Live Thread: Cavs @ Knicks, Game 4 NBA Playoffs
2023-04-23Good morning CtB!
The Cavs wrap up their Broadway series with a Sunday matinee performance in Midtown Manhattan as they take on the New York Knicks for game four of their seven game series. The Cavs suffered an embarrassing 99-79 loss on Friday night, and left many fans distressed and looking for answers. The Cavs were outassisted, outrebounded, and loss the turnover battle with an unacceptable 20 turnovers in the game. If they want to avoid an elimination game, they will have to do what they did in game two: hustle for rebounds, share the ball, and hit some threes. It sounds like Darius Garland’s ankle is good enough to play on, and the only question for the Knicks is whether to keep struggling guard Quentin Grimes in the rotation.
There were more than a few Cavs fans criticizing J.B. Bickerstaff’s decision to start Caris LeVert over Isaac Okoro, but don’t count yours truly among them. The biggest problem I have with Bickerstaff’s rotations is not going back to Dean Wade, who was a big regular season contributor to the Cavs’ success this season. But it’s hard to criticize Bickerstaff for doing that when Wade performed so poorly game one. At the end of the day, the Cavs’ problems in game one and three have much more to do with the young players Darius Garland and Evan Mobley not being able to hit any shots, and Cavs’ most important reserve Cedi Osman crapping the bed off the bench. Taking a bigger picture view, there certainly is the belief that J.B. Bickerstaff can’t coach offense, it was a criticism that dogged him in Memphis and Houston and is coming to fruition again under the intense scrutiny of the NBA playoffs. Does Sam Merrill need to make an appearance? That’s the last quiver J.B. has to goose this offense. For what it’s worth, I’d much rather see Merrill than Ricky Rubio, which hurts to say. Checking in on the calculator, tells the story:
Cavs’ offensive rating in the playoffs: 100.7
Cavs’ defensive rating in the playoffs: 102.5
There were a lot of fans who wanted to crow about this team’s “top 10” offense during the regular season, but the eye test revealed a troubling pattern: Playing Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley together hamstrings the offense, and playing non-shooting perimeter players such as Ricky Rubio, Lamar Stevens, and Isaac Okoro further hamstrings the offense. The Cavs need to enter the 21st century of the NBA, where there’s a premium put on role players who can actually shoot a jump shot. The fate of Spidaland rests on whether Danny Green, Caris LeVert, and Cedi Osman can hit a three. If they aren’t, then J.B. needs to try Dean Wade and Sam Merrill to try and fit the bill.
To Put a Fine Point on It:
Heavy sigh. We REALLY do not need to keep doing this but…
LeVert/Garland/Mitchell
117.9 oRTG
109.7 dRTG
+8.2 Net RatingOkoro/Garland/Mitchell
91.8 oRTG
91.7 dRTG
+0.2 Net RatingYou tell me which one you prefer! https://t.co/mSnLjO5fcw
— Mike Zavagno (@MZavagno11) April 22, 2023
Brunson is 4-18 shooting against LeVert. The Knicks have an 85 oRTG in the 67 possessions that LeVert has guarded Brunson. The idea that they need to start Okoro for defense is baffling and, frankly, wrong
— Mike Zavagno (@MZavagno11) April 22, 2023
Feel like there is some second guessing around starting LeVert and I don't get it? He's the only option that allows you to play Garland and Mitchell off ball at times. Cavs were able to consistently create shots like this in the early going which you'll take 10 times out of 10 pic.twitter.com/DIdOTtf4oq
— Mike Zavagno (@MZavagno11) April 22, 2023
Mike Zavagno, a staunch Caris LeVert critic during the regular season, has done a 180 on LeVert because he understands the NBA Playoffs are a completely different animal than the regular season, check out his excellent game tape thread. There are reasons to criticize J.B. Bickerstaff’s coaching (prioritizing defense over shooting, the Kevin Love debacle), but starting Caris LeVert is not one of them… in fact, if anything Bickerstaff should be criticized for so easily abandoning it during the regular season instead of letting it cook and build the chemistry necessary to endure the playoff crucible. Here’s to hoping J.B. will find his inner Mike Brown and get this offense going.
Tip off is scheduled for 1:00PM Eastern time and will be broadcasted live on Bally Sports Ohio/Great Lakes, and nationally televised on ABC, Go Cavs!
