Recap: Cavs 113, Wizards 108 (or, A FAN-tastic Finish!)
2015-04-16
[First, before you dive headlong into this recap, do yourself a favor and listen to the epic, highly entertaining and informative Cavs: The Podcast Episode 64: 2014-2015, Season of Wow.]
Congratulations to the Central Division Champion, 2014-15 edition of the Cleveland Cavaliers!
A regular season campaign that started five months, two weeks and two days ago with one of the biggest celebrations the City of Cleveland has ever witnessed, has finally concluded with the Cavs winning 53 games versus 29 losses (a win total that once seemed nearly unattainable after a 19-20 start to the year).
Through early downs and recent ups, through devastating injuries and monumental trades, through media scrutiny and bowling trips, through fitting in and fitting out, the one thing that resonated clearly by the end of this regular season is that this team has quite successfully fit together. And speaking of “fitting,” what a fitting ending game number 82 was in honor of Fan Appreciation Night at the Q.
Though LeBron was held out of this one for rest, and Kyrie was on a minutes restriction with his achy hip, all of the remaining Cavs were available (even the travel-weary Joe Harris, back in town a day after helping the Canton Charge advance to the next round of the D-League playoffs with 27 points and six boards in 37 minutes). The Wizards, who also had nothing really to play for, also rested starters including John Wall, Brad Beal, Paul Pierce and NeNe.
Bron himself was just a fan for this game, but his bench pals would see plenty of action…
Here’s how it all went down…
First Quarter:
Despite the euphoric atmosphere amongst the sellout crowd, the game itself got off to a fairly rocky start. Instead of having an advantage over the Wizard second unit (plus Marcin Gortat), the Cavs starters fell back by as much as 15 halfway through the quarter. Behind hot shooting from the likes of Gortat, Kris Humphries and Otto Porter, Jr., the Wiz nearly blew the Cavs out from the start. Only six early points from Moz kept it from being a boat race. Then Kevin Love got hot from beyond the arc and he and Kyrie were able to spur a 12-5 run to close the quarter. Cavs trailed after one, 28-20.
Second Quarter:
Kyrie came back out to start the period (a promising sign that his hip wasn’t nagging him too much), and he, TT and KLove did their best to keep the Cavs in it and close the gap. However, DeJuan Blair, Will Bynum and Kevin Seraphin had other ideas, and kept the Cavs down by a dozen until late in the quarter. After Kyrie checked out for the night (with nine points and seven assists in 18 minutes) and turned the keys over to Delly around the three minute mark, the Cavs went on an 11-2 run to end the half. It featured one last KLove bomb (his fifth in six attempts), a banked in Delly Trey (as Joey B mentioned, Delly doesn’t call bank, the bank calls Delly) and a James Freaking Jones buzzer beater to get within three. Cavs trailed just 56-53.
Third Quarter:
Following a rare Mike Miller triple, the Cavs took their first lead of the game on a Shumpert three, 61-60. The Wiz, powered by Rasual Butler and Martell Webster, retook the lead and pushed it back out to seven before the Cavs fought back with a Joe Harris three and buckets from Iman and The Matrix. In between, TT’s inside presence (six points and three boards) and Delly’s passing (four assists) kept the Cavs within striking distance. Butler nailed a three to close the scoring (giving him 10 points for the quarter). Cavs trailed 79-74.
Fourth Quarter:
There were three things you need to know about the first half of this quarter…
1) The Cavs bench went all “Destiny” and started killing the Wizards: outscoring them 19-4.
My teenage son made me include this metaphor…
2) This run was fueled by the devastating backcourt duo of Aussie and Hair-riot (Delly and Shump combined for 17 points on 6-7 from the floor with four triples).
Their adventure continues…
3) The Cavs decided to pre-enact scenes from Pacific Rim 2 by playing both Kendrick “Angry Smurf” Perkins and Brendan “Headband Worn, Yo!” Haywood together at the same time.
Angry Smurf and The Secret Weapon team up in this one…
The rest of the quarter featured a lot of Delly trying to work the ball inside to Perk, Haywood and Matrix (with mixed results), and the Wizards slowly cutting into the Cavs lead, this time with old friend “Razor” Ramon Sessions leading the charge. After it looked like a Perk short jumper shot (what do you call it when your feet don’t actually leave the floor?) had the game won for the Cavs, Wagner fought inside for a layup to tie and send the game into overtime (fittingly appreciating the fans further with some extra basketball). All square at 101.
Overtime:
There were three more things you need to know about the OT period:
1) The Thunder from Down Under tied the entire Wizard team’s scoring output in OT, (seven of his 18 points to go with his totals of 12 assists and two steals in a team high 33 minutes).
Cavs hit the Delly Double tonight.
