Recap: Cavs 114, Heat 88 (or, There Is No Spoon…)
2015-04-03The Cavs took on the Heat tonight in the fourth and final meeting of the regular season. If it does come to pass that they wind up meeting again in the first round of the playoffs, this particular face-off should resonate as the one where LeBron got past the supposed mental block of facing his good friend Dwayne Wade and his former team (by realizing they are only dangerous if he believes they are).
Granted, DWade only participated in 13 minutes of this contest, due to a particularly nasty slip and fall in the second quarter, but LBJ was operating without the help of Kevin Love (bad back) and with an under the weather Kyrie. Any residual weirdness or loss of focus on Bron’s part might have sent him deep down the rabbit hole. However, his new teammates came up big in this one to help him free his mind from the head games of his old ones. He ironically didn’t even need any help from The Matrix (who was a DNP-CD for this one).
Here’s how it all went down…
[Editor’s Note: Cavs: The Blog aficionado (and actual baller) Elijah Kim (EK) was our scout/mole for tonight’s game – giving us an inside look at the action beyond our glowing screens from deep, DEEP in the Q. His observations and game pictures from a few rows behind the Heat bench appear throughout. Thanks to Tom Pestak for coordinating and compiling all of Elijah’s awesome contributions!]
DWade looks intense in warm-ups.
Pregame Thoughts:
EK: “One thing to note in warm ups. Luol deng looks a little gimpy. A good opportunity to take care of a gimpy squad.” (Deng finished a game-worst -23).
EK: “D Wade mean mugging tonight. You know he is going to be good. Averages over 31 ppg vs Cavs. 21 ppg vs everyone else.”
First Quarter:
With KLove not available due to his achy back, JFJ got the start at the four and quickly lit up his former running mates with an early strike deep in the Q! Off a JR miss (his first three threes were off target), Luol Deng heaved the ball to a wide open DWade for the runout layup, and The Flash looked good early. The Walker Formerly Known As Bill hit a deeep three, but Kyrie quelled the excitement with a special delivery lob to Moz for a dunk that nearly annihilated the rim.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTUw7o0zyHI
You’re next, Logo…
Hassan Whiteside then showed why he’s a beast (even with a hand wrap) with a double-tap tip in, but JFJ took advantage of Henry (Don’t Call Me Bill) Walker’s clear lack of Beverly Hills Cop knowledge, and paid some homage to KLove with the banana in the tailpipe move for three free ones. DWade then got a generous foul call on what looked to be a travel, but nearly five minutes into the game LBJ finally hit the bucket that vaulted him past Patrick Ewing and into the top 20 all-time scorers in the NBA (next up… The Logo… Jerry West).
Whiteside rim grab.
DWade continued his early hot shooting, but JR answered with a three of his own to force a Miami timeout. During the timeout, TNT replayed LBJ’s interview about his propensity to call his own plays. (Meanwhile, Deep in the Q EK notes: “Everyone seems to be locked into the timeout for the Cavs.” — Surely this must be in jest…). Out of the timeout Bron clearly called out the audible “Omaha” and hit a sweet lefty hook before blocking a Beasley shot, running the break and dishing to JR for another SWISH from deep. After another Whiteside rack attack, the Cavs went on a 7-0 run before running into turnover issues, and a Dragic three ended the spree. Delly then convinced Leon Wood to overturn a third turn (EK: “Delly just got a ref to reverse a call. If he could just stop turning the ball over.”).
On the last possession of the quarter, Delly missed a three, but Shump zipped in to grab the board and nailed a buzzer beater to end a high scoring quarter. Cavs up 34-27.
(EK related this during the TV timeout between quarters: “Touching moment in the Q. Soldier came back from deployment in the Moondog outfit. Today was towel night so everyone could wipe their tears.”)
Second Quarter:
“They’re in a great flow. They don’t even notice us out here right now… That’s got to change. They’re on their way to 140 points…” — Coach Spo in post-first quarter interview.
