Live Thread: Mavs @ Cavs
2016-03-16
The Mavericks are in Cleveland tonight to take on the Cavs. This is the last game these two teams will play this year. Cleveland leads the series 1-0.
The Mavericks are crashing right now losing six of their last seven games. They’re in the eighth spot in the Western Conference, but the Jazz are just two games behind them and riding a three game win streak. Dallas is going to be fighting for their lives tonight.
LeBron James will be sitting this game out. The Cavs are 0-2 when he sits. Iman Shumpert will start at the three and Tristan Thompson will start at the five instead of Mozgov.
The Mavericks aren’t exactly the most athletic team, but they make opposing defenses work their way around numerous screens, while keeping their eyes open for cutters. Defensively, they’re a middle of the pack team, although Chandler Parsons and Justin Anderson are above average wing defenders.
The Cavs need to remain focused and shut down a Dallas team that is all smarts, little athleticism, and maybe even less talent. Remember, Cleveland was blown out by the Wizards when LeBron last sat out.
I’m predicting the Cavs win 101-92, and LeBron watches the whole game, not just through three quarters.
oint leads by playing fast and getting out in transition. Lue thought the leads dwindled when the pace dwindled. The Mavericks’ zone defense didn’t help matters. Lue thought the zone hurt the Cavs. Not many teams in the NBA play zone, but none do it better than the Mavericks.
Okay my one complaint of the new site is that it’s clipping portions of my posts. No big deal though. Also, at least via mobile, it’s difficult to show/understand who is responding to specific posts.
had seven of the Cavs’ 21 assists. At one point he had seven of their 12 assists. Dellavedova has proven enough this season that if the Cavs don’t make a long-term investment this summer in J.R. Smith – and from all indications they won’t – we may have reached the point where it’s time to just start Dellavedova next to Irving and end this façade that Irving is a point guard. He’s not. He’s a dynamic scorer. The Cavs play this way for long stretches anyway, and given James’ propensity to play with the ball in his hands, not much… Read more »
For some reason my post was cut off. Here is what I intended: ad seven of the Cavs’ 21 assists. At one point he had seven of their 12 assists. Dellavedova has proven enough this season that if the Cavs don’t make a long-term investment this summer in J.R. Smith – and from all indications they won’t – we may have reached the point where it’s time to just start Dellavedova next to Irving and end this façade that Irving is a point guard. He’s not. He’s a dynamic scorer. The Cavs play this way for long stretches anyway, and… Read more »
Okay the beginning should read Matthew Dellavadova had….
I only got to see the Cavs vs Mavs live one other time prior to tonight, and it was a preseason game in Pittsburgh about 10 years ago. My friend and I had our own beer camp prior to the event, and met Mark Cuban, who quickly slid to the opposite side of the arena after feeling the fear of our semi-fandom.
Any word on why Mozgov didn’t play?
Lue said it was just a bad matchup for Moz, and he talked to him before the game about it. Their gameplan was to not play him. Lue said he’d be back for Orlando as normal.
Thanks Mike!!!!!
For some reason it’s less stressful watching the games live at the Q. I think I get more frustrated watching games at home. Anyone else experience this? I think the only exception was that Warriors blowout in January – I wanted to hide under my seat.
According to Paul Bressire of the prediction machine, the Cavs have a 6% chance to win the NBA championship, but it moves to 20% if they make it to the finals facing either the Spurs or Warriors. They will be favored in the finals of its anyone else. No real surprises!
I mean…….. they’re chances of making the finals are the highest in the league so………….. I don’t really understand why such a jump for 6 to 20…..? I don’t really know how these things work anyway, tho.
I don’t get it either? I also think the chances are greater than 20% vs the Spurs. That # may change before the playoffs though.
The odds are 50/50. It’ll either happen or it won’t.
Not sure I agree Nate. But I hope that’s the case.
Celtics now in 5th place, Hawks in 4th, Heat in 3rd.
Yes, I’d prefer these seedings.
Me too. I would like to avoid the Heat if possible.
I got high hopes for Kyrie. The kid is 23. Russell Westbrook isn’t great as a facilitator back then too.
Russ plays at another level. He’s also a pretty good defender. He’s not the shooter that Kyrie is though.
Key word: 23, back then.
I don’t think Kyrie would reach Russ level as a defender. But I believe he can match the offensive impact that Russ brings. They have the same mean bone in their body when it comes to scoring. Same aggressiveness different medium. I think Ky can match him in that regard.
Kyrie can certainly match his scoring now, in fact he’s probably better. But Russ is more like LeBron in his impact. Totally different players.
I am concerned about Lue’s coaching, as also noted below in the comment section. I don’t want to overreact in a regular season game. But I don’t have great cnfodence in Lue going into the playoffs. He’s a REAL rookie coach.
Of course he still is and you make a valid point.
Just got home from the game. Good to see them grab a win without Bron, but damn they had two 20 point leads that they squandered. Thought they got too 3 happy again. Also thought the Mavs missed a ton of shots early on. Either way, it’s a win. I hope JR and Delly find their shots soon. 1-12 from 3… Yikes!!!
