Live Thread: Cavaliers at Spurs
2015-03-12
The wine and gold visit San Antonio, looking to follow up on an impressive win Tuesday night in Dallas and push their record to 2-0 on their current four game road trip.
There’s never any shortage of intrigue when a LeBron James-led team faces the Spurs. Whether you’re flashing all the way back to the 2007 Finals or have more recent memories — the Ray Allen shot, the Spurs dissection of the Miami Heat in last year’s Finals, Kawhi vs LeBron — this is a match-up with some meat on its bones; one that might be a bit more than just “the next game” for the Cavs star forward. Even with James’ notoriously short memory, he only needs to look back to November 19, 2014, to when these two teams met in Cleveland, to find some extra motivation. That game ended with James dribbling the ball off his foot in the final seconds before he could even attempt a shot and the Cavs fell to the Spurs 92-90.
In that game, the Cavs were led by Anderson Varejao’s 23 points and head coach David Blatt went with an eight man rotation, that saw Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson and Joe Harris as the team’s lone reserves (not counting the two spot minutes from Will Cherry).
The Spurs are playing like the “same old Spurs” again, but this is a very different Cavs team.
Of course, you’d expect all that to mean that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich would rest his entire starting five in tonight’s nationally televised game. Apparently not. Both Tim Duncan (hyper-extended elbow) and Manu Ginobli (illness) are expected to play for the Spurs.
Enjoy. Discuss. Go Cavs!
For some pre-game / half-time listening, check out Tom’s segment this afternoon on Dayton Sports Scene:
https://soundcloud.com/dayton-radio/tom-pestak-3-12-15
Spurs are almost playing a perfect game and the Cavs defense hasn’t being there all night.
And still could have pulled it out. Should have, really.
That’s the annoying part. We still can, but this was and continues to be an epic homer game by the officials.
That said we would be winning this game on talent and not in a way that makes me think we would fare well in a series with them
I’m blaming this crap on Blatt. Not sure he understands the appropriate lineup changes.
Yeah, at some point you have to throw away regular season games to play the guys who are actually going to play crunch time playoff minutes when you shorten the bench.
Lineup may or may not be a problem, but they’re clearly not running what he wants. I trust him to this point, he’s done a fantastic job. Just changing personel won’t do anything if they going to play hero ball anyway.
He keeps Tristan in over love because he seems to know that when we go ISO there are more ooportunities for Tristan’s skill set than love or mozgov’s
LeBron forces layup, Kawhi drives and kicks out for wide open three. Ballgame and microcosm and dagger.
Never heard someone complain about the best player in the NBA going for a layup. I’ll take him doing that 100 out of 100 times.
TNT commentators are so on point regarding the Cavs half court offense. They don’t have one. Just isolation ball.
I know this isn’t what Blatt wants them to run. I don’t know what they’re doing out there.
Why have James Jones out there? To stretch the floor? Doesn’t KEVIN FREAKIN’ LOVE do a better job of that?
And no Mozgov for the entire 4th quarter when the Spurs continue to lay it up at will.
Questionable, Blatt. Need more from the coach.
Moz hasn’t altered many shots and has zero offensive boards
What’s your point? You can’t ignore 30 games of him doing those things just because he wasn’t effective through 2.5 quarters. No reason not to play your starting center in the 4th quarter. Zero.
Moz never plays in the 4th. Don’t know why but its a trend.
This is atrocious officiating. Barkley is right we aren’t playing smart but we are playing well enough to earn free throws. We should have at least 8 more points from the free throw line even if we shoot poorly from there
LeBron trailing cause he was bitching at the ref. Danny Green hits a three… Game over?
AND he wound up getting a Tech on top of it…
He never would have made it back into that play regardless.
Yah, but according to Blatt, no one is playing better or leaving it all on the floor the way Lebron is.
Bet that comment made all the other players who also were giving it their all feel good.
Just too many bad possessions for us tonight to battle the 30 non-calls for the Spurs. Can’t win with so many empty possessions when you’re playing the Spurs + the refs.
Needed to play smarter. No reason for stupid contested jumpers.
Some interesting calls tonight…..
Don’t understand these lineups down the stretch?
Dagger three from Green after the bad LBJ decision…
LBJ lost it there. He let it get to his head and tried to will his way to victory like he can do against 28 other teams.
Maybe play Kevin love?
Timofey Mozgov?
And have him keep not helping?
Need a better possession than that… smh…
Wow that is just ridiculous!
Chuck is ripping the Cavs coaching and execution and he’s dead on.
Barkley is awesome. Tells it like it is.
About 5 times Barkley has said “that’s a foul” against the Spurs, and no call.
It’s tough to win when the two teams are playing by different rules. Good lord.
I don’t know. Its not lookin’ good. Our offense looks like it does every other time we lose these games.
Spurs not gonna fall for the “banana in the tailpipe” aka LBJ passing to JFJ spotting up for three.
They’re wearing their anti-banana disguises.
They need at least four more stops. don’t know if they can do it.
Spurs playing as a team. Shooting 60%
Cavs playing hero ball. Amazing hero ball but still hero ball at 45%.
Not gonna cut it.
KYRIE IRVING is ridiculous.
MUCH better movement that time…
Bad shot from Kyrie there… had two guys open underneath
DAMNIT, SHUMP. You HAVE to force Parker to the sideline. You can’t let him go to the middle.
Cavs are relaying on star power and the Spurs are doing it as a team.
UGH. Jones still out there.
Right?! Why?! He hasn’t contributed a thing.
Has Love scored since the first quarter?
I know everyone seemed to rail me when I said it earlier tonight, but I thought that the spurs were just a touch beyond us tonight. I know its not over, but they are the slightly better team. You just can’t create that kind of chemistry in one season. We were keeping up with them punch for punch, but they are the more consistent team. Eventually, bad habits come back unless you’ve been there a hundred times already, like the spurs have. Both our D and O are just lacking that extra piece of confidence.
