Recap: Cavs 105, Blazers 100 (or, Arsonists And Firefighters)

There’s an old saying about arsonists and firefighters, and sometimes how they can be one in the same, even during the same conflagration. This theme rang through my head like an alarm bell Tuesday night as the Cavs played a little carelessly with the highly combustible Blazers, allowing them to catch fire early. The wine & gold squad spent the first half of their night standing and watching as they let the Blazers nearly burn the building down around them, then spent the second half furiously fighting to extinguish the flames. Eventually, they were able to squelch the spark out of Portland before the game became a raging inferno, but the Cavs very nearly got themselves burned yet again.

First Half Arsonists

It all started innocently enough. The Cavs seemed to be feeling out this Portland team, checking to see what they were made of, now that they no longer have LaMarcus Aldridge on the roster. However, what the Blazers do have are a pair of fairly flammable guards in Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, who only require a bit of space (thanks to their speed and a little friction from their big men on screens) to fully ignite. This tandem allows them to flourish at small ball tactics, which seem to be an ongoing issue for the Cavaliers. After trading a few early buckets, the Cavs once again settled into their recent routine of falling behind, combining ice cold shooting with a penchant for just observing the opposing team catch fire rather than doing a whole lot to stop them. Lillard proceeded to torch the Cavs inside and out for a 12 point first quarter (on his way to 33), on 5-7 shooting (2-2 from deep). McCollum joined the fray, doing his best to put on a good show for his home crowd (he’s a GlenOak H.S. alum in Canton). He picked up where Lillard left off, shooting a blistering 6-7 in the first half (including a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc) for 15 points, while dishing out four dimes as well.

If not for the offensive efforts of one particular Cav, Cleveland might have trailed as much as 21-2 in the first eight minutes of the contest. That’s right, it was the Outback Ranger, Matthew Dellavedova, to the rescue. Delly poured in seven of his season-high 17 points in the first quarter to keep the Cavs from getting singed too badly. Yet, even he couldn’t stop the advance of the Blazer guards as he repeatedly ran into their big men screens (of the legal and illegal variety). Unfortunately, the rest of his squad seemed content to sit back and watch the flames coming off of the Blazers, allowing them to shoot nearly 60% in the first quarter (Timofey Mozgov was particularly ineffective, and had his night cut short after just seven minutes). They trailed 25-17 at the end of one, and by as many as 18 with just over four minutes remaining in the half. Yet, just when it seemed like all was lost, the Cavs seemed to wake up. Using a smaller lineup of their own (LeBron, Delly, J.R. Smith, Jared Cunningham and Tristan Thompson), they began to force a few turnovers, leading to some fast break points. The Cavs started their containment of the Blazers, closing out the half on a 14-6 run to close the gap to single digits. Cavs trailed 56-47 at the half.

Second Half Firefighters

Realizing he’d found a means to douse the Blazers’ red-hot offense towards the end of the first half, David Blatt opted to send out an altered starting five to continue the fight in the second half. Staying small to combat the Portland scheme, KLove replaced Mozzy at the five, LBJ moved to the four, J.R. switched to the three, Delly manned the point leaving Jared Cunningham to tap into his inner ninja at the two. This unit effectively hosed down the Blazers, holding them to just 3-10 shooting in the first seven and a half minutes of the third, while smoking out a whopping seven turnovers. This efficient, mobile and quick squad was also able to continue the momentum of the run at the end of the first half, outscoring the Blazers 18-7 (for a combined 32-13 run). They finally regained the lead, 65-63, on a three by Richard Jefferson (who had just checked in for LeBron). This period was dominated by some excellent post play by Kevin Love (who got to the line eight times in the quarter, making six), some long bombs from J.R., Delly, R.J. (and even Mo later), and some terrific two-way ball by LeBron. It also saw the return of the Cavs’ hallmark defense, as they came out prepared to fight Portland like a five-alarm blaze, and ended the third quarter with a one point lead, 76-75.

In the fourth, Mo Gotti and LeBron got into a groove, as they hook and laddered their way through the Portland defense, pushing the lead out to nine. Mo was able to knock down a few mid-rangers, and also dish out some vintage high handoffs (one to TT on a misdirect, and one “unleashing of the Kraken” to LBJ). LeBron himself cranked the firehose up to full blast, flooding the Blazers with dunks, sweet post-up turnarounds and even a long distance geyser (which was much needed after Delly used his first flagrant 1 of the year to teach Mason Plumlee how to “stop, drop and roll”). Delly also chipped in a clutch three ball, which seemed like the final blow. However, just like a fire, the Blazers wouldn’t go out easily. They continued to flare up, as Damian Lillard hit two more triples, and Portland forced a bad inbounds pass from Delly to pull within three with two seconds left. Mo finally extinguished their hopes though with two cold-blooded free throws to ice it, 105-100.

The Evil

Where There’s Smoke… The Cavs once again found themselves in an early hole due to another poor start. It’s hard to tell if they’re just not up for these games, or if they’re just having trouble getting on the same page early. However, a common denominator is that when the Cavs are missing shots early, they seem to spend more time either complaining about uncalled fouls, or hanging their heads and getting beaten on the other end of the floor. Whatever it is, opposing teams have taken notice and are pushing the advantage early in games, particularly with fast and quick small ball lineups.

