Live Thread: Cavs @ Pacers, Game 4
2018-04-22
The Cavs are back in Indiana again tonight. After giving up an 17 point lead in the 2nd Half of game 3, the Cavs are down 2-1 to the Pacers. This game isn’t a must win, but having to play a must win game in Indiana would be a poor position to be in for game five.
One has to hope the Cavs can right their play. They are making just 9.7 3s a night (12-16) at a 30.9% rate, which is second worse in the playoffs. During the regular season, the Cavs made 12 3s per game (3-30) at a 37.2% rate, which was sixth in the league. The shooting will hopefully return to normal. No one on the team is getting buckets outside of the King.
LeBron James has scored 98 points this series, he’s averaging 32.7 per game. The Cavs have scored just 270 points in three games. James has essentially score 37% of all those points. There’s not much more to say. Cleveland simply needs more guys to make shots.
Defensively, the Cavs haven’t allowed the Pacers to score over 100 and are second in defensive rating for the post season. The struggles haven’t gone away and the their trapping scheme hasn’t been the most effective, but the defense isn’t to blame for the losses.
Tyronn Lue has mentioned Tristan Thompson will probably see minutes this game because of “toughness.” George Hill will miss the game because of his back. This means the Cavs will have to figure out some way to slow Victor Oladipo. Jose Calderon is probably not the answer to that. He’s starting anyways though.
Right now, I’m not confident the team can figure the offense out. At least with Jose starting, LeBron will be have some help creating shots, but it may not be enough.
Kelly Olynyk is a ridiculous human being.
Lue does things at cross purposes.
He wants to play fast. But if you play Bron 44-46 per night, he cannot play fast without rest.
Love is likely playing with one hand. Gonna affect getting the ball taken away and hand-fighting with the off hand. Also, harder to back down guys playing as an undersized 5 than a true 4. In Minny, he has Rubio at PG.
Also, Love has never been a dominant post guy. He ain’t elite down there like: Shaq/Wilt/Kareen/Duncan/Olajuwon/McHale.HeHe
His thing is he can do a bit of everything. Four. Five. Shoot. Post. Elbow. Elite rebounder.
https://twitter.com/JoshEberley/status/988265893397348352
Missed the game live, but just caught up on DVR… late to the party, but this seems warranted…
http://i1.wp.com/sounds.ng/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/make-it-rain-dollars.gif
Or this…
https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/988257648364720129
He’s smart. He did what he had to do to get the win.
yup…. explains his lack of activity in 2nd halves.
Heh.
https://twitter.com/bballbreakdown/status/988264865331474432?s=19
That the least blatant travel i’ve seen in an NBA game in a long time. quite a reach lol
To me, it’s very easy to argue that Lance pushed him in the back to cause the travel
For sure…but also…if that is a blatant travel then Giannis should average about 3 points per game
Lol…if he traveled, it was caused by Lance’s foul…what a ridiculous take…
Exactly, you ate right Mike.
this was a dumb comment.
Have to commend TT. Great job despite not playing. Even though he still sucks, he came ready and his energy came off big for us.
He was actually decent in his minutes, although getting blocked at the rim on that transition pass from Clarkson sucked.
He got stuffed twice at the rim, played passable defense, and made one great hustle play to get a deflection and get a foul on turner. I wouldn’t mind if these are the only minutes we need him for during this playoff run.
Also set some good picks, and he’s one of the Cavs best pick setters. Please note, I’m not exactly lobbying for big minutes for TT here.
We have 1 true center on this team and his name is Ante. We need a mobile center desperately for this series to eat some time against Turner. What frustrates me endlessly is that Philly and Embiid are looming and the same exact issue is going to pop up. It’d be one thing if we only had Toronto, Boston, and GS standing in our way then I’d say sure we need to get reps with Love and Nance. But this is going to happen again if we make it to ECF and Zizic could be getting much needed reps now!
