Recap: Cavaliers 125, Timberwolves 104 (or, Three Minutes to Win It)
2014-12-24
Where’s the page about taking a giant lead?
The Cavs came away with the decisive victory, but it cost more than they thought it would. Anderson Varejao went down with a leg injury in the third quarter and didn’t return to the game, and Andrew Wiggins showed exactly what an athletic wing can do to the Cavs. It took the King’s Men two and a half quarters to start caring for the ball and playing defense. Wiggins used all his opportunities correctly to shoot 9-16 for 27 points. Gorgui Dieng somehow snuck in at spots to suck up 11 boards (three offensive), put down 20 points, and punch four balls towards the atmosphere. Yet, those two couldn’t stop the Cavs big three who combined for 73 points, 11 assists, 14 rebounds, and four steals.
Let’s relive this gradual climb to a three minute period of dominance.
First Quarter
This game started off sloppy with Love missing an open layup, which set the quarter’s tone. The Cavs blew open fast breaks, turned the ball over four times, and looked like they had their first beer ever on the fourth day of college in some weird dark house. Wiggins was a happy man early on in the action. He got to blow by old timer Mike Miller several times. Miller had three fouls in under a minute. Yea, he doesn’t do athleticism anymore. Midway through the quarter, the Cavs had to blow two fast break situations in a row before they finally had one work out where LBJ received a Dion Waiters pass mid air. It was the first throwing down of the hammer for the night and put the Cavs up by five. The Cavs gave Minnesota ten free throw chances during the quarter and six offensive rebounds, but the King’s Men mitigated that with their 3-5 performance from the Q’s parking lot. Cavs ended the quarter up, 27-26.
Second Quarter
Stop, it’s Dion time. In the first three minutes of play, he carried the Cavs on a mini 10-7 run where he mugged Shabazz Muhammad, fed Kyrie, and scored four. Still, the Wolves sort of hung in the game and the paint. They racked up two defensive three second violations in the span of five minutes while the Cavs went on a 9-4 run to get up some, 46-37. The Wolves called a timeout at that point and came back firing capitalizing off of poor gimme misses/ turnovers by the Cavs to be within two at the three minute mark. The Cavs tried to care a little bit and stopped turning the ball over after a timeout of their own; they went on a 12-8 run to finish the quarter ahead, 64-56. LeBron nailed a three from Parma, and he also nailed a pass disguised as a three to Thompson on the last play of the half.
Third Quarter
The quarter opened up with K. Love getting swatted by Thad Young and leaving the floor to have his hand taped in the locker room, actually a not so tragic occurrence after seeing what happened later in the quarter. The next few minutes are very choppy because the stream I was using went wonky, but using a stream is a give and take situation that works out. That makes sense, right? So, the stream gave me the horrific Love injury scare, but it also took away watching Andy go out for the game with an ankle injury. I also missed the Kyrie & LeBron scoring show featuring turnovers/ iso play, and I missed Kevin getting posterized by the man traded for him.
If I was Kevin, I would have just sprinted out of the way. I’d have been mocked, but at least, some photographer wouldn’t make money off my hands protecting my face from another man’s physical attributes.
I finally got a solid picture of the game right when the Cavs were preparing to finish the Wolves off halfway through the quarter. The Good Guys sauntered around exchanging turnovers with the Night Animals until Shawn Marion saw the clock was approaching the 4:20 mark and decided to give people something to get a natural buzz from, a high basket to start a 16-4 run. The Cavs sucked up defensive intensity through some unseen purifying tube in the floor to cause five turnovers from charges, bad passes, and pure intimidation. Their hands got sticky during that process. They had zero turnovers and missed just two shots. Wiggins stole one free throw bucket during the run when the King was called for a blocking foul (even though the King’s feet were set long enough to teach the Matrix proper shooting form). See here. Cavs had the lead going into the fourth, 96-79.
Fourth Quarter
Love opened the quarter with a gorgeous spin move that ended up being an And-1. He lost a defensive rebound two plays later and gave up a layup to Mo Williams. Old Mo Cavalier felt empowered and stole the ball the next Cavs possession but no score resulted. The Wolves got within thirteen; however, the Cavs pushed them back with Kyrie buckets and Dion going hard on fast breaks to get fouled three times. LBJ, Kyrie, and Love were all off the floor with around four minutes left and the team up by more than twenty. The benches were then emptied. My only notes for the rest of the game were: “JJ Junk Time Jump Shot,” “wow, Brendan Haywood is jumping good,” and “Where has young Joey been?”
Gripes
1. The Cavs didn’t really take care of the ball until the big run in the third quarter. They had 17 turnovers for the night, which is unacceptable and led to 22 points. The young Wolves had 18 throw aways, and the Cavs converted just 20 points from them, which brings me to my next point.