Shump picked up where he left off with a three then a steal. LBJ then hit an old-fashioned three point play, looking pretty locked in and showing no effects of Heat inspired mental strain. Cavs got a bit sloppy with the ball leading to some Heat steals and runouts. Chalmers almost got another and went into the floor seats. CWebb joked that he might get a kick in the forehead. CWebb then gushed about the subsequent Delly to TT high handoff lob play and how deadly it is with all of the potential options it gives the Cavs to score (hard to disagree with that assessment). Then LBJ showed no mercy on his pal DWade when he intercepted him fired a rope to TT on the fly who dunked it home with authority!
Kyrie with the left handed swoop!
With the Cavs defensive intensity turned up to 11 this quarter (EK observes: “This is a very intense game. Kyrie is barking orders defensively.”), the Heat fell further and further behind following an LBJ buzzer beater fadeaway, a bounce pass to Moz for a dunk and then Kyrie nailing a SICK left handed floater! Cavs up by 18!
On the next possession, DWade’s foot slipped out from under him and he went down in obvious pain. Cavs took advantage of the 5 on 4 and Shump hit a three on the other end. (DWade would walk off under his own power, but would not return.)
Whiteside threw down another dunk before Shump drained another three (the man with the hair was lighting it up all night). Delly and TT were both going hard on D, and TT regularly out-hustled everyone for rebounds. Delly then had a rough shot attempt that went completely over the rim, and the Cavs seemed to get out of rhythm a bit towards the end of the quarter. They allowed Dragic to go off a bit, but then Delly gave him a hard foul on a break. (EK observed and overheard: “Foul by Delly has irked Dragic. Asked for a flagrant.”)
Not leading the huddle: Tyronn Lue.
During the next Cavs timeout Tom asked EK to observe and report more of the goings on:
“In the latest timeout, everyone’s best friend, Mike Miller, chummed with the guys before Blatt came to show some things on the white board. Blatt seems somewhat animated.”
“LeBron went straight to Blatt to talk to him about this next play. “
Aside from some LBJ free throws though, Miami ripped off a 9-2 run to end the half, after the Cavs failed to score on either end of a two for one situation. (According to EK: “Kyrie and LeBron got into a very animated discussion as they entered halftime. I think it regarded the time left on the clock, forcing LeBron to chuck a shot.”) The Cavs still finished the half up 61-50.
Third Quarter:
The quarter started with a flourish as both Kyrie and Bron hit threes. But the Heat were still moving the ball well (and shooting 55% to this point), and answered with Whiteside and Deng layups in the paint. Then it was Kyrie’s turn to takeover with a tough layup, followed up by a steal and breakaway layup and then one more off of a shake and bake move just for good measure. (At one point EK noted: “LeBron told JR to pressure Tyler Johnson and force him left which caused a layup for Kyrie.”).
Deng ended the fun with a three, then Whiteside nearly ripped the rim down before a Dragic three to cut the lead back to 10 as the Heat went on an 8-2 (partially fueled by a little too much LeISO). However, Kyrie wasn’t going to let the ghosts of Heat teams past catch up to LBJ and get inside his dome. He came out of a timeout firing with a three, then raced full-tilt from baseline to baseline and kicked it to Shump for another strong J. Unfortunately (for Tyler Johnson’s windpipe) Tyler Johnson caught a TT elbow right in the throat. Basket counted, but foul on TT. (I asked EK if Johnson flopped, but he had a much better view and said: “Elbow straight to the neck.”)
Johnson recovered enough to hit a three, but Shump was feeling it and rose up for another long two. At that point Ian Eagle referred to Iman as “6’5… 6’9 with the hair…”
Moz just missed assassinating the rim once again, then the Cavs let Miami get close again with back to back dunks. At that point, LBJ had had enough and started an 8-0 run to end the quarter with three the hard way. TT then executed a MONSTER SLAM off the Delly high handoff!