Not just Turner, Sabonis went absolutely nuts…
Sabonis playing like that was infuriating. He could hardly miss, and got some big boards.
Yup… backup center who’s 21 and tearing it up…. wish we could see what our 21 year old backup center can do.
I’d also like peace in the middle east, but it’s not happening any time soon, either.
LOL true
Jared Kushner would play Ante
Embiid also torched nance earlier this year. In all honesty Simmons terrifies me even more. Who in the hell are we going to put on him?! I mean I don’t think LBJ can guard him and run the offense for 46 mpg. Simmons will obliterate anyone but green and LBJ in the post. He will likely blow by Nance and TT. Nance, Love and TT will have to guard Embiiid anyway. I would guess JR gets Simmons, LBJ gets Saric, Korver gets Covington, and either Hill or Calderon chases Reddick, while Nance, TT, and Love do whatever they can to… Read more »
Yeah their length is crazy. Hill has to hold his own against Simmons with his 7′ wingspan. LBJ get Saric. Korver gets Reddick and JR Covington in a tale of exactly identical players. Then Love gets Embiid….so help us God.
I would rather more size on Simmons in the halfcourt though the cross match between Simmons and JR and Hill and Reddick could cause a lot of issues in transition. Then again you might get away with a smaller guy since Simmons doesn’t want to shoot it beyond 15. I do worry that he could just post Hill to death and then kill doubles with all the shooters they have.
Milwaukee got some crazy length too. Not sure if they or Philly are longer. But we are getting way ahead of ourselves. Need to finish this series and then get past Toronto. Would honestly be surprised if we reached ECF.
MASSIVE WIN BY THE CAVS!!!
Love is not a star. At best, a glorified role player.
No that’s Turtle Head Al Horford – he’s a glorified role player. Love is a true All-Star just having a rough go at the moment. He’ll be better.
The. Dude. Is. Hurt.
Agree with Nate. However, I don’t think he is the same player he was in Minny though. He seems to struggle a lot more in the post since losing the weight, while he lived down there in Minny. He really seems to struggle to get position and hold it on the block. In Minny he was far more capable of pinning guys and then backing them down. I also don’t think this team does him many favors by using him so much as a floor spacer. Then again it is kind of necessary with the spread ISO or spread pick… Read more »
He seems to struggle to keep. Muscle. Mass o on
To be fair…his struggled against Thad young are well documented. Thad is just stronger than most 4s.
pleaseplaycedi.com
Lol Green “nobody’s gonna fight on a basketball court, honestly”
Hehe. The league certainly has changed since the 80s and 90s, even the early 2000s.
for sure…there was a moment where stephensen was sitting up and green had a chance to literally just rake him across the temple. Seeing Green suspended almost would’ve made it worth it.
Dear lord, LBJ played 46 minutes!!!! He is getting into Wilt territory.
Green I think actually had some decent moments down the stretch tonight. Hit a corner three. Bailed out a busted possession on a difficult drive. He is so hit or miss though, not just from game to game but possession to possession.
He’s playing better coming off the bench.
agree. he had a few shots including a 3 that if he doesn’t hit in 4th we lose
Cavs could really use Channing now…but it is what it is…
Great shot!
We could probably use Channing and RJs’ sense of humor in the locker room.
Yup…. keep the youngins’ loose.
totally. don’t think there’s anyone on the team right now to play that role. I can see RJ giving honest inspirational pep talks and then Channing coming in with a dumb fart joke. I’m not sure anyone in the locker room is able to provide either of those right now.
I know… Perkins probably scares the crap out of them.
He’s like an old drunk uncle who always pulls you aside at family reunions to give you advice and you just nod and grin until you can get away
lol
Sounds reasonable enough to me. Hill has to play game 5
Yeah I think LeBron slows it down to save some energy for the 4th after playing nearly the entire first half. This in turn lets Pacers get back in the game as they become the aggressors.
It’s a shame Lue fees like he has to play LeBron 44+ min when we could have 12 guys that could theoretically contribute.
