Live Thread: Lakers @ Cavs
2017-12-14The Cavs face off against the young and upcoming still developing Lakers at the Q for a TNT marquee game. Cleveland is coming off a solid win against the Atlanta Hawks where they registered 35 assists and a season high 20 3-pointers.
I’m going to be honest. I haven’t watched much of the Lakers this year. That doesn’t mean I won’t fire a hot take that would have Charles Barkley blushing, or at least just nodding semi-approvingly because the take is hot and fact based. You gotta drop the facts and basis in reality to earn total approval.
The Cavs should be able to handle the Lakers tonight because they’re a team of uncomparables so far. They don’t have a single player who you would compare any other player in the league or coming into the league to. And, that’s sort of why their rebuild is going pretty, pretty, alright. And for anyone that mentions Brook Lopez as someone you’d want to compare an up and coming guy to, please, please, please, please, show me your time machine and take me back to the time where lumbering, weak rebounding, finesse centers were relevant.
Ultimately, the Lakers are young, full of possibilities, and have Luke Walton. I’m not in the Luke Walton fan club, but I do give him credit for keeping the Lakers from being the worst team defensively and offensively in the league. Check out their roster to really appreciate Luke.
The Cavs should make easy work of Los Angeles’ finest, but watch for the Cleveland bigs having a little trouble with rookie big Kyle Kuzma, is he good or not Julius Randle, and the plodding Brook Lopez. Those bigs are legit in a lot of ways. Each brings something a little different to the court, and the Cavs’ big man rotation is a bit thin. Tristan Thompson returned last game, but played just six minutes.
The Lakers also have Lonzo Ball. He’s gotten two triple-doubles so far this season, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s shooting less than 35% from the field to date.
Cavs, 121-108, with 15 plus minutes of Cedi Osman.
Nance Jr. needs to take some FT lessons with his old man…
Outlaw Jose Wales
I forgot Jose played for the Lakers recently… probably qualifies as revenge game for him…
Lotta turnovers for the Lakers this quarter… 8 so far
Calderon having best game ever
Lakers had like 14 shots that possession… couldn’t convert… good D by Cavs
LeBron destined for the triple double tonight
Really athletic move by Kev…
https://twitter.com/cavscentral216/status/941499684044132353
Nice. Synchronicity alert: Cavs & Knicks both up 9.
Calderon playing well again.
José’s screen set up these free throws
Crowder attacks. Way to go Jae.
Jose is everywhere
Got up 9. Got sloppy. Sound familiar?
Hart lucky he didn’t try to lay that up…
Predator attacking the rim!
Good drive by Crowder… terrible transition D after…
Wanted the 3rd for Calderon. JR messed up that break. Take the layup.
Ha! Where’d you find this?
Found it back in pre-season…
Looks more like Northwest Ohio or Medina to me. Where them steel Mills and rusted out bridges?
JR couldn’t find an angle for a crazy lob, so he threw it to nowhere
Jose unbelievable from deep
Caldy 5000
Ill advised three there by Crowder…
Got up 8 & then got sloppy. Lakers are not going to go away. No coasting tonight if we want a win.
Thanks AC… lol
Got a Tiger by the tail too
Argh. Too many turnovers. Cav playing at their pace again
Cavs so afraid to drive tonight….very bizarre
We do it all the time. Jumper happy.
It is fine when they get wide open threes. We’re in the D’antoni era.
Great D by Jose!
Nice TD pass by Ball…
Jose has been really good the last couple of games…
How insufferable is Reggie Miller tonight ?
No more than usual…
Wonder if Wade’s knee is still sore…
Psychic connection on the knee
Wonder if Wade’s knee is affecting his ability to finish tonight?
So one of my problems with the Boston trade was the unpredictability of draft picks prior to the lottery, specifically having a top 5 worst record in no way guarantees a top three pick. Since then, I have been staunchly on the keep the Brooklyn pick side. I did not foresee Brooklyn finishing with the 8-12 best record. Those have almost no odds of getting a lottery pick. It may be time to trade it.
Dude, the lottery is the top 14 picks.
Only arguably top 5 are key foundation pieces tho…
He said lottery. Facts is facts. That is a different discussion. As is the idea about if a foundational piece is all we could use. I would take Markannen or Kuzma gladly.
Lottery is for picks 1-3, not team record. Team record only applies to your chances of getting picks 1-3. Picks 4-14 are not lottery picks.
My bet would be against the Cavs identifying a talent like either of them…
That is depressing. New regime, new hope.
No really??!!! Come on. The lottery prize is for picks 1-3. All 14 worst teams have a chance at 1-3. Your chances at ONE thru THREE are basically nil after the 6th worst record. So when people say lottery, it is unrealistic. So otherwise get real.
Obvious foul on Ingram prior to that 3. Knicks rally to lead by 5 after 3. Pistons crushing Hawks. Kings down 9 in Minny.
Better quarter… that gift three at the end for Ingram notwithstanding…
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/941491677574950912
Ingram looks really good…smooth dude
As someone living in LA who watches the Lakers a lot… I can tell you that’s not the case much of the time…
Interesting….maybe the Cavs defense is making him look really good
Well… no TT, Love has two fouls and their starting 3 is 6’6… Cavs have struggled against teams that live in the paint from time to time… Helped that Kev got his man out of the paint in second quarter…
Dinobots getting outscored 23-13
Lopez and Frye look bad as 7 footers tonight
No defense by either team and lakers playing very hard ….see if this keeps up for them
Like to see that non charge for green again
Defense nit great tonight
HOW IS THAT NOT A FOUL ON INGRAM???
https://twitter.com/shaqtin/status/941489863890583553
Congrats to the Pipe!!
Wtf with these calls?
Swish and some love!
What a pirouette by Love!
SWISH! Just passed Chauncey for 11th place!
Lopez is going to be looking for a chicken to sacrifice at halftime.
Wow! BroLo having a ROUGH night…
Swish!
Knicks have blown at 13 pt halftime lead.
Oh no!
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/941489553281572865
Cavs on fire from 3 and lakers on fire in paint
So did Lopez just airball an ft? Isn’t that dude a 75 percent career ft shooter?
In the fourth quarter Reggie is still going to be talking about Lopez backing off from LeBron.
The lakers are a joke
Love hot
That double airball really got the crowd going!
I’ve never seen an NBA player air-ball two free throws. Congratulations, Brook Lopez!
TWICE!!!
SloBro airballing a free throw…
https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/941488480911110144
SWISH!
Weird sloppy game where neither team is defending well…cavs missing more point blank shots …only down 3