After a week away, I’ll be online finally watching the game today.
Tell you this much, Cavs lose this and JB is gone shortly afterwards. The level of disappointment in the fan base right now should not be underestimated. There’s a bubbling anger I didn’t expect.
Hard to say what will happen if Cavs lose this one. If they get boat-raced at home, hard to see him being back, though.
Heartwarming. Hope those amazing Boston fans enjoyed that.
Trae’s possibly my least favorite player of all time.
He’s definitely right up there for me, but sometimes you root for Stalin over Hitler…
hard to know who to root against!
I thought about watching this game, but just couldn’t bring myself to click on it. Like GoT or Succession, a bunch of unlikeables knifing each other.
The Celtics-Sixers series (assuming it happens) will be even worse. I may even root for the Celtics in that one. Embiid doesn’t deserve to win anything.
wow…
Why in God’s name would you even have Trae on the floor in that situation?
Pretty dumb…but Hawks may still win this…
Man. This grizz/Lakers game is fun.
Apparently this cached from last night. Lol
I thought you were using the magic of TiVo…
Marcus Smart is just a revolting fraud of a ‘player’.
Well he may have cost his team this one
http://www.audacy.com/923thefan/sports/cleveland-cavaliers/howard-beck-cavs-shouldve-kept-kevin-love?fbclid=IwAR1XNArle9yrSiLEw2O0ca06jqmKBzJdjXX9u_vr-ej9dofCxhW0cVedAic&mibextid=l066kq
JUST LOOKED UP JIMMY ” BUCKETS ‘ CAREER—–1ST 3 YEARS WERE RATHER SIMILAR TO ICE—ALTHOUGH HIS 3RD YEAR HE SHOWED ALOT MORE PROMISE THAN ICE’S 3RD YEAR –HIS 4TH YEAR/ WHEN HE WAS 25 IS WHEN HIS CAREER TOOK OFF AVG 2O PPG ——-I AM THE ETERNAL OPTIMIST ——THERE STILL MIGHT BE HOPE FOR ICE —–I WOULD SETTLE FOR 13–15 PPG —35 % FROM 3’S —75 % FREE THROW SHOOTER
I’m gonna go re-watch the 2016 NBA Finals and cry in my pillow. :)
There’s this guy on the Lakers who would really help us with rebounding and attacking the rim from the small forward spot…
Man I was so envious watching KLove and LeBron snatch up a combined 27 rebounds last night! (7 for Love in just 22 minutes)
Yeah the love thing is rough, too, watching JA and Mobley get pushed around inside when boxing out to grab boards is literally the one thing KLove is still elite at. Yes I admire the organization for doing right by him, letting him go somewhere he could play, but how about playing him enough instead so he wouldn’t feel that way? Or even just saying, KLove we’re gonna need you when we get to the playoffs. Huge loss of veteran leadership and team spirit, too. Remember last year when you could see the affection in DG or JA’s eyes when… Read more »
uncle buck is about to start crapping on both koby and JB.. there is a big problem in the cavs house.. if they were NOT going to even play wade and stevens, why the f&ck would you let love walk.. it makes NO sense.. the clowns are back running the show..
Rewatch cavs/knicks. Our rebounding woes are a problem because bigs are out of position from other team guards penetration. It’s been a problem all year when we teach our guards to filter the ball toward bigs. When we stay in front of man and force jump shots we are okay. Okoro and garland are averaging 1 rebound per game.
Much respect for watching back the game.. I’m so disappointed.. I wouldn’t want to.
But looking back helps to see what went well and what didn’t and your observation is pretty good.. I think JA mentioned something like this after the last game.
back in jan-feb, who would have bet the cav-nots would be at 1-3 and the lakers at 3-1 in round 1 ? go bron.. we thought cavs had a baby-bron.. close, but no cigar.. i would gladly trade 30 of those 71 pts in the regular season for a 40 spot in a must-win game 4.. 11 ? nah, that ain’t cutting it..
