Live Thread: Cavs vs Warriors
2016-01-18
It’s here: the Cavs’ only remaining chance to enact some measure of Finals vengeance until a possible Finals rematch. The Dubs are in town on a cold Cleveland night. And Cleveland appears to be at full strength with Mo Williams rejoining the team after a death in the family. Mo and Draymond Green though, are still listed as day-to-day on the injury report. LeAndro Barbosa is out for Golden State.
The Cavs are coming off a drubbing off the Rockets, and the Warriors are coming off a tough loss to the Pistons. To say that there’s been a lot of chatter leading up to this would be underselling it. Kyrie Irving noted that the Cavs have to “make a statement.” Steph Curry’s comment the other day that he hopes the visitor’s locker room “still smells a little bit like Champagne” rubbed some Cavs the wrong way. Meanwhile national hyperbole cages this as a “must win” for the Cavs to be taken seriously. I hope they play like it, but as long as they play hard and smart all game, I’ll be happy.
But in reality, the game pales in comparison to the holiday, Martin Luther King Day, the day we can come together and celebrate how much we’ve grown as a country since the civil rights leader’s life and death, and how much farther we need to go. I for one am happy that I get to watch two teams of exceptional young men play a sport against each other and get paid exorbitantly to do it. What matters in the NBA is not what color, nationality, or religion you are, but how well you play and conduct yourself on and off the court. I hope both teams take the occasion to remember that we all can improve as people and work harder to be better people and to lift up those around us. Hopefully this game, regardless of the outcome, uplifts each of you. “Keep moving forward.”
Why do you keep coming back? Just stop.
EG is one of my favorite writers, podcasters, and commenters on here. It’s awesome to discuss with him. Go away “George”.
Adios Barney last thing we need tonight is George
I really hope Nate is recapping this one!!
One of the very few Cavs related things we agree on…
I am not panicking, but it might be an uphill fight to win it all. The Cavs MIGHT have as good, or better players, but the dubs system is vastly better. They zip the ball around at least 10 men deep 100% of the time. It is not clear if the Cavs can ever do this. We are used to LeBron being the best and smartest player on the floor, but he is only about 60% committed to team ball. With a 21 year old LeBron, that might have worked, but probably not. There is way too much standing around… Read more »
I don’t know. Cavs played the Ws really well for 6 games in the Finals last year. They also played them really well earlier this year on road. And they just played the Spurs (who have been better than Ws) really well on their home floor. I think they will be OK as kyrie integrates more and the Big 3 get the rhythm they had last year before Love went down.
It will be interesting to see how Cavs play against LAC, Bulls, and Spurs in coming weeks. Opportunity to grow and get better. I think they will. This group tends to respond to adversity because of how good Blatt and LBJ are at their jobs.
Yep. LeBron always gives me confidence. That track record is pretty great
SO WHAT’S UP WITH MO—WHEN IS THE LAST TIME HE ACTUALY PLAYED IN A GAME
No need to panic. Got some months to figure out to play better
No panic here just a lousy game to watch. After last year I do believe we will right the ship for playoffs tho.
Apparently Mo showed up 20 minutes before the game in street clothes.
Bad attitude and bad defense…bad combination
Dude just had a death in the family. Take a break with this ****.
That is really weird. What’s going on?
Good thing it’s January.
AT LEAST THIBBS (TOM ) ON ESPN WAS SOMEWHAT REASSURING THAT CAVS CAN / WILL CORRECT WHAT WENT WRONG TONIGHT AND BE O.K —–STAY TUNED
HUE JACKSON is in Cleveland. We got nothing to worry about.
I just hope Leb is not pulling an “I tried to tell everyone” after this game. He has to accept some of the blame — and not in a phony “I’m the leader of this team so the buck stops with me” way.
When curry scores more than Lebron, Love and KI and TT it is bad. When James said earlier today that this is just another game it is almost like he went out to act like it.
Anyway I still have faith that we will rise up and play like champions
He only said that as insurance policy if they lose.Watch him say how he leads the team to make a statement if we won.
