Quickie: Wizards Win But Basketball Is Fun

The Cavs lost to the Wizards in the final seconds on an open 3-pointer from Kyle Kuzma that put the Cavs down one. A final layup off a Darius Garland 3-ball to win it all miss left the game at 97-94 after the final frame. It was a crappy way to lose, but this game reminded me that basketball is fun. During a year where Covid has kept on sucking it up, this was very welcome.

I was fortunate enough to take this game in live with fellow Cavs:The Blog blogger Nate Smith from some pretty great seats courtesy of another blogger. Beers flowed. Cheering happened. Booing happened. Someone shouted that Bradley Beal has “Childbearing hips.” Great times were had.

And, these great times culminated in the fourth. With 8:03 left, Montrezl Harrell received the ball cutting straight to the rim, but Jarett Allen met him at the top and said, “We both have great hair, but mine is greater. Get that weak stuff out of here. Now!” Yes, the seats we were in were close enough to hear that.

Evan Mobley then grabbed the ball and tossed it down the court to a streaking Cedi Osman for a dunk. This put the Cavs up 78-84.

It made myself and Nate stand up and look each other straight in the eyes as we both raised our hands up for a thunderous double high five. We did this with several people around us, and in that moment I swear some of the guys on the court looked our way.

I haven’t had a moment that fun with a Cavs team that isn’t title bound ever. I have only been a fan of great teams and toilet bowl teams. I now know how fans of the Grizzlies almost always feel…

Anyways,high fives are fun. This team caused some to happen, so using logic this means they are fun too.

Here are some thoughts about the game.

Gripes:
1. Kuzma and Harrell went off a little bit. Kuzma had 22 and hit six 3-balls including two in the final frame. Harrell had 24 points and 11 boards on 8-12 shooting.
2. The beers at the Q are pricey. They don’t taste any better.
3. When you touch the new NBA balls they don’t feel any different really. Nate touched the balls too and can back me up. This makes me think it’s a cop out to blame the decline in offense this season on them. That makes me sad because I was really hoping the folks at Wilson just hated offense and wanted it to decline when they were picked to design the ball.
4. The Cavs shouldn’t have left Kuzma open for the dagger 3-ball. Crap happens though.
5. Tacko Fall is huge. He’s even bigger on the court than the TV makes him out to be. I wish he was good at basketball or that goaltending wasn’t illegal.

Hypes:
1. Evan Mobley is the real deal. Every shot he took was open. He uses his footwork to get open. It’s as if he cut off Tim Duncan’s feet and attached them to his legs. He put up 19 points and snaked seven boards.
2. His defense is also top tier for a big. He knows how long to hold when helping on a pick and roll. He stops the action without requiring a third player to crash down onto his original assignment even. This is a huge reason the Cavs have been defending the 3-line so well. The Wizards hit just ten tonight.
3. The craziest thing about Mobley is that he is a twig. I’m talking sickly skinny in person. When he gets twenty pounds of muscle on him, he’s going to be terrifying opposing teams.
4. The offense started slow tonight, but the team stayed balanced and looked for great shots. They finished shooting 46.1% and outscored the Wiz 12-2 in fast break points.
5. Ricky Rubio paced the Cavs all evening getting 20 points and five assists. Watching him move in the paint with two dunking bigs available for lobs is one of my favorite things to do. His ability to nail wrong footed layups with on edge defenders is Nash level.
6. Jarett Allen had 13 points and 10 boards. Darius Garland had 19 points and went 3-10 from deep. I’m glad he’s not afraid to bomb it though. He’s a good enough shooter that he can leverage his shot even when it isn’t dropping.
7. Lamar Stevens chipped in some awesome defense and even had a slam that got the crowd going in the second after a nice pump and drive. He’s going to stick with this team if only because he’s a strong defender on four positions.

Cavs take on Detroit tomorrow. Let’s hope they get a statement win to keep the good vibes going.