Recap: Cavs 108, Sixers 86 (or, Many Happy Returns, Part II)

Almost exactly six weeks ago, I covered the sixth game of the season when the Cavs had a game full of figurative returns against the Philadelphia 76ers. On a leisurely Sunday afternoon against those same Sixers in the 25th game of the season, the Cavs got a couple of literal returns in the form of their All-Star Point Guard, Kyrie Irving, and fellow back court mate and defensive stopper, Iman Shumpert. The result was, as you might expect (at least against a now 1-28 Philly team), a steady dose of overkill from a Cavs team that is suddenly deeper than Lake Erie, or possibly even the Marianas Trench. Still, it was an early Christmas gift to see Kyrie back out on the floor for the first time in six months, doing the kinds of things that only he can.

A Return To Dominance

After a somewhat closer, more competitive game with OKC last Thursday, the Cavs got back to the crooked numbers game they had established in their previous two against Orlando and Boston. Aside from the Cavs being a bit out of sync in the first quarter, with four turnovers mostly on errant passes, and some sieve-like defense that helped the Sixers resemble a layup line, this one was pretty much over by midway through the second period. The Cavs trailed 25-21 after the first, but pulled ahead 27-26 on J.R. Smith’s three-points-the-hard-way floater-and-one at the 9:40 mark of the second, and never looked back. The wine & gold used stingy defense to fuel their break-neck fast-breaks, and zoomed past the often hapless Sixers with a 26-8 jag. A 34-13 quarter put the Cavs in front by 17 at halftime, and they widened the gap to nearly 30 with another onslaught in the third frame (33-22). Cleveland dominated nearly every aspect of the game, beating the Sixers inside (46-38 on points in the paint), outside (11-25 from three for 44%) and especially in transition (31-13 on fast-break points). In fact, the only area in which they lagged behind was on the offensive glass, where Philly edged them 16-6.

A Return Of Garbage Time

Beyond the return of Kyrie (I’ll get to that momentarily), and at least partially because of it, the Cavs were able to empty their now considerable bench early, and give their starters some well-deserved time off in the fourth quarter. LeBron logged just a tick over 25 minutes in this one, Moz was right behind him with 24, and Kevin and J.R. played just 22 minutes a piece (Kev’s probably had more to do with some early foul trouble as well). Kyrie, on a roughly four minutes per quarter restriction, got in 17 minutes of work in his first game back, which included some stellar participation with the garbage time troops as well. Even without a still ailing Mo Williams (thumb), and a fresh-off-the-bus-from-Canton Joe Harris, the Cavaliers’ rotation went 13 deep in this game, with 12 of them playing at least 13 minutes, and with everyone getting points on the board. The best part, though, was that the clean-up crew wasn’t satisfied with holding on or maintaining the lead, pushing it out to as much as 35 before finally calling off the dogs. In all, the Cavs’ bench scored 47 points, with 20 rebounds, 11 assists, four steals and four blocks. After seeing the Cavaliers struggle at times with inferior competition so far this season, it was refreshing to see such an even dispersement of the workload, with the starters watching and cheering from the sidelines.

A Return Of Kid Incredible

This summer, to fill up space in the doldrums of the off-season, I got in the habit of re-hashing memorable moments and games from last season for Flashback Fridays. The first of which was a retelling of the infamous “Double Nickel” game that Kyrie dropped on the Portland Trailblazers on a night that LeBron wasn’t available. For me, reliving that performance, along with the 57 point game against the Spurs in San Antonio a couple weeks later, provided a revelatory reminder of the high ceiling this young man has only begun to scratch. In the six months since he last limped painfully off of the floor during overtime in Game 1 of The Finals, it’s been strangely equally hard to remember and hard to forget just how much Irving means to this team. He was finally back in action, however, in this first of two essentially warm-up games before the Christmas Day showdown with the Golden State Warriors. And, though he got off to a bit of a tentative start in the first half (he missed his first five shots before LeBron stole a ball and dished it to him for an uncontested layup), he flashed some of his old handles, moves and shooting in the second. Kyrie hit five of his next seven shots, showing off his arsenal of crossovers, twisting layups and triples. He scored seven in the third quarter, including this electric move…

https://vine.co/v/iK611etBhLe

It’s sometimes hard to believe that this guy is still only 23 years old. His nickname might be Uncle Drew, but his initials scream Kid Incredible to me…

A Return Of The Near Unbeatable Starting Lineup

Close enough…

This game marked the first time since April that the starting five of LeBron, Kyrie, KLove, J.R. and Moz shared the court. This same unit that went 33-3 from mid-January on last season, picked up where it left off in this game. Even though they were still clearly getting used to playing together with Kyrie back in the mix, and had a few rocky moments with ball movement and defensive rotations, they were all models of efficiency during their relatively brief time together.

