Recap: Suns 107, Cavs 100 (Or, Effort Is Cool, J.R Smith is too)
2015-01-14
The Suns gave the Cavs solar retinopathy for two and a half quarters from shining so bright. They shot 57% in the first half and kept punishing the King’s Men every single time Cleveland decided that playing defense on pick and rolls was for squares and guys on minimum contracts. Eventually, the Wine & Gold changed their tune; they played a little defense and hit some threes ending the third quarter on an 18-5 to make the game competitive. Markieff Morris led the Suns the whole game and made sure the Cavs still got a little sun burned down the stretch no matter the outcome. He had 35 points on 15-21 shooting to go with 7 rebounds. At the end of 48 minutes, the Suns shot 53%. LeBron James led the Cavs with 33 points, but more importantly, he had some vicious dunks that reminded me of 2010. J.R. Smith had the most timely buckets and shot 8-14 from three to finish the night with 29 points.
I did a running diary for this one. My mood fluctuates like a fifteen year old girl’s.
First Quarter
11:43 LeBron is upping his defensive intensity already; however, the Cavs still give up an open three (that’s missed) from being sucked into the paint to cover post up master Alex Len? What scouting report did they get?
11:02 J.R. Smith requires help defense because he loves staying at the side of his man, and Goran Dragic gets Len an easy layup.
10:44 The Cavs really want to establish themselves in the paint, and feed Timofey Mozgov. Too bad he walks.
10:11 The walking double digit man (LBJ) is active tonight. He gets an easy steal on a Dragic pass. He’s playing the passing lanes and is getting his hands on a lot of stuff. I hope this keeps up.
8:32 Kevin Love shuffles his feet. That’s two travels and two points so far this game. The Suns only have six points though.
7:59 I have to report a throwing down of the hammer, reverse style, by LeBron. However, he follows it with a blown defensive assignment and then a turnover. Still,
7:06 LBJ hits a three all the way from Ohio.
6:37 Kevin Love drains a three. It’s his first one, so this is a great sign. No 2-10 night now. J.R. Smith then gets a steal and LBJ gets to the line. This game is feeling winnable. Is that thought gonna jinx them?
5:35 Love can’t handle the dribbling by Markieff. Oh man, nice fall.
5:11 Yay, blown coverage. What’s going on with the defense? Eric Bledsoe gets an easy layup because no one wants to talk, and say they need help.
4:41 Love is blocked by Len after missing two tip-ins, but Smith steals the ball back and gets the L-Train an easy dunk. J.R. is the man who gets steals for dudes who need redemption.
3:53 This big man Len has good hands. He runs the floor and finishes like a wizard in the paint, magically.
3:30 Good J.R, Good J.R. He hits an open three off of Kyrie’s pass.
3:01 Phoenix is taking it to Love. Markieff Morris scores again from the three line to have nine points.
2:34 And, he scores again. Love needs to be benched. He just gave him the most wide open shot I’ve seen in a while because he was too lazy to rotate back over after trapping. Phoenix is up,16-24.
2:09 That crazy King just hit a turnaround three with the shot clock winding down after reestablishing his position at the three line.
1:24 Markieff Morris scores again. He isn’t this good. 19-28, Phoenix.
0:37 The Wine & Gold now have three travel violations in one quarter. The 2015 Cavs are awesome. Is that a record?. It feels like it.
0:31 PJ Tucker scores a three off a quick pick and roll. This isn’t a once in a while thing. DAVID BLATT NEEDS TO CALL A TIMEOUT AND RAGE. The Suns are shooting 65%.
Second Quarter
11:26 Here’s a great defensive breakdown. The incompetence is impressive. The Wine & Gold make sure to follow it up with an offensive foul to make the ultimate sequence of how not to play basketball.
10:15 LeBron throws up a wild shot and gets bailed out by the refs.
9:56 Matty D is playing defense on Goran. He’s is annoying, but not enough so to force a miss.
9:23 Delly gives up a back door cut to Goran, and then LeBron is down after getting smacked in the the head by PJ Tucker. It’s a wrestling match out there between two soft teams, but I still fear the King might have gotten a concussion between flopping and Tucker’s arm. On a side note, Phoenix has missed just one shot this quarter. They’re up, 31-31.
9:08 LBJ gets called for an offensive foul because someone is hooking his arm. Thompson makes up for the call by stopping a Brandan Wright alley oop the next play.
