Recap: Cavs 120, Kings 100 (or, 新年快乐 Happy New Year!)

The Cavs rang in the Chinese New Year in style against the Sacramento Kings at the Q last night, and despite the corresponding zodiac animal, there was no monkeying around with their opponent this time. Granted, the Kings are a team on the verge of complete disarray, having dropped seven of eight entering last night’s game, and with a head coach who may be on his way out like the proverbial sheep that was celebrated last year. However, they served as the perfect competition against whom the Cavs could continue to change their luck and fortune for the better. And, even though the lucky numbers for the Year of the Monkey are 1, 7 and 8… the Cavs put up some much bigger and more impressive ones for a larger televised audience (in China anyway) than the Super Bowl pulled in just the day before…

新年好 (Xīnnián hǎo) — ‘New Year goodness!’

The Cavs offense got going early, thanks to back-to-back threes from Kyrie (who clearly had soaked up the pearls of wisdom that Ben had dispensed on the epic podcast that dropped this morning), plus some terrific off the ball cutting action where LeBron found Ky for another easy layup. In fairness, the Kings’ defense was mostly a rumor in this game (as it has been for the bulk of their losing stretch), but give the Cavs credit for taking full advantage. It was fairly apparent that the offensive goodness on display was going to flow from LeBron and Kyrie’s willingness to share the ball (they combined for eight assists in the first quarter alone). Many of their points were in the paint, as they found each other and their big men for aggressive drives to the hoop through the porous Sacto defense. And, despite an eight point surge from Marco Belinelli (his total for the game), the Cavs built as much as a 10-point lead behind a pair of J.R. long range firecrackers… including this one off a rope from LBJ to finish the scoring…

https://vine.co/v/i1DQXXttmH5

At the end of one, ‘Bron was already more than halfway to his first triple double of the new year (with 7/6/5), and the Cavs led 31-23.

恭喜发财 (Gōngxǐ fācái) — ‘Happiness and prosperity!’

An old Chinese proverb states that “the key to happiness and prosperity is a deep bench…” okay, maybe that was just a fortune cookie that I read made up. Regardless of where that came from, the saying held true for the Cavs in the second quarter, as the reserves (with some help from Kyrie) more than held their own against the still partially interested Kings. Uncle Drew and Mo Gotti took turns scoring on swerving drives and pull-up mid-rangers respectively, while Iman Shumpert took Coach Lue’s call for more guard rebounding seriously (he had six in the quarter and a game high 11). Aside from a couple of Rudy Gay triples and DeMarcus Cousins jumpers, the Kings had a difficult time putting the ball in the cylinder this quarter. Some of that came from Cavalier pressure, but they also missed a fair amount of open shots and layups. After an extended rest, the starters re-joined the fray, and LeBron made a concerted effort to get Kevin Love the ball inside. Though Kev missed his first six shots (he was just 2-10 for the game), he did manage to draw fouls and get to the line, where he also happened to cross the 9K point threshold. LBJ then finished the half with a flurry, slinging two more dishes for J.R swishes, and throwing down this breakaway dunk off of a desperate Rondo pass…

https://vine.co/v/i1jBHa2JMFm

The Cavs ended the half on a happy and prosperous note, leading 61-45 after another 30 point quarter.

步步高升 (Bùbù gāoshēng) — ‘A steady rise to high places!’

Third quarters had been a recent bane to the wine & gold, with a lack of energy and effort at the root of their misfortune, so they were looking to rise up to meet the challenge. And, even though LeBron kicked things off with a solid mid-range jumper off of a screen and a Kyrie assist, the Boogie Man and Long Range Rudy teamed up to quickly cut the Cavs’ lead down to 13. Coach Lue immediately called a timeout to set things right, and out of it… a strange thing happened. LeBron took his first three of the game… but that’s not the weird part… the weird part is that he actually made it (and then, for good measure, talked some trash to the Kings’ bench). With his shot feeling healthy, LBJ hit a third J on a step-back, and then fed Tristan inside for an easy slam (his only bucket of the game) to push the lead out to 20. The obligatory “heat check” eventually came on another step-back, but no harm was done as KLove hit his first FG (a three) and Kyrie knocked down a couple to maintain the advantage. The King then finished the quarter (and his night) with two more buckets (giving him 11 points in the period), one last assist to J.R. to give him double-digits for the game, and one last board with 1:15 left to complete his first triple-double of the season… the 40th of his career. Cavs led 91-70.

