monster rebound and putback dunk. When he’s focused, he’s worth every future penny Rich Paul gets him.
5) Mighty Joe Buckets continues to not just maintain his early season mythology, but build on it by leaps and bounds! He took ALL of poor Mike Miller’s minutes tonight (and deservedly so). As Tom said, on defense he acted like Kyle Korver’s second jersey. And on offense, he help swing the ball and was nailing the spot up threes like the ghost of Mike Miller past.
6) The Defense was finally more than respectable tonight. Guys were rotating, closing out the three point line so guys like Teague, Korver and Jenkins couldn’t get a rhythm going. As Tom said, they all followed LBJ and his awesome energy tonight. Would still like to see Love get his gator arms up over his head, but baby steps. Maybe Blatt should put a chip in his head too.
7) Almost all of the starters got a lot of rest tonight so we got to see other awesome sights like Will Cherry’s speed, Lou Amundsen dunking, and (my favorite) Brendan Haywood looking like some giant creature attacking the poor inhabitants of an island nation in the Pacific.
Awesome win! 4 in a row of over 110 points each. Keep it going Cavs!
Live Thread Gold Medal Comment:
Dr. Puck:
Jeff Teague, PG 26m 2-8 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 3 1 0 4 3 -12 5
Kyle Korver, SG 14m 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 -28 0Gaudy.
11 straight threes.
Somebody found the keg of D elixir. What a difference it makes to run toward the guy with the ball like you’re an axe murderer. Finally.
Incredible win for the Cavs. They set an franchise record for made 3s. This was the most fun I’ve had watching the Cavs in a long time. Add your thoughts! Give us your “what I liked” lists!
Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the #Cavs tonight are the 1st team in NBA history to go 9-9 or better from 3-pt distance in a single quarter.
— John Michael (@CavsJMike) November 16, 2014
evans is an interesting idea—-and if the minutes are not there –he might come cheap ( 2nd rounder )—I am in complete agreement we just don’t ” GIVE ” dion away ( hoping he stays and doesn’t piss anyone off ) but if there is a possibility to get a legitimate big ( horford ) and they want dion as part of the package I think you have to listen
Lots of Dion frustration here. I am still in Dion’s camp. Dion is actually an elite spot-up 3 point shooter, so I understand his frustration when the ball does not rotate back to him. Obviously, he can’t expect to get it every time, but I actually think its a GOOD sign that he is spotting up for 3’s a lot. That is what he NEEDS to do in this offense. I also think having a creator in the 2nd unit is important. Dion has a huge role to play there, and we need him. Dude had 8 assists on Saturday.… Read more »
Yep. Hot Sauce is correct of course.
The fact that you agree with Hot Sauce doesn’t really do much to support his take and instead turns it into a supremely bad one.
Of course.
I wouldn’t necessarily call Dion an “elite” spot up shooter. Good and getting better sure. That said, I agree the Brewer plan is more about having another guy for perimeter D and to be a recipient of KLove TD passes on the break.
I really don’t think they trade away Dion unless one of two things happen: either he does something to royally piss off the King, or the Cavs have a shot to get an above average to elite big (and no Mozgov, McGee, etc don’t qualify). They’d have to have a shot at an Al Horford level talent.
While EvilGenius is correct about Dion not being an elite shooter, he does possess some elite talent. I wouldn’t give him up for a song (Mozgov, McGee, Brewer), but if one of the 30 teams out there recognize Dion’s talent and offers a Horford level talent . . . and he’s a fit – I do it.
Dion has that much talent. He’s just been screwing us up and time for him is running out. CtB’ers don’t have to make this trade. I trust Blatt and Griffin to determine whether or not Dion will eventually “get it.”
Another interesting wing option would be Utah SF, and former slam dunk winner, Jeremy Evans who has the same upside as Brewer, but doesn’t even attempt threes. The guy can rebound, steal, and block, and jump out of the gym. He’s currently getting zero minutes in Utah. Might just take a second rounder.
I too am ” torn ” when it comes to dion—believe he has a wealth of talent—but that talent needs to be utilized within the confines of this team—his 20–25 pt games are not going to be there on a consistent basis ( but he will be on a championship team playing with the best player—do you want this or score 20ppg with the timberwolve/ 76er’s etc . —hope he figures it out —–looks like the cavs might use their trade exemption to pursue brewer —also do we possibly pursue Mcvee from denver—see his minutes are down—would possibly be a… Read more »
You mean Javale McGee? He’s a moron. You can’t play morons when you’re trying to win ballgames. Mozgov would be a much better option.
