Recap: Cavs 115, Thunder 92 (Or, Trusting the Pass Works)
2016-02-21
The Cavs rolled into the Chesapeake Energy Arena and showed the Thunder how team basketball works. Cleveland had 25 assists on 41 made shots. 60% of their buckets were assisted! The Thunder couldn’t stop the ball from falling into the net, as the Wine & Gold shot 51.3% from the field.
The Cavs held the Thunder to 41.1% from the floor, despite Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant getting their usual stats. Westbrook scored 20 points, dished out 11 assists, and grabbed nine rebounds. Durant had 26 points. The Thunder’s bench scored just 21.
LeBron led the Cavs with 25 points on 50% shooting to go with 11 assists and seven rebounds. Love also provided a scoring punch getting 29 points to go with 11 boards. The Cavs bench showed up too. They scored 30 much needed points, since Kyrie Irving left the game after just one quarter with stomach flu issues.
The Cavs started the first quarter giving up an offensive rebound, which the Thunder were unable to capitalize on. A few seconds later Kyrie hit a mid-range jumper to crack the scoring seal.
Durant ran the King off a screen to get a catch and shoot 3-pointer for the Thunder’s first points. The Thunder insisted on switching early on in the game, and Durant kept ending up on Love. Love wasn’t able to do anything though, missing his first three shots. However, he didn’t give up as he scored six in the quarter on seven attempts. He also had a nice drive and kick to TT under the rim for two.
Westbrook kept the Thunder in the game for the early part of the action. With J.R. Smith on him, he wasn’t able to get straight to the rim, but he was able to penetrate enough to get the Cavs to send help defenders. He dished out three assists in a row to Steven Adams right at the rim. Adams had a career high nine point first quarter.
The Cavs finished the first twelve strong when Matthew Dellavedova checked in for Kyrie Irving. Delly quickly asserted himself as the most solid back up point guard the league has ever known, finding LeBron cutting under the hoop two times in a row, and then hitting Mozgov for an oop in the final minute. Both teams shot 50% in the quarter, but the Thunder grabbed the majority of their points in the paint to be up by one, 28-27.
The Thunder abused the Cavs in the paint early on.
In the second quarter, the Cavs rolled out a no star lineup, with LBJ, Irving, and Love on the bench. This unit kept the Cavs slowly moving along, outscoring the Thunder’s version of a star free group: 7-2. Jefferson canned a three and stole a pass before running it the length of the floor to get to the charity stripe to put the Cavs up: 32-28.
Once LeBron and Love checked back in, the Cavs pushed the pace. Irving went to the locker room shortly thereafter because of the stomach flu. But LBJ had it going in the quarter, scoring 12 points. He even hit a 3-pointer. Thankfully, even though his shot was falling, he mostly resisted the urge chuck 3-pointers. He only had one heat check – we’ll take it.
The Thunder had trouble scoring. The Cavs started to rotate better on Westbrook’s penetration and were running shooters off the line. Durant and Westbrook combined for 12 points, but the Thunder were just 11-24 in the quarter.
The Cavs played the final three minutes of the first half with a super big group of Love, Jefferson, James, TT, and Jones. In the past this lineup might have led to King-ISO party time, but, today, it led to guys spreading the floor, cutting, and running the offense Cavs fans thought David Blatt would run. The King brought the ball up the floor and used screens as soon as he was past the time line. OKC didn’t know what to do, and the King punished them by driving to the rim each time they switched Adams onto him. LeBron also hit TT with a beautiful under-handed alley-oop pass.
https://vine.co/v/irgKbvVmwQv
Love had my favorite play of the quarter. Out of a timeout, James was throwing the ball in from the baseline. Love ran from the corner and caught the ball barreling towards the rim. As the Thunder closed in on him, he found RJ in the weak side corner for his second 3-ball of the quarter.
The Cavs went into the locker room up 62-53 after shooting 63.3%.
