Recap: Rockets 106, Cavs 100(Or, Two Halves Don’t Make a Right)
2016-03-30
In a lot of ways, the Rockets are the Cavaliers’ Doppelgänger. Both teams are led by superstar wings who like to control all things on the offensive end. LeBron is certainly not as lackadaisical on defense as the Bearded One, but his habits occasionally creep toward that territory. The two squads both came into the season with championship aspirations after deep playoff runs, only to fire their head coaches early. And lastly, they can both be maddening to watch as their attention to detail waxes and wanes depending on their collective mood. When they try, they are great. The Cavs are the better team as evidenced by their record, but without LeBron, this game was likely to get interesting. Let’s get to it.
1st Quarter:
Forget rest. Once the guys came out on the floor wearing their alternate sleeved jerseys, it was clear why Iman Shumpert had replaced LeBron James in the starting lineup. The King probably saw those things back on the schedule and was like, no thanks. Shumpert slid J.R. Smith down to the small forward position so the flat-topped one could guard The Beard. Things started well enough when Irving poked away a lazy dribble hand-off to start a personal fastbreak. From there, it was an exercise in patience for fans of both teams. Love couldn’t finish a nice baseline drive. The whole Cavs team must have been in mourning as they watched speed demon, Donatas Motiejunas leak out for an early layup. On the next trip, Kevin’s exploitation of a “mouse in the house” mismatch served up Dwight Howard’s spike out of bounds. Both fan bases let out a collective sigh. The Cavaliers made an attempt to get Love going early and as usual, he started too far from the basket. Every Pick and Pop put little pressure on Houston’s poor rotation defense and more pressure on Love’s outside shot. Even a nice drive to the cup against D-Mo was the result of an upfake from distance.
On the other end, the Rockets were attacking the middle of the floor with Pick and ROLL and Cavalier fouls mounted. Timofey Mozgov picked up two cheapies in the first four minutes. Love picked up his second only moments later. The Rockets repeatedly got good post position from early seal work or weakside duck-ins.
When Tristan Thompson checked in for Mozzy, he broke Jim Chones’ Cavalier record for most consecutive games played with 362. TT did the Cavs’ faithful a solid by actually rolling to the rim after the pick. Lo and behold, it led to an and-1 opportunity that sadly Thompson couldn’t complete. Tristan’s insistence on diving to the cup couldn’t help Irving stop an obvious Michael Beasley leak-out layup. Ty Lue called a “forehead rub” timeout at the 5:41 mark with the Cavs trailing 17-12.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SjuMnUKuk0
The Cavs were somewhat lucky to be close. The Rockets missed countless open looks at the rim and from beyond the arc. The Rockets’ PnR game shredded the Cavalier defense. It could have been much worse.
Mathew Dellavedova checked into the game with about five minutes left in the period. In typical Delly fashion, he probed the defense with hesitation dribbles and rifled passes to open shooters. He made a nice cut to the middle when Jason Terry left him to challenge a possible Pick and Pop three from Channing Frye. Irving found Delly through the soft trap and Mathew nailed the floater. Nothing went down for the Cavs from deep until Dellavedova hit James Jones in the left corner. JJ caught the tough pass and splashed the net through contact for a four point trip. After one quarter, the Rockets led 26-24.
2nd Quarter: Delly, Mo, RJ, James Jones, and Tristan started the period with a weave that ended with a Mo Gotti left-wing three ball. If it were 2005, RJ would have abused the rim on the subsequent alley-oop attempt from Mo. Alas, Father Time blew RJ’s tire and the ball slipped through his hands(It’s rough getting old. If he had missed that oop 10 years ago, I would have just written that the ball slipped through his hands). It’s not a lineup that fans have waxed poetically about all season, but the Delly double Pick and Roll/Pop with Tristan and James Jones had the Rockets scrambling. Jones drilled a top of the arc three and was fouled on another attempt from roughly the same place. The Cavs defense played surprisingly well as they rotated and switched. A 12-4 run was punctuated by a RJ steal and a Mo right-wing three bomb. The Rockets stopped the action with the Cavs up, 36-30.
Out of the timeout, confusion on switch responsibilities allowed Harden to deep seal Delly for an easy bucket. Shortly after, Mo got completely lost on his rotation which freed K.J. McDaniels to hit a three. The Rockets would only make one more field goal the rest of the half.
