Recap: Cavs 91, Ratchets 77 (or, are the Kardashians in town?)
2016-01-16
The Commodore 64 that spits out the NBA schedule didn’t do the Cavs any favors during a pair of road trips over the past three weeks that included potential Finals previews against the Warriors and Spurs. Tonight’s matchup with the Rockets was the finale of a six-game in nine-nights road tour that spanned over 4,500 miles, and probably had the team questioning what tine zone they were in multiple times. From the outside looking in, it’s bananas that the Cavs wouldn’t just travel to Philly after being in DC, rather than play in Minneapolis in-between. Commissioner Adam Silver stated his goal to reduce back-to-backs before the season, but reducing them by two-percent per team, isn’t nearly enough, especially with high-profile cross conference match ups.
Change in the starting lineup for tonight: Timofey Mozgov will start tonight in Houston; @RealTristan13 will come off the bench.
— Joe Gabriele (@CavsJoeG) January 16, 2016
David Blatt inserted Timofey Mozgov back into the starting lineup to matchup up with Dwight Howard. While Mozzy drew the start, he struggled to effect the game much with just 2 points, 2 rebounds, and a block in his 17 minutes of action. If he’s still hurt, sit him for a couple weeks. If they could have the best record in the East without Irving and Shumpert for the first third of the season, they’ll be fine without Moz for a bit.
1st Quarter
The Cavs shined in the first quarter against the Spurs, and the beginning of this one was the direct opposite. Their play was sloppy on both ends as they looked visibly exhausted for the first six minutes of the quarter, and trailed the Rockets by six at the midway mark. The Cavs capped off the quarter with 8-1 run, that was punctuated by Shumpert stealing the ball from Harden, which led to a Delly floater to beat the buzzer beater. Cavs 23-21
2nd Quarter
.@VAREJAOANDERSON with the strip on one end, @KyrieIrving with the finish on the other! @cavs up eight! #CavsRockets https://t.co/OCEZgHHe4E
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) January 16, 2016
If a bear approaches you in the woods don’t play dead, instead, play the bear a lowlight reel of the Rockets offensive sets. He’ll either fall asleep, or just wander off out of sheer boredom. The Rockets apathy for effort, and cohesive ball movement might be the worst in the league for the caliber of overall talent of their roster. How did they win six games in a row? Are they trying to get a second coach fired within two months? Are the Kardasians in town? I’m not saying they are in need of a page one rewrite, but the pieces no longer fit together, or they just don’t want to. That’s how bad their effort was in the second quarter.
The Cavs found their second wind in the second frame, as Varejao’s energy radiated into his teammates. After not attempting a shot in the first quarter, Kyrie Irving drilled his first attempt from midrange on the Cavs first possession of the second. He went on to tally nine points in the quarter on 4-5 shooting with his full array of Leather Man offensive weaponry including a fadaway, a dazzling drive, and a three off of a Thompson offensive rebound.
The Cavs final possession of the half lasted 55.7 seconds due to Houston’s absolute apathy for boxing out. In a way that stanza was a microcosm for the game as a whole. The final offensive rebound for the Cavs was made by Delly in the paint as he was surrounded by three Rockets, and it led to a LeBron buzzer beating layup. Cavs 46-35
3rd Quarter
Mike Tirico had the metaphor of the night in comparing the third quarter to a Summer League game. It was THAT sloppy on both sides. The Cavs shot a putrid 34% from the field in the third, but it easily bested the 24% failure pile the Rockets offered, and the Cavs extended the lead by another six points. Delly exploited the Rockets defense finding Love wide open under the hoop for a layup, and setting up Thompson for the flush on a pick and roll. The highlight of the quarter was Kevin Love swooping in for a rebound in a sea of Rocket red, kicking the ball back out, and running back to his spot in the corner, and immediately being rewarded for his effort, draining the triple. Cavs 68-51
.@kevinlove hustles for the rebound, dishes to @KyrieIrving, relays to @KingJames, who rewards Love! #CavsRockets https://t.co/sZ4swfIlNi
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) January 16, 2016
4th Quarter
https://twitter.com/tompestak/status/688220338581188609
Three hundred seconds later…
https://twitter.com/tompestak/status/688221879044194304
Tom was spot on with that second tweet. The Cavs didn’t deserve to win tonight, but their bad game was better than the dog ate a donut diarrhea the Rockets left on the floor.
Delly’s heady play continued into the fourth, as he was rejected in the lane by Howard, and he picked up the loose ball and found Thompson under the hoop for an uncontested jam. They’ve got Mulder and Scully level chemistry together…Kyrie and Thompson combined to score 19 of the Cavs 23 fourth quarter points as the Young Turks of the Cavs out shinned the Mustache Pete’s. If it works, it works. Cavs 91-77
Boo
-Kevin Love struggled to find his shot, converting on just four of his 13 attempts, and he led the Cavs with five turnovers. He was late to rotate on defense a couple times as well, but he did pull down a game high 13 boards.
-I get that the Rockets can get hot, and erase a double-digit deficit in a jiffy, but LeBron James didn’t need to play 36 minutes in this one. If he doesn’t have to play the fourth to nab a win, get him on the pine.
