Live Thread: Cavs @ Mavs
2016-01-12
The Cavs are making moves again for the first time since the Brendan Haywood, Mike Miller trade with the Portland Trail Blazers that resulted in sizable trade exceptions. According to Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com, the Cavs sent Smokin Joe Harris, cash, and a 2017 protected second round pick from the Sacramento Kings to the Magic. Orlando is giving the Cavs a 2020 second round pick, which originally belonged to the Portland Trail Blazers. Haynes also mentioned these key details:
The deal will save Cleveland approximately $3 million in luxury tax payments and open up a roster spot.
For players who obtain a buyout, Cleveland would have room.
The Cavs play the fourth game of their six game road trip against the Dallas Mavericks tonight. The Mavs have been a surprising team this season. They are currently in fifth in the West with 22 wins. After losing Tyson Chandler and Monta Ellis in free agency during the off-season, many people thought they would fall out of the playoffs. However, they replaced those two with Zaza Pachulia and Wes Matthews and haven’t looked back since.
The Mavericks are posting a net rating of 1.7, which is 11th in the league, and Dirk Nowitzki is still playing at a very high level, despite being 37 years old. The German is grabbing 6.7 boards a night to go with 17.7 points. He’s hitting 39.2% of his threes this season. Kevin Love will have his hands full, as he tries to stick to every single Dirk screen without giving up an easy driving lane to the basket.
The Mavs are 3-3 for the month of January, but this veteran team is the only team to beat the Warriors besides the Bucks. They know how to capitlize on every little mistake a defense makes. If there’s a lane to the hoop or an open shot, they will take advantage of it.
Three Things To Watch
- The Cavs have trouble making multiple rotations down low. As Dirk pulls Kevin Love away from the hoop by setting screens, will Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov be able to slow the Mavs’ ball handlers down so the Cavaliers’ guards can stay in plays? If they can’t, the Cavaliers’ bigs will fall victim to easy dump offs down low, as the they have to commit to driving Dallas guards at the rim.
- Kyrie Irving scored just eight points against the 76ers and took 15 shots. He needs to show up tonight against Deron Williams and J.J. Barea.
- LeBron scored 37 points against the 76ers and hit three of his five threes. The 76ers couldn’t sag off of him at the three line. If the King can continue shooting 57.8% from the field like he has during his previous six games, the Mavericks are in for a tough game. Otherwise, they can sag off of him and give him all the shots he wants, much like they did in the 2011 Finals.
Mo Williams will miss the game tonight to deal with some family issues.
Fell asleep at halftime and just got up and first thing I did is check the score. Just went on youtube and looked at the last 5 min of regulation and OT. Shump had to great steals and the end of both periodd , delly with that great no look pass to Lebron in da paint, big bucket by Kyrie, big dunk by Lebron to tie it. Great defensive effort. If i was up I knew I woulda been screaming when Lebron dunked and Kyrie hit da big 3 (like the one VS Suns a few weeks back)
By the way 41-4 in last 45 games with the big 3
Is there a way to find the average margin of victory in those games?
This year- 10 games – 9-1 record – 106.0-94.1
Last year
Playoffs- 4 games – 4-0 record – 104.1-94.8
Reg Sea.- 32 games – 29-3 record – 107.6-94.8
TOTAL – 46 GAMES – 42-4 RECORD – 106.9-94.7
I believe that’s good for second in the NBA behind the Spurs. Interesting stat, now hopefully they stay on the court for the rest of the season. I just keep thinking back to this time last season, what turmoil in comparison.
A couple random thoughts:
–LeBron was great on D late in the small lineup, guarding his man when he had to but also doing his free-safety thing, flying around and protecting the paint.
–In Delly’s six-points-in-six-seconds sequence, check out his hustle after he made the first 3, racing across the court just to get in position to pressure the ball. That’s what made the steal and the second 3 possible.
Is it too much to say Delly is a legit starting PG in the NBA? I truly believe he is. Good thing the Cavs still have Delly under control next year.
He might be on the right team….on most teams, probably not. He’s really on one of the ideal teams right now….OKC would be another, and even the Knicks would probably be a good fit…
Yeah, Some teams are just BAD at PG right now. (Milwaukee, New Jersey…)
Can believe MI decided to trade for MCW as their starting point last year. i think that was Kidd outsmarting himself.
He would Help Houston, OKC, Milwauke, NJ, NY, Boston, Orlando, and a few others. I don’t know if they have space but I would bet both Houston and OKC make big pushes to get him
Delly is a good fit on any team with a wing that can dominate the ball. And even better if there is a secondary option. So the Bulls with Butler and Gasol makes sense. Houston with Harden and Howard, OKC would be ideal imagine Ibaka oops from Delly, Milwauke with Monroe and the Greek could be an excellent fit. That would be a ferocious defense. I’m not sure if the Greek could handle the ball enough though. Miami might work if they move Dragic to the bench. The Knicks would be Ideal and he would really help them. Utah would… Read more »
GOTTA GET ME ONE OF THOSE HATS ——THANKS FOR THE “VIEW ” EVIL
They are coming away from this game w more confidence. They rallied and all made huge plays when it mattered. Dang I am so fired up! Glad I live out west so I can cool down. Go cavs!
Blatt with underrated game. Several good plays down the strech. Also great adjustment on the defensive end with Shump
That Shump defensive play on Dirk near the end of regulation was amazing…
Yeah, he was pretty good. Thought he was a step slow with some subs. A couple of plays out of timeouts were clunkers.
Biigest one of the game ended up with a Lebron Dunk off a double screen. I thought he was a minute late on getting Delly in at the end too