Recap: New York 94, Cleveland 109 (or, the time Kyrie tried to put Mike Woodson out of his misery)
2013-12-11
Kyrie Irving loves playing against the Knicks. Tonight was no exception. Irving showed why he was a 2012 all-star with a 37 point, 11 assist, 1 turnover virtuoso performance. It helped him a little that the Knicks have the worst back-court in the NBA, and that Mike Woodson’s just trying to get fired at this point. But, this is the Kyrie Irving we’ve been waiting for: the guy that played like one of the greatest 20 rookies of all time and looked like a wunderkind as a pre-all-star break sophomore. This was a fun win.
First Half:
This game really wasn’t as close as the score. The Cavs raced out to an 18 point lead in the first 11 minutes, keyed by very aggressive play by Kyrie, solid defense, good ball movement, and an extended stretch where Knicks starters were checking the fantasy football waiver wire while playing. Ray Felton was looking at his phone for the first five minutes! Anyway, Dion Waiters came in off the bench in the late first, scored two quick baskets, and then caught the turnover virus: coughing the ball up 4 times in the next ten minutes, including a doomed trip along the baseline and a pass to no one that got Dion yanked.. Dion went to the bench with the Cavs up 40-32, and then the rest of the Cavs caught the turnover bug and went ice cold, going scoreless over the next five minutes. Fortunately KI closed the quarter well, scoring or assisting on 8 straight points, to end it up 45-48.
Second Half:
Bynum struggled, air-balling his first shot, and then charging on his second post up. Fortunately, Alonzo Gee had one of his best quarters of the year. His critical steal led to a fast break and an oop slam for him from Kyrie. Then, T.T. absolutely split the game in two with a one handed tip slam off a 3 point miss from Miles. The Cavs started finding their rhythm after Tristan got the crowd off their feet, and Irving just poured it in: jumpers, drives, ridiculous layups in transition, and that three stroke that’s been absent all year. When he missed, Gee was there to put it back. Alonzo’s energy in the quarter really helped the Cavs take off. On defense, Irving was still making some questionable decisions, and Pablo Prigioni put him pick and roll blender to get four straight assists, but Pablo was helpless to try to guard KI. Kyrie smoked him with drives, soul-destroying crossover sequences, and silky pick and roll assists to TT. (FYI, Switch Maple Smooth has dubbed his little push shot “The Mountie”). Irving’s brilliance allowed the Cavs to end the quarter up 81-65.
Every team needs unselfish passers. Watching Andy and Delly run the two man game is heartwarming like a 30 for 30 commercial… “What if I told you that the Cavs best rookie was an undrafted Australian? That Anderson Varejao is the best bench big in the NBA?” We need a name for the Andy/Delly movie… maybe, “Coifs of Glory.”
Jarrett Jack kept filling it up with points from the corner, the elbow, and (gasp) at the basket. He’s heating up as he’s apt to do in December. Jack finished with 17 points in 24 minutes off .91 TS%.
Kyrie returned at 7:26 in the fourth, with Cleveland nursing a comfortable 18 point lead. He proceeded to put on a show by scoring 10 more points in the next 5 minutes,. The “heat checks” would not miss. The Cavs traded baskets with the Knicks who were unabashedly chucking threes as fast as they could. Up 16 points with 98 seconds left, Mike Brown decided that the lead was safe and sent in the scrubs. He must not be convinced, like I am, that the world will end not with a bang, but with the whimper of an Anthony Bennett garbage time bucket. Fortunately, it did not.
Etc.:
I don’t want to tell teams how to beat the Cavs. I’m a little worried that Lawrence Frank might read this in his free time, and put it in one of his daily reports, but Mike Woodson ran about the worst defensive scheme that could be run against Kyrie Irving. He really might be trying to get fired. Why in God’s name would you leave Prigioni and Ray Felton on Kyrie when you have Iman Shumpert guarding Alonzo Gee? I guess the defensive concept of “put your best perimeter defender on Kyrie” isn’t a strategic revelation. This was the easiest D Irving will face all year.
Anderson Varejao could easily be averaging 16 points and 14 boards for most teams in the league if he played 36 minutes a night. Hell, he’d get that on the Lakers with his current minute count. He won’t get a sixth man of the year nod because the Cavs don’t let him score enough, but the guy is so ridiculously efficient that he ought to be acknowledged. 9 points, 3-4 from the floor 3-3 at the line, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and no turnovers. When Andy touches the ball, good things happen.
Alonzo Gee: energy, hustle, defense, dunks in transition, offensive rebounds, corner threes. That’s it. That’s the list. That’s all you need to do. Get a video of your third quarter and just watch it on your phone.