-In relation to the previous gripe, the Rockets had clearly given up by halftime. I anticipated that Blatt would give Varejao some more burn in the second half after his productive second quarter run of 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal in just seven minutes of action for a game best +15 plus/minus, but he didn’t play another minute after intermission. It was Andy’s first playing time since January 2nd, and he really savored it. A year ago we were lamenting that Varejao should have been on a firm minute count. A year later, we’re getting our wish and then some. I don’t fault Blatt at all for limiting his minutes coming off of a torn achilles. He’ll be needed in the playoffs and if wrapping him in bubble wrap until May is the right formula, I’m down. After the game, Blatt complimented Andy’s professionalism bringing such infectious energy after having not played in weeks.
Yay
-Smith and Shumpert shut completely shut down James Harden. Harden shot 2-10 from the field and was held to 11 points and turned the ball over eight times. The defensive highlight for me was Smith picking Harden’s pocket near the end of the first half, and strolling in for a layup.
-Mozgov may have gotten the start, but Thompson is the better center for this team. Thompson shot a perfect 4-4 from the field, and hit a left handed hook to beat the buzzer in the third. I finally cracked open my NBA 2K16 game (I’ve been busy), and one of my first actions was upping Tigger’s minutes. He’s now the NBA’s iron man. Give him 30 minutes a night.
-You could tell LeBron was tired. The spring we saw in his finishes against the Mavs were layups tonight. How often is he third on the team in shot attempts? He still went for 19-7-7. That line would be a game of the year for the majority of the league. He’s got a date with a liquid nitrogen machine tomorrow.
Kyrie Irving going Uncle Drew on 'em! https://t.co/fMA76mYJ1J
— Cavaliers Nation (@WeAreCavsNation) January 16, 2016
-Kyrie looked like Kyrie and scored a game-high 23. The Cavs are probably playing at about 65% of their potential and they are on pace for 60 wins. I’m not worried at all that the Cavs narrowly lost on the Warriors and Spurs home courts. Cavoltron is coming.
-I suspect that if the scenarios were reversed in this matchup, and the Rockets were on their sixth game of a road trip facing a rested Cavs squad at The Q, the fellas in wine and gold would have smashed them by 40. The loss to the Spurs was a bummer, but they came into this road trip with an 8-8 road record, and they are 13-9 away from home six games later. The Cavs are off until Monday with a rematch with the Warriors on the Martin Luther King basketballiday. Until then.
Rookies “Mighty” Joe Young and Myles “Davis” Turner for the IND Pacer putting up some nice numbers against DEN… can they pull off the win?
Also, great article on Yahoo sports about San Antonio Spurs… David West claims that Popovich and company do not provide extensive scouting reports… says that they’re the smallest he’s ever seen, and they don’t watch much film on their opponents. Almost all of their “studying” is self-scouting/self-focused. Popovich claims he doesn’t watch film!
I guess that explains why their league-best defense didn’t have an answer for the Delly-TT pick and roll.
HAHA… I suppose so! But then again, they didn’t need an answer for it.. they still won!
Stephen Curry on returning to play at Cleveland: “Hopefully, it still smells a little bit like champagne.”
Oh snap! That would be pretty hilarious if he said that. He might hit the floor an extra time or two because of it, but still a pretty good line.
What a punk! Really hope we have BIG GAME!!
The visiting lockerroom probably still smells a little like Braymond’s ass, anyway.
Yea, takes about a year to wipe out Donkey odor……..
Cavs guard Matthew Dellavedova voted NBA’s dirtiest player in recent poll cbsprt.co/2088pPZ
Lol… This was a pretty biased poll.
Chuckled when I read this. What a joke. Kelly Olynik rips out Kevin Loves arm and Delly is the dirtiest player. Haha love our Aussie!
He can thank the freaking Cavs-Hawks broadcasting team from the playoffs last year for this ‘award’. The Delly hysteria from the fringers on either side gets old, but I maintain that Delly is right around league average ‘dirty’.
Bill Laimbeer was dirty. Nobody in the league is dirty, and certainly not like Bill. But Delly is at least as ‘dirty’ as anyone else. It’s one thing to go diving to the floor for balls, and another thing to do it when there’s a good chance you’ll be chopping someone at the knees if you do. Scrappy players who hustle get called dirty. Makes a little sense: If Delly doesn’t care what happens to his body in a game, why in the hell is he going to care about an opponents.
I mean ‘dirty’ as getting their shots in. As I said, I don’t see any ‘dirtier’ than the average NBA player. Case closed, for me.
I don’t see Delly any dirtier, that should read.
I don’t really see him that way either. A little reckless maybe, but thats different to me. I can however see how he would be voted that by NBA players. Playoff games stick out like a sore thumb, and when you have a couple plays that are iffy, it sticks in their minds. I put dirty in quotation marks because I didn’t really think he was dirty, but I should have used the word reckless instead. He throws his body around and is totally reckless with his well being, and unfortunately if he throws himself and happens to land on… Read more »
Yes very biased. I want to know how in the hell does Charlie Villanueva who routinely chokes & cheap shots players does NOT make that list? Has Wade been absolved of his title in that category?. (Rondo, Collison, Paul George. Sessions, Kobe’s broken nose, and even Kyrie’s concussion in his rookie year when Wade knee him in the head) THe method used was very questionable as he stated people could vote more than once. It isn’t clear what scope these coaches are. They are identified as East Coach or West coach . Are they a Head Coach, Asst Coach of… Read more »
An LA Times writer has an agenda to make Delly out to be the dirtiest player in the NBA? Who really is the delusional one here.