2) The Contract (Brendan Haywood) will actually have one more awesome play to go on his Cavs highlight reel (his silky slo-mo mid-range J was borderline poetry in motion).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoD2FIbE7cU
3) The Matrix got to end his regular season career on maybe the highest note possible with a terrific steal and breakaway dunk to ice the game. Then he got dogpiled for his effort…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvOpTy3ca6I
Cavs win their final home game in “Fan-tastic” fashion on Fan Appreciation Night and the place goes wild. Cavs 113-108.
The Evil:
Well, the Cavs starters did fall behind… oh, who am I kidding… there’s nothing bad to really say about this game. It was utterly meaningless given that the Cavs were part of the only playoff matchup in either conference that had already been decided. However, the Cavs (even with LBJ on the sidelines) played their hearts out in appreciation for their fans, and delivered an ending that couldn’t have been scripted any better.
The Genius:
Just about every aspect of this one. LeBron got the whole game off to rest, while Kyrie, Kevin, JR and Moz all played the minimum.
Delly had maybe his best game of the season (18 and 12, including 4-5 from three), and his backcourt mate Shump wasn’t far behind (18 points with six boards, and 3-5 from three). The dynamic duo turned the game around in the fourth quarter and then Delly nearly won it by himself in the OT.
TT was a beast in limited minutes (12 points and eight boards in 22 minutes), but gave way to the awesome spectacle of the twin behemoths in the fourth. Perk and Haywood on the floor together was truly something worth the price of admission… and then some.
Mike Miller, JFJ and Smokin Joe all hit a three at key points, helping the Cavs shoot a blistering 53% (16-30) from beyond the arc for the game.
Kyrie looked good with decent mobility, and he and KLove did their part to keep the Cavs in the game in the first half. KLove was particularly deadly and efficient shooting the rock (19 points and 5-6 from three in just 18 minutes).
And, The Matrix had a terrific, almost storybook, sendoff from the regular season portion of his career. He looked particularly spry and had eight points and nine assists in 33 effective minutes. Plus, he had probably the play of the game with his steal and dunk to ice it. Hopefully, he didn’t get injured in the ensuing dog pile.
Oh… and this happened…
That’s some quality “fitting in” right there…
Final Thought:
With the regular season in the rear view and the playoffs still four days away… there’s still some time to reflect back on this (as the Podcasters have awesomely dubbed it) Season of Wow. Here’s something to remind you where it all started and what it’s all for as this team for the ages prepares for its upcoming postseason battles to capture that elusive trophy…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6S1JoCSVNU
Let’s go Cavs!
I got sucked in to the last 10 minutes of the game – what a great one! My two favorite moments
1) Shawn Marion with the steal and tickle party
2) End of regulation Delly attempting to go for the game winner and getting rejected. I could just picture him in his head singing as he drove into the lane “Go ahead and tell everybody… I’m the man I’m the man I’m the DAMMIT” (Link if you don’t know the song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGy9i8vvCxk)
Great work, as always EG. Its a blast commenting games with you. Now, when are we watching one of the playoff games together?
Thanks man, and likewise! Would be great to catch a game, although with the early start times it’s tough to sneak out of work. (I usually wind up streaming them on my computer between meetings and calls). I’d say maybe one of the weekend ones although I live pretty far out in Ventura County. What part of LA are you in?
I’m in Koreatown, work in Beverly Hills.
Great stuff all around. Wish I hadn’t blown off most of the game last night, but I needed to rest up for the playoffs.
What a way for the game/season to end:
Marion, in his last NBA regular season game, with a steal and a dunk. His teammates chased him down, brought him to the ground and TICKLED HIM. Lebron, Kyrie, & Love all jumped up and down and hugged each other.
Perhaps the most gratified person – David Griffin. Who sat behind the bench and thought, “I brought these guys together. They really fit.”
EG, I’ve really enjoyed your contributions this year. I thought you captured the vibe last night perfectly in your recap. A lot of feel-good narratives. I found myself surprisingly transfixed by overtime.
After it ended I was mostly happy that all are main guys are healthy. After a little rest, this team will be a playoffs juggernaut.
Looking forward, I’m intrigued by the Brad Stevens-Blatt match up. Clearly our man holds the better cards, but how will he play them?
Much appreciated HPB! I originally set out to just knock out a quick quasi-recap (since I knew the guys were doing the podcast), but there was just too much good stuff happening to give it short shrift. It was about as close to a perfect ending to a regular season as you could ask for in my opinion…
like the team he played for / in the city UNLV/ LAS VEGAS—Gum Drop Bear was a ” roll of the dice ” –i’m not sure you can say we totally lost —-he was part of the trade that brought LOVE here —-with his lack of ” showing any promise / potential ” it was in essence trading WIGGINS for LOVE —I would say we won !!!
Apparently Anthony Bennett doesn’t enjoy playing basketball anymore. BIG FAT BUST!
Aw… Ol’ GumDropBear is probably just homesick for the Cavs… Maybe he should take his talents to Beijing… He might get a GDB statue erected to him there someday…
Perhaps a year in the D-League gaining his confidence back by destroying people (if he can still do it)?