It was awesome to see the Cavs dominate the Knicks while Bynum had a bad game. Not that I want him to have a bad game, but it’s good to know that not everyone has to be on for Cleveland to win. Tristan had a good game, despite the lowish point and rebound count of 12 and nine. The defense got a bit sloppy at times, but he was solid when it mattered, and his tip slam broke the whole thing open. Also, C.J. looks like he’s finally recovering from that hammy. The 2-5 from three and 4-8 from the field was a welcome sign. He had a couple nice dimes too.
Nights like these are why Dion is better off the bench: if he doesn’t have it, you can just sit him.
The refs were obviously effected by this cold weather. I counted five blown loose ball possession calls.
The Knicks straight up suck. It’s Melo and a bunch of awful players. The Nuggets own the Knicks’ pick in 2014 and it’s unprotected. Atlanta has the right to swap picks with Brooklyn in 2014 — also unprotected. Adam Silver may soon enact the “Dolan/King” rule to save teams from their own idiocy. Ted Stepian’s infamy may finally be surpassed.
Three weeks ago, the Cavs would have struggled to beat this team. After losing the lead by playing down to their level, they would not have stepped on the Knicks’ necks to take the game over again. The Cavs are heating up.
Hot Sauce I just said he is “playing well.” I did not say his was a “good player” yet.
The Blog of Small Sample sizes!
Leur has played like 5 games, and done well. Given his entire career, I need a lot more data to be convinced he has become a good player.
Well he’s definitely not a few points ahead of Kobe
The good news is we are only .5 game out of a playoff spot and only 2 games, TWO GAMES, out of 3rd in the East. That is stupid. A good week and a half and we could conceivably be 3rd in the East. I can barely even wrap my mind around it.
at the end of the day Anthony Bennett has a very nice contract and the Cavs appear to have him in place for years. So why not send him to Canton for a few days! At this point the dude could not even be traded. I prefer “Goose Egg” for his zeros and also for the false promise that Grant was going to work the lottery. Would trade him for Mo Williams at this point. Oh wait, he could also be called “Ghost”. Still waiting for that YouTube lowlights reel from the regular season. On the plus side, Bennett has… Read more »
Leuer is having a breakout season. Still more than happy to have that lottery pick from Memphis in two or three years.
Leuer fill in’ it up. Legit talent?
Oh, Kevin Hetrick, have you noticed how well our boy Leuer is playing for the Grizz these days?
Maybe my favorite thing this season was during the FSO broadcast late in the game, MacLeod was speculating about what the “zinger” NY Post headline would be after this game. He came up with “Another Mistake on the Lake” (not that great but a decent attempt under the circumstances). Not to be outdone, Carr proposed “Still Can’t Win”.
Anthony Bennett now averaging 2 pts a game, I guess technically that’s an improvement. If he continues this current rate of improvement he’ll be averaging 20 in only his 9th season, prime time to finally contend.
@Kj totally agree. Another Syracuse guy, which would make me happy.
Charlotte just waived James Southerland. The Cavs should consider picking him up. Good size for the 3 and good 3-point shooter.
The Care Bear image is one of the best things I’ve seen on here. It turns a travesty into a heart-warming tale of redemption, or something like that. This from Wikipedia: “The Care Bears were initially created in 1981 by Those Characters From Cleveland (TCFC), the licensing division of American Greetings Corp. Jack Chojnacki, the co-president of TCFC, introduced the first Care Bear to six businessmen—three from AGC, and three from the toy company Kenner—in February 1981. On the employees’ reaction to the toy, Chojnacki recalled in early 1985: “It had a high ‘aaaaaah’ factor.”[1] When I first saw Anthony… Read more »
Is it typical that all NBA 3’s do is just stand in the corner at the 3 point line and drift slightly along the circle? That’s where ours are all the time. No wonder our 3’s are unimpressive. Karasev – learn how to play defense and you’re in.
Someone on FTS called Bennett ‘Infinite Sadness’, made me laugh, then I got depressed with its accuracy. I still think he’ll come around and am enjoying TT’s canadian greatness in the mean time.
@Nate take a look at Henry Abbots thing on Defense. Points out that Casspi is a very good defensive player on top of his 15 PER.
I second.
Motion passed.
The Cavs should make him a special Care Bear-style jersey with this logo on the center of his jersey in place of the usual team name and number: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Glowing_gumdrops.jpg
I’ve taken to calling him Gum Drop Bear.
(1) because I don’t believe it exists as a current Care Bear
(2) it seems to fit the Care Bear “themes”
(3) and naturally, because AB15 not only looks like a Care Bear, his frame also resembles the shape of a Gum Drop
I like him so much more now. Imagine the excitement anytime Gum Drop Bear makes a shot in the NBA. I’ve deleted the part of my brain that used to remember he was the first…wait, I don’t remember. Gum Drop Bear!
That is fantastic, Ross. It’s going to make watching AB15 so much more fun. So if he’s a Care Bear, what Care Bear is he? I was going to try to make Bennett his own Care Bear name, but then I saw that there was an Oopsy Bear.