I mean, when he quotes an “East Player” as saying that Delly is dirty, crosses the line, plays out of control . . . it’s pretty obvious that that’s Al Horford, right? If not, probably someone else on the Hawks. But by giving the source anonymity like that, it makes it sound like the opinion is coming from more directions than it really is.
Exactly, in the same token. If this writer truly polled a broader spectrum to avoid targeting specific pools the answers most likely would NOT be Delly. Example:’ Please ask Doc Rivers if he thinks Delly is a dirty player. He would laugh his head off. Ask Rondo who is the dirtiest is; I guarantee $1000 it’s not Delly but most likely Wade. How about Ramon Sessions? Russel Westbrook? Kobe? Garnet himself wouldn’t say Delly. DId anyone ask the Kings? 76ers? Bucks? Jarrett Jack? This is a broader and random pool .
I don’t follow your statement of “Who is the delusional one? I’m not sure if you are making an insult or what exactly? I said “He” was delusional if he expects people to believe his conclusion especially given the parameters he developed his poll. Did you not read his methodology? I don’t see how you can dispute it when 1. specific players that do have earned reputations like Villinueva was omitted ( If you omit ; you are controlling the outcome) 2. there isn’t any explanation or data given on what these coaches are. Are they a HC, Asst Coach,… Read more »
Well obviously it’s not scientific, or really even meaningful in any way. It’s just an informal poll. What would lead you to believe that the writer has an agenda vs Delly. Do you really think he was predetermined and created a polling situation that would erroneously name Delly the dirtiest player in the league? Really? Or do you think it might be more likely that out of 24 random people 13 thought that Delly was the dirtiest? And bear in mind these people don’t have to be factually correct in their answers, they just have to think it. Obviously someone… Read more »
Behold The Green Stopper!
We need Mosgov to be like Baynes in this game. Pistons waltz in the paint. Piston bloggers commented that the Refs called many illegal screens against Warriors and it really got them out of their rhythm. They said Green trashed talk a lot but Drummond had an answer for that with a epic nasty block on him.
Hope Cavs get an effective game plan against them. It would be sweet to have a Green stopper. We can perimeter defend. Need to protect the paint.
Yeah that’s great, but the refs need to be consistent with those calls. I’m with utmost joy (sarcasm), that they finally called illegal defense against the Dubs while playing the Pistons. In a series with the Pistons, the Pistons probably don’t get those calls. It was a home game, and to quote JVG, the refs probably had a flight to catch…
Officiating is another factor teams should game plan for, which I’m sure they already do. As long as it’s fairly called, teams should be able to adjust to each crews rules. If Tony Brothers is officiating, good night.
JVG the ESPN guy that tells people to shut off their TV to these games? That one? No one is talking about a series with Pistons .It’s just a game that GS showed they were human on the road. TBH though as far as Refs … It’s a whole different having to deal with that vs Pistons than Spurs. And just like with the Cavs, it wasn’t the deciding factor. But I get you on the consistency.
The thing that struck me on this game was their BIGS. Love to see Mosgov be this aggressive.
Celtics’ Jae Crowder says Wizards coach Randy Wittman called him soft, cursed at him
cbsprt.co/1naeYUq
That coach can be really out there sometimes.
Yeah but it’s Jae Crowder. Mr. Fake-Tough-Guy!
Curry did have 38 points in that loss. Draymond got into it with Drummond.
The last time Warriors lost by double-digits…
The last time 76ers won by double-digits…
Jan. 16, 2015.
Exactly one year ago.
FINALLY! Someone finally punked Draymond Green. I will watch the highlights from this game over and over.
Final Det 113 – GS 95
Luke Walton was really pissed! It seems to me they are really focused on getting those 70 wins. What’s weird is that they haven’t faced Okc or the Spurs yet. So they still have 7-8 games against those teams.
By the way, now the Spurs are just 2 games back. I still believe the Spurs are a better overall team.
You aren’t wrong. The Spurs could easily finish the #1 seed this season but likely won’t. They don’t need to in order to win. If any team needs to finish #1 in the league it’s the darn Cavs. They could use home court in the finals.
That said, we will need to play closer to our potential to beat the dubs on Monday than we did against the Spurs. They will play PISSED after this loss…and we won’t get the benefit of home court Redding that Detroit got tonight. We never seem to
Really rooting for them to burn themselves out for the chase for 70. If Curry or Green aren’t pristine they won’t make it to the Finals.
No NBA team ever made it through a season w/out at least one two-game skid. Looks like Warriors need Monday win in Cleveland to avoid theirs — Marc Stein
Let’s hope the Cavs find a way to shoot better than the 31% they got at Oracle Arena. If they can shoot at least 40% and defend the way they did that day they should get the W.
Sixers destroy Blazers 114-89.
Lmao at Iguodala!! The Warriors are obviously thinking ahead and the Pistons took advantage.
DET 101 – GS 78, with 6 minutes to go. If GS pulls this off then they are incredibly clutch.
Nah It’s over. I think the Warriors were thinking ahead to Monday.
My only concern about the Dubs losing to the Pistons, is that it will make them more focused facing the Cavs.
Yea but then again, it might be good for the Warriors to get punched in the face just before they play the Cavs. Maybe it will get them off stride a little bit, and start thinking a little more instead of reacting. Maybe?
Wooow. Are Warriors really starting to fall off? Have we seen their best days? I’m not watching it, but from the box score it looks like everyone’s playing. Finally healthy and they’re looking worse!
