Recap: Cleveland 125, Minnesota 99 (or, the laying of pipe)

The Cleveland Cavaliers traveled to Minnesota last night to take on a young Timberwolves squad that had been really struggling of late, losing eight of their previous ten games. While both teams sported a pair of number one picks in their respective starting lineups, most seemed to expect the Cavaliers to win in a rout, and indeed they did, defeating the Timberwolves for their sixth win in a row.

First Quarter

Minnesota won the tip, and Andrew Wiggins proceeded to score five quick points with a layup and a three. Both teams then exchanged baskets until Kevin Love missed a bunny at the rim and Karl-Anthony Towns finished a put-back to give the Timberwolves a 9-4 lead. Kyrie Irving was the only Cavalier with anything going, and Minnesota got inside at will to push the lead to 13-6, forcing David Blatt to call a time out with 8:05 left in the first.

The Cavs came out of the time out and quickly brought the game to within one courtesy of a pair of J.R. Smith threes. They also began to dictate the pace of the game, but the Timberwolves continued to get inside thanks to the passing of Ricky Rubio and several players rolling to the rim. A steal by LeBron James led to a Matthew Dellavedova three that gave the Cavaliers their first lead of the game at 18-17.

After another time out, Kevin Love hit a three and then converted an and-one to spark an 11-0 run. Both teams then exchanged baskets for the next few minutes until a pair of jumpers by Iman Shumpert gave the Cavaliers a 35-27 lead after one.

Andrew Wiggins had 12 points for the Timberwolves, but the greater concern was Kevin Love heading to the locker room with a bit of a limp.

Second Quarter

The first noticeable play of the first quarter was Timofey Mozgov getting an offensive rebound and passing the ball out to the perimeter despite being in position for a fairly easy put back dunk, showing where his mental state is right now. The Cavaliers pushed the lead to 37-27 on a pair of free throws by Shumpert, but then missed their next eight shots.

The Timberwolves weren’t much better and were only able to bring the score to within six before the Cavs made it 39-31 on a pair of Richard Jefferson free throws. Love then returned to the bench in time to see Mozgov hit a mid-range jumper to make it 41-33 Cavs.

Love subbed in for Thompson as James continued to rest the start of the second quarter. The Cavaliers went with Richard Jefferson, who picked up three quick fouls guarding Shabazz Muhammad. James returned with 7:37 left in the second quarter, and then delivered a brilliant pass to Shumpert who missed a dunk—shocking right?—which along with a Mozgov turnover led to more Timberwolves free throws to bring it to within 43-37. Another James pass to Shumpert that he finished with a (this time a less ambitious two-hand) dunk pushed the lead back to eight, and a Timberwolves time out was followed by another open dunk, this time by J.R. Smith.

At this point the Cavaliers held a 16-0 edge in fast break points. Love then drew a foul on a long two-point attempt while on the ESPN coverage, Jeff Van Gundy discussed whether or not he would eat spilled popcorn that was picked up off the basketball court.

The Cavaliers pushed the lead to 13, but couldn’t quite pull away as the Timberwolves kept attacking the basket and getting to the line to pull to within eight. That dam began to break as J.R. Smith continued his torrid three point shooting with back-to-back treys to make it 58-44. Wiggins blew by Love for a monstrous dunk, but the Cavaliers led 62-46 at the half.

Wiggins had 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting for the Timberwolves, but J.R. Smith matched him with 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting, Love had a well rounded 13 points, five rebounds, and four assists.

Third Quarter

A pair of LeBron James layups sandwiched around an Andrew Wiggins miss from three pushed the Cavaliers’ lead to 20. And then the Cavs really let up on the gas.

The Cavaliers mixed some great offense with some careless turnovers, while Minnesota continued to attack the basket while not spacing the floor whatsoever. Despite the lack of spacing, Muhammad then hit back-to-back three pointers and Wiggins split a pair of free throws to pull the Timberwolves to within 13 at 80-67.

The Cavaliers answered with a Delly Trey, but Ricky Rubio responded with a triple of his own, and the Cavs called time out to try to stop Minnesota’s momentum.