The third quarter was the best quarter the Cavs have played in a while. Their first offensive possession had three offensive rebounds and ended with Tristan Thompson going to the line. A minute later, Delly was bringing the ball up the floor and Westbrook went over his shoulder. Russ got called for the foul and Delly even got a last second shove in. The same possession Love went down to the block, ended up with a guard on him, and demanded the attention of three OKC guys before getting fouled. And, before the Thunder knew it, the Cavs were in the bonus with 7:36 to go. Cleveland had 16 free throws in the quarter and hit 14 of them.
The Thunder tried to hang on, but after Russell Westbrook dunked on a 4-on-1 fast break with eight minutes to go and the Cavs ahead 66-62, the Thunder totally died. The Wine & Gold went on an NBA 2k16 rage quit level 29-11 run. It wasn’t a “stand up and shout” run, but it was a “get the job done” run. The Cavs kept finding Love whenever the Thunder switched a smaller guy onto him and he scored or was fouled. Love made quick moves off the ball to draw fouls too.
https://vine.co/v/irgwFHMIJhe
Kevin had 13 points in the quarter on just four shots. He took ten free throws. The Cavs were calculated and exploited the Thunder perfectly. Defensively, they held them to just 34.8%. Nothing was falling for OKC, although it didn’t help that they couldn’t penetrate for easy shots. The Cavs went into the fourth up huge, 95-73.
The Cavs started the fourth quarter with James on the floor and Love sitting. The King earned his ninth and tenth assists of the night when he hit RJ for a wide open three and found RJ running the floor for a reverse dunk after an OKC miss.
https://vine.co/v/irgTAWlWZVD
With about eight to go, Westbrook checked back in. He bricked two shots, and then Durant checked in and drained a 3-pointer. The Thunder conceded the game when Durant and Westbrook checked out with five to go and Cleveland up 19. Kevin Love continued his dominant offensive performance and scored six more, as the Cavs cruised to the win.
Gripes
1.The Cavs’ defense in the first quarter was a bit lacking, and it seemed like they fell asleep several times on their rotations when Westbrook penetrated and dropped the ball off to Steven Adams.
2. Honestly, there’s not much to complain about after this game.
Hypes
1.The Cavs finally figured out how to move off the ball when a pick and roll is happening, and when to initiate a pick and roll. Guys were moving with purpose and getting the Thunder’s defense on their toes whenever a ball handler started to use a screen. The Thunder weren’t able to cheat into the paint to stop penetration. And, on top of that, the Cavs were getting into their sets as soon as they passed the half-court line. It’s a lot easier to score on a team that is just setting their defense.
2.The Cavs also abused the Thunder whenever they switched defensive assignments. The abuse didn’t even feel forced. Aside for a few LeBron slow-mo back downs on Waiters and Westbrook, guys went to work instantly when they were facing a smaller defender.
3. Love was fantastic tonight. He had 29 points and was just destroying the Thunder. Anytime a random defender was on him, he was doing work for the charity shots. I also loved how he showed he can score in a variety of ways. When defenders closed on him, he put the ball on the floor and looked for a better shot. Look at this shot chart tonight, #MINNYLOVE.
Kevin Love’s shot chart.
4. J.R. and RJ provided the little extra punch Cleveland needed with Kyrie out. Smith scored 15 points and was 5-8 from 3-point land. He also played tremendous defense. Tyronn Lue slotted him on Westbrook, and J.R. made Westbook’s life a little difficult. Russ wasn’t as explosive as he usually was. RJ scored 15, was 3-4 from deep, and had six rebounds. He was given an inch and he took exactly an inch.
5. The King played like a true point guard today, getting 11 assists. He didn’t revert to iso-play at all, and ironically, he was able to score much easier than usual in the pick and roll. When teams see that the King is going to pass, they will play the passing lanes or at least not fully commit to stopping the semi truck coming at them. LeBron can then score much easier.