Some young teams from the east like the Pistons and Bucks really play well at their home gym. It seems the Warriors are going to really fight for this one.
The Central Division is tough for the Warriors. They lose to the Bucks, and are going to lose to the Pistons. And Monday, hopefully they lose to the Cavs!
All Piston starters in doubles
The Warriors are not at the same level defensively as the Cavs and Spurs. They play good defense in short spurts.
Yeah that is what I witness. Curry especially seems to lack at that end
I don’t know about that… They were the #1 defensive team all of last year. And I believe they’re top 5 today.
Is like every time the Warriors face tough adversity Draymond Green begins to cry like a baby lol.
It’s amazing how Stephen Curry shoots 3 pointers like FT’s. I have to give him that but does that make him the best overall player in the league? I don’t think I so but that’s just my honest opinion.
He makes those crazy Gilbert Arenas circus shots with regularity. He’s the best shooter, and has an incredible handle. But I wonder how could he would be on the Sixers?
I hope this GS-DET goes to triple OT!
Pistons destroying Golden State 68-51, in the third quarter.
They’ll probably come back but the cracks are showing.
Currently 68-80 Pistons.
Marcus Morris, Green Stopper!
The Robitussin Brothers!!!!!
But you need both of them together for maximum effectiveness
Otherwise it’s a child’s dose!
Just watched this game back, shortly after saw this thread. PML, you guys should do a double act.
Watching the Ben Wallace jersey retire in on NBATV. Wallace is one of the few Pistons I actually really like, probably because he played for the Cavs, and started out at Tri C. However, any future ceremony for RIP Hamilton will be spit at from my end.
I liked them all except Rasheed. The Ben Wallace tapback. Such a huge momentum stealer of a play, and he was the master of it.
WATCH: Stephen Curry Gets T’d Up After Circus Shot slam.ly/PbTh6E
Man I think he might be a better finisher than KI. That was something. Too bad it came in a LOSS, lol.
Tommy on Kelly Olynyk: “He has the potential to be better than Dirk Nowitzki, that’s his upper limit.” — That would be Tommy Hoinson, the Celtics broadcaster. Let’s give him a round of applause. ?
Love the 1st half of the Pistons and warriors.
Are you watching on league pass? For some reason I can’t purchase single games right now.
Just listening to it on nba and listening to Detroit of course
Detroit getting 65 PTs in first half seems excessive. Warriors defense seems to be sliding
Kobe also revealed that he’s not interested in playing in the 2016 Olympics. Of younger players, he says, “I think it’s their time.” — Baxter Holmes
Thank god!
My hot take item for today is that I think GS is a bad match up for SAS. And I think SAS is a bad match up for the Cavs. But I also think the Cavs are a bad match up for GS.
I kind of agree with this. Depends how much Pop plays Duncan. I think if they play LA at the C and Boris at the PF advantage SAS. But Dancan in the game is advantage GS
Cavs didn’t let the tough loss affect them OR the Rockets are that bad…. I can’t choose… Also, I don’t know if a deal to get rid of Mosgov just to get rid of him is worth it. He only makes like $6M this season and it’s not like we can get a 1st round pick for him (unless Billy King comes back with another team WITH assets). I’d be “okay” with a Morris trade but that means TT will have minutes only (mostly) at Center. Morris isn’t a “lockdown” defender but I don’t think he’s a “great” defender either….… Read more »
Morris has played good defense on Draymond over his entire career, not just one game.
Green himself is not difficult to defend. It’s the guys around him that are tough to deal with.
He’s difficult to defend on that team with Steph and Thompson. In a vacuum (btw who the hell came up with this term ‘in a vacuum’? Every time I use it I imagine the entire scenario taking place in an actual vacuum cleaner with dust and dingleberries flying around as I compare two items). Anyways ‘IN A VACUUM’ sure LeBron can handle him, but with the way the team plays it would be helpful to have another wing who guards him well.
But that’s my point. It’s not about having enough bodies to stop green. We have those. It’s about having enough bodies to stop curry, Thompson, or Parker and Danny green.
Guard defense is why those teams give us problems. in the finals last year, Delly ran himself nearly to death because we didn’t have another defender to chase curry everywhere. We need a backup for Delly and Kyrie who is decidedly unlike mo Williams. That’s what we should be liking to acquire.
I think if we could get Morris on the cheap, I’d be for it. I’d also be for exploring other avenues, but realistically what are they? I’m also fine just rolling the dice and staying put.
I think Danny Green is no problem, he just sits at the 3 point line. While he can be a good defender, he has no other offense. Curry and Parker, though, whew, that’s the problem. The head of the snake, defend that well, and the rest will fall into place. Much easier said than done though.
Oh…and if much danger ninja wants to earn a payday next season of real substance, he could spend the rest of the season working on becoming that guy. His defense could be the difference btw curry going for 25 per game and curry going for 35 a game in the finals…essentially the title.
Windhorst brought this up on Lowe’s podcast recently, citing around 21 total minutes over several games where Morris was defending Green. Green’s numbers were below his averages for those 21 odd minutes. That doesn’t mean much to me. If the Cavs somehow traded Moz away and ended up with Morris, they’d have a logjam at one position, while still having no traditional big. (Unless people are dying to see Kaun get big minutes) I’m certainly in no way convinced that Morris is a ‘Green stopper’. (Windhorst did back away from describing him as that, in fairness)
I love the terminology ‘green stopper’! It’s almost like we should just sign Robitussin!
