Recap – Cavs: 100, Lakers: 94
2012-12-11
Mooooooo
PHEW! What…a…game! MAN is it good to have Kyrie back!
The Cavs came out FIRING in the first half thanks, in large part, to Kyrie’s 7 assists and a crazy first half from Miles, and lead by 15 going into the 3rd quarter. After only scoring 14 (to LA’s 23) in the third, the Cavs held off the comeback, winning the game 100-94.
The Good:
Kyrie Irving – THANK YOU BASKETBALL GODS, FOR RETURNING KYRIE! Kyrie had a ridiculous night – 28 points (on 11-21 shooting, including 4-6 from downtown), 11 Assists, and 6 rebounds, along with a steal. Not only did he clearly not miss a beat during his four weeks off, he looked invigorated and confident. What’s more, Kyrie’s D was actually passable in this game – he still got beat once in a while, but instead of just watching, tried to catch his loose man. Really, Kyrie was playing with more intensity than I’ve ever seen him on the D end. This was probably his best showing of the season. Man am I glad he’s back!
Andy – With all due respect to Kyrie and his absurd game, it was Andy who played the clutch role in the fourth quarter, snagging a beautiful rebound, hitting a clutch 12 footer and sinking two HUGE free throws. He and Kyrie picked up where they left off on the pick and roll and, after a few lackluster games (for him), Andy finally looked back in his comfort zone on O. As always his D was great, getting into Dwight’s head and disrupting all the action under the rim (even causing a bunch of Dwight turnovers.) Unfortunately, Andy fell short of a double double, partially due to the fact that Howard had 20(!) rebounds. Oh yeah, Andy had a RIDICULOUS dunk on Jordan Hill after faking out Dwight Howard. FUN!
CJ Miles – Despite Kyrie’s return and despite Andy’s phenomenal game, the biggest story of the night is probably the fact that Miles absolutely WENT OFF for 28 points (a team high) on 10-18 shooting (including 5-10 from downtown) and chipped in 5 rebounds to boot. If Miles keeps playing like this, we might have ourselves something, here.
Tyler Zeller’s D – I KNOW Tom noticed but, did anyone else? Zeller was disrupting an inordinate number of Dwight Howard shots. He was physical and fearless in defending someone much bigger and stronger than he. His long twos weren’t falling, but it didn’t matter, Zeller’s impact on D was enough to make him very valuable in this game.
The Bad:
Alonzo Gee – Yeah, he had 17 points (on 6-14 shooting, which isn’t great) and yeah he was playing a Kobe Bryant who was clearly channeling his younger self, but it’s not supposed to look this bad. While Kobe’s shooting was absurd, Gee got beat far too many times, missed some key switches (letting Kyrie pick up Kobe far too much) and bit on pretty much all of Kobe’s fakes. He’s allowed to have off nights, but to the tune of 42 points? When he’s our best defender? C’mon!
Jeremy Pargo – OUCH. Seriously…Ouch. We may have spoken too soon on the Pargo = backup discussion. Keep an eye on this in the future. (Side note: Pargo was the only Cavalier who was – in +/-)
The Cavs Bench in General, Minus Tyler Zeller – I mean…Minus Zeller, they didn’t score a point.
The Rest:
The Lakers Traveling Plans – Apparently extensive. I definitely saw them walk more than a few times (so did the refs). What’s up with that?
Andy’s Rebounding – Obviously Dwight played a huge role in Andy’s ability to rebound, but isn’t it amazing how Kryie’s impact on dictating offense leads to better scoring, which, in turn leads to fewer Andy rebounds? Varejao only had 2 O boards, by far his lowest since we lost Kyrie to injury. Hmmmm….
Note how I didn’t mention Tristan? That’s because he was a complete non-factor, minus some very good rebounding numbers. He looked fine and all, but definitely didn’t wow anyone. And 1 point? Really?
Tomorrow the Cavs face off against the Pacers @ Indianapolis. After tonight, there’s hope again. As always…GO CAVS!
Richard – interesting comment about Dwight/TT – Tristan is super broad, so maybe that created the illusion of height?
With regards to Gee, the thing that killed me was FAR too many times did Kyrie end up defending Kobe because of bad switches (which I definitely blame on Gee). That’s completely inexcusable for a vet like Gee – Kyrie, probably our worst perimeter defender, should NEVER be on Kobe. Ever. Kobe will win that matchup every time.
But I might’ve been a little harsh on Gee – he shot around average and did have some big shots.
@Mallory’s recap – I don’t know how you could watch Gee’s performance last night and characterize it as an off night. Dude played excellent defense the entire night. Sure Kobe scored 42, and I will agree he got lazy on some switches, but beyond that there is nothing else bad to say. He was disciplined on the pump fakes and forced Kobe into taking contested, fade away jump shots all night. Kobe was possessed last night. Nobody else in the NBA could have kept him from scoring 42 last night. Also, Alonzo Gee was the main reason our awful 3rd… Read more »
Hoping to add the Kings pick this year may not be such a good plan. If that happened it would mean the Cavs have to give 2 yr. guaranteed contracts to three players taken from what may well be a substandard draft class. Sometimes I even cringe at the possibilty of them being forced to overpay a probable role player if they get too high of a pick in a bad draft. Grant may have recovered nicely by acquiring Zeller at #17as TT’s value is questionable after having to pick #4 in a bad draft last year. TT is not… Read more »
Cols: Yes. The Cavs seem to value character in the players they draft — much more than Kings. The Cavs also have an infinitely more stable front office and ownership situation.