(Tom asked EK what the reaction was from the crowd at the Q… he responded with: “It was explosive. There was such a shock on the TT dunk. It was the highest cheer basketball related. The soldier was still number one.”)
Beautiful. Cleveland basketball is back!
A JR three off of a great pass from Bron capped off the scoring flurry, and put the Cavs lead back up to 19… 91-72.
Fourth Quarter:
The Cavs were just about to garbage time, although Coach Blatt was still on guard against a let down, so LBJ and JR stayed in to salt things away. LBJ grabbed his own miss and flipped it up and in. After a questionable offensive foul on Shump (EK:”JR after the Iman offensive foul: “quit being a b**** Mario”) and Deng layup cut the lead back to 17, Blatt called a quick timeout (most likely to call some plays for Delly given what transpired the rest of the quarter).
After he missed a three, Shump made a terrific steal, then the ball swung around for a Delly Trey! Bron decided to body up Whiteside and tied him up for a jump ball that Kyrie chased the length of the court with the great effort to save. Then the thunder from down under struck again! Cavs were up 23 and it was almost time for Coach Spo to empty the bench.
After guarding Whiteside some more, LBJ decided to end his time on the floor for this game with his own mind game… delivering a shiver move on Dragic and sending his own version of a message to the pesky guard. Bron went to the bench with 4:30 to go, and the lead safely in hand. Garbage time was well and truly under way when AngrySmurf got a Matrix-style, “bullet time” And One. Then Joe Harris dished it underneath to Perk for another one!
Bored, Eagle and CWebb started discussing the possible narrative of the prospect of having two rookie head coaches play each other in Finals in Blatt and Kerr (Wonder how hard that narrative will be flogged between now and the Finals).
Then WALLABY DAMNED… Delly went nuts in the last minute and hit two more threes to end his night 4-5 from deep in the Q with 14 points! Cavs win 114-88.
The Evil:
Not a ton to complain about in this one. The Cavs’ lead was double digits for most of the game after the first quarter, and once DWade went out with his injury the outcome really never seemed in doubt.
The Cavs got a little sloppy with the ball with 14 turnovers, but it wasn’t egregious.
There was one stretch in the middle of the third quarter when the Heat made their 8-2 run off of a few LBJ ISO sets, but the shooting and attacking of Kyrie erased that danger fairly quickly.
Already minus Bosh, and losing DWade after 13 minutes of play, the Heat were a whole lot less dangerous than in previous match-ups. That said, this team that has presented a bit of a mental block for the King in past games, doesn’t seem to be much of a threat at all. They may be lucky to make the playoffs at all if Wade is out for any length of time.
KLove had to sit this one out with back issues. Hoping that clears up before the playoffs.
The Genius:
All of the regular starters played well and played together in this one. The only minus in the starting lineup was JFJ, but he wasn’t awful or too much of a liability filling in for KLove.
LBJ for the most part looked like he finally realized that there was no spoon, and seemed more at ease in this third showdown with his pal DWade (DWade missed the last game at the Q). He also seemed to relax once he passed the great Patrick Ewing. He had a very well-rounded game with 23/8/7 with three blocks, a steal and only three turnovers.
Kyrie was the difference in the third quarter. At one point he either scored or assisted on 7-8 of the Cavs baskets in the period. His barrage coming out of the timeout when the Heat had managed to claw back within striking distance was key.
Shump had maybe his best game as a Cav, scoring 17 points on 50% shooting from the floor (and from downtown), with four steals, three rebounds. He was a high-top +28 for the game.
Moz and TT held down the middle and almost seemed to take turns trying to outdo each other in tearing down the rim. TT was an absolute animal on the glass with 15 boards in 29 minutes, and his one handed oop slam from Delly was downright vicious!
Delly’s passing was pretty good all game (four assists), but he went to a whole new level in the fourth quarter when he started raining threes. Good on ya, mate!
Even AngrySmurf was able to score a point a minute in his glacial manner… and grabbed two boards to boot.