I tend to agree . . . in particular all their pieces are locked in and move together like a machine. We still have games where K-Love disappears.
Like this one… no Love for a while and he wasn’t even rebounding that well when he was in…
We’ll get there though, if Love sticks around. Maybe not this year, but this is definitely a championship team soon. If they have 2-3 years together, they’ll be nearly unstoppable.
Spurs have been the best team in the league for awhile…. they’re just miles ahead of everyone in passing the ball.
Thought they should’ve beaten the Heat 2 years ago. Destroyed the Heat last year. Got healthy this year, and ready for the playoffs this year.
52 points in the paint for the Spurs… yikes…
Spurs attack as a team is really beautiful to watch. If they pla
play like this rest of the season including playoffs they can repeat easily.
LeBron is hot after he played give-up defense on that last play.
KI is so much more clutch than Lebron. Lebron is the most talented guy on the planet, but in the fourth I want it in Kyrie’s hands.
It’s good to have both guys.
Bad coaching by Blatt tonight IMO. Need to have Mozgov in there. Jones has played the entire 4th. That’s inexcusable.
Our defense is pathetic tonight. WE NEED OUR SHOT BLOCKER IN THE FREAKIN’ GAME, DAVID.
He was lost earlier.
Can’t just ignore everything he’s brought to the table because he played poorly in the first half.
We need a rim protector, even if the rim protector struggles earlier.
Agreed.
You know how they talk about there being multiverses with infinite outcomes? I feel like this is the one with the best possible outcome from acquiring Mozgov, JR Smith and Shump.
See above.
It’s uncanny sometimes how things occur at the same time to different people for no particular reason.
Seems like nearly every Spurs basket in the second half is a layup…
Until that one from Danny Green… smh…
The defense is just god awful.
And they’ve missed at least four bunnies.
Irving beats three Spurs on one drive, converts another ridiculous lefthanded finish.
Really silly foul call! Bad call!!!!
Holy cow kyrie.
KI is a walking highlight reel.
KYRIE GETTING SNAKELIKE! KYRIE THE SIDEWINDER!
Kyrie SWiiiiirving.
WOW Irving plays HUGE in big games.
He really, really does.
Good to see he doesn’t shrink from the prime time.
KYRIE IS INSANE!!!!
Call a damn foul, refs!
Wow, James Jones playing in place of KLove in the 4th because the Cavs don’t think KLove is better watching Kyrie and Lebron dribble around from the bench as opposed to the floor. Nice!
er, *do* think is what i meant to say
Our defense is pathetic.
I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to get to the alternate universe where Wiggins is a Cav
Sliders :). One of my fave shows.
Well, until it really went off the deep end and I couldn’t suspend reality anymore.
Can’t believe we’re going to overpay Thompson 15 mill a year. I still dream about having drafted Leonard.
HI… I’m Kyrie… YOU CAN’T STOP ME!
HAVE TO CHUCK THE CUTTER.
What if they played Lebron at the 4, with Mozgov, Jones, JR, and Kyrie. Put Lebron on the block and space out.
They’re not playing ‘Bron at the four. They haven’t played him there all year.
I figured that he’d revert to hero ball when crunch time came. For all the talk of trust and team, he forgets it all in the fourth.
YES!!!
Just need a 6 minute run of great defense from the Cavs…. just cause a little Spurs drought.
Starters already at 30 minutes. Shump and Thompso are going to have to give some really good minutes here.
Luckily they have two days off until the next game…
Chuck is outrageous on the headband comment!!
Well to be honest I don’t know how the Cavs are just down 5 allowing 60%. And also all balls are bouncing their ways amazingly.
Spurs are only 5-18 on threes, not playing as efficiently as they could be. I think they’re a little too eager to exploit the bigs.
I do love Webber and Barkley’s honesty. No other commenters in the country have the guts to call out LeBron’s stupid pull-up threes and the Cavs inability to post-up love.
And Lebron’s ever growing headband.
Nothing like the stanky leg offense. What happened to practice?
Sounds like the Chuckster been laying down the truth tonight!!!
Getting bad LBJ decision-making now…
Leonard can’t go right… just need to keep forcing him that direction…
You mean forcing him left? right?
I agree.
Boris Diaw showing Kevin Love why losing a bunch of weight isn’t necessarily a good thing.
Wouldn’t be a terrible thing for Diaw though.
Knew that was a Duncan walk right away. I’m screaming at my TV.
Jones at the four is going to be eaten up by the Spurs.
Now THAT’s how you foul… nice job by JFJ…
One of the problems with going to the post like everyone is advocating, is that Tim Duncan is an unbelievable post help defender. The passing has to be razor sharp when he doubles cause he takes such good angles. Splitter and Leonard are no slouches either.
Yeah, plus K-Love is not that big of a PF really. He’s not going to bully his way through Duncan and Splitter.
Great point, Nate… they defend very well.
That being said, Kevin in the high post, please.
Amen to that as well.
Well we already know what the Spurs are going to run for the whole 4th quarter. Pick n roll till the end. Cavs better think defense first this quarter. Let’s hope LeBron is ready to do his thing now.
Boris Diaw is like the smart kid in high school who never studies and gets B+s and A-s. You have be pretty damn good to be so out of shape and still an effective NBA player.
Spurs still shooting 59%… just ridiculous
We need Lebron, he needs around 10 points in this final quarter. he’s gotta take the ball in the post and dominate.
Gonna be hard if he can’t get free of Leonard…
Can’t believe the thrid quarter is over. The pacing is incredibly fast in this game.
Really needed that JR three to go…