That faster pace may have affected their rhythm Lue did have a shorter rotation.
Not sure the faster pace mattered. Just think JR is in a slump, and Delly is in a mini-slump.
I’m not really sure guys………. I mean I’m always glad when they win and all……. just not so sure. I thought Kyrie made a lot of dumb plays and failed to move the ball. His failure to move the ball lead to a lot of momentum killing possessions. He fouled Dirk on that game winning steal too. Don’t blame the Mavs for not wanting to shake hands. Kyrie can just be really frustrating to cheer for……. Like this game should have been a blow out. they should have won by 40. I know, I know. I’m killing the buzz, I’m… Read more »
Nah. Totally agree with you. And it’s not complex mistakes, it’s ridiculously simple crap they teach you in junior high, like : don’t dribble into double teams; don’t dribble to the corner; don’t jump to pass; see the pass before you throw it. Also their defense was total garbage for large stretches. At least the weakside help started doing SOMETHING. Kyrie had a nice block late. Also, Lue’s coaching: waiting too long to call timeouts, no answer for the zone, and then leaving Delly and Frye on the bench when they were killing it and JR and TT weren’t. I… Read more »
Thank you, Nate… exactly what I said before re: Lue… AND I might add that if Delly and Frye were on the court, it would be harder to double Kyrie, there would be more space for him to drive in the lane, and there would be one additional option to kick out for a 3 (Frye), and it would be easier to pass because there’s more space for passing lanes. hard for me to fault Kyrie when Lue’s not going to help him out by putting Frye in as a shooter and Delly in as a passer who’s going to… Read more »
Also I might add… that Lue had the additional evidence of 13 points scored in the 4th until Kyrie’s daggar FTs…. does he not have a box score??? What are all the assistants doing???
Yes. I should have credited you for pointing that out about TT/Frye Smith/Delly.
All good in the CtB fam… I’m glad you share my frustration especially given the fact that game nearly slipped away.
There were some mistakes for sure. But also some big positives. It was a really gutsy win. They kept fighting even when the tide turned agains them. They held the Mavs to less than 100 pts. And if they shoot a slightly higher percentage on open 3’s they win walking away. Sure, Kyrie could have played better. But man he could have played a whole lot worse. He fought on D all night, made a huge steal and calmly knocked down clutch FTs to close the door. They certainly don’t win this without him. Lue has a lot of learning… Read more »
In x’s and o’s, one could argue Blatt was superior. Whether he was as effective of a communicator with this particular group can only be judged by those behind the scenes.
According to their history w/o Lebron, that they won at all was an aberration. And dirk fouled shump at least twice (with one shump fakeout in there too) down the stretch and Zaza fouled TT every time he went for a rebound. If you watch the play closely it isn’t that Kyrie fouled dirk so much as dork started to lean into Kyrie to receive the pass and Kyrie pulled the chair out from under him and then swim move. There was good and bad to the game but we were by no means ever supposed to be up by… Read more »
Agreed. Calling a foul there almost never happens.
I could respect that pov. But Kyrie is net positive to me in this game because he’s sharp on his scoring tonight. Despite 1 assist, he’s not stagnating the offense in this one in general. The defense is a different story. Yeah you don’t let David Lee and Zaza freaking Punkchulia score and get rebounds off you repeatedly. I put that one on the bigs and coach Lue. Didn’t adjust early by putting in Frye who’s pretty good outside in this game to pull out Pachullia. Love should’ve done that but he’s clanking 3’s in the 4th outside of maybe… Read more »
Crazy thing is, you make some of those good look threes and it’s not even close…..
Dubs/Spurs pick?
I really think the Spurs win. Iggy is out, Green hasn’t been hot lately…I think the Spurs win by 8-10.
If the Spurs don’t win, their psyche will be wrecked. That is a huge game for them.
I don’t think so. That’s not going to happen with Pop
I don’t believe that. Spurs bring it to another level in the playoffs. They don’t need to prove anything in the regular season, especially with the epic season they are having.
Doubt it. Pop may even troll the league for that game by sitting Duncan again, or Kawhi. If everyone plays, though, I like the Spurs in that game.
KY ALSO SHOWING SOME GREAT MATURITY IN ANSWERING SOME TOUGH POST GAME QUESTIONS —–AND JUST A FEW GAMES BACK WE WERE BURNING UP THE BLOG ON TRADING HIM ……WOW HOW A FEW GAMES CHANGES EVERYTHING
Never came to my mind trading him.
Hmm… Durant to Boston???
Rockets in their Ronald McDonald uniforms.
Oh, and I didn’t ban Cols. Just told him I did. I know. I’m a jerk.
We’re more McDonald’s when we wear that alternate yellow..
Nah, It’s a different shade of red/gold. Cavs are more hotdog-on-a-stick.
Bottom line I don’t like that unis at all..
The Navy blue ones are my least favorite. But I don’t really hate any of them. Even the 90s throwbacks have some charm now.
The Navy blue ones are actually my favorite…
Home whites are the best. Really clean.
I like the new alternate wine uniforms this year. But honestly, really hope we get new jerseys this fall.
