Live Thread: Cavs vs. Trailblazers (#ReturnOfTheSleeves)
2015-12-08
Don’t make him angry… you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry…
On the heels of their first three game losing streak since the Finals, there are a few things the Cavs can look forward to tonight… a return to the Q where they’ve been 9-1 (vs. just 4-6 on the road), a return of LeBron James after a night off in South Beach, an imminent return of Kyrie and Iman from injury… oh yeah, and also a return of the infamous black sleeved alternate jerseys. The last time (which was also the first time) that the Cavs went with their brand new, poly-blend mini-straightjackets, the King was not amused. After shooting just 4-11 in the first half of the November 4th contest with the Knicks, he went full on LeHulk and ripped the offensive sleeves almost entirely from his body. Though he didn’t wind up shooting much better post-rip, he did manage to rally the Cavs to victory that night, scoring 11 points in the fourth… sleeves flapping behind him as he raced past Knick defenders. We’ll see how long the sleeves survive tonight, although it does seem appropriate that they’d show up against the squad from “Rip City.”
According to LeBron, though, he’s much less concerned with what he wears versus how his team is currently playing…
“Whatever uniform is put in my locker I’ll wear and be ready for the game,” James said following this morning’s shootaround. “The last thing on my mind right now is our uniforms. It’s playing better.”
The Cavs could certainly use a few well played games, and hopefully victories, over their next few games. It’s a relatively light week, with just two games (Portland tonight and @ Orlando on Friday) and only three the following week. Mo Williams is considered probable following an MRI on his left knee after tweaking it against the Heat, although Kevin Love is a game time decision with an illness.
Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers, who many expected to be in complete rebuild mode, are a surprising 9-13 so far this season. They’ve found a serviceable big man rotation to complement their dynamic backcourt duo of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. They’re coming off a tough loss (90-88) to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, but their two guards should warrant plenty of attention from Cavs defenders (Lillard is eighth in the league in scoring, averaging 24.1 points).
Probable lineups: for the Cavs, Matthew Dellavedova, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Timofey Mozgov; and for the Blazers, Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, Al-Farouq Aminu, Noah Vonleh and Mason Plumlee.
Tipoff is at 7 p.m. (EST), and the game will be shown on Fox Sports Ohio.
I’m predicting a bounce-back game for the Cavs (despite the uniforms and the dangerous backcourt duo of the Blazers), and believe they’ll put this one in the win column… 107-97.
What’s your prediction? And also your over/under on how long the sleeves last?
Let it RIP! And GO CAVS!
One thing should be a constant for the Cavs from now on they have to play hard and earn the respect back.
Now don’t settle just keep the pressure on them and finish their hopes early. That’s what I respect about the Warriors and Spurs they don’t play around they smell blood and they go for it.
Wonderful things happen when KLove penetrates.
C’mon Jackie! Hit your throws!
LOL, KLove going to check the rim after that missed freebie
Geez, McCollom….
Cavs now making Blazers work for EVERYTHING! I love it!
Couldn’t get it to Love, but at least he got the foul
Another good move inside by KLOve
Let’s go Cavs!!
Klove needs to start padding his uniform with charmin.
Yes! Now that’s the right energy…….
Delly has improved soooo much this year. Even a Delly lover like me is impressed.
He is definitely going to earn a good contract.
Cavs version of small ball looking good
All you have to do is play hard. That looks like the difference with this team…
JR SWISH!!
Seems like Delly is getting destroyed on picks constantly in this game.
There have been more than a couple of uncalled moving screens by Aminu also…
Far more than a couple… I just have become numb to it. I don’t even think they are considered “illegal” anymore.
He needs to do the Stockton move where he grabs the guy’s Jersey and makes him fall on top of him for an offensive foul.
I’m liking this lineup! I’d like it more if JR and KLove were hitting from the outside, but still…
Portland is sleepwalking and that’s a good thing.
I don’t know if they’re sleepwalking… but they’re finally feeling some pressure…
It’s probably partly that the Cavs aren’t sleepwalking at the moment…
Hey, Lebron helped Love up!!
LeBron would have only been able to hit himself with that down the court pass… since he’s the only one who leaks out for those…
Going small is the way to show teams it won’t work against us. Then we can go back to regular offense.
Classic Jazz Karl Malone post-op by Love there.
Thanks for getting in the paint Kevin!
At least Cavs playing with great urgency.
That was kind of hilarious.
Now THAT’S some ball movement!
There’s just no way that Plumlee should EVER get an alley oop dunk like that…
Laaazy D by. LeBron to start the third.
Every time I listen to Allie I miss Ohio.
THAT CAVS / WARRIORS CHRISTMAS DAY MATCH UP THAT LOOKED SO GLAMOROUS AT THE START OF THE SEASON DOESN’T LOOK REAL APPEALING RIGHT NOW ( UNLESS YOU ARE A WARRIORS FAN ) —–COLS WHERE IN THE HELL ARE YOU —-YOU GOT ME WORRIED MAN —–WE NEED SOME COLSIAN POSITIVE VIBES !!!—-AT LEAST THE BUCKEYES LOOK GOOD TONIGHT !!
Was RJ’s hot start, particularly from 3, an illusion? Or is he going to get back to that?
If they get him in the right corner…
Cavs going small now.
Probably a good idea…
I particularly miss Kyrie tonight… his double nickel game came against these Blazers last year when they came to the Q…
Horseshoe Clevelands commercial only shows images of the Cavs and Indians. If you wanna have fun stay far away from First Energy Stadium.
That is a fair statement. They couldn’t find footage of Browns fans smiling.
Brown’s don’t deserve the exposure. What a poorly run organization.
