Live Thread and Some Quick Thoughts: Bucks @ Cavs (Or, It’s Really All Gravy)

The Bucks are in Cleveland tonight, and the Cavs probably won’t pick up the win. Nonetheless, it’s all gravy right now. Collin Sexton just had a spectacular night against the Pistons going 5-6 from deep and getting 27 points. He hit three 3s in the fourth to essentially win the game. Sexton is looking like he will stick around in the league for a while and become quite a good combo-guard.

Now though, I’ll digress to show just how much there really is to look forward to on this team.

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How about them Lakers? Since February 8th, the day the Cavs got Kevin Love back, the Lakers have gone a dismal 3-13. The Cavs, on the other hand, have gone a respectable 7-10. It must also be noted that Love has not played all of those games.The Lakers’ net rating is -7 since then and the Cavs’ is -4.3 after being -11.3 prior to February 8th, which was the worst in the league by 1.8 points! The Lakers were -.5 before February 8th.

David Nwaba, Cedi Osman, and Ante Zizic along with Sexton have shown a propensity for running the ball off of misses.

Brandon Ing….. Lonzo Ba…… Oh, yea those guys aren’t playing. While it’s easy to say that the Cavs are trending up and the Lakers are trending down, it’s something that must be said. Had Kevin Love played all season, the Cavs probably could have made the playoffs.

LeBron James has to know by now that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence. It’s often riddled with burnt spots that are the result of some absurd lawn gnomes (I’m talking about you Lance Stephenson) that have stayed put too long. It’s sometimes covered in a paper trail of failed trades that threaten to undermine the very soil that supports the grass. However, maybe LeBron is okay with all that. No one can say for sure if getting to be in movies like Space Jam 2 is enough fertilizer for the King to repair this lawn or somehow reason that it’s not as bad as it appears. Unfortunately for us though, we won’t know how the King feels about his lawn till after the Finals and when free agency winds down.

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Injuries: Kevin Love, Larry Nance Jr., and Tristan Thompson are questionable for the Cavs. Matthew Dellavedova is out with a concussion. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ersan Illyasova are questionable for the Bucks. Malcolm Brogdon, Sterling Brown, and Donte DiVincenzo are out.

Three Things to Watch

1.If the Greek Freak plays, how do the Cavs stop him. They can load up the paint, but the Bucks have some great 3-point shooters including former post savant Brook Lopez. They hit 13.4 3s a night, which is second in the NBA.

2.The Bucks allow opponents to hit 12.6 3s a game, which is pretty much the most in the NBA. They allow teams to take a league high 35.1 per game but teams are hitting a league average 35.8% of them. The Bucks make the right guys on the opposing team take 3-pointers, and it pulls teams out of their game plans. This is a huge reason the Bucks have the number one defensive rating of 104.5. The Cavs have to not fall for this plan and continue attacking the paint no matter how difficult it is.

3.Sexton needs to show up. He has to distribute the ball and put pressure on the Bucks defense to collapse into the paint, so other guys on the Cavs have room to create and get actual good open shots. Last meeting with the Bucks, Sexton scored just five points to Eric Bledsoe‘s 16.

Prediction

The Bucks have the best record in the league for a reason. They don’t lay down to inferior teams, and they should beat the Cavs easily tonight, 133-110.

Bonus Playoffs Thought

The Spurs are currently riding a nine game winning streak and own the fifth spot in the Western Conference playoffs. They’re going the opposite direction of the rest of the NBA in how they’re running their offense this season and it reminds me of their 2014 title season.

During that season, the Spurs debuted their ultra pass the ball around the arc and continually force opponents to close out until a very wide open shot comes about method of play. It was beautiful. They were number one in the league with 24.5 assists per game that season and had the number one seed in the West. They were second in the league in effective field goal percentage at 53.9%. And, in the Finals they blew out the less movement obsessed Heat in a 4-1 series. Their per game Finals point differential was a record +14 points.

This year the Spurs are bucking the 3-point happy offensive trend that is sweeping the league taking a league low 28.1% of their shots from deep (although they hit a league high 39.1% of them). They’re feasting in the mid-range now taking 28.5% of their shots from there and hitting 43.1% of them. And, this is solely because of Gregg Popovich. This is the the way this team needs to play to succeed.

Both LaMarcus Aldrige and DeMar DeRozan love mid-range jumpers. It’s no wonder both are having excellent seasons. Aldrige’s scoring is down by about two points, but his rebounding, assists, and blocks are slightly up. And, DeMar is having a career season. He’s averaging highs in rebounding and assists with 6.2 and 6.1 per game respectively. He has also quit trying to take 3s. The Spurs have been using their two stars’ ability to shoot it from the mid-range to run backdoor actions, set nifty pin downs for their 3-point shooters, and to just stress defenders all year.

While they probably won’t make the Finals, Popovich’s ability to create a system that’s effective around what his players are capable of is enough to make any team in the West afraid of them.