MYSELF AND ORHER HERE AT CTB HAD VISIONS OF ICE BECOMING SOMEWHAT OF S VERSION OF J BUTLER MAN I /WE MUST HAVE HAD WAY TOO MANY. “ MORE BEER 🍺 PLEASE “— IT IS NICE TO DREAM
prediction is hard, especially about the future!
being a great shooter is more than just practice.
a lot of people never get it. watching NBA players at the foul line, it is obvious that a lot of them don’t have “the touch”. it is very hard to explain and/or teach. it came to me when I was maybe 14 or so, and allowed me to hang out in gyms until I was almost 65.
https://twitter.com/realdcunningham/status/1650729446977032192?s=46&t=yiisruCtlCRLWdtFrQo9uA
Come on Cavs !!!
great stats! I was just trying to argue this very point last night while getting a late cold one.
Wow, I didn’t realize that not only was the 1-3 comeback unprecedented in the Finals before 2016, but doing it with two of the last 3 games on the road only happened one other time in ANY round! Just adds more shine to the greatness achieved by that team!
If I’m Donovan Mitchell I demand a trade in the offseason, if JB isn’t replaced by a competent coach.
Looks like the Rockets are hiring Udoka as their next head coach.
Very entertaining Lakers-Grizzlies game.
Vintage LeBron the last few minutes of regulation and overtime. Still got it.
Boyy… crazy good game to finish. I think it’s Lebron first 20 pts/rbs game in his playoff career in year 20.. amazing !!
as you get older, you can often “turn back the clock” for brief spurts.
Indeed! And ideally you get shrewder about when your team really needs it from you bc you have to pick your spots. In this game once he took over the lead guard role he looked to set up a teammate every possession and only drove to score when they absolutely had to have points—the game tying shot in regulation for example.
that is the top end of dominating a game! Donoven was kind of doing it in game 2
The GOAT!
Markkanen voted NBA most improved.. sad.. glad for the big finnish.. i gotta stay away from sports.. early CLE sports childhood trauma rearing its ugly head.. when am i gonna learn ??
Good for Lauri!
you bet. I like the guy and we sure could use him right now!
I’m still going strong on the euphoria from the Brown’s winning it all in 1964!
MIA up 3-1 on #1 seed bucks (w/giannis !!) is crazy.. go heat
Jimmy Buckets
Unbelievable.
Butler had 56 points… Yikes!
With Giannis or Dru guarding him a lot of the time; and guarding Giannis at the defensive end at times. Incredible!
only way I like MIA over Bucks is if the Cavs are in the next round
Basically the same… having home court in the 2nd round (if we make it).. would be huge for a young team.
Miami basically only played this game against a Bucks team with Giannis on the floor..
But if Miami moves ahead… so wish CLE can so that we can have home court.. again Cavs lost opportunity in game 1 and on the road to tie it up to give us a better chance of doing that.
Sadly, I don’t see Cleveland winning 3 in a row. I think the Bucks have a better chance of winning 3 in a row. But you’ve gotta take one game at a time. Still “nuclear angry” at the Cavs for getting punked by the Knicks. Letting Mitchell Robinson laugh at you in the post game conference and you lay an egg. Plus we’ve gotta clown head coach that never developed the bench, which is why the bench doesn’t function.
I’m glad some of the local radio are starting to turn on JB
even Fedor put him on blast you know it’s bad: https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2023/04/why-cavs-used-darius-garland-to-defend-jalen-brunson-and-how-the-strategy-backfired.html
That was a really good article.
Fedor is as fickle as you get. Always a phony.
The struggle.. I miss Bally Sports!
https://twitter.com/t_johnson_tj/status/1650220245313892352?s=46&t=ZrwmDiehTME1ClRcumlQ1g
This should get JB fired, but it won’t LMFAO https://twitter.com/tomhaberstroh/status/1650602484195270680?s=20
JB won’t get fired then they’ll lose Mitchell for wasting away his prime. Korby!
Luckily Mitchell under contract two years, so I could see them making a change if another flameout happens next year.
So far JB’s playoff teams have scored 100 or more pts twice in nine games (including the 2016 Rockets).
There’s a real problem with his coaching on the offensive end…. it’s been consistent throughout his coaching career at this point.
What’s frustrating is that the Knicks aren’t that better.. they are 14th and only 4 points .. so it’s not like the discrepancy is soo huge.. I’ll rather their 3-1 record at this point with their horrible offense.