KI and KLove showed up very small…and this after KI spoke about “playing with rage”…and using this game to “make a statement”…I’d say they DID make a statement all right /s
Yep, it was definitely a ‘statement game’…
And Steph Curry laughed and laughed and laughed. I’m really PO’d.
Well, the Steelers are out of the playoffs. That’s about the only positive I can come up with at the moment.
Really thought the Cavs were going to win this one. Warriors really haven’t been playing their best lately, and Barnes stunk it up his first game back…but they played about top of their game, and Cavs didn’t even show up. seriously, one on one iso ball isn’t going to cut it against them, unless someone like Irving goes like 60% on a lot of threes for the night. They kill you on transition on misses, and not going to get many good looks with zero ball and player movement.
When the Cavs trap Steph all he does is pass the ball to the middle and Green either has a wide open drive or if someone rotates depending on who it is he can hit his shooters sitting on both corners or his center for an alley hoop.
You can watch it on the replays. But to be honest they really are good running their stuff and it’s pretty simple.
Yep, it’s not rocket science. They have good players who play well.
And what the Cavs do is just leave wide open the guy who is supposed to be their weakest 3 point shooter but Barnes, Iggy and Co. Didn’t missed much tonight. And probably won’t miss many as long as the Cavs keep giving them wide open looks. To me the Cavs just have to change that way of defending them.
I would love too see how the Bulls will defend them next Wednesday.
Film of the early parts of this game will benefit the Cavs greatly if they have to play the Warriors again this year. They may not have to, actually. But there aren’t a lot of lessons for OTHER teams when they play against the Cavs from this footage…cuz we’ll never play d the way we tried to tonight. Only curry makes us et all weird
They won’t play them again. Teams from different conferences just play each other twice and sometimes only once.
I mean in the finals. We may or may not see them there
This can’t be written off as the Warriors were just hot and the Cavs weren’t. No matter how cold the Warriors are on any given game, we don’t beat them by 40 after three quarters.
COMBINED INVESTMENT OF ALMOST 200 MILLION ( LOVE / T.T. ) COMBINED STATS —5 PTS 8 REB’S ——CALL THAT A ” STOCK MARKET CRASH “—-I REALIZE IT WAS ONLY 1 GAME BUT WOW THAT WAS UGLY ( I HAVE COACHED SOME BAD JR HIGH TEAMS THAT DIDN’T SHOW UP THAT UGLY )—–FLUSH IT DOWN THE TOILET/ REGROUP / REFOCUS COME BACK AND ” FLEX YOUR MUSCLES ” AND GET IT GOING AGAIN ( SURE THERE WILL BE SOME TALK BEHIND CLOSE DOORS GRIFF AND COMPANY ABOUT MAKING SOME MOVES )
Well, that was pathetic. What is concerning is the lack of effort. If they’re not willing to treat this kind of game like a playoff game, then they’re not ready.
I’m not concerned about the Warriors. I don’t think they’ll beat the Spurs, but even if we face them in the finals, we stack up talent and coaching wise. But the heart of this team should rightfully be questioned.
Hope Nate is doing the writeup for this one…
Did the Browns play tonight? I thought i saw them in shorts…..anyone confirm
They certainly lacked an offensive coordinator.
Wonder how many games the NBA will suspend JR for that “flagrant 2” he got hit with… 5, 10, the season? /s
I know teams usually turn it up right after all star break but if I was coach Blatt I would make this Cavs team now. They have to play hard like the Warriors do for whole 48.
In the Words of Red Foreman , “Everybody Cries”
What is it about playing the Cavs that brings out the best in Iggy… dude hit 7-8 and 4-5 from three…
That is why I believe the Cavs need to change the way they defend the Warriors. When the Cavs trap Steph all he does is pass the ball to the middle and Green either has a wide open drive or if someone rotates depending on who it is he can hit his shooters sitting on both corners or his center for an alley hoop.
You can watch it on the replays. But to be honest they really are good running their and it’s pretty simple.
Oh man. Now I gotta listen to everyone overreact and freak out. This is how W’s roll. When they get hot, they devour people. I still really really like this Cavs team. And I think this will re-focus them.
Only 34 pt loss. Good job reserves….nice… Cunningham has more pts than Love…
I think it all started with LBJ wearing that stupid blue headband… /s
They just showed Curry’s smug look. Ahhhh
He deserves to look smug. He just insulted the best team in the east and their response was to lie down.
