Game Recap: Cavaliers 101, Kings 90(Or, We all Kevin Love Mr. Smith)

The last time the Cavaliers played the Sacramento Kings, they were in the midst of a five game losing streak. GM David Griffin had just pulled the trigger on the second part of the mid-season roster overhaul to acquire Timofey Mozgov. The new look Cavs were without LeBron. After a solid first quarter, they got absolutely hammered. “My how things have changed” is an overused phrase, but it is certainly applicable here.

Friday night, the Kings came to Quicken Loans Arena the losers of seven straight, while the Cavaliers were riding a post shower high, winners of eight in a row. LeBron James was listed as doubtful until shortly before the tip with his sore shooting wrist. With ‘Bron deciding to give it a go, Coach Blatt had his entire roster with which to work. What followed was a methodical beat down.

1st Quarter: The Cavs got into the books when LeBron James stole a lazy pass on the wing and took it home for the breakaway jam. James gave Cavalier fans a bit of a Shawn Kemp flashback, as his soft slam protected his right wrist by literally throwing it down through the hoop. The next trip down, Kevin Love sunk the first of his seven opening quarter field goals off of nice baseline screen action with LeBron. Kevin’s little jump hook in the lane has been strangely flat for for most of the season, but he started the game with a feathery touch.

Defensively, the team was active, but there were lapses in focus. First time All-Star C (everything, really, he plays PG for that team too) DeMarcus Cousins hit Gay for a backdoor dunk against LeBron. There were some communication issues between LeBron and Kyrie that led to an easy layup. Kyrie overplayed on the high side assuming that LeBron would cut off anything toward the baseline. ‘Bron stayed plastered on Gay (probably worried about another jam) and gave Darren Collison a free path to the bucket. Kyrie was too quick to overplay and Bron should have helped. It happens.

The energy level from the team was fantastic. Kyrie had a pure heart and effort rebound when he hustled from the right corner to grab a floor rebound, pushed it in transition and hit J.R for a layup. LeBron was supremely active despite the fact he was clearly playing with only his left hand. He hit T Moz for an And-1 with a sweet bounce pass off pick and roll action. Mozzy is a beast rolling to the rim. His hands aren’t as ridiculously good as Andy Varejao’s, but the big Russian is certainly no slouch. The bounce pass is often open as the defense looks to defend the lob.

After a mini run from the Kings, Kyrie hit a cherrypicking layup. The Kings took a shoe timeout for Rudy Gay down by a bucket. After the pause, a nice ball swing from J.R. Smith found Love for a right wing three.  A couple possessions later, Kevin flared right off PnR action from Kyrie to bury another three pushing the lead to eight. After dropping 55 in the previous game, one wouldn’t be surprised if Irving took a few heatchecks. Instead, Kyrie was actively targeting Love when possible.

LeBron, as has been standard over the last couple weeks, got his mid-quarter rest. Tristan checked in at the 3:20 mark for Moz. The Smith/Love show simply continued. Kevin moved well off the ball to establish deep position. He finished with strength around the rim and off shot fakes. In all, Love finished the quarter with sixteen points on 7-9 shooting. That’s better. After one, 30-20 Cavs.

2nd Quarter: Tristan, Bron, Smith, Shump, and Delly started the second frame. LeBron was called for a travel for one of his six turnovers on the night. His right wrist clearly affected his dribble. The small ball lineup didn’t capitalize on some good shots off ball swings. Defensively, the lineup was a terror. J.R. Smith was incredibly active on the defensive end. He has been an underrated defender for most of his career, but his effort level and off ball hustle were absolutely astounding. He properly chucked the roll man. He boxed out. With J.R. Delly and Shump, the Cavs hounded the Kings with well timed double teams. Had the refs not baled the Kings out on a few occasions, the defensive numbers would have further backed up the eye test.

J.R. got a lightening fast catch and shoot three to fall from the right wing to push the lead to 35-22. Kevin Love checked back into the game at the 9:47 mark. The Kings somehow thought Omri Casspi had a chance of defending Love. The Cavs didn’t convert as effectively as they would have liked with the mismatch, but Love drew fouls to put the Cavs in the bonus with 6:03 remaining in the quarter.

