Recap: Cavaliers 126, Clippers 121(Or, The Boys are All Grown Up)

The Cavs finished off a Staples Center Sweep with another high scoring affair. With Kevin Love a late scratch with back tenderness, Tristan Thompson rejoined the starting lineup at the power forward spot. LeBron James in his third game since returning from injury(rest) approached a quadruple double. But is was Kyrie Irving who shone the most brightly on an evening full of stars(I might like Billy Crystal more than Jack Nicholson). Transition defense was a rarity as the teams combined for 56 fast break points. Let’s get to it.

1st Quarter: Without the mandatory post touch for Kevin Love, the Cavs were free to start the game how they pleased. J.R. Smith happily drained a deep jumper to get things rolling. The first few possessions featured adequate off ball movement. Any lineup with TT and Mozgov will struggle with spacing. Still, both guys looked for the big to big pass(with varying levels of success). The Cavs continued to struggle on the defensive end. J.J. Redick drilled a left corner three after running through a series of screens. LeBron did nothing to impede Redick’s path when Matt Barnes screened the chasing J.R. Smith. People rightfully lament the Cavs’ pick and roll defense, but they aren’t defending off ball screen action any better. Compounding the problem, DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin dominated the offensive glass in the first half of the quarter.

It wasn’t all bad. The Cavs looked to push for more early offense off turnovers and misses. Not so astoundingly, it led to easy buckets. Kyrie hit a left wing three and a sick layup over Blake Griffin. LeBron hit a nifty scoop crossing the lane. It always bears repeating. Stop walking the ball up and good things will happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6tDMiaB4t0&t=0m48s

Mike Miller was the first off the bench to spell Bron. The offense instantly changed to weave action that flowed into PnR opportunities. Mozgov was the beneficiary as he hit on two straight possessions. He patiently finished a layup after creating space. The following trip he netted a lefty hook shot in the paint. The third time down, Kyrie forced a tough bounce pass that led to a Clippers break. I still enjoyed the Mozgov show, however brief it may have been.

With 2:24 remaining in the quarter, NBA history was made when Doc Rivers subbed his son Austin into the game. Everyone should hope this works out for the Austin mother’s sake. LeBron and Delly checked in for J.R. and Kyrie. LeBron should have immediately gone to the post with Jamal Crawford(or anyone else for that matter) checking him. Instead, James attempted a wild wrap around pass that led to a Blake Griffin breakaway dunk. The Cavs switched to a zone look that didn’t solve much of anything. After one, 33-28 Clippers.

2nd Quarter: The Cavs started the period with Delly, LeBron, Miller, Matrix, and TT on the floor. This unit finally executed a play to get LeBron into the post. The Clippers had no recourse but to foul. Of course on the very next defensive possession, King James was caught napping(he must have been so well rested at this point) and allowed an easy layup to real American hero, Spencer Hawes.

I have a pony tail thing now.

Regardless, the Cavs energy was fantastic. They pushed the ball hard in transition. On one possession, Matrix tossed a bounce pass far ahead of Kyrie, forcing Irving to run. I love when veterans do that. “Here kid, good luck walking that one up!” Kyrie grabbed the ball with pace and nailed a quick three. In all, a 11-1 run forced a Clippers timeout. Out of the pause, J.R. and Moz checked back in. Timofey loves the lefty hook shot. Watching Moz and Jordan compete calls one word to mind. Titans. Those guys are simply enormous. Jordan had a nasty one-handed putback dunk while LeBron caught a few more Zzz’s.

The energy remained, but the execution began to falter. After Moz picked up his second foul, Blatt decided to go with a small lineup of Irving, Smith, Bron, Matrix, and Tristan. Marion and Bron took turns playing PF on defense. Neither guy provides much help defense on the back end. Blake Griffin post touches led to a Chris Paul three pointer, a scary “and 1” dunk against TT and enough gravity to free up Redick. Tristan worked his tail off as the only legitimate bigman. Despite getting torched by Blake on the dunk, his energy and rebounding kept the Cavs going for much of the quarter.

The corner three bugaboo returned. Redick baffled J.R. for his first right corner jumper of the quarter. He followed that with a spot up from the left corner three in transition. Another turnover from LeBron netted Redick a right corner three look. It’s hard to win games if you allow a shooter of Redick’s talent to hoist wide open corner bombs. A bit of late quarter LeIso and the Cavs found themselves down 61-64.

3rd Quarter: The Cavs clearly made an adjustment on off ball screen defense. J.R. and Bron simply switched on any screen involving their guys. James picked off a crosscourt feed for an easy jam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDZQ2CSzNvg&t=1m45s

Both team played at a fast pace. Neither squad had any inclination to get back in transition. Every coach on either bench must have been going crazy as break points accumulated. A nice left drive from LeBron was cleaned up by Mozgov. An early push led to a smooth finish off glass for Tristan. The only possessions of the quarter that didn’t yield positive results were plagued by Iso ball and finished with a turnover. One sequence tidily sums up recent Cavalier play. LeBron walked the ball up. With little left on the clock, he turned the ball over. It was a dead ball turnover, but somehow Chris Paul pushed and scored in under five seconds. Kyrie returned the favor numerous times, but this theme continues to disappoint.

