Recap: Cavs 100, Pacers 96 (Or, King James isn’t for those under 13)

The Cavaliers hosted a struggling Pacers squad last night at the Q. Paul George must have enjoyed his All-Star game explosion, but the last week hasn’t been so much fun. His 11 point game against the suddenly mighty Blazers and his cold shooting from behind the arc has left the young talent looking for a win. It wasn’t going to be an easy task against his longtime foe, King James. Monta Ellis has had his way over the years against the Cavaliers. Monday night was no different. Fortunately, it wasn’t enough for Bird’s Pacers. Let’s get to it.

1st Quarter:

In an effort to maximize his bigman rotation, Ty Lue reinserted Timofey Mozgov into the starting lineup. Austin Carr beat the energy drum before the tip talking about how the Cavs need to play with spirit. The Wine and Gold didn’t exactly come out in a frothing lather. Monta Ellis started the evening’s scoring with slow-motion mini drive off Pick and Roll action. Kyrie kept his arms up, and was actually in front of Ellis after having negotiated the screen, but he provided zero body resistance. A few possessions later, a Kevin Love block led to early offense in the form of a LeBron post-seal bucket. Of course, then the Cavs allowed Myles Turner to sprint directly down the middle of the floor for a jam about 3 seconds into the shot-clock.

On the bright side, LeBron made a point to turn the first quarter into his own personal layup line. After a great right baseline dribble drive from Kevin Love, LeBron channeled his Professor Andre Miller PhD, by doing the old, “act like I’m going to post you up on the left-block before turning that into a spin move layup!” I love it.

Kyrie continued to make me audibly exhale when he lost Hill on an easy cut to the paint. For no reason. Delly checked in for Uncle Drew at the 6:27 mark of the quarter with the Cavs up 8-6.

LeBron continued his vacation to the bucket on another slick left wing drive. Paul George frequently overplays the screen in PnR action, allowing a ball-handler to reject the screen easily. It may be my biggest criticism of him as a defender. To be fair, he was taught to do that knowing that for the majority of his career, Roy Hibbert waited behind him. LeBron had trouble against him. Against Mahinmi or Turner? Layup line.

The rest of the quarter featured jump shot after jump shot for the Pacers as the Cavs shut down most of Indiana’s primary action. They got some shots to fall, but minus some poor contests, the defense was sound.

After one quarter, and another inexplicable LeBron James technical free throw (really, this is absurd. Delly shoots 89% from the line), the Cavs trailed 19-18.

2nd Quarter:

Delly, Kyrie, Shump, RJ, and TT started the second period for Cleveland. Kyrie, assuming that this was “his” time immediately missed a pull-up jumper in transition, and then dribbled the ball 12 times before completing an And-1. Austin Carr seemed about ready to cry in dismay. “They’re not running all the plays that I see them run in practice!” We feel ya, AC.

When K-Love checked in for Delly after the foul shot, Kyrie changed his plan. Irving and Love ran a patient two man game on multiple possessions leading to wide open shots. As the defense began to sag to help against that action, off ball body movement increased. It didn’t completely translate into points, but the Cavs’ offense was far healthier than it often is.

Defensively, Shump and Kyrie continued to struggle. Kyrie lost Hill again, only this time for a left corner three. The guard must crash down on the roll man, but if there is no roll, Kyrie has to reclaim his assignment. He loves to hang out in between action. Shump went for his famous “Shump” swipe down, but his legs still don’t seem to be live enough to get him into position. I will continue to hope that his baby will start sleeping more peacefully during the playoffs.

Still, Kyrie did do a much better job looking for the pass during this stretch of gameplay. When LeBron checked in at the 5:56 mark, the Cavs trailed 32-28. Love subsequently got great left post position before kicking it to J.R. Swish on the wing.

A sideline report about the Cavs needing to maintain focus led Austin Carr into another little frenzy. “This is a man’s game!” Apparently AC is just as frustrated with this team as many of us are.

Maybe the Cavs heard him. LeBron turned the ball over on a strong drive, but atoned for the miscue with a quick flurry. LeBron got a knock-away steal before drilling a pull-up left wing three. The King then contested an awful three attempt from Paul George. Kevin Love grabbed the air-ball and sailed a touchdown pass to Bron for the And-1 to tie it at 39.

Delly and Moz checked in, and the defensive pressure intensified. Moz was all over the place, diving for loose balls and altering or fouling on drives. It may not have produced incredible results on the scoreboard, but that activity affected the game.