Adam Silver in the house! Very friendly. Got a selfie with him.
And last, but certainly not least, our guest contributor from Deep, Deep in the Q, Elijah Kim did an awesome job of providing some sideline quality insights into what exactly was happening in the heat of the game (and the heat of the huddle). From his perspective, it certainly seemed like Blatt had the team’s full attention. He also was able to score this AWESOME selfie with a certain Commissioner (no it wasn’t Attenweiler…). Thanks for all of the great input EK!
Final Thought:
The Cavs and LBJ not only got a good mental and physical win over this Heat team, they also effectively knocked them down a peg to the eighth seed. Anyone who was worried at all about LBJ getting weird when facing Miami, should feel better after this game. Sure, a playoff game in Miami might still be a little more challenging, but not nearly as much as it may have seemed only a week ago after the loss in Miami.
And if you happened to miss Tom’s Talking Cavs Podcast with Mark Neal since it was tacked onto the Live Thread at the last minute… Here it is again for your convenience… Enjoy!
https://soundcloud.com/dayton-radio/tom-pestak-4-2-15
I just went back and watched the Draft Express scouting video of Anthony Bennett. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Obviously, the real Anthony Bennett was abducted by aliens. He looked very much like a first pick in the draft. If the Cavs had the guy in the video we’d be spoken about as one of the best teams of all time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fmWXFy5amI&feature=player_embedded
THANK YOU!!!!
Watching Draft Videos of Bennett – he was a BEAST
He looked like Charles Barkley. He moved, had advanced skills, and was physically dominant. Just don’t know what happened to him. Good kid. I feel really badly for him.
I think he’s just soft. It hurt him getting drafted #1, because I think even he was surprised. He doesn’t have any confidence and doesn’t really believe in himself as the guy in the NBA. I haven’t watched much of the Wolves this year so it’s difficult to judge his play. But from what I’ve seen he’s looked fairly pathetic (don’t worry that $5 million a year rookie deal will dry those eyes). I think having KG around may toughen him up. And sometimes bigs take awhile to get it. But thank god he’s not our project to wish better.
Most of it was against the mountain west…
King James! Without Love playing, LeBron was forced to go where he is the most destructive force on the planet. The mid to low block! I love everything that comes from LeBron pounding down low. There is no LeIso down there. Just LeDominate. From the block, he can pick score or pass out to wide open shooters. People cut and move. There are off ball screens. It is impossible to guard. This was my favorite LeBron game in quite some time. TT, Moz, and Bron as big men were dominant. Whiteside still made some nice plays, but the Cavs big… Read more »
Agreed Ben Werth. That was one of my favorite LeBron games of the year. Speaking of the dominant big men . . . has anyone else noticed that the Cavs are the more physical team most games these days? TT is much tougher this year. Mozgov, JR, SHUMP all have a toughness about them. Loved it when LeBron knocked Dragic down towards the end. Last year Dragic just kept coming at the Cavs. His energy and relentlessness beat us down. Last night, Dragic was worn down before the end of the 3rd quarter. Kyrie and Delly gave him no space… Read more »
That was funny when Chris Webber said,” Lebron saying take some of that with you” when they showed him giving Dragic that shove. It looked like a payback for when Dragic did it to Delly. I love how this team looks out for Delly.
It was implied it may have been a reason Lebron wanted to stay an extra minute in the game. LoL
Yeah, he can make hook shots (even awkward looking lefty hooks), spin and get to the rim, nail cutters. I think we’ll see more of that in the playoffs, and he doesn’t do it all the time because he doesn’t want to bang away in the post every night for an entire season. I don’t blame him. And like Nick P said above, Kyrie and LeBron in the pick-and-roll could spell trouble for opponents. If they make the mistake of switching, all of a sudden LeBron can slide to the post while being guarded by a PG, and Kyrie’s man… Read more »
The Wade-LeBron PnR was devastating, even with Wade’s limited shooting range, so there’s a good chance that the Kyrie-LeBron PnR could evolve into something truly horrifying.
