Recap: Cleveland 91, New York 84 (Or, ’twas the game before Christmas…)

Cleveland.com

Happy Holidays, Cavs fans. The best present under your tree? A full Cavs roster, together for the first time since Game 4 of of the first round of the playoffs, six and a half months ago. Taking on the surprisingly feisty Knicks team that was missing Carmelo Anthony, Cleveland seemed to be trying to figure out a rhythm for much of the night, while the Knicks played patient half-court basketball and hung with the Wine and Gold till the end. Ultimately, though, a fantastic crowd, a determined LeBron, and tenacious D (not the band) proved to be the difference maker for Cleveland.

First Quarter

K-Love scored five in the first 45 seconds. and Kyrie canned a 15-footer to get things started for Cleveland. With things coming so easily for Cleveland early, it looked like it might be a comfortable night, but The Zinger was having none of it. Kristaps Porzingis started off hot, canning a long jumper and two long three pointers for eight in the quarter, while Jose Calderon ran the show for five points and four assists. On the Cavs’ side, LeBron was aggressive getting to the basket early, and moving without the ball, and by late quarter, when the bench guards came in, the Cavs offense was humming. Mo, Delly, and Iman all dropped jumpers to close the quarter and the Cavs had nine dimes in the period, which ended with Cleveland up 31-24.

Second Quarter

Derrick Williams and his frosted dreads (a real phenomenon, not the name of a bad reggae cover band), dropped nine in the first five minutes for New York. Cleveland had a hard time dealing with his face-up game and his quick first step in the mid-post. Tristan, K-Love, and Delly all got stuck on Williams, and all got abused. Cleveland started cooling down from the floor, a bad portent of things to come. But, the good guys were getting to  the line, and converting. Both teams were 13-14 from the charity stripe in the first half. Also good news, the officials finally called defensive three seconds on a Cavs’ opponent. The most comical moment of the quarter came when sweet Lou Amundson started jawing with TT, which led to a double tech. Not to be outdone, the King picked up his own technical, clearly pissed about not being able to buy a foul call.

The quarter ended with the LeBron and K-Love show, with the pair taking turns in the post and feeding each other. When the double teams came, LeBron cut through the defense and K-Love spotted up. That should be the staple of the Cavs’ offense for the next five years. The half wound down spectacularly when Kevin ran the floor and finished a sweet LeDime with a sharp dunk (I cued it up for you below). A couple minutes later, LeBron found Love under the basket for a dunk to close the quarter. But The Zinger silenced with an unguardable 27-footer from the top of the key as time expired to make the score 55-50, Cleveland.

https://youtu.be/0ngtc8GVo0k?t=27

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgkgmDuq7HE

Third Quarter

The King couldn’t get a call, and the Cavs couldn’t hit an open J. Meanwhile, Porzingis realized that he’s a seven-foot-three small forward. The Zinger hit his fourth straight triple of the game, flushed a ridiculously easy putback, and canned an elbow J for seven straight points. Oh, and then he dropped two dimes on the next three Knicks’ buckets. The young Zydrunas Ilgauskus comparisons are not inaccurate. KP is almost as long as Manute Bol and moves like a Kevin Durant. (And yes, I have a man-crush).

Cleveland would have been lost if not for Love, Mozilla, and Delly. (Man, that’s a fun sentence to write.) Love notched seven on jumpers and hook shots. Timo hit a no-glass layup off a filthy LeBron feed to go with an elbow J, and Delly scored the only two field goals of the final four minutes with tricky little finishes around the rim and added a Kobe-assist – leading to two TT free throws. But it was an anemic quarter for Cleveland, which let the Knicks claw to a 72-72 tie.

Fourth Quarter

Cleveland opened with a possession that saw three offensive rebounds by Tristan Thompson, three Kyrie misses, and no points. It was that kind of night. New York took the lead on an Amundson tip-in, and the game was on. The Knicks ran one big and four guards. Cleveland countered with two bigs, TT’s clutch free throw shooting (I know, right!?), and stifling defense, which held the Knicks scoreless for the next three and a half minutes. The Knicks went to Aaron Afflalo in the post, and he proved a tough guard for Delly and Iman. Double-A was content to fire away, launching five shots in the span of 90 seconds, and hitting two of them. Mo Williams hit an absolutely clutch, “no-no-no-YES!” long two pointer to extend the Cavs’ lead to three before Porzingis found Afflalo on a C-cut who laid in in high of the right side glass to give the Knicks the edge 80-79 with 5:28 left.