An onslaught from Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving and an energetic Tristan Thompson fueled a 19-4 run to end the quarter. Irving and Thompson started their PnR action a little higher which allowed Irving’s pull-up J to be a three instead of an infuriating deep two. The ball bounced from one side of the court to the other. Occasionally guys passed up great shots for good ones, but that kind of unselfishness is better in the long run. The Rockets were sloppy with the ball and continued to miss their open looks, but those looks came less frequently as the Cavs forced Harden away from the middle of the floor. Tristan’s boundless energy matched Howard’s talent. All in all, the Cavs beat the Rockets in all phases giving them a 59-40 lead going into the break.
3rd Quarter:
The Cavs switched up their bigman responsibilities by putting Love on Howard and Mozzy on D-Mo. It wasn’t the primary reason the Rockets went on a mini-run to start the quarter, but it didn’t help. Mozzy got whistled for yet another ticky-tac foul against Howard on a box-out. The Cavs stopped running real offensive sets and got sloppy with the rock. If it weren’t for a Shump offensive board and his resulting three ball, it would have been a disastrous start to the half.
Still, it wasn’t much better after the timeout. When Beasley checked in, Mozgov slid back over onto Howard and Love checked Beasley. Zero communication between Love and Irving on a simple high PnR between Beverley and Beasley gave Michael a clear path to the rim. A Beverley/Beasley PnR should not destroy your defense. Irving thought Love was going to Ice, or maybe he didn’t. Who knows. Irving tried to get to the high side of the screen, Love stayed up on Beasley allowing a straight path down the middle of the floor as Beverley rejected the screen. Absolutely ridiculous. If Love is in that position, Kyrie must force his guy to use the pick. Love has to let Irving know and Kyrie has to listen. Whatever your strategy, talk! Beverley missed the bunny, but grabbed the offensive board. The action eventually led to Mozgov’s fifth personal foul against Howard. On an analogous play a minute or so later, Shump forced Harden into the Beasley screen, got a deflection and finished with a nasty dunk. Maybe Love actually told Shump how he was going to guard or maybe Shump just listened. Regardless, that is how you defend in tandem.
Michael Beasley wasn’t done affecting the action. Playing at the four, he took over the game for a stretch. A combination of strong drives and a soft jumpers gave the Rockets momentum. The Cavs’ own PnR duo responded. Tristan’s pretty roll down the lane and Kyrie’s deep right wing triple pushed the lead back up to sixteen with three minutes left in the period.
Out of the timeout, the Cavaliers couldn’t get a stop. With action going toward the bucket, Harden, Beasley and Capela abused the Cavs defense to score on four of their next fives possessions to cut the lead to 10. But Kyrie hit another huge three to stem the tide and give the Cavs an 84-71 lead.
4th Quarter:
Delly, Shump, RJ, Frye and Tristan began a frightful fourth quarter with a miserable offensive possession. Three players literally stood in one place while Delly and Tristan tried to run some two man game. It ended with a forced shot from Dellavedova against the shot clock. James Harden immediately knocked down a three and there was an ominous air in the building.
Harden picked apart the Cavs defense feeding Capela on the roll or finishing himself. The Cavs did just enough on offense to maintain a small cushion. Running a weave to get into Delly/TT PnR action, Mathew was able to find Thompson at the rim or hit teammates for open shot attempts. Those open shots were too infrequently converted. As the game crept toward the midway part of the fourth quarter, the six point lead felt precarious at best. Between the ticky-tac fouls against the Cavs and missed open threes, the lead didn’t seem like a barrier as much as a simple hurdle.
Lue went into a half-hearted Hack-a-Dwight with the Cavs lead slipping away. Amazingly, he didn’t go all-in on the strategy. A wide open miss by Shump on the left wing and lazy defensive transition allowed Patrick Beverley to drill a three to give the Rockets their first lead since the beginning of the second quarter.
When Shump threw the ball through Kyrie’s hands after the timeout, Lue finally decided to actively hack Dwight. The Cavs were rewarded with two misses. Kyrie split a pair at the stripe and drilled a jumper to tie it back up at 94. After another foul shot for Howard and a Harden three ball, Kyrie finally splashed a deep three to bring the Cavaliers within one with 1:30 remaining.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ACQzBYebYo&t=3m32s
A stop on defense set Irving and Tristan up with a chance to take the lead, but when Irving found Tristan under the hoop, TT tossed the ball over the rim against Beasley’s tough help defense(I have definitely never seen that sentence in print). Once Ariza hit a right-wing three to give the Rockets a four point spread, the rest was cosmetic.