Cleveland came out with Dellavedova, Shumpert, Jefferson, Love and Thompson. The teams traded free throws until a dunk by Gorgui Deng. Then, Love hit another three to put the Cavaliers up 90-74. Wiggins responded with a long jumper, but Shumpert hit a three from the left corner and Dellavedova bagged a sneaky layup off a baseline inbounds play with three seconds left to make it 95-76 Cavaliers after three quarters. Most impressively, the Cavaliers outscored the Timberwolves 12-6 with James and Irving on the bench at the end of the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Irving returned to the court alongside Dellavedova, Shumpert, Jefferson, and Mozgov. James then entered for Jefferson at power forward, but a Mozgov turnover led a basket by Towns to make it 97-80. The difference then fluctuated between 17 and 20 until a shot clock violation by Minnesota was followed by a time out with 8:39 left in the game and the Cavaliers leading 102-82. The Cavaliers then scored seven unanswered points to make it 109-82, and Minnesota again called a time out with 7:36 left.

Blatt inexplicably left his best weapons in the game, despite the lead until Jefferson subbed in for James shortly after the time out and the Cavaliers went with Irving, Dellavedova,  Shumpert, Jefferson, and Mozgov till just under five minutes left and a 26-point lead. Jared Cunningham and James Jones finally entered for Irving and Dellavedova. Without a true point guard on the floor, this lineup seemed like they might struggle against the Timberwolves with Wiggins and Towns still on the floor, but they played Minnesota evenly, and the Cavaliers extended their winning streak to six with a 125-99 win.

Thoughts

LeBron James had 13 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, Kevin Love finished with 20 points and 9 rebounds, and the shooting guard duo of J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert combined for a whopping 50 points while shooting 8-of-12 from beyond the arc. For the Timberwolves, Wiggins continued his excellent play against the team that drafted him, finishing with a career-high 35 points on 12-of-19 shooting. Karl-Anthony Towns and Shabazz Muhammad each chipped in 22 points as Minnesota fell to 12-25.

Richard Jefferson likes to argue calls with referees. He usually gets more leeway than most guys.

As great as lineups with Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson have been, there is some concern that this duo may not provide rim protection. Thompson’s numbers have been better in this area so far this season, but neither player is the kind of presence that deters players from driving. That’s why the Cavaliers need Timofey Mozgov. For all of his flaws in terms of catching the ball and mobility in space, Mozgov is still a tremendous rim protector whose mere presence often dissuades opponents from driving to the rim. His play has also  improved since Kyrie Irving has returned.

Mozgov isn’t the only player who seems to be finding his form with Irving back on the court. Over his last three games, Smith is averaging 25.3 points and has made 18 of 30 three point attempts. While he is not the kind of wing defender you’d ideally want next to Irving, Smith is the perfect floor spacer to have alongside Irving, James, and Love. When he’s laying pipe like this (as in hitting three-pointers), if you leave him open and he will make you pay. Combine that with Thompson’s ability to roll to the rim and you’ve got a huge problem for opposing teams.

Shumpert is the kind of perimeter defender you want next to Irving and James, and he had a very nice game on offense tonight. Still, Shumpert often leaves the impression that he thinks that he’s a better offensive player than he really is. Too often Shumpert will dribble the air out of the ball while setting himself up for a long two-pointer. They fell tonight, but this tendency, along with his poor finishing at the rim, could be minimized with better shot selection.

LeBron’s jumper wasn’t falling tonight, and he was 0-for-4 from beyond the arc. James did adjust by driving more as the game went on, but his outside shot seems a bit like Mozgov’s finishing ability right now in that it comes and goes and you’re not sure if it will be there on any given night.

The Cavaliers are now 25-9 on the season. For frame of reference, they didn’t win their 25th game last season until January 25th, and that brought their record to 25-20. They are currently on pace to win 60 games, seven more than last season, and will try to make it seven in a row on Sunday as they head to Philadelphia to face the 76ers for the final time this season. Until then, Go Cavs!