Crunch Time

Love got to the line and split, tying it up. Afflalo ran the triangle like a master in the post, and fed Langston Galloway, who canned a 23-foot deuce put New York up two. Delly drove and spotted Tristan on the left baseline who deftly caught, landed, and layed it in. Those two most have been twins in another life. I think their minds are linked. Then, the game’s biggest play: out of a timeout a bad Knicks pass, a Delly steal, a drive, and a dish to a LeBroncomotive who laid it in to take the lead for good.

https://youtu.be/DX0VGvl88Ag?t=408

A play later, LeBron finally got a foul call on a drive and stretched the lead to four. Iman checked Afflalo in the post and slapped the ball off Aaron’s leg. A minute left: LeBron and Delly ran the 3-1 pick and pop from the left wing with LeBron handling. It’s time to admit it. Delly might be the best screening point in the game right now. Delly’s seal caused Lance Thomas to try to jump the pick on his right side, which gave James the space to go away from the screen, drive left, plant and throw down a thunderous “WHAM-with-the-right-hand!” dunk. SIX-POINT-LEAD!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRLdPgxzzTE

The Knicks wouldn’t go away. Afflalo scored another layup off some nifty triangle passing, but, after a Shumpert miss, TT grabbed the offensive rebound and swished two clutch free throws to seal the deal and go a perfect 6-6 on the night. Cavs win 91-84.

Thoughts

It’s easy to say the Cavs played down to their competition, but the Knicks have 14 wins for a reason. They’re vastly improved from last year. They hit some big, tough shots. The Cavs were content to let them shoot long twos, and the Knicks hit their share. Porzingis had a very nice game, and it’s hard to fault Love’s defense. K-Love’s giving up five inches. He’s not going to be able to get to every jump shot, and the Zinger has range to 27 feet. Despite shooting poorly of late, Kristaps was on tonight, and the Cavs were lucky that Afflalo was such a chucker late. The Zinger scared me a lot more. He went 8-18 for 23 points, 13 boards, four assists, a steal, a block (he obliterated a LeBron layup), and only one turnover. I think I’ve got Porzingis fever… and it’s bad.

Cleveland won despite shooting under 39% for the game. They were 5-22 from three. It was just one of those nights; good looks just weren’t dropping. Love, J.R., Delly, Kyrie, Mo, and LeBron all were cold. Only Iman Shumpert’s 2-5 looked respectable. Fortunately, the Cavs’ defense, rebounding, and only seven turnovers were enough to win. No team is going to shoot well every night, but Cleveland proved they can win even if they don’t shoot well.

The Cavs still haven’t figured out a rhythm on offense with a full roster, and Kyrie looks especially tentative. He was 1-7 with four dimes, and was rightly replaced by Delly in crunch time (Kyrie’s on a 19 minute limit, too). I’m not putting too much stock into it. Irving still looks like he needs to get his legs back. Clearly frustrated, Irving went through a half hour shooting session after the game, according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.

Iman Shumpert had at least four ball strips tonight. The dude is a master. His jumper also looks wet. He’s going to be an absolute gem for the next four years.

Tristan Thompson: 10 points, fourteen boards (seven offensive), and a perfect night at the line. There was talk during the broadcast of TT using his legs more on his free throws, and it showed. If Tristan can get his charity shooting to where it was during stretches last year, he’s sooo much more dangerous. He also looks a little thinner and that he might be back in game shape finally.

Mo hit only two buckets tonight and both were absolutely huge. This is the role he’s going to have to relish now that the Cavs are healthy.

LeBron was 9-22 and a lot of that was due to the fact that he was getting throttled on drives and not getting calls. The Knicks played small most of the night, and if James can’t get calls against smaller defenders who are clearly fouling him, it’s going to be a long season. The Cavs lost their way in the fourth arguing with the officials too much, but give James credit: he kept attacking. He kept driving and posting up and by the end, he’d worn out the Knicks defenders. James finished with 24, nine boards, five assists, and only one turnover.

Kevin Love was a mensch this game: a go-to scorer when the buckets well was running dry. Love dropped 23, added 13 boards, and two dimes. He had several passes that led to free throws for the King and Co. too. His defense was solid too. He made Porzingis take tough shots. The Zinger just made them. It was fantastic to see the Cavs stay big when the Knicks went small. Cleveland won because New York couldn’t guard Love and LeBron in the post, and couldn’t keep the crunch time front court -LBJ, TT, and Love – off the boards. He and James are developing a real chemistry that was lacking last year.

https://youtu.be/0ngtc8GVo0k?t=27

The Q was electric for the fourth quarter. I chalk this up to this being the cheapest game of the Christmas break, this allowing the blue collar fans to attend. James acknowledged the crowd’s impact after the game.

The Cavs avoided the ultimate trap game as the rematch with the Warriors on the 25th looms. The Cavs are healthy and ready to click. I can’t wait for Christmas.