Yup…………………………… He does and that image should burn in the starters memory
Can we hit 3 figures?!?
Can’t wait to get Stephen A.s scorching hot take on this game!
Yes. That will be fun. Media and talking heads will have fun… Thats what they do..
James is -35 tonight. Worst of all players. kyrie is 3-11 . Terrible showing.
james freaking jones…
And what will make this worse for LeBron is that with this performance Curry will officially get the title of best player.
True… head to head is the truest measurable…
Lebron lost that long before this game bro….
He is the best…only Cavs/ Lebron fans argue otherwise…
The only positive in this game is JR! He went out in blaze of glory fighting hard. The Big 3 is not worthy of JR!! I know crazy talk but not tonight,
JUST A ” THEORY ” BUT SINCE KY HAS COME BACK—LOVE’S PRODUCTION HAS GONE DOWN ( AS EXPECTED ) HAS KEVIN FULLY REALIZED HE WILL NEVER AGAIN SEE THE 26 PPG 13 RPG HE HAD IN MINNNESOTA ( AND HIS NAME WILL NOT BE MENTIONED AS A TOP 5 PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE ) DOES THIS BOTHER HIM / EAT AWAY AT HIM TO THE POINT POSSSIBLY HE WANTS OUT ?—HE ALWAYS SAYS THE ” CORRECT ” THINGS IN INTERVIEWS AND SEEMS TO ENJOY BEING ON THE TEAM/ TEAMMATES –BUT WHO KNOWS—-JUST A THOUGHT
They showed the starters laughing on the bench? No hanging their head in shame? I don’t get it.
Must have had money on the game…
They r all multi millionaires. Why would they care about one loss? They r going to the Finals….(being cynical but they might orl complacent within the org).
AGREE WITH EVIL ON THE BLOWOUT —MAYBE THE ENTIRE ORGANIZATION NEEDED THIS AS A WAKE UP CALL —– AGAIN AS I MENTIONED EARLIER HOPEFULLY LATER THIS WEEK WHEN WE PLAY THE CLIPPERS / BULLS —WE SEE SOME ” TRUE GRIT ” AND FIRE AND PUT BOTH TEAMS AWAY IN GOOD FASHION —THINK THAT WILL HELP ALL US ( COACHES / PLAYERS / FANS / CTB BLOGGERS ) RENEW THEIR CONFIDENCE IN THIS TEAM !!
Agree that it is good to get the wake up call now. Actually, the whole team just got healthy a couple weeks ago. The message might not have gotten through much earlier (“Well, we’re not healthy yet.”) Cavs still have a couple of months to work together to improve team play…But they have been together for 1.5 years now. They **should** be figuring out how to maximize their talents soon.
Can we have Wiggins back? I can’t stand Loving’s style of play (poor play)
Wiggins hasn’t exactly been that great this year…
So EG about that panic thing I was talking about…
Yes? Are you feeling the urge?
True. But upside, age, etc. u think Loving has more upside? That he will become better defender? He does no shows in big stage, at least to my memory.
I think he has become a better defender to a degree… although he does still have lapses…
Just saying that Wiggins isn’t exactly tearing up the league, and his own calling card of defense has been sorely lacking from his game this year…
Worst loss in franchise history is 39 points.
Kevin Love with only 5 FG attempts and 3 points in the biggest game of the season thus far? Is he protesting something by being trash? He’s been god awful of late. And don’t tell me how good he is on the boards. His offense has been inexcusably bad. 30% shooting for over a month now. This guy is either injured or he doesn’t fit. I don’t know.
Or they did a good job defending him.
He also did hurt his hand… not sure he went back in after that?
I know. I’m disappointed too.
I remember Bill Simmons saying “Did we just kill basketball in Cleveland”? After LeBron tore the jesey off. Are the Warriors going to kill the LeBron 2.0 era? Thsyre ylunger, hungrier, smarter, tougher, and more skilled. This sucks.
Look on the brjight side, Tom…maybe the Spurs beat them
Well I don’t want to make excuses but I guess that when you have 5 possible team USA members on your squad it helps a little bit.
