The Point Four-ward: Just The Most Recent One

Four points I’m thinking about the Cleveland Cavaliers…

1.) Professional athletes have a fickle relationship with the term “statement game.” They don’t like it.

Well, that is, they don’t like it unless they do.

Most of the time, players will give statements like this one by LeBron James following the Cavs 127-94 victory over the Dallas Mavericks:

“It’s just the most recent [game]. Obviously, we played a great game. The best thing about tonight is we played a complete, 48-minute game. We pushed the tempo, we shared the ball, we defended, it was a great game for us.”

Just the most recent game.

James usually downplays the relevance and severity of both wins and losses. It’s a strategy born of equal parts “live in the moment” and “I’m not going to say anything you can use against me.” I get it. “It’s just another game” isn’t the most fun sound byte — and that’s exactly the point.

Still, over the past six weeks in which the Cavs have transformed themselves from train wreck to legitimate contender, their play has said the exact opposite. They play like they want the rest of the league to know that they’ve finally arrived at the party and that, come mid-April, they will be ready to dance with the best there is… whichever team that might be.

James grabbed headlines with his feisty play against the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets, teams that happen to feature MVP front-runners on their respective rosters. Before that, it was the Cavs winning streak that doubled as a healthy dose of revenge against teams responsible for some of this season’s most embarrassing losses.

Now, it’s a tough four game road trip against the Mavericks, Spurs, Magic and Heat where the Cavs can strengthen both their road game bonafides and their hold on the second seed in the Eastern Conference.

For James, it was just “the most recent one.” But, Kyrie Irving, opened his hand a bit more in admitting:

Last night’s Lone Star Statement started the Texas two-step off on the right foot. QUOTES: http://t.co/6wyg5O427k pic.twitter.com/JYY13uonVn

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 11, 2015

Irving sees this trip, correctly so, as a chance to measure themselves against two more Western Conference playoff teams and for the team to shore up some of the stagnation that had begun to creep into their offense over the past week or so. Both of those goals were more than met in the Cavs’ mashing of the Mavs.

2.) Last Saturday’s home game finished off a brutal four-games-in-five-nights stretch for the Cavs, one that included road games against the East’s top two teams (at the time), Atlanta and Toronto.

Toronto, now losers of four straight, has dropped to fourth in the East while the Cavs have claimed a 1.5 game lead over third place Chicago. Even so, it was far from a cakewalk four-in-five for the wine and gold.

That stretch also featured a steady erosion of the team’s high level of play: a slew of turnovers by James, Kevin Love shooting almost exclusively from three-point land and as ISO-heavy an offense as Cavs fans have seen since the team began consistently winning six weeks ago. It was clear that the team needed some practice time almost as much as it needed rest.

The Cavs had Sunday off, then practiced on Monday. The payoff of both was clear on Tuesday night.

Love took 11 of his 17 shots from inside the arc, as the team looked to get him looks near the basket. The Cavs not-a-stretch-four was happy to oblige. And when he was used to space the floor, he did more than just shoot. One of my favorite plays came with around three minutes left in the first quarter, when Love received a pass beyond the arc, held it for a moment to make sure the defense wasn’t laying off the shot, then zipped a pass to a cutting James for an easy lay-in.

James returned the favor in the third quarter. Their roles now reversed, Number 23 hit a cutting Love for an easy bucket on a very similar play.

This is the kind of off-the-ball movement that hadn’t been happening recently and it’s a wrinkle to the Cavs offense that they must continue to work on in advance of the playoffs.

3.) Of course the Spurs would start playing well leading up to Thursday night’s game against the Cavaliers in San Antonio.

The Spurs, who have struggled with injuries to Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard off-and-on throughout the year, are currently seeded seventh in the loaded Western Conference. But the defending champs have won six in a row coming into their matchup with the Cavs. Leonard has been steady, growing into his role as the team’s centerpiece of the future, but it’s Parker starting to look like his old, difference-making self again that has contributed the most to getting the Spurs recent surge.

After seeing his scoring average dip to a season-low 12.5 points (on 39.6% shooting from the field) during the month of February, Parker has averaged 25 points (and 64.6% FG) in the still-young March, including knocking in 32 against the Bulls on Sunday with shots like these:

That 7-9 at the rim could be of particular concern for the Cavs.

Although the team’s rim protection has improved, protecting the paint can still be an issue for these Cavaliers when Timofey Mozgov sits. If Parker is in attack mode and his shots are falling, another Mozgov-less fourth quarter could be a long one for the wine and gold.

4.) For those of you hoping to meet a Spurs team at less than full strength after Tim Duncan suffered a hyper-extended elbow in Tuesday night’s win over the Toronto Raptors, think again. While the Spurs will no doubt continue to play this one somewhat close to the vest, right now all indications are on Duncan being available.

“I think he will be OK,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. “I think, but I don’t know. We’ll see.”

That’s some vintage Popovichian clarity, right there…