Reporters ripping Lue on Kyrie with only 1 assist. Smh
Cavs struggled from downtown again (10-36), but destroyed Mavs on the boards even with the small ball lineup…
This was an important game. Even with Lebron we weren’t guaranteed a win. Keeps us outpacing the raps and just gives the guys a lot of confidence
Yeah, this game was high on Galvanization Content.
I watched the last 2 Qs. What struck me most was that stretch from the late 3rd to the middle of the 4th where they played amazing — great ball movement, great D — but they literally good not hit the broad side of a barn. It was crazy. Delly missed 3 or 4 wide open looks. Jefferon missed a couple. JR missed a couple. Kyrie missed a couple. If we had made just a couple of those, its a 20 point game and Mavs are broken. But we missed everything, and then we got tight down the stretch. Just… Read more »
GOOD PT JONPHL ON KYRIE’S AGE —–ALOT OF ROOM / TIME TO GROW ——STEPH REALLY HAS JUST COME ON IN THE LAST 3 YRS
Funny to think Curry is closer in age to LeBron than he is to Kyrie.
Despite only 1 assist… Kyrie looked like a real leader out there for the most part… so that’s encouraging…
He really reminds me of a mini Kobe. Not in ball hogging ways but that he gets BUCKETS. NO MATTER WHAT.
Well… the Mamba is sort of his mentor…
Yeah credits him a lot..
He needs to start giving himself horrible nicknames and pumping up the volume on his feud with LBJ
Lol
Dunk on Lebron in practice,
Get his own trainer and tape man,
Ship Lebron’s a$s out of the team… Oh wait that’s not gonna happen
TT no points. 8 rebs. He started and had to bang against their BIGS. Not an easy task.
Good- Only Dirk in double figures from the starters.
Bad – David Lee came from the bench
And Barea…
O yep. That pesky midget..
I still remember when Bynum tossed him out of the air in the playoffs and then got tossed from the game. Not saying I condone that behavior…but I understand.
I loved the Lakers meltdown that year
Poor Razor Ramon…
https://vine.co/v/iwEhVxVQKVx
I can’t stop watching this. One of the most bizarre plays I can remember seeing. Looks like he got fouled by a ghost.
Sometimes I just like to remind myself that Kyrie is still 5 years younger than Curry. Plenty of room to grow.
This.
Gotta have faith!
GREAT PICTURE ARCH—-THANKS MAN !!
Great win. Time to go watch the Celtics get slapped around for a few more minutes.
Haha. That team is such a mirage.
YES THE ALES ARE TASTING BETTER ALREADY—IS IT MY IMAGINATION OR DID KEV ( TAKE OUR ADVICE ) AND CUT / TRIM HIS CURLS —–HENCE THE ” MAN-BEAST ” EFFORT TONIGHT —NO LEBRON —NO MOZ —NO PROBLEM —WELL LET’S NOT GET CARRIED AWAY WE GOT A “W’
The main big positive out of this game is that they competed without LeBron.
100% agree
Yep, that’s the best they’ve played without him all season, that I can recall. I was afraid they’d get boatraced again.
And won. Morale booster..
Why does this matter at all!? They aren’t going to be in the playoffs without LeBron. And if they were well they’d lose in round one or two.
And actually won one! 1-2 on the year without him now…
Whew
Arch from the game…
https://twitter.com/RealArchStanton/status/710275089036615680
Cavs good karma!
Nice.
coolshah8 was there too…
Give us details when you get home and read RECAP!!!….
Haha… Thanks EG! Good times in the loge.
Loved Kyrie’s play this game. Yeah some poor decisions. Yeah a couple of mistakes down the stretch. But kept fighting and you can tell he wanted to make up for Washington.
Whew… Glad Delly didn’t foul DWill there…
Yikes! Why was Delly contesting that last shot?
Killer Ky!
Kid Clutch. He doesn’t ever miss important FTs
https://vine.co/v/iwEpZE9mUa7
Best free throw shooter to close a game ever
So glad for Kyrie to win w/o Lebron. Huge moment for him
Kyrie player of the game
Goddammit, Kyrie stop dribbling to the freaking corner…. And then u… totally redeem yourself!!
Because he’s awesome.
See you Friday. Told you to give it a rest. 24 hours off for you.
Boo. OK.
https://vine.co/v/iwEdPvVeHiI
Easy win. Can’t believe some of the comments. Have some faith peeps
Dude… just give it a rest…
You’re a moron.
Nobody was panicking but you, as usual…
Shut the eff up bud..
Not a single Cav would agree with you that it was an easy win…
At least KI made up for a couple of bad plays down the stretch with that steal…
KYRIE WITH THE STEAL!!!!
Wow Kyrie wins a game with his defense! Never thought I’d see the day
YES KYRIE AND IT”S A DEFENSIVE PLAY FOR THE WIN!!!
CLE scored 13 points in the 4th so far, and Lue refuses to go with Delly a team high 7 assists, and Frye who is 3-5 from 3. JR and TT are -16 and -15 +/- respectively.
Yep. Stumped by the rotation as well…
He’s lucky KLOVE and Kyrie bailed him out.
Good lord…