Nate
But you put stock in numbers from a 2nd year player playing for Cleveland?
That is good news! the Lakers aren’t getting their pick no matter what so they have no incentive to pack it up in this crazy year they’ve made for themselves. I doubt Kobe would allow that anyways, but still, good to know they have no incentive to miss the playoffs.
I don’t put any stock into any numbers of any rookie playing with Sacramento. I feel bad for anyone on that team. It’s such a mess.
Here’s another value-of-TT-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder comparison: some have clamored the Cavs would have been better off taking Valenciunas last year, and then Thomas Robinson at PF. Here’s how last year’s NCAA player of the year stacks up with Tristan (both are 21 years old)
TR: 4 pts, 42% FG, 4 reb, sub-10 PER
TT: 9 pts, 45% FG, 8 reb, 12 PER
Not a composite head-to-toe comparison, but just sayin’.
Wow – even better. I predict the Lakers will be a 6 or 7 seed. That’s pretty close to our sweet spot!
On that note, we also want the Kings to either make the playoffs, or be at the bottom of the lottery. Not sure if that will happen….
@ W C
You are correct. We want the Lakers to get the 8th seed.
@ Tom
The pick is lottery protected from the Cavs, not the Suns.
The Cavs own Miami’s 1st round pick for 2013. They have the right to swap it for the Lakers 1st round pick, if the Lakers make the playoffs. If the Lakers pick closer to the top than Miami’s, the Cavs will make the swap. Otherwise they will keep Miami’s. Since the Lakers pick is lottery protected, the whole deal is off if they miss the playoffs.
Yeah I just read that….confused to. I thought it was lottery protected – not to the Suns…
Does anyone in Cleveland know this? Is this even true? I have not yet seen this explained clearly in any Cleveland media outlet. Sure miss Windhorst… Sounds like we want the Lakers to make the playoffs, but barely? Chad Ford (1:09 PM) Here’s the skinny on that pick the Lakers are supposed to send the Suns from the Steve Nash trade. The Lakers will send the least favorable of their own 1st round pick (top-14 protected), Cleveland’s own 2013 1st round pick, Sacramento’s own 1st round pick (top-13 protected) and Miami’s 2013 1st round pick to Phoenix. If the L.A.… Read more »
Just to be clear, I’m not admonishing Tristan AT ALL. Merely saying I didn’t see anything impactful from him last night and I think he’s been slow to develop. Again, for the millionth time, that does NOT mean I think he’s doomed.
Oh, and both Tristan and Zeller looked good defending Howard. Funny how nobody mentions Tristan’s work on D.
I saw Gee bite on one pump fake from Kobe. Thought he did a very good job when he was defending him 1 on 1.
@David – totally agree it’s easier to hide an offensively challenged guy thana defensive sieve.
Ben Wallace would be ideal for TT. Like DPOY type stuff. That would be HUGE going forward. And that stuff doesn’t happen right away. I’m glad that TT’s +/- is so good. That means there might be stuff we don’t really see that are contributing to winning.
http://www.fearthesword.com/2012/5/2/2995348/one-year-down-early-returns-on-the-cavs-selection-of-tristan-thompson
if you want to read like 2000 words I wrote at the end of last year about Tristan
The only thing I will add is that the conversation usually is that the Cavs offense functioned perfectly fine withTristan on the court yesterday. The Pistons offense functioned perfectly fine when they had Ben Wallace and were winning an NBA championship. The Bulls offense functioned just fine with Dennis Rodman. It is easier to hide a guy who cant score than it is to hide a guy who can’t defend. I have already seen 3 stages of Tristan’s defensive development. He started last year flying around getting blocks, not knowing where his man was, not knowing what a rotation was,… Read more »
Tom
I don’t think you need to GET OFF HIM! but it seems like he does get a ton of criticism even though he’s playing pretty well this year.
Oh man – I think we need to go full blown Tristan love fest mode. I can feel it bubbling to the surface. Maybe I post where everyone can add their favorite Tristan stat or moment or youtube clip or nickname.
According to 82games.com ‘simple’ rating, Tristan Thompson is better than DWIGHT HOWARD! GET OFF HIM! http://www.82games.com/1213/ROLRTG8.HTM
Please note TT’s is down from 13.3 to 11.8.
Worth noting: Faried’s PER is down from 21.9 to 18.8. Kawhi’s down from 16.7 to 15.0. Klay’s down from 15.0 to 11.9. Out of the four, Tristan might actually be the most improved in year 2, for what it’s worth.
grover13
Fear the Sword is a great site for Cavs stuff. Check it out.
Just for the group here….I love reading the back & forth on this blog. Agree or disagree, this group provides far more meaningful insight than I could find anywhere in a game summary on ESPN. Great job guys.