Also I wouldn’t trade Moz for Green. I’d look to acquire him for the trade exception and maybe a 2nd rounder.
Jason Terry had to check Sasha Kaun’s jersey to see who he was ???
https://vine.co/v/iOr1j9xOQTa
He looks like a dog stiffing another dog’s behind. It’s weird.
I imagine you meant sniffing, cuz it didn’t much look like what you wrote!
LMAO My bad! Yes sniffing. My eyesight sometimes
Since last January 13, 2015, the Cavs are 43-5 with LeBron, Kyrie and Love in the line up.
That would be good for best in the league
Hey Thunder, since the Dion trade was a win-win for both teams, how about we do it again – Mozgov for Adams? Deal? Deal!
Outside of something like that, hard to imagine how the Cavs could work such a trade. They’d need to get a playable big back…if Woj is reporting it, I’m sure the calls have been made. Just don’t see what deal could happen…
If they weren’t making calls they’d be doing nothing. Doesn’t mean thy want to get rid of him very badly.
Perhaps they are trying to sneak someone off the “we were a playoff team in preseason” crowd. I’m looking at you Omer Asik and Alex Len.
Or they are trying to find a blockbuster way to grab Tyson chandler
Cavaliers reportedly looking to trade C Timofey Mozgov ble.ac/1RsiUvU
Wow…what the heck do they think they’ll get for him as a rental?
I can’t see that trade happening. Idk
If they trade him for anything but a solid rotation player coming back I begin to doubt Gilbert’s commitment to his cap – luxury statements this off-season.
Don’t believe the hype…
This was reported earlier and it sounded as if the Cavs denied it. However, this seems new and WOJ is a pretty reliable source. I hope they do not trade him, and I hope he continues to improve. Unless they are getting back another rim protector, as I don’t think AV/Kaun/TT is a strong enough front court/center position.
Wow. That would be a big move. What is going on with Moz?
And Oh My Goodness, what would become of Russian Bear Hat Day?
What if they traded Moz and the trade exception for Brook Lopez?
Brook Lopez is not a rim protector… he’s another version of Enes Kanter… Talented offensive player, no defense…
Also, I think Lopez makes like $19M/year on his new deal…
That’s a lot of dough!!!!!
Ithought the TE couldn’t be combined with another player?
Correct, you can’t combine Trade Exceptions with Players and players from the same side.
To say the Cavs “didn’t deserve to win” does a disservice to how well they played defensively. Yes, they shot poorly but they held the Rockets to their season low point total. Rockets also came into the game averaging 104 ppg and on a five fame winning streak. simply put, the Cavs played defense like they deserved to win.
Not in the second half. Rockets got wide open 3 after wide open 3. Brick after brick after brick. Cavs did keep them off the O glass but the D wasn’t good.
That’s the whole point w the rockets though. You shut down Dwight and harden and they don’t play well. Their wide open threes were for guys like Terrence jones and only came in the second half. The Cavs made a concerted effort to erase the two big threats and let the rest of the rockets show up or shut up. They ran arizaoff the line and ran terry off a few. For once they played simple, scouting report defense. If anything was bad it was their offense.
Sorry, didn’t see your post before I posted… totally agree. I was impressed with how disciplined the Cavs’ defense was… they stuck to the scouting report religiously.
By that logic, the same thing happened to us over the same period of time. We had wide open 3 after 3 after 3 as well with brick after brick after brick. We shot worse than them from 3 for the game.
You can’t very well say the we didn’t deserve to win because they missed their 3’s when we missed more, and had better looks on ours to boot.
I think the statistics suggest the Cavs’ defense was phenomenal. Blatt and LBJ both mentioned, as I said yesterday, they were keying in on Harden and letting anyone else shoot the 3. EG nailed it last night, dirty secret about Houston is no one shoots the 3 that well except for Harden… so much for their pace and space offense. Only guy who can consistently hit threes beside Harden is JET and he’s a defensive liability. Motejunas was their other guy and I haven’t heard about him or seen him play since injury. If there was something to be upset… Read more »
Ok, I went through the 3rd again. Here’s the Houston 3’s while they’re fresh in memory. Two wide open ones, one by Beverly totally uncontested albeit on a very nifty pass from Howard. Another from Terry where they moved the ball around and got a wide open look. Two more by the guy Love was guarding, and Love was out there on them, but only so much he can do. This was more on Blatt because Houston went small taking Capella out for Thornton. Decent shots, but not wide open. There was another by Bob Harder out front that was… Read more »
Good write-up. Love’s extended slump is starting to worry me a bit, but he keeps rebounding at an elite level (which is his strongest suit anyway). And I think the ball movement could be better, and we have to get Mo and Andy at least feeling part of the team. And Kyrie isn’t all the way back yet, either. Nor Mozgov. Point is, we have a lot of room to grow and yet we still were right with the Warriors and Spurs on their home courts. If we can continue to grow as a team, I think we can win… Read more »
Cavs assists are down a little since Kyrie has come back . Even Delly’s assist numbers are down with less mins . There has to be a correlation there I would think. In the beginning of the season, Love & Delly had the most productive duo . That probably isn’t true anymore.
Andy looked terrible out there.