Thoughts:
The Cavs had stretches in which they couldn’t hit a three to save their lives, and stretches in which they scorched the nets. That’s what happens when your best three point shooters go a collective 0-9 like Delly, Smith and Frye went in this one. Yes, it is bad that they didn’t make one between the three of them. What is worse is that they only shot nine of the 40 threes that the Cavs took. Delly didn’t really get a clean look as most of his shots were late in the clock and/or off the bounce. The Rockets did well getting to J.R., but the Cavs could have done a better job freeing him up. To be fair, both of those guys get most of their looks from LeBron. It’s not realistic to expect those same looks when Bron is in a suit. If Shump is taking six threes, you should expect cold spells.
Speaking of Shump, he did some nice things in this one. His defense against Harden was largely effective. But then you look up and Harden has 27, eight and six on 16 shots. He is a superstar for a reason. Shump’s offense was competent at times, but he still dribbled into bad possessions.
Dwight Howard was 7-22 from the stripe and only shot three times. The Cavs were in the bonus so early in the fourth quarter, I don’t understand we Lue only dipped his toe into the Hack strategy. Most people say that the best time to use it is when your team is ahead. Considering the Cavs were ahead and they couldn’t stop the Rockets at all, I would have hacked Capela and Howard from the moment the bonus kicked in.
The Cavs wouldn’t even have had to go foul hunting to get into the bonus. The refs called a really tight game in the post and on the perimeter. I have seen few games with some many touch fouls from so many guys. Mozgov wasn’t allowed to breath without a whistle. He was the biggest victim.
Still, kudos to the Cavs for drilling 85% from the stripe. Thompson went a cool 8-9 on his way to a hardworking 16-10. Too bad he wasn’t able to convert at the end. It was an ugly bow on an otherwise lovely present.
James Jones and Mo Williams did some really nice things in the second quarter working around the Delly/TT PnR. Other than defensive lapse I already mentioned, Mo wasn’t even a complete trainwreck on D.
The Rockets straight owned the Cavs on the glass. It was embarrassing really. Losing Moz to foul trouble(though why not just play him his regular minutes and risk him fouling out?) didn’t help the cause. Obviously, LeBron contributes in that department as well. Still, allowing seven offensive boards to the opponent’s guards is not a recipe for success.
Michael Beasley was fantastic. When he is just free to shoot without a conscience he can do good things. I’m happy that the kid seems to be putting it together after his stint in China. His rotation D against TT was crucial.
There have been too many HUGE quarters against the Cavs. For as good as the defense was in the first half against the Knicks, they were equally putrid allowing a 40 point quarter. Allowing a 35-16 fourth quarter to lose a game is as much on a coaching staff as it is on the players. It’s worrisome, with or without the King. Until next time.
I love the Cavs.
But, their team defense isn’t good enough to get them out of
the east.
You heard it here first.
What frustrates me about this team is how last year they showed they could play defense and dictate the pace of the game to how they wanted opponents to play. They have continually slipped in that department and that could end up being their demise. I would also like to see them cut the 3’s down and initiate some offense inside. We all know they have shooters but taking 40 3’s is ridiculous. Probably too late in the year to make major changes to the lineup but would anyone like to see JR go back to the 2nd unit and… Read more »
Sorry hit reply instead of join discussion at the top. Still trying to get used to the new format.
Yes, I would rather see JR with the second unit to add some punch. But there is the question as to whether he can create his own shot enough without LeBron on the court. The second unit has been a terrible disappointment, as has Lue’s mismanagement of it. Mo and JFR were hot in the first half, but he sits them in the second half? That made absolutely no sense particulary with the horrific shotting of the 4th quarter. Lue’s coaching career with the Cavs will be over after this year. And stop taking so many three as you indicate… Read more »
I don’t see why everyone wants to bench JR. The lineup of LeBron, Kyrie, Love, JR, and TT is dominating opponents. No reason to not start JR.
Cols, you can’t read. It’s not benching him but giving the second unit some needed punch. And the second unit has “sucked” to use your always classy term, so it does indeed a boost. Also, the Eurogenius is looking quite good right now. Defense has went from 4th ranked to 15th ranked. And we’ve had more bad losses in two weeks then while Blatt was going 30-11 to Lue’s very impressive. 22-11. And yes that was sarcastic about Lue’s less than stellar record not to mention his terrible managing of the rotations. There is one thing being a homer, but… Read more »
I don’t get the Lue hatred around these parts. Give the guy a chance. Blatt was 19-20 at one point and then almost blew the playoffs with that time out he called that the refs missed.