6. The Cavs were 10 of 23 from deep. Most of those shots were open, but it always helps to have a guy like J.R. who can spin away from defenders and drop a three. J.R. passed Jason Richardson for all-time 3s made to get the 17th spot.
https://vine.co/v/irggHWrYTxJ
7. Thankfully, Dion Waiters isn’t a Cavalier. I loved the guy and thought he had so much talent when he was in Cleveland. He just hasn’t developed his game, even in OKC. He was 1-8 for four points today. He passed up open shots and blew multiple gimme layups.
8. TT did his usual share of work, getting 14 points and 14 rebounds without drawing attention to himself. Mozgov had 11 points on 5-7 shooting and grabbed five boards.
9. Hubie Brown actually acknowledged how awesome Delly is. He praised his defense, mentioned his top ten assist to turnover ratio, and brought up his top ten three-point shooting percentage. Delly had seven assists and three turnovers today.
10. The Cavs take on Detroit tomorrow night at the Q.
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It wouldn’t be a sexy tattoo–although it could be inked in a nice script–but this key to success should be on every Cav forearm.
All I would add is the implicit, “take advantage of the fact that opponents cannot double team more than one of the big three at one time.”
At their best, the Cavs should present an irresolvable challenge every time down the court. Ball movement requires player movement.
Good game. Cavs looking like we had hoped earlier in the year.
Sad to hear Delonte West is still struggling wuth mental health issues.
What happened to Delonte?
Kevin Love getting to the FT line 10+ times in a game makes us pretty much unbeatable IMO.
Whatever they’re doing to get KLove the ball down low, KEEP DOING IT!
Great podcast. I think AV is to the Cavs what Haslem is to the Heat. But Haslem is truly washed up and I think AV has some gas left in the tank.
I have no problem with Andy joining the Warriors — dude has every right to go seek employment — but Dan Gilbert dropped him solely to save money and now our our biggest rival/threat scoops him up for pennies. Awesome.
Great win tho!
I did LOL….Dave McMenamin killing it recently.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BCFsm9HyLiY/
Like that headline. Too bad JR wasn’t in the picture below too.
…and it’s official. Andy is joining Golden State (according to AV’s Instagram). Excuse me while I go throw up.
Kyrie was actually pushing the ball, setting up KLove and not letting the ball to his hand for long periods in the shot clock.
Also, so far I haven’t heard any “rookie coach” issues with Billy Donovan. None. They have huge, if not the same, amount of urgency needed to win just like the Cavs. They are basically having the same offensive system they had with Scott Brooks.
Yeah, Kyrie looked great yesterday before he went down. Distributing well.
Anyone here saw that video of a kid crying about the Andy trade? Or is it already posted on another thread??
Anderson Verajao if you can beat them join, go Andy get your ring.
To me, the Cavs this year are a classic case of a team who lives or dies on variance. If they are hot from 3, as they were today, they can beat anyone, and blow out a lot of teams. Especially if Love is killing 3s….he’s a weird barometer for this team. If they are cold from 3, they can look pretty awful. One would think the Warriors would be an even more extreme example, but they are so good in transition, and are so good about using movement and cuts to get easy looks, that being cold from 3… Read more »
Well yea, it’s a make or miss league, no matter where you shoot from, if you shoot well odds are you’re going to win. But even having said that, the Cav’s have lost 2 games by more than 15 points (and looked awful), and they shot their average (36%) in one game and above average in the other. The Warriors however have shot below their 3pt average in every game they have lost. So the numbers basically say the opposite of what you said about both teams.
The Warriors may have unsurprisingly shot below their 3 point average in every game they’ve lost, but they have also won plenty of games where they shot badly from 3. So I’m not sure I understand that the numbers say the opposite of what I said. What I said was that they can better overcome poor variance, which is true. The Cavs have looked brutal in numerous games where the 3s weren’t falling.
My point was that the Cav’s were hitting from 3 in their most brutal losses of the year, the only 2 games that they lost by more than 15. That and the fact that the Warriors CAN’T overcome poor variance, as every game that they’ve lost, they’ve shot below average from 3.
All 5 games they’ve lost, you mean? They’ve shot below their average from 3 in tons of games that they’ve won. Because they can overcome poor variance.