David Blatt gets put in place by the King for arguing the call and ensures lots of talk for shows in the morning. Mr. Blatt, you don’t know nothing according to the King.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh8N8gL2HdI
8:44 Marcus Morris is making everything right now. Kyrie gets his first points of the night off a goaltended shot.
7:50 Kyrie looks like he is going to get burned by Dragic, but turns it on and forces him to miss a hard layup. He seems like he’s trying to get going. Now, he is jetting up the floor. Nothing happens.
7:11 Is Raja Bell on the Cavs now or something? He’s talking like he is. Just looked it up. He’s “Director of Player Administration.” Who knew? Is that like “Assistant to the Traveling Secretary?”
6:54 Len gets a monster dunk because Love’s lazy as a penguin. Bench love. Seriously, bench him. This is unacceptable.
6:31 Goran steals a pass and the suns are up by ten off 12 points from turnovers, 35-45.
4:44 After three offensive rebounds, the Suns finally throw the ball out of bounds, so the Cavs can have a chance to play offense again.
4:34 Mozgov is an offensive liability. He’s traveled twice and charged once in just under seven minutes of playing time.
344 Great fast break movement off the LeBron rebound. The ball hits the floor just once to get down the court to Love for the layup.
3:22 The Suns get four quick points off in transition, one from running down the court and the other from a turnover. That’s how you get back into the game. Turnovers count for points now, haven’t you heard?
2:24 It’s total defensive chaos, currently. Fortunately, Tucker bricks the open three and the Suns get just a two. Hey, they’re still only up by ten. 43-53
1:28 LeBron drives hard to the basket. He needs to take over right now, or Phoenix is going to have an even more sizable lead going into the half.
I’m enjoying the conversation with Raja Bell more then the game. He’s talking about how he used to flop.
1:14 Love just blocked Len! You have to retire now, Alex. The Cavs actually capitalize, and Kyrie gets the ball down the court quickly to LeBron for a two points.
0:44 Tristan finishes an epic oop when LeBron is doubled.
0:01 LBJ IS BACK. He just followed up a Shawn Marion offensive rebound and miss with a tip dunk. James should be sponsored by Craftsmen because he’s breaking hammers with how he’s throwing them down. Cavs down just eight, 51-59.
The King’s back to his old form sort of.
Third Quarter
11:46 Kyrie hits a shot, finally. It’s a good sign.
11:23 If you shoot against Love, you just score, no matter what. Assistant coach Jim Boylan looks like my uncle and a greasy mob boss at the same time. His coat is giving me motion sickness.
10:15 “It sucks when a pass is whipped at you and you aren’t looking, doesn’t it, LeBron?” That’s Kyrie’s internal dialogue. And, it’s a 12 point Suns lead again.
9:30 J.R. gets a steal and LBJ delivers the pass to a sprinting Mozgov who gets fouled. It’s Mozgov’s first points of the night, and he is still running the floor. I love it.
8:44 Who has PJ Tucker?
8:25 Mozy sort of has hands of steel. They aren’t as bad as Lou Amundson’s though. He also travels again. Where you going big fellow?
8:11 Markieff Morris scores off slow Love movement again with a jumper from 16 feet away.
7:24 8-0 run. This is getting out of hand. 73-57, Suns.
5:44 Great ball movement gets J.R. — some confidence as he drains an open three. Down by just 12.
5:08 Running scoop shots are smart if you want to get back into the game in style. Great miss, Smith.
4:17 And, Markieff scores again. He has 22 points with the layup.
3:50 The Good guys are down 18. Video games are calling me to play. I’ll whoop the Suns on 2K15. Delly will have 30.
2:11 Smith scores another three.
1:45 However, Markieff nails another three. Of course he’s wide open.
1:25 Earl Joseph Smith (J.R.) cancels it out though with a trey of his own.
1:13 Bench the whole team. Isaiah Thomas gets a wide open two from eight feet away. The defense isn’t coherent whatsoever. I don’t even know who was supposed to be covering him.
0:55 Don’t bench Smith, who hits his third three in a row to keep the Cavs within 13. He’s reached lava hot level.
0:10 Thomas walks. The Cavs need to hit a shot to get within ten. Then they would be in a good position going into the fourth quarter. And, if they get the lead cut down to six in the next four minutes…. Oh God, I’ve turned into Austin Carr.