Klay Thompson drops 8 three-pointers in the 1st half. The NBA record for threes in a game is 12.
Yeah, that’s Monta Ellis defense for you. he’s got 29 I think.
He was the one Warrior who was kind of having an off-year… figures he’d get going now…
They figured that 22-0 really wasn’t cutting it and was tired of the poor effort…
I kind of hate Klay Thompson. Mainly because his Dad is the worst announcer in history.
Amen to that!
There are some moves on the floor right now being put on by kids during the break. Hope the Cavs are watching.
Nice for the kids that the PA announces their names when they score… looks like they’re having a lot of fun! Maybe Cavs should watch them and remember how much fun basketball can be…
Blazers killing Cavs on the boards too… 20-12… lots of one shot possessions…
Yes – that’s where we can improve.
Blazers are hustling like the Wizards were. Cavs still don’t seem ready for teams’ best shot at the tip. I dont’ know why this continues to be a problem.
They also have 5 offensive rebounds… Cavs not boxing out…
Yes. There’s no excuse for that.
Lillard got one of his own shots surrounded by TT, Love, and James. Maybe not those three specifically but you get my point…
MOZ’S HALFTIME BOX SCORE ( OTHER THAN 7 MINUTES PLAYED)——-0 ACROSS THE BOARD —THIS IS THE GUY WE WERE COUNTING ON HUGE —-UNCLE DAN IS GOING TO WANT ANSWERS WITH HIS INVESTMENT
He’ll be alright. If its still this bad on February 8, I’ll start to worry. But not December 8. he had surgery on his knees. He is 7 feet tall. He’s not going to be 100% probably all year. Blatt is working him back slowly.
Blazers shoot 59% in our damn house. Our defense has been ish lately
I’m not that bothered by our defense this game, honestly. CJ McCollum and Lilliard are on fire, but they’re being contested for the most part. Guys are hustling and rotating okay. We started pretty cold from the floor, missed some gimmes near the hoop that are uncharacteristic. I think the score isn’t representative of how this game is going.
We’re actually playing well for the most part and I expect the third quarter to go heavily our way. Unless Lilliard remains this hot and keeps canning them from 30 ft.
Disagree… not many contested shots for Blazers… especially in first quarter. Also, as AC said, Cavs really not doing a good job defending the high pick and roll lately…
Maybe I’m not watching closely enough. i keep getting interrupted by having to work.
Ha! Luckily it’s a slow day for me, and I finally figured out how to hook up the NBA League Pass to the TV in my office…
GS leads 79-58. Uncle.
At least the Pacers have kept them within roughly 20… LOL
Well… it’s back to single digits…
McCollum just made a Steph Curry type shot. Well they were born near each other so why not?
Nate, your fears were well founded on McCollum…
JR!
It’s official. Jefferson’s been playing too many minutes.
This is the same thing that happened to Marion last year.
I am calling it now that Jefferson will not last the season. The guy is ancient.
But not as ancient as the Matrix…
At least he’s enjoying life now. Imagine retiring at that age and having it made.
True… kind of surprised he didn’t go into broadcasting somewhere… he always gave great interviews…
MAN RJ! Way to eff up a fast break!
Come on Cavs!
That was the very definition of “around the rim and in…”
That’s called the toilet shot.
Ninja’s gotta know to pass it back to LBJ for the crush there…
Disagree. LeBron threw it so far ahead, Cunningham had to go to the basket.
Still looked like he had room to toss it back to me…
Gotta try and get the lead down to single digits by the half…
LeBron afraid to take a foul there.
It’s obvious that the Cavs are having issues against young quick teams.
Teams that move constantly on offense can have their way easily against the Cavs and I’m not sure that by just adding 2 players (KI and Shumpert) all the defensive issues will be solved.
Agree with this. Shump will not elevate us to an elite defense. With the other 4 on the floor playing like sieves I highly doubt anyone can.
Alright is someone on this team dating a Kardasian?
Ninja three!
Lately, the Cavs look like a team that doesn’t enjoy playing basketball.
Too many lectures and team meetings maybe.
Lillard always seems to bring his best game against the Cavs…
Delly a little shot happy. Then Love gets smoked by Lillard. Put him on his keister, Kevin.
I would definitely rather see him hard foul than just let Lillard blow right on by.
gotta make em afraid to come into the lane, one way or the other.
Im not watching but probably a good thing, Is it just more of the “no urgency” attitude and poor effort on d or this bad shooting. Something has to give
Is it my imagination, or has the Cavs offensive rebounding gone in the toilet?
That’s what happens when you don’t move on offense and take bad shots. The defense can just camp out between you and the basket and get every rebound.
Yeah, that’s a good point. It’s been a lot like watching a bad college team on offense lately.
This team is falling apart.
Cavs starting to play some semblance of defense… keep it up fellas!
All teams have to do against us is put their fast team out on the court, no matter how bad, and we can’t do anything.
That’s the most explosive I’ve seen Kevin Love in a while…
At least MDN is giving some freaking effort on defense.
Love can literally get to line whenever he wants. We ought to maybe try to g t him there?
He also needs to start driving on guys who close out on him…
It also doesn’t help when they shoot this poorly…
I see other teams getting open shots, and it looks amazing. Must be nice.
Only 2 things come to my mind right now:
1) will the Cavs fire Blatt?
2) when will the Cavs show some fire.
Unfortunately, if they continue to play games like this, we’ll hear the ‘Blatt on the hot seat’ stories
To add to my misery watching this game, my best friend (who barely even checks in on Cavs scores) is at the game while I haven’t been able to go since 2011. What a jerk.
…and your the loser in this situation? I’d rather sit in Progressive Field. In the cold, dark night.