Agreed. Was just going on losses.
They are 27-0 when shooting over average and I don’t know about tons, but they’re 22-5 when shooting under. You’re only shot at beating them is to take away the 3 from them.
I agree, but that’s not exactly easy to do. The real problem is that when they are hot from 3, they obliterate teams. They just have to work when they aren’t hot. Not trying to be chippy with you, it’s just really frustrating to watch them.
I do see your point about GS overcoming bad shooting games from 3, but in reality they just don’t shoot poorly from 3. They only have 5 games where they’ve shot less than 30% this year and they are 4-1, or 80% which small sample size and all is .107 worse than their overall record.
The Cav’s on the other hand are 9-4 in games that they shoot less than 30% from 3, which is .049 worse than their overall record. So basically, the Cav’s can overcome a poor shooting night better than the Warriors can.
You are correct in that for the season the Cavs have lived and died by the three, but 10 threes isn’t a lot in today’s NBA. They won tonight’s game by doing what the Warriors and Spurs do…take advantage of what the defense gives you. Today, they destroyed the thunder by allowing kevin love to feast on the thunder’s lazy switching, hitting free throws, and by being efficient in transition. As a side note, I fully expect Andy verajao to become an integral piece in the Warriors offense because he will get too many opportunities to prove his worth in… Read more »
Apologies in advance for the snark but I have to point this one out (it actually made me giggle a bit, though I’m assuming it was inadvertent):
Chesapeake Bay is a large body of water near Maryland known for its crabs
Chesapeake Energy is a large oil company that does a fair amount of work in Oklahoma.
As much as I kinda wish that Chesapeake Bay had a large enough budget to buy naming rights to an arena, it’d probably go for wherever the Wizards play if it were going to sponsor one.
I fixed it. Valid complaint. i didn’t even know the Chesapeake bay was in Maryland. I thought it Was in the Pacific Northwest, which makes this mistake even more ridiculous.
Let me flip the script and go right to some gripes: TT continues to make boneheaded plays on defense. I mean DUMB. I fear his low basketball I.Q. will kill us somewhere in the playoffs. I still dream of putting Andy’s brain into TT’s body… Also, for a guy who doesn’t turn the ball over, Delly makes some if the worst TO’s I have seen. 3 more tonight. Lately, we have more assists when Ky doesn’t play and we win when we get more assists. This will be Lue’s biggest challenge. How to integrate Ky’s way with the team passing… Read more »
TT is also the most unselfish player on the team, by far, and maybe the league. He has totally given up his offensive game for the better of the team. He never shoots outside 4 feet unless the shot clock is running down, and rarely forces a shot when close to the rim. He would be 4th in the league in fg% but he doesn’t shoot enough to qualify.
He got a pretty quiet 14 and 14 today against the number one rebounding team in the league. Not bad for a center who’s not that tall, and can’t really jump.
What game were you watching?
Are you talking to me? You didn’t see the late doubles and silly switches TT made that allowed easy buckets in the 1st half? The good news is that he seems to make those types of mistakes in the first halves of games. I can only assume the coaches correct him at halftime…
I appreciate what TT brings but he has a low basketball IQ. I doubt that is a controversial stance…
Probably more controversial than my belief that you have a low fan IQ….
Lol! Yeah, sure. You nailed it, chief…
Lol! Yeah, sure. You nailed it, chief…
Have you never heard Austin Carr and even today when Hubie Brown pointed out TT’s mistakes on late doubles and errors on switching? Jesus, learn something about basketball before ya shoot your mouth off…
Listen sport, Drew Gooden made boneheaded plays on defense all the time when he was here. TT is nothing like that, let alone a reason to gripe about after a 23 point victory over a top 4 team. Do you know who R Westbrook and K Durant are? How dominant they are? Do you understand the concept of taking the ball out of their hands by doubling them when they get the ball out top? And the fact that it might lead to a couple S Adams easy baskets? The Cav’s D held the Thunder to 41% shooting and TT… Read more »
TT does make boneheaded switches and traps occasionally. Tonight though, I thought the few traps he pulled late in the clock were smart. His teammates just didn’t rotate over correctly to cover his guy. It was also apparent he had to help over because guys were getting beat under the rim.