0:05 LBJ sprints down the lane to get the Cleveland PD called on himself for murdering the hoop.
0:01 J.R. Smith gets a steal and nails the three. My crazy man closed fist grunting and weird noises motions have woken the dog. Cavs are back within six, 79-85.
Fourth Quarter
11:29 LBJ does a man move for the layup.
10:29 Great defense on an out of control PJ tucker to force a turnover.
10:02 Shawn Marion hits a runner after passing up a three, and the Cavs are down by just four.
9:27 LeBron drives and hits a reverse layup falling across the hoop to cut the Suns lead to just two. This is classic King stuff.
9:06 TT jumps a mile in the sky to cause Goran to miss a layup.
8:21 The King drills a three pointer to tie the game at 88. I feel it. The Cavs aren’t going to trail the rest of the game.
7:32 LBJ hooks TT up with a hammer sponsorship via an alley opp. Cavs are now up two.
6:45 Big T is trying so hard. He had an offensive board, but Tucker ripped it away. Hey, Kevin hasn’t been on the floor in a while. Oh well.
5:38 Tristan helps on defense with a surprise double team to cause a turnover by Len. Kyrie scores a three off of it. Cavs up one.
5:05 Markieff looks like Hakeem in the post and Dirk from behind the arc tonight. He gets the easy shake and bake for two.
4:40 Thompson says, “take ill advised jumpers Kyrie. I’ll rebound them and score for you.”
2:16 The Good guys are down two, so they don’t run a play and Lebron chucks a three. It’s a miss.
1:52 Morris draws a double team. Len capitalizes and puts away the miss to put Suns up four, 97-101.
1:26 LeBron turns it over trying to cross into the paint and somehow Bledsoe can’t finish the fast break as TT runs him down. Very lucky break for the Cavs.
1:09 Kyrie gets blocked by verticality after slicing to the rim after a Tristan offensive board. Len is in the right place at the right time. After a timeout, the Cavs need to take another one to inbound the ball. That’s disappointing, but at least it isn’t a turnover.
1:04 James Jones throws a terrible pass to LeBron, but Tucker fortunately knocks it out of bounds.
0:51 Old school LeBron makes an appearance, and he hits an and-1 layup driving in from the three line. He’s looking younger every play.
0:26 Markieff iis shut down by LeBron, but Tucker gets an offensive board because no Cavalier boxes out and the game is stopped for a foul. He sinks both free throws to put the Suns up by five.
0:18 And, it’s a foul game now. Tucker drains two shots and the game is over. Suns win, 100-107
Ten Final Thoughts
1. LeBron looked like old LeBron at times tonight. He was getting to the rim almost at will and finished when it really counted. He wasn’t always going above it, but he had two beastly dunks, and before this game, I wasn’t sure that would ever happen again. However, he is still having way too many defensive lapses and sort of staring as guys blow by him.
2. Love needs to really figure out a way to step up his game. He isn’t scoring, and defensively, I have never seen a worse player. He flat out refuses to rotate back after covering a pick and roll. I honestly believe half of the points scored against the Cavs when he was on the floor were against him as a result of a poor rotation or bad individual defense. Kevin should have been benched well before the fourth quarter.
3. Where was Kyrie this game? He played okay defense and didn’t act as a sieve, but offensively, he seemed non existent. He just couldn’t sustain any solid stretches tonight. He had nine points and six assists but eight turnovers. Irving needs to figure out how to play with LeBron again.
4. The Cavs gave up 27 points because of their 19 turnovers. This is a serious issue for them, and if it continues, they will be blown out against top tier teams in the playoffs.
5. J.R. Smith is a shot chucker in the same vein as Dion. He might be even worse; however, check out his shot chart. He takes way smarter shots. His three threes in a row at the end of the third brought the Cavs back into the game.
Defensively, he opens up his stance a lot and tries to force guys to the middle area. Guess what Earl, the Cavs don’t have a Tyson Chandler. 
6. Why didn’t LeBron ever try to cover Markieff Morris? Seriously, he should have been stopped or fouled hard. The Suns were up big and routinely fouling the King with enthusiasm. He should have returned the favor.
7. Why doesn’t James go into the post anymore. He was excellent at times tonight, but I don’t want his go move to involve barreling into the lane and hoping the refs give him shots. First off, this isn’t his second season in the league, and secondly, he isn’t the greatest free throw shooter.