Rudy Gay did give the Kings something to cheer about with a sick baseline jam past a snoozing LeBron. It was one of the few easy trips for the Kings. Kevin Love continued to stick his nose in the action on the defensive end. Kev also searched out Timmy Moz anytime the Cavalier center had his defender helplessly buried under the hoop. The highlight of the quarter came when Love hit LeBron for his second Kempian slam. Despite a lucky banked three ball at the buzzer, Cleveland held the Sacramento to 35% shooting. The Cavs headed to the locker room with a 55-44 advantage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ7BE-TnhC8

3rd Quarter: J.R. Smith continued his solid play by knocking the ball away from Boogie Cousins in the post. LeBron found Moz for a nice alley oop that didn’t come off PnR. Having a man that size has drastically changed how opposing teams defend. It is difficult to overload too strongly when the opposing big can catch an oop on the weakside without a running start. The offense did stagnate a bit after the strong first half movement. Both Kyrie and LeBron took more dribbles in the first five minutes of the quarter than they had in the entire first half(stats approximate). Love tried to go all Omar Vizquel by catching a rebound with his right hand in the air and firing it up to LeBron in one motion. It didn’t quite make it there and LeBron missed the subsequent three ball attempt, but I applaud the effort.

With 5:09 left in the period, Timofey yelled an emphatic “Njet, nje abijai mna!”(approximately, No, don’t insult me!) to Rudy Gay after stonewalling Cousins in the post. It was a catalyst for subsequent energy. Love and Smith straight dominated for the next few minutes, hitting threes and playing healthy buddy ball. My favorite play of the game was this repost for an And-1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pjmLjPcgTE&t=5m10s

J.R. could have easily fired up a three there, but he chose to feed the big fella down low. This came directly after Earl picked Sessions’s pocket for one of his four steals. The game felt over after this sequence. LeBron got some jumpers to finally fall and found Shump for a three bomb to close the quarter. 86-65.

4th Quarter: Blatt sent out TT, Matrix, Bron, Shump, and Delly to start. The Cavs went with a 3-1 PnR with Delly setting the pick for the first few possessions of the period. Delly set nice screens and LeBron was able to get into the paint. His handle was still suspect with the wrist, but it yielded positive results. James had another highlight in transition when he went around the back for the finish. With 7:31 left trailing 92-75, the venerable Ty Corbin emptied his bench. The Cavs let the scrubs pull within 12 before LeBron checked back in with under four minutes left to seal it. The real story of the fourth quarter was the mini emergence of Iman Shumpert. For the first time as a Cav, Iman’s energy on the defensive end was coupled with some aggression going to the hoop. He had a number of strips on the evening, and his energy to close the game prevented the Kings from sniffing an upset.

Thoughts: The Cavs played great team ball. Other than the mentioned stretch in the third quarter, the guys were really searching out their teammates for easy buckets. Kyrie looked for Love. Love looked for Mozgov and on and on. That type of dedication to ball movement should be a staple of a team with this passing talent. It’s nice to see.

Defensively, the conservative approach on the back end continues to free the guards to be more aggressive on ball. Kyrie wasn’t the same defensive force he has been in recent games, but he was solid. The Kings don’t run a lot of PnR with Collison, so Kyrie wasn’t asked to do as much. The weakside wing defense was strong other than the occasional LeBron nap.

Kevin Love was fantastic. His first quarter scoring was encouraging because it came within the flow, but it was still a Love-centric offense. Basically, he wasn’t being force fed, but he wasn’t only settling for jumpers either. His work to get the Cavs in the bonus early in the second quarter was big. His communication on defense continues to improve.

J.R. Smith!!!!!! J.R. had an absolutely marvelous floor game. His off ball work on both ends of the floor cannot be praised enough. When he “gets his” he does so very quickly as to not stall the offensive flow. From his catch and shoot game, to diving for loose balls, I wrote at least 10 positive things in my notebook for J.R. His clear enjoyment of the game can also not be overlooked.

LeBron played most of the first half with one hand. He didn’t over dribble and he moved the ball around. He used most of his energy on the defensive end. I like one-handed LeBron.