Had a long discussion with some old friends at the bar about the Cavs and was thinking, it’s hard to win a championship with two bad defenders.
Every championship team may have 1 or possibly 2 but rarely do they play together at the same time. I believe the Cavs’s best way to balance it out is to stagger Love and Kyrie, even though Love plays better offensively with Kyrie (the numbers back it up).
Anyone else have thoughts on this?
we talked tonight on the podcast a bit about what the best approach to offense the Cavs should take if/when they go up against GSW. Not defense – but clearly the grit squad took 2 games from the them and the Grizzlies took 2 games. You need a solid defense to have a chance against the Warriors in a series
Im not convinced love is a bad defender any more. Hes really grown. Kyrie has a long way to go tho I agree
I agree. Love looks like a throughly average defender. He does a nice a nice job on his man and does a nice job helping on back cuts
That was a total beat down administered by the Cavs. One regular season game doesn’t make or break things, but it was very reassuring to see the determined and focused Cavs team from last year’s playoffs reappear for the first time this year (from what I have seen on nationally televised games). I’m not sure it is desirable for the Cavs to play with that intensity level for every regular season game, but that was good.
So glad we could help out the Warriors in their quest for the best record of all time by giving them Varejao for the Vet’s minimum while also giving away our only first round pick for the next three years. /s
It’ll be interesting if Andy gives them any good minutes.
Yes, he will give them good minutes. Ezeli and Bogut are hurt. All Andy has to do on that team is set picks, roll to the hoop and pass the ball. It’s a good fit.
Andy always gives you good minutes. They’re not often great minutes, but they’re good minutes.
He’s probably not going to play at all when the injured come back. Hell they don’t give Bogut and Ezili many minutes, they sure aren’t gonna give Andy any. But quality insurance nonetheless.
He will give them minutes if Bogut and Ezeli are out…he’s probably almost as good as Speights. (Speights is probably better defensively, which is all GS needs from that position)
By now I just hope Andy can remain injury free until the time we can pick him up next year.
Great win. Getting Kyrie consistently back to the level he was at last year, while keeping Love aggressive is the next step in the evolution. Once they get there, it’s going to be a thing of beauty.
The hardest part will be watching Varejao lose again in the Finals. Love that dude. Its a shame he is going to have to lose back to back Finals.
If the Finals is Warriors/Cavs, he gets a ring either way.
Is that true? Would the Cavs give him one? That would be a pretty sweet set up for him.
If the Cavs win, would Blatt get a ring?
Everyone who played for them gets one, is my understanding, but I dont’ know about coaches.
They should absolutely give everyone a ring, including MDN. Probably even Smoking Joe.
I’m not so sure too but I believe everyone who’s in the roster come playoffs gets a ring. If we win, the hell with that rule, give Blatt and Andy theirs. They utterly deserve one.
Anderson Varejao is a WARRIOR!! Just WOW! WHo didn’t see this coming?
He’s been a warrior for 12 years now. All he did was capitalize on it … (I’ll get my coat)
Very good sir!!
Good for him. If GS wins, like most of the NBA world believes, Andy will get his ring.
As I mentioned in last week’s 5 by 5, the Cavs have got to resign MD and JR. JR is having a major late career resurgence. Is there a comeback player of the year in basketball? You hear about it a lot in baseball (or, maybe that was when I was a kid?)
JR has been FANTASTIC. And he does it all without ever getting a call for the refs.
Ok, I’ve said this before, but Dan G., if you read this blog: Tell Lue and James to talk to the press after almost every game about how well JR is playing and what a good defender he has become. Complaining won’t change his rep with the refs. But repetition of a positive message might.