Watching The World Burn. Some of the slow starts can also be attributed to the Cavs being content to be bystanders to the action as they feel out not only the other team, but also their own offensive and defensive sets. Several times early in this game, the Cavs seemed to stumble around wide eyed and confused at the events unfolding around them.

Man Down. Not much to say about Timo’s effort in this one. He seemingly got into LeBron’s doghouse early, as he couldn’t stop much of anything in the middle. Blatt initially replaced Moz with Andy after seven minutes of uninspired and scoreless play (in fact Timo had only zeroes in his stat line tonight), then never went back to the big Russian after making the (correct) decision to go small. I have a feeling that this may very well be a long year for Moz, even after his knee (along with his hands and brain) is working right again, mainly because the NBA is fast becoming a small ball league. He looked pretty miserable out of the thick of things on the sidelines.

Torched. The Cavs allowed the Blazers to fire away at a 50% clip for the game (42% from downtown), which is not usually a recipe for success. Lillard (14-27) and McCollum (10-19) were the primary torchers (they also went a combined 8-17 from beyond the arc), but the Cavs also let reserve Alan Crabbe go off for 6-11. Cleveland was also out-rebounded 36-30 (giving up 10 offensive boards for second chances), and lost the assist battle 21-18. The good news is that most of this stat disparity was racked up by the Blazers in their explosive first half.

The Genius

Fighting Fire With Fire. David Blatt made the smart (though potentially risky) decision to go small to start the second half. He was rewarded by an inspired effort from his troops, who were able to smother the Blazer guards and force a ton of turnovers (19 total on the game). This is a coach embracing the reality of the last few games. Teams are going to come at the Cavs with small and quick lineups until the Cavs can prove they can thwart them.

The Extinguisher of Hope. After taking the Heat game off over the weekend, LeBron seemed rejuvenated and ready to go… even if his teammates initially weren’t. LeBron finished with 33 points on an efficient 14-24, and dazzled with an array of drives, post moves and even some deep range shots. But, most importantly, he played some inspired defense to help anchor the Cavs’ effort during the comeback in the late second and early third quarters. He only had three assists, but was able to pull down a game-high 10 boards along with two steals and three huge blocks. He also did this to effectively end the game with three the hardest way possible…

https://vine.co/v/i70XVXzAmxV

Burning Love. Kevin Love didn’t start this game out in particularly awesome fashion, missing a couple of point blank layups. However, he didn’t let his early troubles get him down. KLove fought hard on defense, and even though he had only a mere four boards, he had a game-high four steals and a team-high four assists. He flourished as the five in the Cavs’ small ball lineup, scoring eight points in the second quarter and 10 points in the third with a myriad of post moves and a determination to get to the free throw line (five times). This is exactly what you’d hope to see from Kevin going forward, especially against small ball lineups. He set out to try and dominate in the post, and it showed with only one three point attempt.

Fire Safety. Delly was the only thing that stood between the Cavs and obliteration in the first quarter. His offensive barrage in this game was not only surprising, but much needed and timely. He nailed 3-5 from deep, and also had one of the (non-LeBron) shots of the game (from behind the backboard!) to rescue a possession early on.

https://vine.co/v/i72xjzBiP5r

He also ran the offense well, dishing out three assists and pushing the ball up the floor. Though he had trouble staying with the Blazer guards early on (mainly due to some pretty hard screens set by the Portland bigs), he combined with Jared Cunningham to help shut them down for the majority of the third and fourth quarters. And, he had the aforementioned first flagrant foul of his career on this takedown of Mason Plumlee.

Trial By Fire. If Much Danger Ninja was looking for more minutes… he sure got his wish tonight. With the decision to go small, Jared became a fundamental athletic piece of the puzzle. He wound up playing 35 minutes, most of them next to Delly in the backcourt as they worked hard in the last three quarters to shut down both Lillard and McCollum. MDN held his own, not only playing some solid defense, but also scoring seven points on 2-3 shooting (1-2 from three). If Coach Blatt is going to rely on small ball matchups with opponents, the Ninja may be seeing a lot more minutes come his way.

The Brigade. Other Cavs stepped up in support of the small ball squad for periods of time. Mo didn’t do much early, but chipped in some key buckets late to help salt away the victory (including the last two free throws). He also rediscovered some of his old rhythm with the King to start the fourth, and even “unleashed the Kraken” once. TT had a fairly quiet 19 minutes, but managed to pull down six boards and catch a high handoff from Mo. He wasn’t needed as much with KLove being effective as the small ball center. R.J. and J.R. both hit some key shots and provided some hustle on defense. J.R. also had a sweet bounce pass to LBJ for a dunk. And Andy gave the Cavs six energetic minutes in relief of Moz, with a couple of boards and a block.

Embers And Ashes

The Blazers are not a particularly good team on the surface (they had a 9-13 record before this loss), but they do still have talent. In fact, they are constructed not that dissimilarly from the Wizards team that delivered the Cavs’ first home loss this year (Lillard and McCollum are comparable to Wall and Beal, and both teams have decent defending bigs). Before adjusting to what Portland was trying to do, however, the Cavs looked fairly terrible and moderately confused. Even though it’s a drag to see this team struggle yet again facing an inferior team on their home court, it is heartening to see not only Blatt making lineup changes, but also for the players to step up and execute.

Yes, the Cavs were still almost the victims of their own self-immolation in this game, but at least they seem like they’re learning how to better fight fire with fire and prevent their season from going up in flames.