Love isn’t himself this year, mostly (IMO) because of nagging injury, but his versatility in a PnR should also eventually have opposing coaches shitting themselves.
it would be interesting sound bites ( probably a lot of bleeps ) if you would mic up J.R. ——still confused / concerned why we don’t see more of THE MATRIX —are we to assume he will not be a whole lot of help come playoff time
EK:”JR after the Iman offensive foul: “quit being a b**** Mario”
The more I see and hear about JR, the more I like him.
Also, it would be awesome to hear a whole game’s worth of on-court chatter. Sort of like the on-field stuff in Bull Durham, but with more trash-talking.
Like if the NBA on TNT did a “Wired” section, but only available on-line for profanity’s sake. I’d bet if they did that and packaged it as a podcast of sorts, it would get a ridiculous subscription…
That’s great! JR has got a swag with some rough rider.
I had to watch the game on TNT overtime, and the different angles and close ups sure does give you some glimpses of more trash talking and bench faces which was enjoyable even thought the shaky camera and missed action was annoying. Love to watch JR. closer as well as Shump.
Shump’s rounding into form at the right time. His shooting form is great right now, and I’m not saying that just because a lot of shots fell last night. On spot up threes, he’s getting his shoulders perfectly squared, elbow in line and rising straight up. Kyrie’s, Shump’s and especially Smith’s spot up threes are going to run somebody off the court in at least one playoff game this post season.
Loved Shump’s shooting last night, too. However, as someone who lives in NYC and saw a good amount of Shump’s games as a Knick, I don’t think it’s something we can rely on. I’m a huge fan of his game, but he’s incredibly erratic and streaky as an offesnsive player. He even said it himself last night — “I’m a rhythm player.” Pretty cool actually that he knows that about himself and owns it. No real knock here, just a heads-up that I don’t think we can rely on his shot to look like it did last night for the… Read more »
Yeah, Shump’s track record is not very good. I hope he can gain some consistency, since he can focus on spot up shooting. And he can always contribute on defense. I swear, his fingers must be 10 inches long, because he manages some steals when you swear his hand was a foot away from the ball. In the long term, hopefully he can avoid the injury bugs. Coming back from torn ACLs, dislocated shoulders, etc. does not help with maintaining your shooting stroke.
Maybe BS and Windy will do their next podcast about how excited LBJ and the Cavs are to be a part of Blatt’s Coach of the Month honors…
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2015/04/david_blatt_2.html#incart_river
Nah… who’d read that?
Ha Ha ESPN certainly wouldn’t talk about it either. This is the way it should have been.. You know everyone excited for him with congrats not this following gloomy cloud hovering over by the name of “Windy”
Windy Exclusive! LBJ miffed that Blatt taking credit for coaching!
Actually I was surprised a story didn’t come out today when Kyrie said at the end of the game that “He” was the head of the snake. The world shutters he didn’t give acknowledgment to Lebron. Mutiiny on the ship!!
Just listened to Blatt’s interview after game. LoL He doesn’t let reporters get away with anything.. One had said it was an issue that Lebron was going to the post more. Blatt quipped, “It’s not an issue at all. You’re a reporter you can use a better word than that. I called the plays for him to do that for any of you that have any questions about that” Then there was awkward laughter in the room.