Well. Back from beer camp. Didn’t watch it but the box score looks great. Could use a podcast to talk about how awe some they are!!!
oh we are. recording right now
A whole pod of awesome!
lol. Uh – no. But there’s lots of awesome. And then some scorching hot Nate Hot Takes about the Varejao trade. Don’t worry Cols – we scheduled that for the end of the pod
This would be a game to watch.
Update: LeBron was awesome!
I halfway agree with Rodney about Kyrie. Not that they are better off without him, but that we need to find a way to take advantage of what he can bring to the table, and minimize the down side of his iso-ness. As much as possible it is better if KI and KL are NOT on the floor at the same time. I might consider leaving the starting lineup as is (to avoid making a big deal about who starts), but for the most part have MD, JRS, LBJ, KL, and TT on the floor at the same time. They… Read more »
I would love to see Moz and Irving start then at about the 4 minute mark insert Delly and TT. Put Irving back in 6 minutes later with Moz and the subs. TT and Delly have great chemistry and I think Moz really plays better with Irving.
I love watching Irving he’s sensational. I just think that Lebron, Love TT, and JR are even more sensational with a more typical point guard. He’s 23 so Irving can develop these point guard skills. He just doesn’t have them now.
That would be a good way to do it. OK, coach Lue, Rodney and Raoul have agreed, time to make it happen!
Agree with you both. I think our best lineups feature Lebron, JR, TT and Delly … while Kyrie, Shump and Moz also play pretty well together. I don’t know what it is about Moz, but when he plays with Kyrie, his hands get softer, and Kyrie picks him out better with passes. Shump helps cover up Kyrie’s Defense. Those units would just play much better together. I also like the though of having Kyrie tearing through second teamers while Lebron and Love get rest.
I thought about whether they should start Shump too. 4 minutes in bring out JR, Delly and TT. Idk but Shump honestly doesn’t get enough run with our better offensive players
Until Kyrie is able to create an offensive flow, I kinda agree with these assessments. I’d start the big three w/ SHUMP & Mozzy. Replace Kyrie and those two five minutes in . . . And then I like the idea of “twinning” big three until they’re in the final stretch.
Going from my admittedly fallible memory, didn’t Irving play off the ball a lot last season after LeBron took over the offense about 8 games in? Some of it was them taking turns going iso. But some of it was good, with Kyrie an outlet at the arc or moving off the ball. Hopefully he can get back to that.
They could use a mix with Irving, Delly and LeBron all initiating the offense at different times. That way even if Kyrie tends to go one on five, it’s not wrecking the offense for the whole game.
I agree with Bill Simmons on very little, basketball or otherwise, but he has said numerous times in the past that he prefers his scoring PGs to get everyone involved early, then take over if necessary in the 4th. I agree with that. KI has done that on occasion, but too infrequently. Even Lebron does that far more than KI does. I think he’d be a far more valuable piece if he only took easy baskets in, say, the first half, and worked to get everyone else shots, and saved his 1 on 3 drives for the second half. I… Read more »
While it’s obviously great to have a “big three”, I think the team flows much better when there’s only twined them out there at a time. As others have noted, KLove broke out and looked as comfortable as he has in ages. I don’t think this is a knock on Kyrie….I think when all three of them are on the court, whichever of them gets the ball tends to have a mindset of “ok, now it’s MY TURN to make something happen!” It’s not just Kyrie- KLove and Lebron go into this mode as well (and the rest of the… Read more »
Pretty awesome win. Just as good if not better than the Spurs win. Cavs just matchup so nicely against OKC. This was my favorite Lebron game in a while. Most the threes he took were the catch and shoot variety. The whether he or Delly was playing point guard the Cavs ran sets immediately after crossing half court. He distributed and scored relentlessly. Love played great again. Struggled from outside but battled on the boards and drove and cut hard to the hoop off of passes. Pretty awesome to struggle from outside and score 29. The question is did Love… Read more »
As much as it pains me to say this…I think it should be Irving doing most the adjusting rather than Love. He’s breathtaking to watch however he needs to learn to play through Love or Lebron. Yesterday’s offense was brilliant and efficient and all sorts of good things, and I want to see more of it!