DeAndre Jordan became the center of the universe for the middle portion of the quarter. After a bogus foul sent Timmy Moz to the pine, Jordan had his way around the rim with putbacks and rim rolls. Kudos to J.R. Smith for preventing a huge lob attempt from big DeAndre. Brandon Knight got destroyed for doing the same thing. J.R. made a hard foul and lived through it. After the lead was pushed to seven, Blatt decided to intentionally foul Jordan for as long as he could.

It worked. The big fella wasn’t a disaster from the stripe, but the game slowed down and the Clipps’ lost a bit of their momentum. Intentionally fouling always kills a home crowd. It was a good call.

Kyrie got it going on the offensive end with a total of 12 in the quarter. He dribble drove with power and his jumper was pure. His play combined with Tristan’s energy brought the Cavs back into the game. 31-31 in the third quarter. Defense!!! 95-92 LA.

4th Quarter: Delly, Smith, Bron, Matrix and Timmy M started the frame with solid energy but awful decision making. LeBron quickly recorded his eighth turnover on the evening. In typical King James fashion, he followed that up by taking ten dribbles before nailing a three over Doc Rivers’ boy. James was working hard, but he it wasn’t particularly effective. When Irving checked back in a couple minutes into the quarter, a tiny bit of LeIso went on vacation. Kyrie immediately buried a straight on three. After a steal and a one for two trip at the line, LeBron knocked down another triple for a four point trip. The Cavs were very close to blowing it open on a few occasions. If Marion could finish a bunny in the lane, it might have been over halfway through the period. But alas, LeBron was determined to isolate and make things interesting.

Defensively, the Cavs fought hard. With Bron defending Blake, the level of physicality increased. I much prefer LeBron the power forward on both ends. They got lucky with Jamal Crawford. He missed quite a few open looks that could have altered the course of the quarter. Blake Griffin made a ridiculous up and under. He finished with 34 points on variety of post moves and jumpers. He was strong, but not particularly dominant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kIUtfrRe48&t=5m2s

A three bomb to beat the shot clock pushed the Cavalier lead to 117-107 with 4:35 left. Bron the power forward finally got some touches near the elbow and wonderful things happened. An alley-oop to Mozgov and a wide open jumper without 24 dribbles were the direct result of LeBron fighting for early position instead of coming to receive at 30 feet.

The Clipps clawed back as the Cavs tried to give the game away. The most pivotal play of the game was an inbound with 46 seconds remaining with the Cavs leading 119-115. LeBron was the inbound man in a play designed to free Tristan for a dunk. TT set a screen at the far elbow for Kyrie who came up from the baseline. When Blake shaded toward Kyrie to prevent the inbound, TT moved hard to the rim. LeBron fired him the rock, and Redick was only quick enough to give Tristan an old fashioned three point play. 122-115. Delly hit three of four foul shots down the stretch for a bit of redemption. The Cavs completed the LA sweep.

Thoughts: Mark Jackson was trying his best to become the head coach of the Cavs. He threw lavish praise on LeBron in every imaginable way. He basically blamed Blatt by ripping the team defense without acknowledging that James was the primary culprit in most of the first half breakdowns.

Whether the Mark Jackson or the media want to notice it or not, LeBron James has been an awful team defender this season, and an occasionally crippling offensive decision maker. James completely failed to chuck any roller or off ball screen action until the second half. Much of the first half rebounding woe can be attributed to him being a non-entity. As a rule, he stood and watched the ball flight. No box out. No effort whatsoever. On the offensive end, his over-dribbling and ball-holding are at all time highs. When he gave Kyrie the ball, Bron simply stood 30 feet from the cup doing nothing. That doesn’t hurt a defense at all. He had nine turnovers in this game, and frankly, it seemed like more. He watched Matt Barnes run right by him for an uncontested layup. Actually, there is no point in going through every defensive lapse he had in this game. We don’t have the time.

LeBron is still an incredibly gifted game changer. At his least efficient, he is still a great player. Everyone should have that caveat in his head already. His oop to Tristan was a thing of beauty. His chest past to J.R. on the break was spectacular. But I will continue to point out his amazingly poor decision making as long need be.

Kyrie’s effort on defense was mostly there. He still has the tendency to stop one step short when he chases in PnR defense. He can effect a lob pass if he takes one more step with the ball handler. Kyrie got on the floor in this game. His jumper was sublime. The man dropped 37 points on 18 shots!!! He was absurdly good on the offensive end. Just watch all of this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6tDMiaB4t0

Tristan Thompson had a rough time in the first quarter acclimating to the Clippers size upfront. After, he was beasting. A season high 24 points on only 12 shots and 12 strong man boards only tell part of the story. Tristan’s energy, especially in the small ball lineups was the catalyst for everything good and Cavalier.

Without Kevin Love in the lineup, the Cavs were forced to move LeBron to the four for longer stretches. We have all seen how successful that has been in the past. The team is probably better without Kevin Love. What does that say moving forward?