Nothing wrong with his defensive system, but being a worse playoff offense than the Brooklyn Nets is inexcusable especially when the Knicks aren’t a great defensive team… Thibs masterclass notwithstanding LMFAO
LET’S BE REALISTIC ALSO —-THE TV MOGULS DEEP DOWN WANT // PREFER THE KNICKS TO WIN // ADVANCE // LIKE ANY NEW YORK SPORTS TEAM UNFORTUNATELY—-NO SURPRISE THEY// KNICKS ARE GOING TO ‘GET THE CALLS ‘
exactly. I think that many times a game when the refs seem to favor the Knicks.
No doubt. The Knicks have been mostly irrelevant for a couple of decades but they were historically media darlings, and I’m sure ESPN and the league would love to be able to highlight them in these playoffs as long as they can.
AGREE WITH BOTH RAOUL// SWEETCHIE ( POSTED MYSELF EARLIER ) NEXT GAME IS ALWAYS THE MOST IMPORTANT GAME// THIS ONE IS OF UPMOST IMPORTANCE —–LET’S SHOW THE HOMETOWN FANS THE ‘TRUE CAVS ” —–WE HAVE ALL OFF SEASON TO DEBATE WHAT NEEDS TO CHAMGE// IMPROVE OUR CAVS —–FOR THE TIME BEING —GO CAVS !!
WORDS OF WISDOM—- ” THE ODOR IS ALWAYS WORSE FOR A ” MIDGET ” IN A CROWDED ELEVATOR
haha!
Well I picked a doozy of a time to go on a remote road trip. Feels like a large rat died behind our fridge just after we left, & I’ve just got home & opened the front door.
Oh my. That happened in our garage a few years ago. I feel your pain.
Had it with a chipmunk in the garage.
Being metaphorical, I was referring to the Cavs performance 😂
The Cavs org needs to throw the junk yard dog award in the incinerator, with how soft they play.
In this series for sure.. they have not been playing like themselves.. that’s the frustrating part.
When the Cavs are eliminated (or, win it all!) will be the time to debate what should happen next.
Right now it is one game at a time.
Winning game 5 is obviously essential, and a big deal as far as I am concerned.
Game 5 is a must win… need to win at home especially with the fans cheering on (including me)…
Don’t want a repeat of last year where we lost at home to end our season.. really sucked.
One game at a time.. will the real Cavs show up and show out with some pride / desperation on Wednesday? I’m all for it and excited.
Regular season:
Donovan: 3.6 3PT makes (38%)
Cavs: 11.6 3PT makes (36.7%)
Playoffs:
Cavs: 9.3 3PT makes (30%)
Donovan: 2.5PT makes (30%)
Cavs Made 3’s in this series:
Game 4: 10 (loss)
Game 2: 14 (win)
Game 3: 7 (loss)
Game 4: 6 (loss)
Cavs In the playoffs vs regular season
+3 in turnovers per game
-4% in field goal percentage
—6 in field goals attempts per game
https://twitter.com/realdcunningham/status/1650296271670747232?s=46&t=VffxTIZIb5QKVjl1j9lsaw
I don’t use twitter anymore, but I made a small exception today to read Zavagno’s game tweets (he’s worthwhile, the platform is garbage). That was cathartic. It’s depressing that the Cavs are almost certainly going to spin their wheels another season with this staff. The roster construction is a problem, yeah, but a better coaching staff wins this game.
JB essentially let Brunson beat him (by letting him cook DG) with a lousy coaching decision.
Rebounding was the sole problem on defense, the Knicks shot 45% from the field and sub 30% from three…. they gave up 17 offensive rebounds. Jarrett Allen completely mailed it in on the defensive end, blaming Garland for the defense is silly that’s not his job… get a damn rebound.
https://twitter.com/mzavagno11/status/1650266127262679040?s=46&t=VffxTIZIb5QKVjl1j9lsaw
https://twitter.com/mzavagno11/status/1650222158113804288?s=46&t=VffxTIZIb5QKVjl1j9lsaw
exactly!
https://twitter.com/devaronperry/status/1650288720723976192?s=46&t=ki9shGKkND5GxvXzoF_Jwg
These things are related. Garland gets beat. Bigs slide over to help, out of position for rebound.
They’ve been getting beat in the glass no matter who’s defending Brunson. That stat is a big who care for all I’m concerned.
Play Rolo on mitchrob.
Lmfaooooo with JB that is totally possible!!!