Career triple-double number 40. Not bad for 3Q of #CavsKings. 👑#CavsCNY BOX: https://t.co/lZM7DMheCo pic.twitter.com/4pNjKB2fLk

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) February 9, 2016

心想事成 (Xīnxiǎng shì chéng) — ‘May all your wishes come true!’

With LeBron’s wish for an early night fulfilled, the fourth quarter became equal parts mop up time and extended practice session for Kyrie, Kevin and the gang. Most of the Kings had long since stopped trying (with the notable exception of Omri Casspi who probably wanted to exorcise some past evil spirits from his time at the Q — not to mention his 0-5 start in this game), so it was hard to find much resistance. As a result, Kyrie continued his downhill assault (another shout out to the pod) on the hapless Sactovians, scoring 11 points and swinging the ball for five more assists in the frame. It wasn’t devoid of teaching moments, however, as Ty Lue still called a timeout after seeing a set for which he didn’t particularly care…

Cavs up 18 late. Kyrie trying to get the guys in their halfcourt set. Lue doesn't like what he sees. Calls timeout to teach the play.

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 9, 2016

The bench bunch (with an assist from Kyrie and KLove) pushed the lead out to 24, and did pretty much whatever they wished to the soon to be coachless Kings. R.J. hit a couple of threes, Shump pulled down a few more boards and got an awkward looking throw down to go, and Mo and Andy got some extended time on the floor. Even Sasha Kaun and Much Danger Ninja got to check in for a couple of minutes once Ky and Kev finally wrapped up their practice session. Only a horrific looking missed free throw by Sasha prevented the Cavs from notching their fourth 30 point quarter. Cavs easily take care of business 120-100.

幸运数字 (Xìngyùn shùzì) — ‘Lucky Numbers’:

On a night full of gaudy numbers, here were some of the gaudiest…

40 — The number of career triple doubles LeBron now owns. LBJ was back to being his ultra-efficient self in this game, shooting 50% (8-16) from the field and 80% (4-5) from the stripe. More importantly, he shot 50% from beyond the arc (okay, he only took two and made one, but it’s even better news that it was only two attempts), choosing to get most of his points from 17 feet and in. There were still a couple of jab-step-back-fade-aways I could live without, but his shot selection was certainly more on point. He also managed to secure his first triple double of the season with 1:15 left in the third quarter, as he looked to pass first and seemed determined not to let the ball stick on offense.

30 — The number of points the Cavs averaged per quarter. With a full disclaimer that the Kings might well be the worst defensive team currently in the NBA, the Cavs still pushed the action aggressively, swung the ball unselfishly and took full advantage offensively. They may have coasted a bit at times on the defensive side of the ball, but they never seemed to take their collective foot off the gas, or Sacto’s throat on offense. As mentioned above, they came within a Sasha Kaun free throw of legitimately scoring 30 in all four quarters.

12 — The number of assists Kyrie had to tie his career high. Maybe Kyrie really does listen to C:tB Podcasts, or maybe he was due to have a game where he distributed the ball as well as he scored it. Either way, it was easily the most complete floor game Ky has played since he returned. And, even though the Kings’ team defense leaves much to be desired, Rajon Rondo is still a decent individual defender. True, Kyrie did a lot of his torching in the fourth quarter (11 of his 32 points and five of his 12 assists), but Coach Lue praised him for the way he ran the offense throughout.

Ty Lue says @KyrieIrving did a great job getting Cavs into offensive sets

— Fred McLeod (@CavsFredMcLeod) February 9, 2016

He also finally started coming out of his slump from downtown (5-8) and was on target for most of the game in general (13-21 from the field). So, even against a lowly opponent, he probably did enough to stave off the “trade Kyrie” chatter for at least one more day… /s.

9,000 — The career points plateau Kevin Love reached. Kev didn’t have all that good a night shooting the ball (he missed his first five shots and went just 2-10), but he did make his presence felt inside by getting a few trips to the line. And, while he’s not exactly on an LBJ career scoring pace, getting to 9K is something to take pride in. Kev’s reduced output in this particular game can probably be chalked up to his recovery from the quad bruise he suffered in the Boston game… or maybe the repeated elbows to the face he’s taken recently.