Did the players decide a no show to get Blatt fired?
One of the most embarrassing performances I’ve ever seen. Championship contenders and you let yourself get absolutely deeeeestrooooyed at home against GS? The team that punked you in the Finals last year?
No balls on this team. Time to wake up.
Well they got thru this part of the schedule.
I’m sort of torn between wanting the reserves to cut it to something south of 40… and wanting this to be the worst loss in the history of the franchise to be the thorn in the side that motivates them going forward…
Agree with the latter. This either motivates us to a title, or it exposes us for the soft team we are. I don’t know.
The latter. Complacency needs to be torn apart…..
By Blatt, by ownership, and by players who after earning some big money in off season and thinking getting to Finals is a foegone conclusion…..all need to wake the **** up
It’s ridiculous that people would think the Cavs’ issues could be solved by a coaching change or a trade. That’s such incredibly shallow analysis. There is nothing wrong with the roster or the coaching staff.
A lot wrong with that #somethingsimple BS culture where, “I’ll do what ever I want” just flies, no problem.
No, but the coach is not free of blame here… Blatt needs to at least try and assert himself more than he apparently has…
He can just show them film of the BS iso play not working against the great teams
We can’t be sure about that. He maybe trying all he can. Eff the level of play, he has been coaching for decades for goodness sake. I think he knows what he’s doing. What we can all be sure is that if Lebron doesn’t like it, it’s a no-go.
Just like you can’t be sure that LBJ the one to blame…
I didn’t say he’s the ONLY one. But he’s the f***ing leader of this team. He has to have the BIGGEST share of the pie. Who on this team have the same level of credentials of the coach to dispute Blatt? Kev and Kyrie with their all star selections? No one but Lebron. We all know Blatt has the support of the whole team only to be manipulated by the passive aggressive leadership of Lebron. We should critique him as equally as to how we put him on the pedestal.
That’s easy to see.
I’m not, nor do I remember putting LeBron on a pedestal… that said, if he isn’t listening to Blatt or being manipulative, then Blatt should man up and call him out on that privately… I don’t believe they should switch coaches, but the simple truth is that LBJ has never had a veteran NBA coach to play for. The one time he seemingly listened and bought into a program was in Miami… and that probably had less to do with Spo and more to do with Riley and his backing of Spo… MJ and Kobe both needed Phil to get… Read more »
If both us regular fans can realize that Blatt needs to man up on Lebron, Don’t you think Lebron can’t came up to the idea that he needs to support Blatt? That he needs to reach out on Blatt because he thinks he knows better since he’s the more “veteran” in the NBA? For the betterment of the team? I don’t think Lebron is dumb to not realize that he needs to be more responsible and reachable. It’s either he is too dumb or too primadonna. I think the latter is more true. Is Lebron thinking that they can replace… Read more »
We have NO idea what it’s like in the locker room; the level of respect the players have (or not) for Blatt; how good (or not) his game plan is; or the extent to which the players are not listening to him and choosing to play ISO ball… etc. NONE. So, there’s just way too much speculation… But the reality is – as Popovich said the other night when his team was down “The players play. They make shots. Or they don’t.” Blatt can’t make Love hit his shots. He can’t make Kyrie hit his shots. And he can’t stop… Read more »
When the Warriors come out shooting like they did tonight it kind of helps their defense because they put the pressure on the opposing team to try to keep up with them.
The Cavs felt the pressure early and began to lauch three’s with no good results.
Indeed. It seems unlikely that the Cavs will ever win a shoot-out style game with a team like the Warriors. We’re much more likely to win when the game is played like it was in Golden State – at the Cavs pace; physical; and where the teams have to fight for points. But to play a game like that, we have to start strong on defense. They started 6/7 or something like that – we were in a hole early, and that lead to offensive breakdowns…
Gotta love blowouts, get the starters some rest
That’s the spirit MikeO
Andy knows how to get his opponent in foul trouble
Hoping that this was the best thing that could have happened… getting completely blown out and dominated by GS will hopefully be a wakeup call for everyone in the organization…
Any illusions they had are certainly vanquished. They aren’t on this level. Not sure how they can get there – but they need to make changes.