I think you have to consider it.
During the regular season, the Cavs struggled when Allen was off the floor. In this series the Cavs are instead struggling when Mobley sits . . . Cavs outscore Knicks 233-220 with Mobley+Allen on; Cavs tie Knicks 59-59 with Mobley on and Allen off; Knicks outscore Cavs 96-71 with Allen on and Mobley off; (omitting garbage-time of course). Some other telling stats include 2-point-shot accuracy: Cavs 57%, Knicks 54% with Mobley+Allen on; Cavs 44%, Knicks 44% with Mobley on and Allen off; Cavs 39%, Knicks 53% with Allen on and Mobley off; and offensive rebounding: Cavs 31%, Knicks 34% with… Read more »
Also notable that today with Scott Foster and crew whistling a lot of (mostly Cleveland) fouls, Allen played 40 minutes at C and somehow drew just 1 foul call to go with his 4 rebs and 0 blocks. Four teammates matched or topped him in rebounds, even Cedi who is not known for crashing the boards.
Knicks definitely got the better whistle, no shock there.
For sure. But I think his almost never fouling today was just another indicator of how soft and non-aggressively he played at both ends.
Always love the stats, thanks Treize..
Basically having Allen on only instead of Mobley has been a disaster.. he’s been a real liability. .. even if he don’t score.. he needs to rebound and protect the paint..which he hasn’t.
agree that Allan has been a major disappointment. don’t know what to make of that. he might be too much of a nice guy, and someone needs to steal his cookies or something to get him pissed off.
Off-season moves:
1. Fire JB
2. Trade Allen for a legit #3
3. Trade ICE for a big that can stretch the floor
Allen and Mobley are affordable the next couple seasons. Yeah they didn’t show up in their first playoffs but they’ll learn. Mobley’s been shooting the 3 more and they need to keep that up. He’s probably the most reasonably priced option as a future stretch given the salary escalation of Garland and if they decide to keep any of Levert, Neto, Green, Stevens, Lopez. Given his post season my guess is Levert can be had for about the same price, 18M. I get the frustration with JB but he wasn’t the one missing shots on the floor vs the Knicks.… Read more »
I don’t want to trade Allen, but you need to give up something to get something.
Thanks for hitting me with your greatest hits response.
haha — just razzing you.
but the problem with most trades is that you will miss who you traded — like Markkanen
AM GOING TO PREDICT SPIDA WILL SINGLE-HANDEDLY WIN THE GAME ON WEDNESDAY. HOPE I AM CORRECT STILL THINK KNICKS WIN IN 6 —-HOPING TO SEE THE CAVS FIGHT// CHARACTER SURFACE ———-“ at ALL FOR ONE —IN THE LAND “ GO CAVS
We can hope. Any positives are good here. I can see them winning G5 but not 3 in a row. Hopefully they just keep building. Play in to 4 seed to hopefully something more.
absolutely. one game at a time.
best hope is for a SPIDA monster game 6.
RAOUL I AGREE WITH YOU KLOVE WANTED TO GO —— BUT WHAT IS// WAS THE REAL REASON BEHIND IT —JUST SAYING I THINK WE // THE PLAYERS. —-JA //RUBIO //CEDI //WADE EVEN DG MISS HAVING THE “ MENTORING “ OF KLOVE BEING AROUND—- JUST REMEMBER VIEWING THE A” SINCERE “ EMBRACES KLOVE HAD WITH JA//DG A——- JUST MY OPINION—- I HAVE POSTED MANY TIMES // AND LONG BEFORE OUR SERIES WITH THE KNICKS THAT I WAS CONCERNED WITH THEM // CONCERNED ABOUT OUR BENCH ESPECIALLY NO LEGITIMATE BACK UP POST WHICH WE COULD HAVE :/SHOULD HAVE AT TRADE DEADLINE OR… Read more »
He wanted to go because JB glued him to the bench. He wants another NBA contract.
again.. uncle buck will speak the unspeakable (because i don’t give a f%ck).. cavs could have gotten this far with markkanen, sexton, agbaji (plus 4 firsts).. i think we were all smoking the hopium.. sometimes the grass ain’t greener.. this is not a total disaster, but they are not nearly as good as the regular season suggested.. they are short consistent talent.. with no firsts, and no deep run, CLE will not likely pull older talent that is looking for one chance at the brass ring.. still, much better than 19-63.. not a stellar showing in a must-win from spida..… Read more »
I don’t think they make the playoffs with that group, but probably the play-in again.
my first thought also. but they might have got someone good at the deadline for Sexton and some picks.