Man 76ers are going to wax the crust of the earth with whoever comes out of Boston Milwaukee series. Really hope is MKE so we see Stevens schemes against them.
If we make it to the ECF then LeBron is going to lose his paternity suit against the cities of Indianapolis, DC, and Toronto
LOL
Lol he still have Boston.
Man. What a monster game by Kyle. Getting Turner out of the game with a pump fake in the third quarter was enormous, then the threes and clutch free throws. Love the dude.
They needed every bit of it. I was terrified because his first four shots looked horrible. Those threes appeared to give Lebron a bit of a second wind (sure gave me one). Have to play better in the third. No reason for these swoons.
He may arguably be our second most important player this series. If he isn’t hitting, I don’t know if our other shooters generate enough gravity to draw the Pacers out. If the cavs other shooters go nova and hit some of these shots against hard closeouts by the Pacers or put the ball on the floor after the catch and get secondary kick outs I think it probably forces the Pacers to stop shading so much towards LBJ. Kind of incredible he has still had efficient shooting games against this kind of d.
I see your point. But we have so many shooters. None of them needs to go en fuego every game for us to win. Having at least 2 of them at the same time on the floor is so easy. Place two of them there and have a couple more extra pass and we could absolutely break down Indiana. I don’t know how hard is that for the coaching staff when it is why we primarily get all these players in the first place. LeBron is also a culprit, but the coaching also needs him to follow what they need… Read more »
I think putting it on the floor to blow by a hard closeout will open up the offense a lot more as long as guys cut and/or make the extra pass once the Pacers collapse on the driving shooter. Unfortunately we don’t seem to have a ton of guys that are comfortable putting the ball on the floor. However it doesn’t take much, just a few hard dribbles in to pull the defense in again and then a pass to a cutter or a secondary kick out. Basically I think we need to get more secondary penetration to bend and… Read more »
The problem with executing that strategy is the lack of chemistry…. you have to know where everybody rotates once the drive and kick happens and I don’t think they have the chemistry to execute a series of drive and kicks.
Yeah, unfortunately that is probably true.
They have two days before game 5…. you just might get your wish.
And displayed mental toughness after that atrocious shooting start.
Whew ! They Won! I’ve been banned upstairs when the Cavs are on. It’s been TOUGH! I groaned when it was them we had to play in 1st round. I really hope they keep climbing out of this. Pacers are not a typical NBA team. I’m not surprised it has been really hard for Cavs.
Rebounding and assists a problem tonight.
Part of the assists were the amount of fouls in the first half and the amount of uncalled fouls in the second. YEs, LeBron did have some settle shots.
I also think the pacers did do a pretty great job at closing hard on shooters. A lot of the looks might have technically been open as per the rest of the series but the window to shoot seems pretty small in general. Most of the time the Pacers seem to be within 5 feet by the time the ball is released and closing fast. I think that is affecting a lot of our shooters besides JR and Korver.
Great point.
Yup… I can see that, the physicality is making passing tough. Another good point JB about the closeouts…. Pacers totally selling out to stop the 3. KLOVE only pump faked once, but he got a wide open J out of it.
Or on the team and Cav Fans!!
Game shouldn’t have been so close. Pacers had SOOO many uncalled fouls. Hopefully the Cavs pour it on next game.
I have to say that the Pacers and the Heat play the most belligerent defense. I think the Pacers give the most gratuitous hacks . Perkins should see at least a minute of action and deliver two hard fouls on Stephenson and Oladipo.
No kidding. Someone needs to deck these fools.
The old folks catch a break now with two days off before game 5.
https://twitter.com/AllaireMatt/status/988255782713118722?s=19
Copying Russ there. That was delightful.
Lol based on a cursory look, the Cavs have lowest points allowed of any team in playoffs save Pacers. Remember when we were all saying Cavs gonna with defense and JR?