I just hope that Lebron was hit the hardest. Like totally crushed.
It all starts and ends with him. How much does he really want that title bad.
Hey C:tB… Can we all put a “+1” on this post. Hoping it could create the good karma we all want.
Yep Cavs got spanked on national TV and we had to watch.
Good statement EG.
Delly showing some fight on offense. The Warriors are just locked in tonight.
What could we get for Lebron in a trade? (Since Kev and Kyrie has been brought up)
By the way, I’m pretty sure all three of those guys have no-trade clauses in their deals.
GOOD COLLEGE GAMES ON TONIGHT –DUKE/ SYRACUSE——–OKLAHOMA / IOWA STATE
When Iguodala is shooting lights out from 3… you know… it’s just that kind of night. Recall that just 2 nights ago Golden State stunk it up in Detroit. Good shooting teams can go cold.
But ball movement can always find a hot hand.
IT IS GOING TO BE A LONG DAY FOR THE CAVS TOMORROW/ UNTIL THEY PLAY AGAIN ON WED —–EVERY MEDIA WILL HYBERBOLE THIS GAME / RUMORS WILL BE FLYING —–THEY WILL HAVE A CHANCE LATER THIS WEEK AGAINST THE CLIPPERS / BULLS TO GET A ” LITTLE REDEMPTION —BAD TASTE OUT OF THEIR MOUTH ” BY GOOD /SOLID PERFORMANCES ( WINS ) —IF THEY LAY 2 MORE EGGS –LOOK OUT !!—ALSO WITH TIMBERWOLVES COMING TO TOWN WE WILL SURELY REVISIT THE LOVE/ WIGGINS TRADE —-
That’d a 43 point differential.
It seems – at least over the last few games I’ve watched – that the reffing in the league has really shifted and that it disadvantages teams like the Cavs. They call few fouls on contact underneath the basket. They call all sorts of touch fouls on the perimeter. They call lots of weird offensive fouls off the ball.
What could we get for Kyrie in a trade?
Don’t even think about it.
Looks like Blatt listened. I hope he is outraged in press conference. Call these guys out. Don’t make excuses.
maybe good will come out of this. 1) Blatt may be an issue here…. 2) loving is a huge liability on D…. and his O doesn’t always show up either. 3) Irving is still not up to speed… and his D has always been mediocre. 4) Mozgov doesn’t belong – too bad, I like him 5) TT – maybe he’s got his big money and I don’t see the same TT as last year’s 6) Delly still is just an average player that hustles, but hustling can only take you so far – in a championship aspiring team ultimately, sure,… Read more »
You forgot Lebron. He doesn’t get a pass.
I sure hope the Spurs make the finals, because I think the Cavs have no chance against this team…they are mentally beaten.
How not to defend the pick and roll, by Kevin Love:
https://twitter.com/bustedcoverage/status/689278263076651008
That’s pretty pathetic/funny.
At least the Warriors went nutso. Maybe they will have false confidence.
Speaking of false confidence…
They din’t go nuts….they have played many games at this level this year.
I’ve been disappointed with the response of the Cavs in the third quarter. No plan. No energy. No determination. Making cheap/dirty fouls instead. Would have liked to see a determined team trying to get back into the game, running an offense, playing D.
Blatt stop being a wuss. Sit these guys down!! Be a damn coach. You need to make a statement
Too bad Lebron gets mad at you! He’ll get over it!
sit the starts coach….do some coaching for once… 40 point game… we ain’t winning this one.. let reserves get some time.. players didn’t show up but i have to wonder blatt has to shoulder some of the blame – team’s preparation, mental readiness, in game strategy, etc. i am never for anyone’s firing or players’ move, but are we really going to win the big one with Blatt? not sure man…. good man obviously but lebron is in his 30’s…. and how long can we go along w/ a coach that everyone says “doing best to get along”…. is that… Read more »
Easy Steve…we’ll have a chance to gameplan a bit better. Not sure why the refs have acted like we’re in Oakland…but this game will be a distant memory soon once we have 40 more games playing together
Can we blame the refs for our lack of fight too?
Delly no longer defending either. Very bad