I disagree. Few times looked a little out of control but had a steal and drew an offensive foul on Howard 2 boards and 2 assists in 8 min not bad. But his energy helped and was contagious. But I know you struggle to see that as valuable. Teammates all commented on his play but the probably don’t know as much as you.
Not according to Kyrie. Too bad you missed his interview. No offense, I’ll go with his judgment as an NBA Point guard over yours.
He missed some shots but he looked outstanding on d. What game were you watching? Pretty much every post game interview and best writer commentary was how Varejao changed the nature of the game.
Then you weren’t watching the game… you’re literally the only one here who feels that way.
I think Cols is actually trolling here. At the very least he forgot to put the /s.
Let me add to the tsunami saying Andy played very well…and showed how he could positively impact things…played only 8 minutes and had the highest plus/minus of any Cav…+15. What game were you watching?
Yeah JR delighted in shutting Harden down with his accomplice Shump and at times Delly. I liked how he wanted to be ‘THe Guy” that did that to him. Yikes, they were NOT nice at all to The Beard. He probably had nightmares found on whostolemybeard.com
Houston had been playing better of late, and while the Cavs D certainly had a lot to do with it (especially shutting down Bob Harder), the Rockets did miss a ton of open shots last night. They definitely seem to take their cue from how Bob is playing… If they are struggling when the ASB hits, I could see Morey pulling the trigger on a Dwight trade… which might actually open up the possibility of Ariza being available. I know I dismissed that yesterday, but after seeing how atrocious they were last night, Morey might just blow it up and… Read more »
The only problem is that we don’t have much to offer for Ariza… Would you give up Osman?
If Morey makes the trade for say Whiteside, he’ll need as much cap space as possible to sign him to a new deal in the summer… trade exception and a second rounder might be enough…
As much as I like the idea of Cedi the Jedi… Ariza is a rotation guy that helps them win the title this year… so yes, I would…
After 52 years, one in the hand outweighs infinity in the bush.
Really want Blatt to get the players to use Love in pick and pops and work him from the elbow. Not sure why this isn’t happening?
It’s still early… I’m sure they’ll continue to experiment with the offense over the next couple of months…
They need to practice packaged plays to execute vs the SAS and GS. They should practice these plays during regular season games. It is early, I suppose, but they’ve had this core for a year and a half now. Time to figure it out.
Yet, they’ve only had Ky and Shump back for roughly 12 games… I have a ton of faith that they will figure it out come April…
And when you look at how few games the big 3 have played together it is barely half of a season. Lots of upside
In the past few nationally-televised games that I have watched, Kevin Love often seems to be setting a (very) high pick for both Lebron and Kyrie. From there, I’m not sure exactly what they are trying to do. Maybe they just want to drag Love’s defender away from the basket. After that, it seems like Lebron/Kyrie look to drive to the hoop, Kevin moves towards the bucket or heads outside the three point line, and then something else happens. Nothing like the Delly to TT alley oop, which is a set play with precisely two options. Love doesn’t have the… Read more »
As I watched a re-run of the game last night, You hit the nail on the head re: KLOVE PnR… they are using the KLOVE PnR to create a driving lane for Kyrie and LBJ… they aren’t looking to pass to KLOVE. The reason why is that KLOVE didn’t dive/roll to the basket. He drifts to the 3pt line. Since it’s so predictable, Houston’s defense always rotated a man over to defend KLOVE. This normally works but it requires Kyrie and LBJ to drive to the basket, they don’t always do that. The other action, which I like better, is… Read more »
Great recap, Cory! Always enjoy your colorful, metaphorical, not-quite-expletives to describe things.
Not much to take away from this game, other than the Cavs can still play great D even when they’re tired… Andy can still be a valuable contributor, and it was great to see him get some run… The Rockets are a shell of what they were last year (I blame the loss of Josh Smith… he was their glue guy /s)…
Cannot wait for Monday!
Cavs D was good at times and their energy was also excellent on some notable possesssions. And I thought TT and Andy played with outstanding energy….but from about midway through the third I thought the Cavs D was very lazy and the rockets just crawled around in their own….how did Cory describe it? Haha. TT and then Kyrie took an home in the 4th but this was more about the Rockets awful showing than the Cavs overcoming the odds of the tough schedule. I mean, we’ll take it…but remember that the Cavs need to be better than the Spurs or… Read more »
Geez tough crowd. I know that is the goal but just looking at this road trip in the present & real time, it was a success. I hope you get a chance to listen to Van Pelt. It’s kinda like let’s pause for a moment and take time to smell the flowers on what exactly the Cavs just accomplished on the road trip. We get so obsessed (I’m guilty as charged) on Cavs/Warriors or CAvs/Spurs & they are not this high that we are not enjoying the ride of their successes living in the moment. I big part of that… Read more »
Tom did not join me on my New Year’s resolution… ;)
Not at all!!!!!
“remember that the Cavs need to be better than the Spurs or Warriors” This seems like an obvious statement. But I guess I am not sure why anyone would make inferences about this statement based on the performance of the Cavs on a back-to-back in early January after a 12 game road trip, the final 3 of which occured in 4 nights against 3 Western Conference playoff teams (while KI was remained at about 80%). I wouldn’t call this “panic,” but its kind of an irrational focus on the negative that crops up here a lot. I think we are… Read more »
I agree with the comment ” cavs are equally great, and probably have the most upside”. I don’t see much room for improvement for Spurs and Warriors which is huge compliment to how well they are both playing but I think we all would agre Cavs have room to improve. Kyrie getting to 100% is enought to push us further alone, let alone other areas of continuity. Still very few games played as a unit!