Heat did not come to play, and when Wade went down they were toast. Still, great game by a superior team. I wonder when teams are just going to take their chances and give Delly the layup instead of the lob to the big man. I still have emotional scars from the lobs to Dwight Howard back in 2009 and I love that we can torture other teams with them. Loved Blatt’s tone of humor in the post-game interview in comments about calling the plays, etc. Nicely done. Shump’s ankle was totally fine. Just need to get KLove tuned up… Read more »
I thought this game was closer than the score indicated for the most part. We killed them on the glass which led us to have a bunch more shot attempts than the Heat but we still let them shoot over 50% from the field. Not ideal. The turnovers came in bunches, which i guess I would rather have than turnovers throughout the whole game. Still, at times, it this game got noticeably sloppy. TT and shump won this game I thought. Lebron and Kyrie sorta just did what they did, scoring a bunch of points in a mildly efficient manner.… Read more »
It wasn’t closer. If anything the score didn’t indicate how badly overmatched Miami is. If we see them in the playoffs it should be an easy sweep
It really wasn’t that close… in fact once Shump hit the three to extend the lead to 10 at the start of the second, the Heat never got closer. Cavs even seemed to let up in places once DWade went out which is the only reason they even got within 11 late in the third. Cavs (powered by Kyrie’s offense, Shump’s D and TT rebounding) turned on the jets and it was over.
Cavs let them shoot 55% in the first half… but clamped down in the second half and only allowed 42.7% for the game. Respectable…
I wish we ran more Kyrie – LeBron PNR’s to try and get more LeISO’s matched up against smaller players instead of the other team’s best defender (who is typically on LeBron). The spurs and hawks killed us with that this year, and whenever we do it, it seems to work wonderfully, as the other team will almost always just immediately bring the double or triple team, leaving wide open 3’s all over (or LeBron moving to the post on someone who is 6’2″)
Easy win. Everything is easy for this team. I’m not sure they will go six games against anyone until the finals.
Only east teams I’m worried about are Hawks (because they are good) and Pacers (because they are mean). But a failure to reach the finals will be a grave disappointment otherwise.
I’m actually not too worried about most of the West either. Only the Spurs (because they are good) and the Warriors (because they are great). Warriors/Cavs would be a fun series.
Good game, caught the second half. Cavs are playing with playoff passion and putting a loss on Miami might help them right out of the playoffs. As good as the Cavs are I have a feeling a first round series with Miami might go 5-6 games. Better to face a Brooklyn or Boston team they’ve owned all year. At the very least it would give more rest to the starters.
2 Things… 1. Thought it was interesting how Blatt answered the question from David Aldridge about resting players in the fourth quarter and heading into the playoffs. He said that he plans to increase his best player’s minutes heading into the playoffs “to get them ready.” I found that very interesting as it runs pretty counter cultural to NBA norms today. Doesn’t sound like we are going to take our foot off the gas pedal. I think we are likely to finish 54-28. It will be interesting to see where that places us in terms of home court advantage vs.… Read more »
Our schedule makes it possible for Blatt to play the regulars more. Tons of rest + practice does this team really well heading into the playoffs.
I hadn’t thought about that (HCA against the back half of the West). Its a good point that hasn’t been mentioned. I think the Cavs need to prioritize health a little more now – can’t have banged up rotation players heading into the postseason.
Just one Thing, everbody is saying the Cavs have not much to play for, because the second seed is locked up. (even in the Podcast)
What about a potential finals matchup against San Antonio? I would like to have Home Court in that series. 3 Teams haben 26 losses in the West, Cavs have 27. So i think there is something to play for, we cant just assume the Warriors are already in the Finals…
The Spurs aren’t making the finals.
You sure about that Cols? They’ve looked like a totally different team in March… more like the Spurs team that won it all last year. Winning their home and away against the Rockets next week could easily put them as high as the 3 or 4 seed. Anytime people decide to start throwing dirt on them… they usually kick it back in people’s faces. They might not make it past GSW, but I wouldn’t bet against them with anyone else…
I’m sure. They’re old. OKC will be a threat and maybe GSW. Everyone else loses in 6 or less.
You mean the team the Spurs blew out by 40 a week ago? How exactly would OKC be a threat without Durant? And the “they’re old” argument hasn’t worked out too well when dismissing the Spurs so far…
It’s worked out every year except 2007 and last year
Well, that’s still more than OKC or GSW… or the Rockets or Portland or Memphis or the Clippers, or pretty much everyone in the WC except the Mavs and the Lakers…