2. The King’s Men need to convert their fast breaks. In the first quarter alone, there were four blown ones because the ball got stolen or someone missed a layup. There should be a separate box score stat for percentage of converted fast break points. That was the most disheartening thing about this game for me. The good guys should have won by forty points. It’s as if it took David Blatt 30 minutes to find the part of his notes that mentioned converting points on the break being a solid stategy.
3. The Cavs are toast if they play the Thunder in the Finals. Any athletic guy is blasting by every one of the guards if no pick is involved. Wiggy flashed by everyone on the Cavs, and the help defense didn’t get into the paint fast enough to stop him from scoring without fouling.
4. I feel bad for Anthony Bennett who scored zero points, grabbed three rebounds, had a turnover, dished one assist, and registered five fouls in twelve minutes. That’s a bad line. And, he has the Bennettest of injuries right now, a foot blister. First his asthma, then his tonsils, then his eyes, and now that.
5. Shabazz Waiters. Shabazz was a chucker going 7-17 for 18 points. He’s a little Dion esque shot selection wise.
6. The Cavs coasted offensively and moved the ball a little bit, but they seemed content to play iso ball to score when they really needed to. They had 24 assists, which is one higher then their season average of 23. The Wolves defense is really bad to allow that many assists when they weren’t being looked for.
7. The Cavs got out hustled in the paint. Wiggins would take a shot, and it would be rebounded by a Wolve (Wolf?) who then got an easy basket. Minnesota fought much harder in the paint then the Cavs and earned a lot of easy points that way. That’s going to happen when help defense is out of position and playing catch-up.
Hypes
1. Andrew Wiggins is the real deal Holyfield. He can get into the paint on slower guys and has improved his three point stroke. He was 3-3 from behind the line and looked like a leader to me through his actions.
2. Kyrie had 29 points, three steals, and four assists, and I hardly noticed the points. He is really letting the game come to him. Gorgui Dieng of the Wolves played a similar type game tonight. I didn’t really notice his presence unless he was grabbing offensive boards, but he put up a monster line with 20 points, three steals, 11 rebounds, and four blocks.
3. This was a great Dion game. He had the burst in the second quarter, but then in the fourth quarter he just kept driving relentlessly for free throws on fast breaks. He took some hard hits and earned his 19 points. He even dished the ball out four times and had three steals. If this keeps up, the Cavs might have four players scoring over twenty points a night. He also stared down Jeff Adrien so hard after a foul in the fourth that I thought he was going to make him explode.
4. David Blatt is using the bench smartly. If someone is feeling it, they stay on the floor, and it’s their night. Miller couldn’t hang and got eight minutes as a starter. That’s tough to do, but it’s working for Blatt.
5. Matrix earned some extra burn from coach for his efforts.. Marion played a sound old man game. He didn’t botch any gimme baskets, had three blocks, and started the Cavs mega run in the third.
6. Wiggins may have chopped up the Cavs defense, but the rest of the Wolves did not, shooting just 44.3% over the course of the night. They made 30.8% from three point land, and the Cavs made 50% of their long balls.
News
It’s not looking good for Andy’s foot. He will have an MRI tomorrow according to ESPN; the team fears he may have torn his left achilles. I’m not going to speculate about the players the Cavs may look for to replace the Wild Thing. That’s just bad karma.
Merry Christmas Eve Cavs fans. Be safe and have a wonderful Christmas.
Really disappointed that AV went down. If he can ever recover he should stop playing meaningless minutes during the regular season and save himself for the playoffs. He’s a fragile man and getting older. I’m not surprised that this happened.
That’s the thing about achilles injuries, they can happen to anyone at any time. You could sit Andy the whole season and he could tear his achilles walking up the steps to his house (this actually happened to a friend of mine last year).
While I appreciate the good will the Cavs showed Andy with the three year contract to reward him for his years of service during the Dark Ages, in hindsight given his injury history it was always going to be a dicey proposition.
Question — Would be better off…
a) seeing what happens playing Amundson and Haywood in Andy’s place
b) bringing on this guy to just stand in front of the defensive rim all game while we play four-on-five offense:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/11/13/tallest_man_shortest_man_guinness_world_records_day_celebrated_with_meeting.html
wow—sounds as if the cavs/ celts have been in talks even before andy’s injury —may escalate the talks ( bad part is celts / other teams now have the bargaining power )——here is a hindsight question —where there any serious talks BEFORE andy’s injury involving him in a possible trade ( just curious ) because I would think those trades are now done ( unless a team is trading for his contract
Danny Ainge has to be chuckling to himself at the irony of this situation given how TZ has been playing for his team of late.
Well,the bad news has arrived as he indeed has a torn Achilles.Brian Windhorst delivers the news.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12076383/anderson-varejao-cleveland-cavaliers-torn-achilles
Nobody delivers bad news like Windy.
If AV is done, I think Cavs can survive in short-run with lots of small ball lineups to avoid a panic move. They need another body, they just don’t need to panic and overpay for it.