More or less agree with buck, although this discussion is for after the season is over. But we all said it at the time: a lot to give up, and we will have zero flexibility. Remains to be seen if it is a good move in the long run. “You pays your money and you takes your chances”.
They’d be a play in team. Spida won more than a handful of the games to get them to 4th. Sexton and Ogbaji weren’t doing that. Utah Lauri ran the offense. He’s not doing that in Cleveland with Garland, probably Sexton as 2nd fiddle, and the bigs spacing…plus JB.
Cavs in the losses:
42.9% FG
26.4% 3PT
70.2% FT
Knicks in their 3 wins:
44.7%
28.6% 3PT
70.6% FT
Average win by 11.
+10 in rebounds
I like this Kings team…man, they blew a golden opportunity to put the clamps on the Warriors…ideally I’d want Monk or Fox taking that shot…
It would have been sweet for Barnes to stick it to his old team with the dagger.. but they made some rookie mistakes on the break and forcing shots in those last 5 minutes that kind of haunted them..
I really was hoping for a dagger win to hush the GSW crowd.
Hoping for at least six games now. Not holding my breath they can win it. A first round flameout in 5 games against a 47 win knicks team in a year of no dominant or truly great contenders would be an epic disappointment. It certainly would not make me optimistic that this team could ever actually contend for the ecf without major changes even with growth from Mobley.
They’re 5.5 favorites on Wednesday. RJ Barrett also stinks on the road. Regardless I just don’t see them winning 3 in a row, unless Brunson goes down. They also have no answer for Robinson. What a worthless pick up Rolo was.
totally rather Diakite who is more agile and can stretch the floor at least. Hope his year in the G-league helped and he can provide 10 min or more next year.
Got outrebounded by 14. Allen had 4 rebounds. Gave this guy 100 million. Yes Mitchell crapped the bed. I still don’t understand what they expected when they let love go. What was the plan? Wade? He was in JB doghouse 2nd half of season. Not saying love was all pro but he would still give you defensive rebounds . They had no others bigs . The rotations were confusing all year we no flow or logic. The whole chemistry of 2nd unit was poor after JB benched him 12 straight games.
Love wanted to go — end of story.
Love wanted to go because JB benched him indefinitely. meanwhile he is playing major minutes with a team that is up 2 to 1 on the number one seed. While we are down 3 to 1 and are getting bullied on the boards. We all know love wanted out. The point is we didn’t have a plan!
There was a plan, it was Lamar Stevens LMFAO
Wrong, Love wanted to go after JB treated him like shit.
Cavs/ Knicks Series stats:
https://www.nba.com/playoffs/2023/east-first-round-4/stats
Trying to manage my emotions on this one between well they’re a very young team vs. they have the better players and should win this series. I’m really getting tired of losing to New York teams. I’m sad that they don’t really have the assets to improve this squad without trading one of their core 4. Not sure how they can get better without just getting more experiences. JB is 1-5 in play-off/play-in games. Don’t think he’s the guy to lead this squad.
AGREED SWEETCHIE—-NO ROLL OVER —-OR “ROL-O- VER ” ALLOWED IN GAME 5 AT HOME—-NEED THE CROWD TO BE LOUD // SUPPORTIVE——I THINK THE ” LETTING KLOVE ” WALK HAD AN EVEN MORE OF AN IMACT THAN MISSING HIS 3 PT SHOOTING // REBOUNDING—–WE LOST THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN HIM AND JA// RUBIO ( ALTOUGH) HE HASN;T RECOVERED IN MY MIND FROM HIS INJURY THROW CEDI IN THERE ALSO WHO MISSES KLOVE ” MENTORING ” AND DWADE WAS ‘ PRESSURED ‘ TO PERFORM ……………..” MORE FRIGGIN BEER PLEASE “
Love wanted to go
After JB treated him like shit
Happy to see Garland completely turn things around in the second half, I wonder if JB had a talk with him at halftime? Win Game 5 decisively like Game 2, who knows, maybe the Knicks finally start feeling some pressure. At the same time—this makes one game out of 4 that Donovan and Darius both played well. That has to change bc there was never a realistic scenario in which this team wins playoff series without both of their stars playing at a high level.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0pBqiyhRu0
Mitchell saying rebounds and turnovers have been the story in this series.