LeBron drilled another three off the bounce, this time going to the right. Now, I am in complete support of both of the threes that LeBron took. When he dribbles up into the left wing three, his momentum forces his jump to go straight up and down. He can’t lean left on that shot. The same principle holds true on this pull-up shot going right. The momentum helps his balance. Keep firing those shots, LeBron. And nothing more. At the half, the Cavs led 44-43.

3rd Quarter:

Kyrie began a very entertaining third quarter with a strong left-hand drive off of a Mozzy pick. After only five first quarter points, Paul George got it going early in the quarter with a couple three bombs. LeBron and Kyrie had some confusion on when to switch along the baseline. Then Kyrie had confusion on when to switch with J.R. If it seems like I am piling on, it’s because on a possession by possession basis, Kyrie is caught in between assignments. If the offense bothers to search that out, the Cavs are toast.

That being said, Kyrie nailed a right corner three off an early LeBron transition push, and dropped a nice middle drive off glass. His offensive game was more directional and kept bodies moving.

Both teams played with astounding energy throughout the quarter. The Cavs really tightened their defense. J.R. threw his body around like a man possessed and the other guys followed. If it weren’t for some el fuego jumpers from PG-13, a sizzling Monta Ellis, and some costly turnovers, the Cavs would have likely built a lead through sheer energy alone. Instead, the two teams traded runs and buckets to leave them entering the fourth where they started the third. Cavs up one, 74-73.

4th Quarter:

Delly, Kyrie, Shump, Love, and TT looked to push the Cavalier lead with Bron on the bench. Turner, Chase Budinger, and Rodney Stuckey dropped in the first buckets of the quarter to thwart that plan. TT finally got the Cavs on the board two and a half minutes into the quarter with rebound tip-in. The teams exchanged sloppy play and fouls until an important sequence ended with a Budinger left corner three. Kyrie got a steal, pushed in transition and missed a layup. Tristan secured the offensive rebound and the ball eventually found its way to Delly for a right wing three that he missed. A six point swing gave the Pacers a 84-80 lead.

LeBron checked back into the contest with 6:53 remaining, down four. Kyrie found TT for an And-1 chance with a nice pocket pass. A flurry of activity ended with a J.R. three bomb to take the lead 87-86.

Shortly after, the Cavs fans cried for a three ball to drop as one possession featured three attempts. They would have gone crazy. Alas, each ball rimmed out. Instead, George tied the game with a first time right corner bucket. 89 all. Only not really. After the the next timeout, the refs took away the George three because the shot-clock had expired. Bron got an inbound pass layup and the Cavs led 91-90.

After a couple Pacer buckets from George and Ellis (surprise), a Delly-trey brought the Cavs fans to their feet, and the scoreboard to a draw. Cleveland took the lead on a sweet little lefty hook from TT after a dish from a driving King.

Delly and LeBron combined to make Ellis miss a middle drive, but the Cavs couldn’t come up with the rock. The Pacers maintained possession. It didn’t matter. The Cavs’ defense positively swarmed until a late in the shot clock layup attempt was obliterated by Tristan Thompson’s help. Good timeouts and Kyrie’s accuracy from the stripe secured the victory.

Thoughts:

The Cavs didn’t deserve to win the last game they played against the Pacers. They deserved this one. The energy on defense was mostly spectacular. The determination to go toward the hoop on most offensive possessions was as good as we have seen in over a month. If it weren’t for huge second half performances from Monta Ellis and Paul George, the Cavs would have run away with this one.

LeBron played a fantastic game. His drive game was incredibly well timed. His five turnovers were the only real stain on an otherwise brilliant performance.

I was really hard on Kyrie throughout the recap. His defense is what it is. A general catastrophe. But if his offense is as good as it was during certain stretches of this game, his play is acceptable. He had a bit of the turnover bug as well, but Irving did do more straight line driving and dishing off the PnR.

Kevin Love didn’t get his shot to fall, but had another solid floor game. His contests in the PnPoP were solid, and he dished out six assists from a big man slot. Nice.

Mozzy in the starting lineup is a good move. It syncs his minutes more with Kyrie, gives him a jolt of confidence, and leaves Tristan to abuse second line front courts. Timofey only scored a point, but his rebounding and presence were felt. Tristan made some great finishes coming off the bench, and his last block saved the game. Keep that lineup.

Three cheers for J.R. Smith and his effort. Here’s hoping his buddy, Shump can get that lid off the bucket. Man, he is struggling. Until next time.