I think McGee would be fine in short bursts. Especially if Denver decides to shed cap and we can get Afflalo in the deal…the best fit possible at the 2.
nomad, Dion is in a slump adjusting this year but his first 2 years of offense are better than anything Brewer has done. Dion is a way better scorer. Dion CAN take over at times and I don’t think anyone will say that about Brewer now. Brewer is taller at 6’9″ and has a DRAPM of-0.77(top 20 stealer). Dion’s was -1.59. Brewer has another year at $4.9M before UFA. Dion is under control for 3 more years but his salary escalates 5.1, 6.8, then RFA. On it’s face it seems like a bad deal for CLE but I’m torn because… Read more »
I’m torn, too, but also, you absolutely cannot give up a promising third year player for a vet who can walk in two… Also, Brewer does not fit the offense. He’s a terrible three point shooter.
Using Waiters to go after Mozgov and Chandler w/ these two trades seems like a better idea…
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=nhvjzrj
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pra323k
Of course that’s trading Dion for vets who can walk again.
I don’t think there is any thought of giving up Waiters to get Brewer. It would just be Trade Exception plus a pick.
Yep. What Hot Sauce said. No need to include Dion (or any players on the roster) in a deal to get Brewer.
Yeah, he also does the thing where he crosses a guy over at the 3 point line to get open for the longest possible two. There’s a reason that shot is open, Dion. I don’t know if he’ll ever completely stop doing stuff like that. You just hope that the good outweighs the bad.
agree with T —-SAW HIM AGAINST THE HAWKS ( DOING ” JUMPING JACKS ON THE WING FOR THE BALL INSTEAD OF MAKING A CUT )—NEEDS TO WORK ON ALL ASPECTS OF HIS GAME—–WHAT DOES EVRYONE THINK OF THIS—TRADE DION EVEN UP FOR CORY BREWER ( RUMORS ARE FLYING ABOUT BREWER )—-SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS — my bad
I hate to be “that guy”, but this drives me NUTS. Regardless of matchup or situation, Dion still flails around clapping for the ball like a maniac every time down the court. After they ignore him, no matter the outcome of the play the dude throws his hands up in frustration like a pre-schooler whos been told for the 5th time that he has has to wait for his graham crackers and juice. The assists were nice, but lets be honest, he was making a point. “See I DO pass! GIMME THE BALL!!!” Dion still pouts and displays horrendous non-verbals… Read more »
This may be true, but wait a few months before thinking he can’t change. Now is probably the first time in his life that a serious authority figure (as in LeBron) is telling him to grow up and quit acting like a baby. He might be showing steady signs of getting it figured out.
The assists were nice, but lets be honest, he was making a point. “See I DO pass! GIMME THE BALL!!!”
_+2
agree with all you ” fella ” bloggers CTB is where it is at to get the ” REAL FEEL ” OF THE CAVS—–it is a joy an honor being part of this group —even you cols !!
So I went and saw New Pornographers at Cleveland House of Blues last night. The downtown was just buzzing. Cavs games are becoming a complete spectacle that lights up the whole night. I was desperately desperately trying to avoid finding out the score/results, and my phone just kept blowing up with Joe Harris texts, tweets, and people asking for us to put up a live thread. By the time I’d gotten home, I pretty much figured out that the Cavs had won, and that something amazing had happened, and then, at 1:30 in the morning, with a fifty minute old… Read more »
I was so bummed about the New Pornographers. Didn’t know they were in town until the next morning, of course. Second time in about a month I’ve discovered someone was just in the area the morning after on twitter. That’s not how twitter’s supposed to work dammit. I imagine it was awesome. At least I got to enjoy an awesome Cavs game.
Yeah, they were great. Ridiculously polished. The Pains of Being Pure of Heart were good, despite sounding exactly like a Cure cover band.
I thought the POBPAH could use a new lead singer. They were at their best when the girl was singing, IMO. I didn’t like the dude singer at all. Songs were fun though.
The New Pornographers are just a ridiculously good band.
Ha. I saw them at the Gothic Theater in Denver last month. Just a super great awesome show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great recap, Tom.the “meteor shower” really nailed it. I haven’t been that excited watching the Cavs in a couple of years. My wife watched me convulsing in joy 4 feet from the TV and remarked “they must be doing better than against Boston.” Yes, Michelle. They are. I think this is a turning point for the team. Not that they won’t stumble (Lebron acknowledged as much) but it crystallized the concept that Blatt has been preaching: move the ball and build offense out of defense. This team knows experientially what will happen if they do what they’re supposed to do.… Read more »
He’s (Dion) is also Lebron’s project too. He does the same as Blatt in his interviews as well. He does respond.. Harris getting to close out the other night really motivated him.