Small Ball Lineups
KI-DW-Miller-James-TT
KI-Delly-DW-James-TT
KI-DW-Marion-James-TT
KI-Harris-Marion-James-TT
etc.
Can add Amundson in for TT in any of these and just let Amundson play D and rebound.
Oh wait. I forgot above Love!!! Haha. You could add Love into those lineups too.
Geeez I didn’t think you had that big of an aversion to Love
Yeah. That is pretty bad to completely forget Love. Getting old.
The problem isn’t so much with the starting lineup, as TT should be fine. The problem is with finding a serviceable big that can man the second unit. Haywood looks like he’s moving in slow motion. Sweet Lou has hands of stone. I thought they might have something in Capt. Kirk, but he’s been MIA so far.
Marion’s been so much better off the bench. He was shot out of a canon this game. He had more than three blocks. I counted four in the first half. He looked 10 years younger. Dion was also electric. He was like a man possessed on both sides of the ball, and just hounded the ball on defense for the entire game.
Gum drop bear is so sad. Dude might end up being the worst No. 1 pick ever. I could definitely see him out of the league in a year or two. What the hell was Chris Grant thinking?
It’s amazing what guys are capable of when they settle into their expected and defined roles. Has been terrific off the bench, and it’s likely because that’s where he’s best suited at this stage of his career. He looked lost as the starting 2 guard on this team. Same with Dion. Now that he’s embraced and started to adjust to being the sixth man off the bench, he’s playing with fire and increased confidence. Loved watching him bull his way to the basket in the fourth quarter, and he seems to be finishing at the rim with increased regularity. Gum… Read more »
Really bummed about Andy. I said, “That looks like an achilles” when he did. Those injuries always seem to happen with some innocuous step that guys have made hundreds of thousands of times. I’m really hoping it’s something less serious.
So Nate where did Koufos play high school ball? I was raised in the Massilion Canton area and was just curious.
Glenoak. C.J. McCollum too.
Thanks! Wow that brings back memories of playing them, I played a few years at Jackson! Of course that was back when then Cavs were dominant and the Browns were not a joke, class of 85. So does that mean you played In that area as well?
agree with Gregg—are cavs forced to make a ” panic ‘ deal with andy’s injury that they normally would not have made and potentially handicapping them even more for future moves —be nice if haywood could come up big in a reserve mode
I agree nomad. The first thing the cavs need to do is dust off amundson and haywood and see if they can play any minutes at all. Based on our schedule, we should be able to survive in January with those two playing in a rotational role. Hopefully, they play well enough that we don’t have to make a move for anyone. If they don’t, we can hope that the nets or denver continue to tank so we can make a move for Mozgov of Plumlee with the memphis pick and the Keith Bogans Memorial Trade exception. Dion has looked… Read more »
Re: Achilles injury – Isn’t it obvious when you’ve torn your Achilles? If not, the fact that they are even talking about that isn’t good.
Hearing that is a possibility is scary. Not only will it be a huge setback to not have Anderson but I fear we will be forced to make changes and possibly not the changes we would or could make if we weren’t in a dire need situation. Good thoughts coming your way Andy!
” Andrew Wiggins is the real deal Holyfield. He can get into the paint on slower guys and has improved his three point stroke. He was 3-3 from behind the line and looked like a leader to me through his actions.” I was at the game. It seemed like no one really took Wiggins seriously, so he got a bunch of easy looks. I don’t think I ever saw him score in a situation where people were super intense and trying to stop him. He got a bunch of layups and FTs from classic Cavs defensive breakdowns, and made a… Read more »
I guess that is a little strong, but I still think it’s the mark of a good player to capitalize on poor defense and make open shots. The not a leader type stuff people keep saying isn’t as big of an issue now.
I wonder how things would have played out if Embiid was healthy. Do we get Love or does he end up on the Bulls ? Are we a better team either way ? Could we afford a 3 and D wing ? Does LeBron even come back ?
He looked pretty good, especially defensively. Dude has unbelievable range on defense, and his most effective spot as a scorer may be in the post. Cavs had no answers for him there, but they don’t have the greatest post defenders at guard either. This was an above the mean game for him. It will be interesting to see if his improved activity continues.
I think Hot Sauce brings up a good point. I wasn’t at the game (was on the same herky-jerky feed as DW), but from what I could tell, the Cavs weren’t taking Wig seriously because nobody was really guarding him. I was waiting to see if they’d put LBJ on him, but that never really happened. All three of his three pointers were largely uncontested. He’s got a great first step and can really move off the ball, but that’s as advertised. Wig is also playing into the scouting report on him from Kansas in that he’s good when he’s… Read more »
I know, right? One of the weaker 27 pt games this year. Like you, I’d also like to Wig take more contested 3 pointers.
The point is not that a 27 point game isn’t good. The point is that it is not representative of his overall performance or current ability.