Now I need to go and root for the Kings to beat the Warriors.
And whats frustrating too.. its not like the Knicks are killing us in 3 point shooting or shooting in general.. its all the scrappy plays like forcing turnovers/defense, 3 pointers, loose balls etc..
Mitchell Robinson and Obi Toppin combined for 12 OFFENSIVE rebounds. In the three losses, our rebounding comparison is -12, -2, and -14. The game we won? +7…
WILL SEE WHAT KIND OF ” FIGHT// CHARACTER // PRIDE ” THESE CAVS ARE MADE OF—-ARE THEY GOING TO JUST ” ROLL UP AND CALL IT A SEASON —OR FIGHT TO LIVE ANOTHER DAY “——WE SHALL SEE —-I DON’T EXPECT THE CAVS TO WIN THE SERIES —DO HOPE THEY WIN THE HOME GAME AND ARE COMPETITVE IN NEW YORK —————————PLENTY OF TIME TO TALK ABOUT OFF SEASON MOVES——WHICH ARE VERY MUCH NEEDED
We cant have a roll over and die Suns at home Game 7 against the Mavs when they just steamrolled them..
I would love a statement win like Game 2.
Kudos for coaching adjustments:
Barret was getting wide open when we needed stops in that 4th I believe.
DG had a big 3rd to start.. we just couldn’t sustain the effort, play making and shot making..
Thibs also went with Obi over Randle in the 4th quarter.
2nd Chance Points:
Cavaliers 12 (4/8),
KNICKS 21 (9/17)
Fast Break Points:
Cavaliers 7 (2/7),
KNICKS 10 (4/7)
Knicks:
29/67: 1st shot attempts: 43%
9/17: 2nd shot attempts: 53%
Free Throws:
Cavs: 15/19: 79%
Knicks: 18/28: 64% : missed 10 – Game stayed close because of those free throws too.
Cavs lost this game on heart, effort, grit, fouling and offensive rebounds (Knicks has 17 versus our 7) and outrebounded us by 14.
This game felt like Game 1 to me, where a lot of rebounds just seemed to (distressingly) fall into the Knicks’ lap. Maybe it was hustle on their part.
Agree
I feel this is why we lost @daspec90!.. We lost because: no effort heart / fight for their season no rebounding.. and again more about boxing out and just going after the ball.. Cavs just stood around and thought the ball will come to them Fouls that led to shooting free throws Mitchell having a cold shooting night and having the most attempts. Turnovers that lead to fast break points/momentum plays. Positives: DG came to play in the 2nd half and had no turnovers Cedi was a boost with 10 pts and got to the line, Okoro was solid too… Read more »
good points.
Cavs in the third:(outscored NY by 7)
26 pts: 12/23 = 53%
NY: 7/15 47% (19 pts)
Cavs In the other 3 quarters:24/54: 44%
NY in the other 3 quarters: 29/69: 42%
Cavs for the game: 36/77 (47%)
Knicks for the game: 38/84 (45%) + 7 FG attempts
Interesting. How did the Knicks win?
https://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2co2ey6n
With the exception of Garland in the second half, we played pretty poorly and the game was close. “It’s a make or miss league.” We don’t need everyone to light it up (as in Game 2), we just need three people to step up offensively.
Knicks now 6-2 versus Cavs this season. I don’t think we can pull this series out even if we manage to win game 5. Roster is flawed. Donnie not playing well, role players invisible. Mobley and Allen getting outmuscled/outhustled.
Feels like an uphill battle.. and honestly I knew this series was not going to be a cake walk.. its a 4/5 matchup.. but just want the Cavs to show HEART / EFFORT and play Cavs basketball and they have not consistently.
Same. But honestly, when I saw Brunson calmly dismantling the Cavs in a game 1 away from his home court I felt the writing was on the wall. The question I have is why Cavs are unable to bring pressure on his game the way Knicks pressure Spida. Being “young” is not an excuse, they aren’t that much older.
every roster in history is flawed, but every year someone wins it all.