Give the guy a chance.
Exactly I’m not suggesting “benching” JR. I’m suggesting that if they want to try and get back to their successful playoff ways of last year it could be beneficial to have Shump start to provide a higher level of defense against the opponents first team. A starting lineup of KI, Shump, Lebron, Love, and TT provide plenty of scoring and you have capable defenders to limit possessions. Your 2nd team of Delly, JR, RJ, Frye, and Mozgov has a reliable PG and some floor stretchers to spell the first team and to hopefully hold leads. The bench unit lacks that… Read more »
And the Dubs are going to pull out another one…at this point I’ll be shocked if they don’t get to 73 wins…
A few thoughts: 1) How to stop Kyrie – trap him. He seems almost incapable of passing out of a trap and always tries to split it, often with disastrous effect. Kyrie has low basketball IQ. 2) Kevin Love is exactly what Minnesota thought he was – empty numbers. Zero impact when things matter. Watch every time he touches it in the fourth quarter he immediately is trying to pass it. Even on an open 3 where Harden is daring him to take it he prattles on with a pass. Love is just missing the killer instinct, so don’t expect… Read more »
Cols has said about a million times “best record in the East, 3rd best record in the league” which of course includes the Cavs having gone 30-11 under Blatt. At the same time when things are going well he mocks the “EuroGenius” and talks about how he was a lousy coach and how the Cavs are much better without him. You can’t have it both ways Cols, although you always try to. Blatt’s gone and not coming back, what they did under him is as irrelevant as the 19-20 Cavs record last season before they added Moz, JR and Shump… Read more »
GSW and Spurs are definitely better. The only teams that are numerically better from that list are the Thunder, Hornets, and Raps. Cleveland is winning or won the Hornets and Thunder match-ups. The Raps won 2-1 so they slide into 3rd. The Cavs are the 4th best team since Lue took over. Hard to tell if Lue puts them in a better position than Blatt at this time. I really don’t think that question gets answered. No one can say Blatt guaranteed them a Finals victory. So if Lue gets them there and loses, who was the better coach? Yes… Read more »
We will never know what could’ve gone down if Blatt wasn’t fired. To me he’s still a better tactician and better motivator than Lue. I wouldn’t know by how much because he wasn’t given a fair chance. We are the 3rd best team in the league at a minimum imo, but we could have more than a punchers chance in beating San Antonio or Golden State if the team were able to come closer to what we know they could be. The things we’re ridiculing about what Cols says is those “will waltz to the finals”, “guaranteed” $hits no one… Read more »
Here is something we didn’t need:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/03/30/kehlanis-suicide-attempt-internet-bullies-and-chris-brown/
I am so happy that I am completely out of the loop on all the pop star/ reality ‘star’/ instagram star soap opera crap. Mercy.
Me2. Reminder how little I have in common with pro athletes (and am grateful for it).
TT should have dunked. And for running jumper, they should have made more 3s.
They should have shot less threes. I think they shot 40 of them.
More of a joke than a real insight.
How much do I have to pay so I can have blank lines in my comments?
lol.
The comments are going through a transition.
Thanks for pointing out that Lue sat Moz when he was in foul trouble. This is a little pet peeve of mine: coaches that won’t play a guy in foul trouble just because, as opposed to weighing the positives and negatives of him fouling out. If you’re only going to play a guy 20 minutes, let him go ahead and foul out. Some guys can play with 4 fouls and not get another one. Its like always punting on fourth down, even though many circumstances point to going for it.
I think we’re ready for the playoffs to start! This regular season is just getting to be annoying. The media, the players, etc. Haberstroh hit the nail on the head earlier today – the Cavs are bored!
Nate had mentioned the game before on how Kyrie struggles on the left of the rim. I paid close attention to that yesterday. He’s right. He was pretty bad Noticeably on a huge majority on shots taken on the left. I think I only saw 1 go in. He has to work on that fast. Playoff teams will push him to go there.
That’s not what I said. I said that teams were driving to their left on HIM. He has no problems finishing left normally. I didn’t watch the game so I’ll chalk it up to a bad night..