Mozzy scored all eight of his points in the first quarter on a combination of assisted jumpers and layups. He also pulled down eight boards in his short time on the floor, continuing his streak of solid performances. KLove overcame a couple of rough turnovers and some early defensive lapses, by taking a charge, pulling down some tough rebounds and driving inside to get to the line three times. He only got up four shots, though his time was limited by three fouls early, and garbage time late. J.R. continued his jack-of-all-trades handiwork, eschewing his trademark beyond the arc flamethrowing for his more and more reliable overhand teardrop runner (that’s the best description I could come up with for now). He also racked up two boards, four assists, a steal and some solid defense to go with his eight points. And LeBron… well, the King was in full-on attack-the-paint-at-all-costs mode in this one, jamming it right down the Sixers’ throats at regular intervals. He was a living, breathing Venn Diagram depicting the intersection of aggression and efficiency as well, going 10-17 from the field for a near point-a-minute pace (23 in 25 minutes). He also got halfway to a triple double with five boards and four assists to go with three steals. Plus, he did this with a J.R. no-look-oop…

https://vine.co/v/iK6Kem373XA

A Return Of June Delly

Just when you thought that Matthew Dellavedova couldn’t possibly get any better or more valuable to this Cavs team… he turned in a performance reminiscent of some of his vintage playoff games from last June. Maybe his four early turnovers ticked him off, or maybe he was riled at having to give up his starting spot now that Kyrie is healthy. Whatever the reason, Delly became a man possessed in the second and third quarters, scoring 10 points in each of them on a barrage of three point bombs. Not only did Delly nearly match his career high (21), but he did it on 7-10 shooting, 4-6 from downtown (he’s currently 5th in the NBA in three point percentage at a 44.3% clip). His 20 points came in just 23 minutes of play (no garbage time for this Aussie superstar!), and he added ferocious defense, two rebounds, two assists and two steals… including this one that led to an amazingly tough finish…

https://vine.co/v/iK6dmLIzuLY

Oh yeah… if that’s not impressive enough for you, Delly also entered the weekend first in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio. That beeping noise you hear is Dan Gilbert’s money dumptruck backing up one more time…

A Return Of The Defensive Duo

When Tristan Thompson and Iman Shumpert are on the floor together, good things happen for the Cavs defensively. Iman had to miss a game with a groin pull, but he gutted this one out for at least a little while. He didn’t shoot particularly well (just 1-5), but he did handle the ball well and dished out four dimes. TT also didn’t shoot much (2-4 and 2-2 from the line), but hauled in six boards and was a team-high +36 during his 23 minutes of play. There’s also no denying just how much fun it is to watch these guys operate at a high level on defense… especially on plays like this.

Return To Sender

I’ll forgo the usual “Evil” and “Genius” sections this time around since, other than the uneven first quarter, there was precious little of the former and mass quantities of the latter. Instead, just a few more observations…

Richard Jefferson continues to play with an energy and youthfulness that should not be taken for granted. He hit three big triples (one with the clock expiring), and most nights resembles a very viable veteran presence, on both the scoring and defensive end of things.

James Jones hit only 1-5, but still grabbed five boards and blocked a shot. He’s not always going to provide much, but he’s always going to give everything he has.

Sasha Kaun made a return to the court after not playing for a few games. If the Cavs can continue to put teams away early in games, there should be more than enough minutes to get Kaun into useable shape throughout the regular season.

Speaking of minutes, the most daunting thing facing David Blatt and the coaching staff in the coming weeks, now that everyone is almost healthy, will be how exactly to divide them all up. It was a little easier today since Mo was still out with a banged up thumb, but will he be the odd man out even when he’s healthy due to Delly’s inspired play? It should be interesting to watch.

And last, but not least, Jared Cunningham still got 13 minutes of run tonight, even with Kyrie and Shump back in action. He only made one bucket, but with it showed how dangerous he can be with someone like Kyrie on the court with him. I still contend that he’s worth keeping around on the end of this Cavs’ bench given his God-given athletic skills… which were on full display in what was one of my favorite dunks so far this year…

https://vine.co/v/iK6TdWzDuvH

Next up for the Cavs… one more “tune-up” game on Wednesday with the Knicks before all H-E-double-hockey-sticks breaks loose on Christmas Day… when the Cavs will try and return the Warriors to the loss column.