1,600 — The number of threes J.R. Smith has now sunk in his career. I guess, actually, it’s 1,601… but either way, it’s a heck of a milestone for Swish. It’s really a crime that the dude hasn’t been asked to participate in the ASG three point contest… especially this year since he’s drained the second most threes (73) behind Steph Curry (93) since January 1.

Career 3-pointer #1,600 for @TheRealJRSmith! #CavsKings STREAMING: https://t.co/bp8Ysoq5X2 https://t.co/EDQ94FJxM0

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) February 9, 2016

11 — The number of rebounds pulled down by Iman Shumpert. In his post-game presser, Ty Lue discussed  tasking his guards with being more aggressive with rebounding the ball instead of leaking out in transition. Consider the message received loud and clear coach! Shump didn’t just lead the guards in rebounding… he led the whole team (actually both teams). In addition to his near dozen snags, he also threw down a dunk and had an improbable put-back. He’s still struggling a bit with his handle, and can look a bit out of control when running the action…

Shump in the open court is like a 16 year old in a rally car

— Will Gibson (@wjcgibson) February 9, 2016

27 — The number of assists the Cavs had, exceeding their magic number of 23 in most of their wins. I think commenter NOMAD was the first to point this out (or at least the first one I remember referencing this stat), but the Cavs do seem to have that magic number they need to hit for continued success. They certainly made an effort to share the ball in this game and make the smart pass without dribbling the air out of the ball. There were still a couple of pockets of isolation, but not any that threatened to get them into real danger against such a weak defensive team. This will continue to be an ongoing balancing act for this team given their ISO abilities, and the true test will be against opponents that can bring increased pressure in crunch time.

不吉利的数字 (Bù jílì de shùzì) — ‘Unlucky Numbers’:

6 — Likely number of NBA head coaches fired by the All Star Break. While this number currently stands at five… multiple sources have indicated that George Karl is unlikely to last until Thursday. Put in a seemingly no win situation from the outset of the season by owner Vivek Ranadive, Karl had actually made a pretty good go of things, even getting the Kings within spitting distance of .500 and a potential playoff seed before this latest slide. Props for being probably the last domino to fall in the veritable “open season” on NBA coaches this year… especially since it truly seemed like he’d have been the first.

ESPN sources say that the Sacramento Kings are going ahead with a coaching change and plan to fire George Karl in coming days

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 9, 2016

4 — The number of games Delly has now missed. And, it sounds like it will likely be five by Wednesday, as the Wombat will probably sit out and rest until after the ASB.

2 — Number of times Kevin Love has been elbowed in the face in his last two games. KLove doesn’t exactly have what you’d call a “punchable” face… what with his GQ looks and all. Can’t feel too good taking an elbow from Boogie just a week after taking one from David West…

0 — Number of craps Boogie Cousins looks like he gives right now. Boogie seemingly got increasingly more frustrated with both the refs and his situation as the game progressed, going gradually up the DEFCON scale of anger while letting go of any residual cares he had to perform well for his team.

Cousins looks to me like a guy who has quit.

— Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) February 9, 2016

Maybe Vivek can still trade him for a massive Celtic haul…

临别赠言 (Línbié zèngyán) ‘Parting Shot’:

Not to overstate it, but this was a really good win over a really not good team. On one hand, it was really encouraging to see the Cavs play an attacking style of basketball for pretty much an entire four quarters, and share the ball to the degree they did. On the other… the Kings are a hot mess right now, are about to lose their head coach and have a moody headcase as their star player/foundational building block. This was a team that the Cavs should have destroyed, and did so with relative ease. That’s always a good thing, and cause for optimism. At the risk of not tempering that optimism too much… perhaps these last few games before the All Star Break will serve as a springboard into a promising “New Year” for the Cavs on the other side.

I do know two things for sure, though… Ty Lue is apparently big in China… and by the same token is still good for at least one awkward post-game comment…

Tyronn Lue on Cavs celebrating Chinese New Year: "I have a great Asian following … They think I'm Asian because my last name is 'Lue.'"

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 9, 2016