Good write-up! I will admit right now that I went full blown temper tantrum at Lue in this game in the 4th. I am getting concerned with his hesitant adjustments and forcing players that just don’t fit in closing games. It will cost us precious playoff games if we see the same as last night. My mind kept saying, ‘Where is Plan B”? over and over when we seen yet again the brick fest of 3’s We need some gutsy slashers. Instead, we have players that are brainwashed their 3 point shot is equivalent to that of Golden State. You… Read more »
Another thought.. What’s awesome in losing in the finals? I’d rather not make it there at all. I hate losing. And it won’t make it any less bitter if it happens in the finals..
Only a title would be awesome for me.
This is ridiculous. Only one team gets to win a title every year. That doesn’t make the other teams all a bunch of losers.
There’s a lot of fun to be had in getting to the playoffs, and in getting to the 2nd round, and the 3rd round, and the Finals.
Wanting to lose makes no sense.
Did I say I want to lose at any point on any level? Have a sense of comprehension for once. Go ahead continue to be simpleton
Not sure how old you are but you should appreciate any Finals appearance. We lauded those 80s Cavs for getting to the ECF or lower vs the Bulls. Just because some perception is there that the Cavs should win, shouldn’t give Cavs fans a right to take what has been accomplished for granted.
Yep. Which is why I’ve been imploring people here to enjoy this season, enjoy LeBron, enjoy these runs, because you never know when it will happen again.
How can you conclude that I don’t appreciate a finals berth or anything the Cavs have done?? I’m not old enough to witness those 80’s Cavs live but thanks for the concern. I never said the Cavs SHOULD win just because they’re on this level. But they COULD. And both of us as a fan could only watch what’s going to happen, but this is a forum where we can voice out an opinion. Just because mine differs than yours means I’m a lesser of a fan. Stop assuming. I’m disappointed/sad or whatever negative feeling a fan will get if… Read more »
It’s from your comments above about how only a title would be awesome (surely a jest) and you’d rather not have the Cavs make it then lose (very pathetic). Yep I’d say I was spot on.
With this expectations I’d say I’d be disappointed if they lose again. I can sense that you would too. Don’t lie. We’re rooting for them to win isn’t it? The difference between us, is maybe on how we proclaim our disappointment through words. I am a whole lot critical compared to others sure. But I’m with this team through thick and thin. I guess you never read my other posts above. But go ahead continue to believe what you want and continue being wrong about me..
Disagree. Not making the finals would be a disappointment for sure. Once in, the team from the West will likely be one of the best of all time, so losing to them will be no disgrace.
It wasn’t long ago that the main reason to watch the Cavs was to see how it might affect their draft position. The current state of affairs is SO much better.
Who knows. The playoffs will be different. LeBron is going to be ready. I’m excited.
Good point and I appreciate that they’re on a level of play where they can ultimately succeed. But some people here think that all I want to do is ridicule the team. Did anything I said not true?
If I KNOW I’m going to lose in the grandest stages of them all I wouldn’t want to be there. But I’ll take the chance. Just like what my favorite team is going to do. What is so hard to understand on that? I hate losing but I’ll be a gentleman if I lost. What’s not transparent to what I said?
Good night guys! Go Cavs!
east coast time sucks.
Plain and simple, cLueless blew this game. The players brought energy… Kyrie and Delly moved the ball really well.
CLueless lets Champ and Mo ride the pine in the 2nd half, even though they were both team high in +/-. What a joke. CLueless went with Shump WAY too long and cLueless should’ve gone with Mo to get Kyrie a couple more minutes of rest.
To top it all off, cLueless never goes full defense squad like Blatt did to stop runs and muck up the game in order to stop momentum swings.
Especially in the 4th when we couldn’t buy a bucket for like 10 straight minutes. What was the harm in putting Mo back in for Kyrie’s last two minutes out to see if he might be able to shoot a little more effectively… head scratcher.
That stretch was brutal… and I felt the key mistake was not starting Champ and Mo in the beginning of the 4th. That would’ve given everybody space to operate offensively and perhaps stolen an extra minute or two of rest for Kyrie.
Lue is not able to adjust on the fly, especially in the 4th. Just a few games ago, he did the same thing… benching guys who were playing well that game. I wanna say it was Delly and JR but idk.
I will say Mo is still on restricted mins. He came back early 1 week and made sure everyone knew about it in the form of complaining about it.
Hey CtB mods. I second the motion cwzagger re; spaces between paragraphs. Surely will be appreciated. Thanks.
Agreed. Comments will probably get fixed the weekend. Still working out the bugs.