@Ross, what was so “maddening” about Bennett last night? Had a good 3-look rim out and then showed good hands on an almost steal. Then hit his only other shot, a nice 15 footer.
Sheesh…
The Cavs are now 7-3 at home. Only Miami and Indy have more home wins. Let THAT sink in…
Anthony Bennett looks like a Care Bear. I think that’s yet another bad omen for his NBA career. But it does make me happier watching him play when I think of him as a Care Bear playing in the NBA. If you find his play maddening, then I suggest you give it a try too.
In other news….here’s Anthony Bennett’s statistics in 30 minutes of court time he’s been lucky enough to receive in December:
3-10 FG (30%)
1 rebound
0 assists
0 steals
0 blocks
I’ve been trying to think of a snarky comment to enhance the sheer suckness of those numbers, but I’m at a complete loss.
Its still a pretty small sample and probably pretty fluky CoryHughey. Or maybe Dion’s confidence and willingness to drive just amps up when his teammates are playing terribly, which hopefully is still correctable for a second year player. I don’t think its too much of an indictment at this point though either way. He didn’t play great yesterday by any means, but he had some moments.
@Nate – What did Dion play? 13 or 14 minutes? Don’t mind that he sat after the turnover debacle, but thought we’d see more of him than that. Glad he had a smile on his face then. Kyrie had one, too.
Shump is athletic so people automatically correlate that to mean he’s a good defender. Add in the fact that the majority of the Knicks, sans Tyson Chandler, are absolutely dreadful on defense and that props up Shumpert’s supposed defensive acumen as well (good by comparison). He has the physical tools to be a good defender but he’s merely an average one at this point in his career.
Also I don’t think shump is even that good at Defense.
@Corey I’ve actually noticed that too just from watching. As much as I do like Dion his good Games don’t translate into wins. That’s not an indictment yet of his talent or play as He’s a second year player but great players turn great performances into wins. Hopefully KI is learning how to do that.
With Dion moving to the bench Jack becomes kind of redundant.
Interesting side note about Dion. He’s averaged 11 ppg in wins and 15.7 ppg in loses. He’s been more efficient in loses as well.
I disagree, Underdog. That’s what a supersub is: a guy who can play extended minutes, or who can sit if he’s having a bad night. I don’t know what his deal was, but he played fine in the second half. He had a smile on his face.
Rob, the Knicks are so bad, that in trade talk, they’re blaming Mike Woodsen for Shumpert’s lack of offense http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1875602-knicks-reportedly-throwing-mike-woodson-under-the-bus-in-shumpert-trade-talks . That being said, he’s still an uber-athletic super defender. He needs a change of scenery, but no. Not for Dion Waiters. Maybe a pair of second rounders.
Panic trade, Cavs haven’t won 3 in a row yet, we need better players! Panic, panic, panic!
I don’t know whether Dion will go into a funk or not, but the way they sat him down gives a glimpse of how the organization views Dion right now. Either they have no affection for him or they believe treatment has to be harsh get a message through to him. It’s one or the other. Hmmm.
Glass half full comment-
I know the east horribly sucks compared to the West….but the Cavs are closer to the #3 seed in the east than the #4 team in the West (Clippers) is to the #3 seed over there.
If the Cavs just continue steady improvement, there’s no reason why they can’t attain a 4-5-6 seed, and maybe sneak into the second round of the East. A .500 record might accomplish that. They’ll be no closer to championship-contender status, but it could be a great confidence builder for the youngins.
Will Dion go into another funk now, after being forced to watch all the fun from the bench? After all, when Kyrie has 5+ TO nights, he doesn’t get the same punishment.
We shall see.
Nate, loved the fake 30 for 30 and Lawrence Frank’s daily reports. Haha! Good stuff that adds to the solid analysis of the game.
1. I don’t watch enough of the NYK to know, but my god after watching Shumpert last night, anyone who wants to trade Dion straight up for that guy is wrong.
2. Good things happen when Andy touches the ball. AMEN
3. I dont think the Cavs committed a TO in the 1st QTR, would love to see a stat showing Team +/- in quarters where they are under 3 TOs and quarters where they are over 5 TOs
Nice win against the most dysfunctional team in the league. The Knicks have a financial advantage over the rest of the league and still found a way to eff up their supreme upperhand. NBA players are the most cosmopolitan athletes on Earth and the Knicks franchise has the charm of a bucket of rotten shrimp heads covered in coke vomit. As much as we want to criticize Chris Grant, the Cavs still have youth, draft ammo, and the flexibility to fix their complications. The Knicks don’t. The Knicks are stuck and it’s their own fault. They could have waited for… Read more »
There was some pretty great buddy ball between Irving and Varejao this game. Love their chemistry.
This would be a good game for Mike Brown to sit the team down in the film room and show 1st qtr film, then 2nd qtr film, then 1st qtr film, then 2nd qtr film . . . over and over again.