Good point. Everyone on the team except maybe Bron and Andy can improve and do a good job at filling some role. The coaches and leaders can help bring out the potential in the younger players. KI, TT, and JH have already made great strides. Probably DW will take a while longer. But he has serious talent, and the potential to be an excellent player, and I think the staff and team leaders can make it happen. Probably LeBron is the first person Dion has ever dealt with that he could not bully.
“Gaze in awe at the meteor shower.” Great topic.
You writers at CtB are so much better than the main stream media. I don’t even go to read about the Cavs on ESPN or Cleveland.com. I go straight here. I just want to say thanks for all the time you guys put in and for your creativity.
What he said….
Underdog, thank you for the compliment. It really, truly, means a lot. I’m glad there are enough resources at our disposal that we can somewhat intelligently recap these games. I’ve got TV, real-time box scores, Beat Writers tweeting the latest injury updates during games, fans tweeting out cool stats, basketball-reference and nba.com and gotbuckets to pull any collections of data I want… It’s nice to be able to gather all this information from the comfort of my couch and put my own spin on it. I do want to point out that a lot of this (at least, what I… Read more »
I agree with the Underdog. I know how much time and effort it takes to do a good job at ANYTHING, and CtB is way good. And, as Matt says, we miss Mallory. Someone give him a shout.
Couldn’t agree more. We’re lucky to have such a terrific team of writers at C:tb. Always an enjoyable or thoughtful take on all things Cavs and beyond. These guys all have real jobs outside of this blog and it amazes me how they’re able to find the time to dedicate themselves so thoroughly to writing about the Cavs. Also really enjoy how much they invite the interaction with the rest of us in the commentariat. On that note, big thanks Tom for including the ramblings of a live thread addict tonight! Go Cavs! Go C:tb!
After ripping Dion for his effort and attitude the first few games tonight was EXACTLY what I want him to do. He played within the offense and though he still jacked a few “dion” shots, he can afford a few as he is developing into such a good shooter. Really good game for him. He plays like this and he’ll be playing decent playoff minutes. Harris looks amazing too and really confident. I really hope we don’t bother going after Ray Allen for a quick couple of months of play. Developing Harris into a 20 min a night SG will… Read more »
+1 James . . .
-This was a wonderful win and something the team needed to get a taste of what really winning feels like. However, the Cavs got semi-lucky that Atlanta didn’t just do the same Horford post up/Millsap elbow play every time. Love still looked like a sketchy defender. -TT is my man. He looked like an animal tonight and the Cavs need him to keep playing like that. -If the Cavs offense can consistently fire like this defense will be less of an issue. We’ll be blowing teams away, but the mental edge shooting how we did is crazy. Teams come down… Read more »
I’m not so sure Atlanta is all that imposing a threat…we didn’t come into the season thinking we’d be competing with teams like them anyway…blowing them out was nice, but they honestly at a lot of points just shot poorly. Had they shot respectably it wouldn’t have been this big of a blowout. It was fantastic to get the starters off the court for a whole quarter tho. I saw a lot of great defensive changes, but Kevin Love still got abused and a team with better shooters and a big man like Horford will still cause us major issues.… Read more »
Glad to see cols is positive. Others might disagree and that’s ok.
Side note: I miss Mallory and his unique writing/comments. Anyone know how he is doing these days? While I am sure his trade off of less CtB time translates into real world engagement I do hope all is well with him.
One last thing that I liked: Even with the disclaimer that others on this board have decried that +/- is not the most meaningful of statistics, the fact that it was three guys off of the bench Dion (+45), TT (+38) and Joe H (+23) leading the team tonight in that statistic was pretty awesome and shows how deep this team can be. Three Petty/Statgasm things that I wanted to happen but didn’t: 1) Mike Miller didn’t score and was the only Cav not to (c’mon Mike, even Sweet Lou had one dunk!) 2) Cavs came up one three shy… Read more »
Quick note: +/- is a great statistic. The key is that +/- from a SINGLE game tells us nothing about the performance of a SINGLE player in that game. I see lots of people use it that way, and I think it is misleading.
The way you use it here, though, is perfect. The +/- patterns in this game support the story that the bench was incredible tonight. And they were.
You are absolutely right to point this out. But… it was funny Blatt made a conscious effort to point out Dion’s +/- stats last night to the media.
Totally agree. Great energy.
you knew a game like this was coming. let’s not overreact. they shot lights out. to me, the D was the best part.
Yeah, the D, the energy, the approach.
I was so happy that they didn’t coast. They took that 3rd quarter seriously as hell, particularly LeBron and Kyrie.
They never gave the Hawks and chance to mount a rally and make it interesting.
Hahaha. I told everyone to relax. This team is unstoppable.
They were tonight, that’s for sure.
Let’s hold off on “unstoppable” at least until they do this to a more imposing team like Washington or San Antonio in the coming days.
let’s not and say we did