Live Thread: Cavs @ Thunder
2018-02-13
A lot has changed in the few short weeks since Oklahoma laid a 148-124 embarrassing beat down on Cleveland on their own court. The Cavs have swapped out six old, tired, or useless legs for four brand new shiny pieces of what they hope is an NBA Finals roster. With the additions of Rodney Hood, George Hill, Larry Nance Jr., and Jordan Clarkson the mood has drastically shifted in The Land. Oh, and the Cavs won’t be forced to put a hobbled, overly proud Isaiah Thomas on the court.
LeBron is back to looking like he enjoys being the best basketball player on the planet and its lead to three straight wins, including possibly one of the best wins of the season against the Boston Celtics. Tonight should be a much better measuring stick for where the Cavaliers and their new guys are currently as the Thunder aren’t slumping and, as stated earlier, are fresh off of pummeling Cleveland in their last match-up. Cedi is still in the starting lineup and everyone else is available for this match-up. Hopefully the defense is much improved and Cleveland can get an exciting road win against a tough team. Go Cavs!
I’m in Seattle… no longer an NBA city! The Cavs are my team now. I quit watching the last two weeks, it was obvious the players no longer had any will to win. The new Cavs are matching the Warriors in their game. Look at the stats, two player are .500 or greater on 3 point shots made, a couple more at .350% or better. Nance has twice as many per game offensive rebounds than any two other Cav players. If you watched the Cavs no offensive rebounding was too obvious with all those second chance points being made!! Fear… Read more »
Saw highlights on Youtube of this game…its crazy how so many different Cavs were scoring the basketball and Thunder just had their top 4 guys score like crazy an that was it. Another great game and this team is rounding into form very quickly. Nice way to go into All Star break. GO CAVS!
Whoever is doing the recap – don’t miss the pass from LBJ to JR at 4:29 remaining in the 1st. Holy cr@p!
Podcap is incoming courtesy of Nate and EG.
. Awesome.
Did Coach Lue get abducted by aliens and had his brain replaced with that of –pick any good coach–?
Not one out of place rotation and keeping the new kids with LeBron on the 4th was the right move.
I may have to retire the “cLueless” moniker.
Maybe Lue knew all along the team was flawed and did his best to expose that to the front office
I’m getting a heavy man-crush on Clarkson. Dude is a perfect running mate to LeBron.
His shooting & movement is a big part of their success this last week – listening to a few different podcasts (I wasn’t up to speed on his game over this season), sounds like he had some shooting issues early. He’s certainly dialled in right now. His pull-up move last night that left the defender (forget who it was) backpedaling into the paint was glorious & had the away crowd oohing/aahing. Young man is looking to make an impression & I dig that!
honestly, tell me that the cavs had 6 guys in double figures and korver didn’t score a single point, and id tell you we played pretty awful and that tye lue didnt play the lineups right. however…lue will have a much more difficult time making lineup mistakes with the current roster. The Nance vs TT will be an annoying one to deal with if he can’t figure it out (also TT could help by just being more active in general). But otherwise…we have about 7-8 guys who should score double figures every game…about 4-5 guys who can go off for… Read more »
Hey guys try this – watch over every contribution from lance and think if tt could have done the same , (prob not any of them). Than watch tt contributions think if lance could have accomplished that too. (Basically He should be getting starting spot and playing 30 min.). Good night everybody !
I agree he should be getting more minutes 30 per night. However, I do not want any Clarkson, Hood, Korver, Green, Tt lineups. Play only nance with them and give him more minutes with the starters. That probably means tt still will have to start to avoid breaking up the super bench that basically won us the last two games.
So when Love comes back, does he play the 5 instead of TT? Seems like TT is going to ride the bench.
No. I would think Osman will likely join the bench and split minutes with Korver, Hood, and Green. I basically laid out a scenario awhile back where Osman would get about 12 minutes pg with a starting lineup of Hill, JR, LBJ, Love, TT. Hill 25 JR 25 LBJ 34 Love 31 TT 18 Clarkson 20 Hood 3 Hood 17 Osman 6 Korver 8 Osman 6 Green 10 Korver 7 Nance 25 Green 5 Basically you have the possibility of some small ball bench lineups depending on the matchup with Korver at the 4, Green at 5 and Osman playing… Read more »
Just got through the replay and gaaaaahhhhhh I love watching this team!!!!
Favourite play: Under 4 minutes to go 3rd quarter, LBJ with the ball, 3 seconds left on the shot clock. Perimeter defenders start to look to LBJ thinking he’s going to shoot, TT sets a screen for Hill, who receives the bullet pass & knocks it down.