I’m just not OK with losing in the finals. This is the time for greatness. Not next year. I’m not panicking. If I was I’d have gotten upset with the blazers game or LeBron’s shooting or Mozgov’s poor play. At every instance I realized that it doesn’t matter if those things are happening in Nov or even Februrary it only matters that they are firing on all cylinders in the playoffs. But if we aren’t going to panic during losses than why should we overvalue wins? Ultimately they’re just as meaningful as the loss to the blazers. I didn’t see… Read more »
They had wide open 3’s and missed. It happens. I can’t remember very any bad or forced shots, any Iso’s leading to step back prayers, or much standing around looking listless and disengaged on offense. They worked the ball around, took it to the hoop when it warranted and kicked it around to the open 3 point shooter most other times. I actually thought it was pretty great offense. I guess it comes down to people thinking they are chucking up 3’s, which is killing the offense, where I think they are doing what they should do; Having KI and… Read more »
I think you misunderstood. The ROCKETS were missing wide open 3s. I’m lamenting how open they were. The Cavs D was lazy. At the other end I thought they rushed shots and tried high risk maneuvers which led to transition opportunities the other way (that the rockets rarely converted).
My fault for not clarifying, I was talking about the Cav’s Offense. I did not think there were many high risk maneuvers and such, pretty much just running their normal O, and running it well. They just missed the 3’s.
And on D, like I said, I thought they played pretty spirited and with actual effort. I may need to watch again if you saw something different, but watching it live, that was my initial impression.
Highlight of the game was Jeff Van Gundy telling children to turn this game off. It was unbelievably bad. Glad to see Cavs didn’t let this one get away from them. Great to see Andy, I hope Blatt is planning to keep all of the bigs fresh for the playoffs. This means giving Andy a couple of shots a game to bring his energy into the game and see how it affects the team. Mozgov and Love are really disappointing so far. With Timo it could be getting over injury but it seems like mental issues,lack of confidence. I still… Read more »
Disagree on JVG’s idea for the worst free throw contest… I don’t want to watch that in games, let alone however long it would take to watch eight guys in a row… maybe if they all had to shoot granny style…
He also contradicted himself, when he said the league should just give teams the points for flagrants, as he doesn’t want to see people shoot FTs.
Now that’s a good idea…
IN the same token, can we punish Van Gundy’s poor performance announcing? These guys get paid big money and they were completely disengaged on the game. A big chunk of their work was spent on talking about nonbasketball stories to all the other NBA players not on the floor. IF you are that bored and you say turn off the channel, you just gave viewers permission to help sag ESPN ratings further. Surely, we can get younger and fresher announcers in 2016.
Or at least free up the chokehold that nationally televised games have which prevent people in other markets from hearing the local announcers… I would have much preferred listening to AC and Fred than a bored JVG and Tirico last night, but that was sadly not an option here in LA…
That would stink for you guys! AC & Fred love their jobs and it shows. They are laughing, engaged, have quick stats to throw out on both teams, I especially like they have quick replays on baskets, great defensive plays or questionable calls. Then they have quick interviews on some of the players. Yesterday, they quizzed players if they could recall their room numbers, (JR aced that one lol) what order of cities did they play. RJ made a joke that someone needs to wash their huge dirty laundry bag. They never run out of ideas to keep the game… Read more »
The bad sets and rushed shots in the 3rd and 4th were a result of both teams trying to get the game over with. Both teams would have ended the game early if they could have. The quality check on the schedule was lacking.
I also enjoyed Van Pelt’s take on the game afterwards. Is it our paranoia or do the Cavs really take unwarranted digs from the national media? For example, it’s fashionable to criticize the Wiggins-Love trade, which is a fair position. But then you can’t take the simultaneous view that they need to get it done within this supposedly short “championship window.”
Wait what did Van Pelt say?
He praised the Cavs at some length for being one of only three teams (four if you add OKC) who are capable of doing what they did last night. Closing out a long road trip, convincing win against a quality opponent on a back-to-back.
Despite being tired the Cavs used most of the energy they had on D, which is a good sign. I like that Andy is ready and rarin to go and comes in and contributes. He should be rewarded with some more run in the next few games. That said, there just aren’t that many minutes to go around with Timo, KLove, and TT. We have to keep KLove out there plenty so that the offense comes together, and if you run some small-ball then there are probably fewer than 96 mins. for PF/C available. Terrible showing by the Houstons. Thanks… Read more »
The NBA life. Get home from a 12 day 6 game road trip at 5am and I wouldn’t trade it for nothing in the world! #ILoveThisShhhhhh #GoodNight —- LeBron
Agree. It was VERY clear to me that LeBron wanted to make a statement to the team last night — championship teams need to be able to win when they are tired. This was an issue in the Finals last year. He was NOT going to just sit out the game. He wanted to show the guys that you can win even when tired. I also think the team really cared about closing the road trip strong. The gleeful emotion after the game illustrated that they cared about this game a lot, even if the feaux analytics crowd on Twitter… Read more »
Meant to post this in response to Cols. Messed up the “Reply” button.
Yep. And as Blath and JVG pointed out there’s no evidence at all about rearing your players. The Cavs know they can win without going all out. They didn’t have to play hard and get two days off. I’m so sick of the stupid minutes police. Here is more than one way to rest.