8. Big T came up huge down the stretch. He hustled so much, and even though his 5-5 night for ten points doesn’t seem like much, his points came at the perfect times.
9. The Cavs ended the third quarter on an 18-5 run by causing two turnovers and making shots. They finished the second quarter with a huge LeBron dunk. They are trying at the end of some quarters and just giving up at the end of others or playing sloppily. Their effort and nerves need to become more regulated. Do they need bi-polar medication?
10. Defensively, David Blatt needs to hold these guys accountable. Tonight, no body played well. Everyone blew rotations and stunk it up individually. A lot of this is an effort thing. Blatt should call a timeout and scream at someone for not trying. Maybe guys would fear punishments. It’s really sad to here announcers say your team is in a zone defense, and you know they are just standing that way because they are confused/don’t want to try.
JR Smith hasn’t won since November 22nd.
Haha hilarious stat
Why did Mozgov only get 16 minutes? He only had what, 3 fouls? What am I missing
Just like to say i enjoy reading all your writer’s recaps. Much Much better than the bias feartheswords.
Keep it up!
The Bright Side:
* The bench was only outscored by 1 and most of the bench guys had positive +/-.
* LeBron looked a lot better physically. He was moving freely and had some explosive moves.
Agree with everyone; this team is in a bad way right now. Love’s defense is bad, but I still unfortunately remember watching Antawn Jamison “try” to play defense. It’s hard to pick between the two, but from what I remember, Jamison was and still is the worst defender I have ever seen play for the Cavs
Jamison was certainly tragic. At least he had the age excuse. Cavs fans have been subjected to some pretty horrific defense over the last few seasons.
I’m not quite ready to give up on Love yet. Mainly because of how much we gave up to get him. If you asked me would I pull the trigger on Wiggins, Bennett and a first for Love again, then I’d say hell no. There’s gotta be a way to integrate him into this offense and cover up his defensive mistakes. I’m hoping that getting Mosgov and Shump involved will help with some of these issues. I think Blatt has until all-star break to figure this out.
Love can put up great numbers if a team uses him as a primary usage guy, but a championship will not be won that way.
Defensively, it’s hard to hide a guy who is a “bigman” but not really very big. Many other undersized power forwards were able to survive with superior athleticism. Love has neither the size, quickness, or desire on the defensive end.
Offensively, the Cavs should try to get Love more touches at the elbow. Until LeBron desides that is a good idea, the team and coaching staff is at his mercy.
It does seem at times that when love is involved offensively and is hitting he puts a little more effort, key word little, on the other end.
The defensive effort and attention from LeBron, Love and Kyrie were absolutely infuriating this game. I haven’t been as actively angry watching the team in quite some time. LeBron and Kyrie followed screens lazily hoping for a rebound and leak out. Kyrie has rarely played such lazy PnR defense this season. He was playing like he did last year. Offensively, he was a mess. Maybe he is sick? 8 TOs. LeBron did check Markief in the fourth quarter. It didn’t matter. Morris smoked Bron too. The kid was straight ballin. I loved Dion, but let’s be honest. We never saw… Read more »
Time for Blatt to go. The team is clearly not respecting him. Promote Lue and fire Blatt.
Definitely not. Reeks of panic.
Maybe it does. But if the team is not responding to its coach and the team is full of top NBA players like Love, Irving, and LeBron, then you change coaches.
It would be one thing if he was showing great tactical genius or was a proven commodity, but he isn’t. It could be that Blatt is a great head coach but that this situation just got the best of him.
When they continue to play the same under Lue, do we fire him and promote Drew, all the way down to to AC?
See what I mean? Even Cols is starting to panic…
It’s so frustrating to watch Love on defense. He never bothers to challenge a shot, not even put his arms up. So basically every jumper against him is unchallenged. Teams with a stretch four (like the Suns) exploit that all night.
The team is a hot mess right now, and let’s be honest. The Cavs shouldn’t even have been in this game. How often is J.R. Smith going to go 8-14 and single handedly get Cleveland back in the game? Did anyone think to set up some plays for him? No.
Would be nice if someone ran plays. I hear Mo Williams dropped 52 and is on an expiring. Let’s get the 2010 band back together! Kidding…sort of.