The players need the AS break for practice together, but I’m so bummed it’s over a week to the next game. Because as I mentioned GAAAAAHH I love watching this team!
What a fun game to watch ! The king was killing it on both ends , gotta give it to jr he was beast threw out , nance with his 8 offensive rebounds really saved the day , jc played great, hood real good , How can u rationalize tt being in the starting lineup ????????? And when love gets back he should get next to zero minutes !!! Nance is clearly far far better in every way u can imagine ! Hill is really solid all around just being a little too passive but I’m sure over time will… Read more »
https://twitter.com/cediosman/status/963633629074198528
If it wasn’t for the 15 game stint with IT, Lebron would be run away league MVP.
I don’t think Cavs could beat Warriors in a series- I don’t think we can defend them. However, I do think Thunder and Rockets have a chance to beat the Warriors in a series. And I absolutely think Cavs can beat both Thunder and Rockets.
I don’t think anyone can beat a “healthy” Warriors team in a 7-game series.
Houston will make them sweat it out a little but that’s bout it , only one that has even a muynute chance is the king
Thunder don’t stand a chance against warriors , Althouhh melo played well tonight he’s not great at all takes a ton of long -mid range shots, has very low percentage this year
The cavs are currently without their best rebounder and one of the best 3 point shooters in the league. and we are getting better all the time. don’t sleep on this group. the pistons won a title with zero players as good as lebron. the ceiling for this group is immense…hunger+belief+leadership+we’re already in the dubs heads in some ways. George Hill is not kyrie on offense…but he is also not kyrie on defense. I believe.
All the starters were – on the +/-, and all the reserves were +. Don’t recall ever seeing that before.
https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/963630685524197377
Great pass!!!
Yes that was great vision and execution on that pass
I also hope our vituperative language curbs concerning Isaiah Thomas… I have little doubt he gave the Cavs his best… it’s not his fault his labrum limited his movement or his ability… nor is it his fault he called the Cavs’ players on their lackadaisical effort, even if his cred didn’t carry from Boston… I wish him the best, knowing full well he will not meet the Cavs in a meaningful basketball game in the next calendar year…
Good point, Chris… time to let bygones be bygones. Our expectations for IT were so high. It didn’t work. We moved on.
Besides…. We’ve had far more annoying players over the years. :)
So what? He was a major pain in the butt, blaming everyone else but himself. Look at the three parts of the Cavs season: Before IT, With IT, and After IT. Notice a pattern there?
Yeah, this…
I think there was obvious big issues b4 he played and when he came in between his poor play and poor mouth our problems just blew outa proportion and exploded
Yeah I don’t really care about IT. I’m glad he’s gone. I don’t care where he goes as long as gets off my lawn!
I wish IT well but I also wish he keeps his mouth shut. He is still throwing shades every chance he gets. The Lakers were on a 4-game winning streak while holding opponents to an average of 94 points when he arrived. The Lakers lost while surrendering 130 points to a moribund Dallas Mavs. Coincidence? IT scored 22 points while committing 6 turnovers and he all he cared about is the world is right again because “I got my powers back!”
BTW, 600+ comments on this thread–is that a CTB record?
nah but great to see
we almost got to 2k on the isiah thomas trade – it2k
And deservedly so–can any of us delete our comments on that one?
We got over 1K for Game 7 when they won the chip…
And almost 900 on the Wolves game last week, although that was pretty much combined with the IT exit reaction….again, understandable.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/963626629238067204
Might only be 70, but he was jumping out of bounds. That will be season highlight. JR’s second best game ever?
https://twitter.com/kevinlove/status/963624300396929025
This cinches it–there isn’t a dissenter on the team now… all are in… Love will make this team so much more dangerous.
6 guys in double figures. Nance & Clarkson were awesome. Green & Hood good. Another strong JR game. MVP level Bron.
Quiet night from Hill, Cedi, TT, & Korver. Kyle +9 despite only playing 8 minutes & not scoring.
Nance just reads the game so well on both ends. Activity, awareness, & athleticism is a good combination.
Even if he doesn’t shoot well, korver is an automatic plus in that second unit with those new guys because of his gravity. The Clarkson, Hood, Green, Nance bench lineups wouldn’t work without him.
Even when he doesn’t shoot well, Korver plays decent D, and gets a lot of steals.
I wouldn’t say a lot. He gets his hands up and is in good position which helps his lateral movement issues, in general boxes out, and doesn’t lose people off ball. Team defense is half the battle. That lane is clogged, there would be no space for green and Nance to roll, and everyone would shadow hood and Clarkson without him though.
https://twitter.com/CavsJoeG/status/963618359991521286
This is INSANE!