And of course they deserved to win. Have Cavs fans become this spoiled by LeBron?
I don’t quite get the sentiment that the “Cavs didn’t deserve to win” this game. They definitely got lazy and didn’t play their best. But they did that BECAUSE they were a) in control, and b) somewhat tired. If Houston had raised their level, I am confident the Cavs would have responded. They have been doing that for 2 years now against good teams. But Houston never did, and we were on a 2nd night of a back to back, so we didn’t ever need to kick it into high gear. The sentiment I ABSOLUTELY agree with is: “the Cavs… Read more »
Yep. They had a chance to relax and they smartly took it. That’s how you do it. Smart move. I loved Blath and JVG telling be minutes police to shut up. The best.
That was a highlight for me too
YEAH FORGOT WE HAVEN’T HAD MO FOR THE ENTIRE ROAD TRIP / HE POSSIBLY ( EVEN WITH HIS DEFENSIVE LIMITATIONS ) MIGHT HAVE PROVIDED ENOUGH OFFENSIVE SPARK AGAINST THE SPURS ——STILL ALOT OF RUMORS ABOUT MARKIEFF AND THE CAVS ( SORRY EVIL I HAD TO BRING IT UP )
Markieff is your Ray Allen, NOMAD… ;)
Cory, I did not see the game last night. Your recap was just what I needed. Thank you. And thank you for also keeping things in perspective– the Cavs aren’t even close to peaking yet this season. All signs point toward a fun playoff run…
– The difference on the iso plays this game compared to the previous is that they almost never settled for 20 footers and attacked the rim more instead. – Andy needs to play more. Nuff said. – The Kevin Love hustle rebound in the 3rd quarter is the play of the game. That’s so BEAUTIFUL – But in defense of Blatt I think he’s still establishing deep chemistry within the starting five and the solid 8, that’s why the short rotations. He’ll get to use the bench deeply soon. Maybe even before the all-star break. He’s smart enough and stayed… Read more »
ALSO I BELIEVE KY HAS A MORE “MEANINGFUL/ TRUSTING BOND ” WITH BLATT —THAT HE IS MORE APT TO LISTEN/ REACT ACCORDINGLY TO KY’S COMMENTS ———HOPING LOVE CAN CORRECT SOME OF HIS RECENT OFFENSIVE WOES—-GO VISIT LEBRON IN HIS “NITROGEN TANK ” ( HELL LEBRON SHOULD JUST THROW A BIG NITROGEN TANK PARTY AT HIS PLACE OR PURCHASE EACH PLAYER ONE )—– ALSO AGREE WITH MOZ IF HE IS NOT HEALTHY/ REST HIM GIVE ANDY AND THE ” MIGHTY KAAN ” MORE MINUTES—-GOOD TO BE HOME ” BACK IN THE LAND “–GO CAVS !!
My, you are ambitious to get this done so early in the morning! I did get to watch Scott VanPelt after game. Breath of fresh air than most ESPN guys. We are so accustomed to the negative pelting from national sports media. He pointed out Cavs had an impressive road trip to come out with only 1 loss and that loss was so small in points. He had no problem with the poor shooting fg% after playing Spurs the night before. He pointed out there are 5 elite NBA teams that CAN do what they did against Rockets after Spurs… Read more »
He hasn’t forgotten. He’s just fragile and coming off the worst injury for a basketball. Another month or two and he’ll be getting 10-12 a night to get ready for the playoffs. And his rotations aren’t that short. He plays 9 guys at least 10 minutes every game since the start of January (8 games). LBJ plays right around 35 (which is a bit high because of the last 3 games 42, 37, 36) KI, KL, JR and TT play 30. Delly and Shump play 25, RJ and Moz 15. Thats a healthy rotation where everyone gets a decent amount… Read more »
I’m sorry that was absolutely terrible english lol. The 2nd and 4th ‘he’ are referring to Andy while the 1st, 3rd, and 5th are referring to Blatt. And player would have made sense after basketball in the 2nd sentence. Part of the issue is these guys haven’t played that much together at all. So Blatt needs to play them more. The Spurs have been healthy all year and most their guys have played together for years. So they can sit guys for an entire game and work their rotation players in and not need to worry about developing chemistry. Also… Read more »
I’m just repeating what Kyrie has expressed he wants. I respect what he sees and knows can help the team. He isn’t the only player saying this. There is something to this that goes more than “our outside noise” from a fan base. As far as Blatt’s short rotations go. Cunningham’s usual 18 seconds should never count as a legit rotation . It’s midseason now. Blatt has a golden opportunity to improve in this needed area. I do hope the starters put pressure on him if he keeps putting this on the back burner in “save it for another day… Read more »
My point is nobody plays a lot of minutes and there are 9 guys getting 14 minutes every game. That’s a big rotation by most teams standards
Please take it up with the players talking about it. They might see things on the current rotations differently. It’s not a dictatorship team whereas they are completely silenced on concerns and goals on the topic.
You are reading way too much into saying that he has great chemistry with Andy. And that he provides energy on the second night of a back to back. Last season the players grumbled he was playing too many players in irregular rotations. Since I can’t take it up with Kyrie I’m taking it up with his interperter.
It just annoys me that people act like he’s using short rotation. 9 is a big rotation
I had to work at 8 in the morning so it was either pump it out, or take a three hour nap. Thanks for reading guy.