Hehe. Wild. Clearly with this style of offense that is so reliant on isos and mismatches, you really are going to struggle without a secondary playmaker if the other team decides to pack the paint and is able to recover enough to at least close out hard on shooters.
aka what the Golden State Warriors can do to us.
I am not counting my chickens. At this point I will be thrilled just to get to the finals. But yeah, with their length and athleticism the windows will be even smaller to shoot. I could see incredibly low shooting efficiency similar to 2015 from LBJ and co without that secondary playmaker if they get to the finals and it is against the warriors.
I somehow feel this may go seven. Cavs need to dominate at home.
Ty has to go watch film again…
Hope Love gets a bunch of shots up to get his rhythm in the next two days.
His 3 point shot is way off… hopefully that clutch defensive stop on Collison will get his mojo going.
He has been taking time to pout before he gathers
I shouldn’t laugh, but I did…. lol
The Cavs need to get him more touches. He tries too hard to get a rhythm. He needs touches.
Yup…. and he needs to learn that the playoffs they’re aren’t calling s***
Cavs have to take care of business at home. It would be less than ideal to have to win game 6 at Indy to stay alive.
Can’t believe they pulled that game out. I’m shocked…. Korver and KLOVE with clutch plays at the end with LBJ.
Honestly the Cavs had some really nice defensive adjustments when Indy started beating the trap. They did a couple things like springing the trap much later, and then just having guys get over and dropping the big cause Indy was using the P/R to set up jumpers instead of attacking.
It is wild to me that the cavs d has been the least of the problems.
second best D in playoffs after Pacers
Yup… and I can’t believe the offense has sputtered so much especially in the 2nd half.
Do you think they are just tired? They haven’t really put that kind of effort in defense all season so it would be understandable to see them struggle like this to finish. They are playing more of a grind style
Possible. Certainly I think LBJ is probably getting gassed.
It has to do something with the players. We’ve got some capable guys since the trade and it’s paying off now. Offense is a different story tho..
Honestly, I can take missed shots (he was at least getting looks in the paint) but theres ZERO excuse for Love’s pouting and not hustling back on D – almost cost the game
And that ridiculous frustration foul on oladipo.
He learned that by watching LeBron…
Always been a huge KLove fan but he has been shockingly bad on offense. Still boarding, but getting the ball ripped away too
Dude has a jacked up thumb. He needed to be smarter, not stronger. That one where he tried to body young was just dumb. He lost his composure. Team needs to come together and encourage him. Love to see him have a big game coming back home.
As much as I like KLove, if LeBron stays past this season, I think he has to go. I don’t think KLove can be a second option on this team with LeBron. I thought that would change with KI leaving, but it really hasn’t. If we somehow can move the Brooklyn pick for a legit second option maybe he can stay, but if not we need to move him for a legit second option.
What is weird is that when Irving would be hurt in prior years , Love was generally very solid with James and usually scored over 20.
regular season
He was rolling earlier in the season before the hand injury.. I thought his shot looked really good right before the playoffs started as he was working his way back. Not sure what has happened in this series.
Agreed–though your handle sounds like you’re hating….
Not hating, I do like him…I just needed a username for the post…
Thad Young has gotten the better of him thus far. Hope he has breakout game in Game 5.
Good. Now time to kill this in game 5.
It’s unbelievable that the Cavs are only getting around 12 ppg and 10 rebs per game from KLove. That’s part of why this series is tied at 2.
It won’t be the case if they get past them. They are playing Love very tough
So JR showed up to play this series. Green and Korver came into their own. Who’s stepping up game 4? (cough cough Kevin)
Need to come out with the same mentality in Game 5 – defensive effort was more or less there for 48 minutes. Big minutes from JR/Clarkson in the first half and Green/Korver in the 2nd half.
And can someone put out an APB for the real Kevin Love?
The difference maker tonight…
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/988252055394451456
We all could have saved a lot of time and blood pressure medication if we just started a best of 3 on wednesday