It’s pretty nuts…
Larry Nance Jr. (love typing his name for nostalgia’s sake) had three blocks… how many Cavs have blocked three shots in the past four years?!
Hawks hang tough with the Bucks but fall short. Kings gonna win in Dallas. Everyone within one of the Nets. Wins:
18 = Hawks, Suns, Mavs, Kings, Magic, Grizz
19 = Nets
20 = Bulls
Tomorrow:
Hawks (b2b) at Pistons
Hornets at Magic
Pacers at Nets
Raptors (b2b) at Bulls
Kings at Rockets (both b2b)
OKC (b2b) at Memphis
Suns at Jazz
Thanks. Good work as always.
I think McHale does a decent job in announcing these games…
Cavs dont play again until Thursday the 22nd. At least the Olympics will be a good distraction
I know! Just when they’re fun to watch again!
Has anybody kept watch…does RJ get much run with the Nuggets?
They are on TNT right now–not in the game yet… and no, he is not getting minutes… class act, though. He and Frye deserve better fates.
Check Kornheiser and Wilbon–this trade has changed the landscape of the NBA…. I am inclined to believe it. If we lauded Grant and Griff, what to say about Altman? Gilbert?
Altman did great damage control, and I credit him for that…this team was mostly a tire fire from last sumer until the trade deadline…
Doubters claimed CavsDan was running the show…so does HE get credit for what has transpired?
I know CavsDan didn’t keep Griffin, which was clearly a mistake in my mind. He also allowed these trades to happen, which increased his payroll. Not every owner would have done that. I’ll give him some credit for these trades because he paid for them. But it didn’t need to come to this.
The Irving demand made all of this necessary–I still look at Kyrie as shortsighted… had he waited out this year, LeBron would have left him in possession of a reasonable roster… instead, Iriving forced a trade that few GMs could have worked out positively…. the unfleecing is a win thus far…
The Irving trade demand is turning out to be all for the good in the long run. The current team work and joy at playing would not happen with dingbat Kyrie on the team.
Cavs averaging 121.5 points since the trades…
Rest up fellas!! Get ready for another deep postseason run
I really think LBJ, Love and Nance closing out games will be crazy…impossible to defend that inside/ out…
CLE bench = 51 points.
OKC bench = 20 points.
That’s freaking awesome.
Cavs had only 7 turnovers! 4 by Bron…
George Hill basically never turns it over…
I love watching high IQ basketball!
A little sloppy play that luckily didn’t hurt them in the last minute but a great effort and game. Another good defensive effort. Nance is better than tt. Offense runs better with the starters and bench and he is better on d and the o boards, and boxing out. Good games by all the new guys and JR. Cedi a little overmatched by George, but that’s ok. James was pretty awesome save for falling in love with his j at times that nance boarded about 3 times. Great win for a team that just came together.
Lol.
https://twitter.com/IllegalScreens/status/963618704486367232
everything continues to be awesome
Agree with TOJ!!
Great play by JR on the save.
Our BENCH is AMAZING!!!!
It was solid to an asset before–it is the better half of the team now. So this is what an athletic team looks like?!
Huge win for the confidence of this team.
You know what I love? 112 points for the Thunder. Finally fun to watch the Cavs again.
http://www.lakefountains.com/images/products/cascade/cas-p3-l.jpg
+1000
Great play, JR!!
Wow. What a finish. JR making me put my foot in my mouth.
Cavs just beat two of the better defensive teams… at their places… with a lineup they just threw together!
Great win!!!
What a play by JR to Junior!!!
Of course Ty doesn’t do it.
Attaboy JR.
Well that was an awful in bound that the cavs got lucky on.
I want to say this once–STEVEN A. SMITH HAS GOT TO SHUT UP. I cannot take another ESPN Cavs spot in which he shouts/repeats garbage about this team/LeBron etc.
The solution to that is on your remote somewhere
But it’s ALWAYS the first load on ESPN’s Cavs site. I cannot press play, just to hear his stupidness… I want to be Kellerman for a day and present actual facts to him.
It’s really really easy not to read watch or listen to anyone on espn, let alone their troll squads.
I haven’t heard SAS in years…just read his comments posted here occasionally…
Now he is offering advice for lovelorn men in the mid afternoon slot on ESPN. I am not making this up.
JR with the dime of the night!
So smart by JR!!
Still not over. Gotta put the good FT shooters in. Clarkson, Hill, Korver, Green & Bron
Great awareness by JR!
FULL COURT LOB!
Compare the number of viable wing player we have now versus last year!! It’s night and day!
https://twitter.com/CavsFredMcLeod/status/963617485105885184
https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/963617370504806400
Ok junior make one of these
Come on Larry
Nice Nance!!!!