But overall a good kid and a sad story.
Good kid. Terrible NBA player. Similar to Dion in that way. You really want them to succeed because they obviously try hard. They just suck at their jobs.
Dion had a really nice game last night. Check out his stats. I was happy for him, even though the Thunder were eliminated. There may be hope for him yet.
Chris Grant. Worst drafter ever.
No one is worse than Kahn.
Was there a news story to this effect?
Certainly we are well rid of AB. How we arrived at that pick would be an interesting inside story. Nerlens was always the one for me, I wish we had gone that direction. Ah well, it worked out OK in the end for us.
“How we arrived at that pick . . . ” If you watched a highlight reel of him in college (Draft Express) you would have the answer to that question. You might not agree with the decision, but you wouldn’t have a total lack of understanding. Simply, he was a beast and a legitimate top 5 pick according to almost everyone. Don’t know what happened to him. NBA stands for “No Boys Allowed.” The top seven picks (most of which were under consideration by the Cavs) – 1. Bennett 2. Oladipo 3. Porter 4. Zeller 5. Len 6. Noel 7.… Read more »
I’d say Oladipo or Noel would have been the way to go. I wanted Noel at the time.
Right, the question is why didn’t the sleep problems and the asthma and everything else get noticed? Did they just watch those highlights and call it a day?
The sleep apnea and asthma problems have had no effect on his play. They are treated and under control. You can certainly question whether he was the right pick, but not knowing those things has been irrelevant as far as him succeeding or not.
Seeing the Twin Ancients rumble down the court was truly a sight to behold.
The whole game gave me flashbacks to summer league, which lent a ‘come full circle’ feel. Not every team would care about guys like Haywood and Marion playing their last game — getting them the ball and mobbing them after the last play. That shows some heart and humanity to me.
Time for the Second Season to begin. NO SURVIVORS!!!
Nice comment. Agree with the sentiment.
Apparently the CAVS offered Jordan Farmar a deal, but they couldn’t come to terms because he wanted more playing time.
Ah. That would’ve been helpful, but really, our top 8 or 9 is fine. Farmar >>>>>>> Delly, but for the 5 or 8 minutes they would play in the playoffs it doesn’t really matter.
call me a ” NERVOUS NELLIE ” is there any concern in CTB COUNTRY facing the bulls in the 2nd round ?
Nope. The Bulls haven’t made it past 5 games in any season since LeBron showed he could destroy Rose wheneveer he felt like it in 2010. It will be a 5 game series. The Bulls have no one as good as Kevin Love on their roster and he’s currently our 3rd best player.
Why will it be a 5 game series and not 4?
It’s pretty tough to get a sweep in the playoffs. It just doesn’t happen all that often outside of the first round.
Yeah, Cols.
Why not, “Fo, fo, fo, fo?”
The Cavs should take each opponent seriously, and vanquish each opponent one game at a time.
This is the approach taken by grown-ups.
Of course they will. Why wouldn’t they?
This might sound strange, NOMAD, but I actually think I’d be more concerned about the Bulls if Derrick Rose had NOT come back after this latest knee issue. My reasoning why is that Rose is a sub-par shooter (40% from the field and only 28% from three), and his assist totals have fallen off quite a bit this year (4.9 vs. 7.9 his last healthy year in 2012). This means he’s only really good for driving to the basket (which should be much more difficult with Moz manning the middle, and his knee history). He also turns the ball over… Read more »
They are just not close to the Cavs level.
Nice recap, really enjoyed reading it.
Now that you’ve done a bunch of these, when are you going to get your name listed down the right hand side? Evil genius, staff writer.
Thanks man! The C:tB guys have been awesome in letting me participate this season and just take things as they come (due to the constraints of my day job). Means a lot that people like you enjoy reading my stuff!
CtB is the NBA’s #1 blog because of the insightful and talented writers and posters. Thanks for contributing everyone.
Yay!!!!!
Sweep First Round
Win in 5 2nd ROund
Win in 5-6 ECF
Win in 6-7 Finals
I’m pumped. Let’s get it started.
Cols, I like my chances of either the Clippers or Rockets taking out the Spurs with them having to go on the road as the 6 seed. #TheBet
Me too. But I don’t see anyone beating GSW.
Cols – More than half the time I think you’re nuts. Sometimes there’s some Evil Genius in you, too. But thanks for posting this year. You know how to get other posters going and made it fun.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/5-on-5-150416/eastern-conference-playoff-preview
Cols, just to show you there are others who do view the Hawks and Bulls as legitimate contenders to come out of the East.
The same Bulls who haven’t gone even 6 games in a playoff series since 2010? They are just trying to act like it’s going to be a series. The NBA playoffs are the most “better team wins” playoffs in sports. The Hawks and Cavs have nothing to worry about until they face each other.
I do not think the Hawks can come close to beating us either, but at least they have a shot at getting us to 6 or 7 games.