Cavs Week in Review (or, Shoutout to the Dawgz), Live Thread: Cavs @ Hornets

Good afternoon CtB!

Here’s a retrospective for your reading pleasure…

1. Celtics 114, Cavs 118 OT (or, Return of the Dawg)

The Cavs were on the struggle bus for the first three quarters of the game against the hospital Boston Celtics, when Coach J.B. Bickerstaff decided to sic junkyard dawg Lamar Stevens on the Celtics for a furious fourth quarter run that allowed the Cavs to steal the game in overtime 118-114. The Cavs authored one of the funniest moments of the season by collectively icing Grant Williams on the free throw line to send the game into overtime:

"I'mma make both."

Grant Williams to Donovan Mitchell before missing BOTH free throws in a 109-109 game with 0.8 remaining 💀😂pic.twitter.com/pFDFCDtiN9

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) March 7, 2023

The Cavs’ defensive rebounding numbers have plummeted to the bottom of the barrel ever since Kevin Love was benched and subsequently bought out (ranked 26th in the NBA since February 1st). But top dawgs Evan Mobley (17 rebounds), Donovan Mitchell (11 rebounds), and Lamar Stevens (eight rebounds in only 17 minutes) showed the type of collective will to win that the Cavs will need to sustain going forward into the playoffs.

On the offensive end, Spida (40 points), Evan (25 points), and Darius Garland (17 points, 12 assists) put on special performances that got the Cavs over the hump against one of the best defenses in the NBA in Boston. The most disappointing part of the game was the Cavs’ role players not offering any rebounding prowess despite their size and athleticism. Rebounding is all about hustle and effort, and there wasn’t enough of it for too many guys in this game. It’s no surprise that J.B. decided to turn to Lamar to get the job done, and J.B. would do well to try and get Dean Wade going who’s now ranked third on the team in defensive rebound rate.

2. Cavs 104, Heat 100 (or, Winning Ugly)

The Cavs were able to steal a solid, if unspectacular, win down in South Beach taking out the Miami Heat 104-100 by winning an ugly, defensive battle that reflected the days of yore in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs were able to survive the refball merchant Jimmy Butler’s virtuoso performance with one of their own from Darius Garland. Jarrett Allen awoke from his Boston Celtics slumber to tally a nice 15 points, 12 rebounds double-double. The Cavs were able to force 22 turnovers and outassist the Heat 26-22, which was really the difference in the game.

3. Cavs 115, Heat 119 (or, Too Much South Beach)

The Cavs squandered an MVP performance from Donovan Mitchell and an excellent Jarrett Allen performance with a terrible team defensive performance to take the loss against the Heat 115-119. The Cavs gave up a 50/40/90 offensive performance to the Heat along with getting obliterated on the boards 46-34, including 11 offensive rebounds. Evan Mobley may have had one of his worst performances of the year with only four rebounds and a -18 plus/minus in only 28 minutes of action. Outside of Jarrett Allen, no one was interested in rebounding on defense and Coach Bickerstaff continues to keep Dean Wade on ice even though he’s clearly the third best defensive rebounder on the team. J.B.’s continual insistence to shrink the rotation post-All-Star Break to eight players appeared to exacerbate the lack of energy the Cavs displayed in the in the fourth quarter, when they were completely obliterated 37-26 in crunch time with Mitchell playing 43 minutes and Caris LeVert logging 39 minutes due to Darius Garland’s absence. The #FREENETO movement remains alive and well especially for a game like this against a Heat roster that lowkey stinks.

4. Playoff Snapshot

The Cavs are starting to solidify home court advantage for the first round of the playoffs by becoming more entrenched into the fourth seed of the Eastern Conference. The Philadelphia 76ers have created some separation for the third seed, and the New York Knicks have hit the skids with a three game losing streak. The Brooklyn Nets continue to tread water post-KD, and for the Cavs’ sake it would be really nice if they could eek out the fifth seed in the conference. The Cavs have one of the easiest schedules in the NBA to close out the regular season, so the Cavs just need to continue to hold serve and they should lock up home court advantage. This will help with the new Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland injuries, the Cavs don’t have to do anything special to hold on.

5. Next up, the Charlotte Hornets

The Cavs continue their tour of the Southeastern United States with a stop in the Carolina Piedmont to take on the Charlotte Hornets. Charlotte has no interest in winning, so the Cavs would do well to oblige their tanking desires, Go Cavs!