Mo Willie’s big night help offset Kyrie’s abysmal performance on my fantasy team (much to DW’s dismay most likely).
blatt is bringing ” HOT PANTS ” back into style—he has got to be feeling the heat / not saying it is all his fault but when you have a season like this the coach is 1st to go —–jones needs to be waived and become ” LeBron’s full time housekeeper / gardener “—might take miller with him to assist in his duties—do we go get a NAME COACH if we make a change or hand it over to lue– if we lose to the lakers it could happen real soon
It seems that, as Watcher 0000 correctly noted, the reason why the Cavs lost was solely because of Delly…
At least that is what I have assumed based on all messages posted in the last 3 weeks (Cols I’m looking at you).
Maybe a lack of a commitment to defense, minimal team chemistry and an unwillingness to sacrifice for the team have something to do with it.
And K-Love would be stupid to resign long term if things don’t turn around in the next month. His reputation is getting killed with each game he plays.
It truly is amazing how K-Love in the past two months has gone from top 10 player in the league -> All-Star with a few warts -> Jesus Christ could you pretend to defend somone -> Noooooooooooo Wiggins for three -> So uh, is Draymond Green in play -> Can we rename the Louisiana Purchase to the Lovesiana Purchase.
There is no explanation for it. I always seemed to hear when he was in Minny that he was a prideful guy, I’m not seeing it so far in Cleveland, for better or for (mostly) worse.
Yes let’s give up on a guy halfway through the season. EvilGenius never said anything about saying the word PANIC.
I actually have railed against the use of the word “panic” in the past (mostly when Cols continually misused it). However, if there was a time to start panicking (if indeed you make the choice to get physically or mentally worked up about a group of millionaires playing a game for a billionaire), now would be the time to start. This is not the first month, they are halfway through January… nearly halfway through the season… almost to the ASB. They have new guys, old guys but mostly guys who don’t (or won’t) play defense. They have injuries, but so… Read more »
Is not winning it all a failure for the year? Not arguing just curious of what your and others expectations are for the year. The media surgut a championship as the measuring sitcom and I think it was never truly realistic for first year. We did beat all the top teams in the east earlier this year so I still have hope we will turn the corner yet again and get more continuity. I might have to watch those games just so I don’t forget it.
I think you meant “measuring stick,” but “measuring sitcom” is highly appropriate. Sometimes autocorrect is an awesome thing… I didn’t expect them to win a championship this year. Hoped for in my wildest off-season dreams? Sure. But my only real expectation was to be entertained by this team in a way that would wash away the last four years of fairly agonizing basketball. That’s not a lot to expect I think. Realistically, I guess I thought they’d at least be one of the top teams in the weak-but-getting-stronger EC, and that they’d get to the playoffs and make a strong… Read more »
Thanks evil! Sounds like realistic expectations other than performing like Miami! They had a winning culture already we certainly do not. I am as frustrated as you are about lack of entertaining performances but am hopeful this will correct. But maybe I am being foolish!
It’s not foolish to root for the best to happen. It’s only foolish to have blind faith about it. Clearly LBJ wasn’t either in the best shape or even more injured than he let on previously. He said as much in his comments before the game. Clearly, the Penguin’s issues on defense are a whole lot more problematic close up than they were at a distance on a losing team in Minny. Clearly, Blatt (while not a rookie in the true sense) seems overwhelmed in his first real experience in the NBA. Clearly, he doesn’t know how best to utilize… Read more »
I am observing the perception rather than my own view of the reality but either way clearly there is a problem.
Didn’t watch this one but from the recap and opposing PF massively leading scoring for Phoenix I’m assuming this was another stellar game from the penguin.
Oh, and by the way, anyone who uses the word “relax” in a post from now on should expect to receive a Frankie Says R-E-L-A-X t-shirt from me in the mail along with a picture of my extended middle finger. Just kidding…. sort of ;)
#RetireEveryLameAsseXuse
The Suns haven’t lost to a bad team in over a month. Understandable that this dysfunctional bunch would lose even with James.
Nice recap DW. I felt the same way as you, difficult not to have a wildly fluctuating mood during the course of this game. The most positive things to takeaway were that LBJ was back and looked at least a little like his old self, and that the group on the floor towards the end of the third and start of the fourth fought tooth and nail (finally) to get back into this game (special shout out to Earl who did his best 1995 Reggie Miller impersonation at the end of quarter 3). The negative: if you were one of… Read more »
So Delly played 4:43 and was plus 3. I assume it was all his fault again….