Thank you sir…
Coach Lue is trying to go on full health that’s why we didn’t see neither Mo and JJ in the 2nd half ……/s
Look dude or dudette, you may hate this Cavs team and just want to come here and rant, but most of us like this team and think they are pretty good. Your constant negative posts show that all you want to do is rag on this team.
Like it or not, this is the best team in east. I’m assuming you don’t like it based on your comments.
Lol pothead. How can you even type that without thinking. Oh I know the answer. Pretty good? Sure. But I’m not contented with that. Until we win a title I guess I won’t be. Rag? First of all why would I waste time to post here on the wee hours (in my country) of the night in which I have a demanding job waiting in the morning? I watch the games even on work too so don’t ever question my passion to this team or even think that as hate. Anyway to calm you down, I love the Cavs. Whether… Read more »
Seriously, Cols, no matter how many times you comment on this blog, you cannot convince us that the Cavs are better than they are. Your vehemence doesn’t support your argument. It just makes you seem daffy and disconnected from reality. You’re entitled to your opinion, and more than welcome to argue individual points. But stop pretending you speak for anyone else, and stop getting mad at people because their opinion differs from yours. You aren’t the voice of any plurality.
So when the Cavs make the Finals, you will admit you were wrong about this team?
Because all I’m seeing is complaints about how the Cavs are sucky and no good and will not do anything. Meanwhile, just like last year they will waltz into the Finals.
I demand accountability from this blog.
Cols. Where’s the accountability when you were proclaiming us as sure fire champs in the offseason. Or when you said we will murder Golden State. Don’t change tones now.
The problem is that GSW went nova this year. Last year we had them on the ropes and if Irving stay healthy we win it. This year the Warriros went to another level.
We still have a good shot at beating them, but it’s not longer guaranteed. You have to be flexible. Anyone else in the Finals though and we are pretty much guaranteed to win it.
Everything you state that comes with the word “guaranteed” or any of its synonym attached to it are just complete assumptions. It would be a waste to explain to you any further since you lack any comprehension and you would just consider it as “hating” on the team.. Ok next.
OK. So here’s where we are at
Nate and RJ: Cavs suck
Cols714 and Hot Sauce and a few others: Cavs are great and are going to the Finals.
We will see how this plays out I guess.
Eh, sucks is a strong word. To assume that my interpretation of this team is that is very Cols-like and never like me.
And besides you GUARANTEED a title this year. Don’t harp on a different narrative now.
@Cols, you can add one more camp
cwzagger: the Cavs are very very good and will be in the Finals barring catastrophe, but they are also very frustrating as they display many signs of playing below their potential, which could
A. cost us all a championship against historically great teams like GSW and SAS
B. waste another year of apex LeBron
Nah cwzagg.. The Cols-bot won’t compute that. It’s either suck or awesome.
They never had Golden State on the ropes, but it’s hilarious that you maintain that argument. They had them in some trouble, down 2-1, but by that point, GS had figured it out, and coasted. They would have won 10 straight games if they needed to, but they only needed 3.
And ‘it’s no longer guaranteed’. LOL. How were you ever insuring this ‘guarantee’? Talk is cheap, and no talk is cheaper than chest pounding sports bluster.
Unfortunately, despite my enthusiasm for Love, I do believe if something doesnt click this off season, he’ll be traded. I’m not sure anyone could fault the cavs if he does. Two coaches and two seasons and he’s still doing his disappearing act too often. Don’t get me wrong, when he’s not a ghost, he’s amazing, even if his three isn’t falling. Unfortunately, if we want to truly be effective, he cant be disappearing as often as he does. I’m just worried we won’t get equal value for him. Especially if the only legitimate offer we got for him at the… Read more »
I think we have to hope that there’s another star that wants out of his current team in the offseason. Cousins? As talented as Love is, I just don’t think he fits well with this team. Offensively, he’s been pretty bad all year. He’s had ONE month (November) where he wasn’t shooting a pathetic % from the floor. Every other month, he’s been at 41% or lower. That’s just plain GARBAGE from a big man. Absolutely inexcusable. Maybe his shoulder isn’t 100%? Who knows. But I absolutely don’t want to a “star” big man that can’t shoot 42% for the… Read more »
The Cavs evaluated him wrong from the start and never really gone through his REAL strengths in the offense. I can imagine Ryan Anderson to be a better fit in this situation.
Thanks for recapping this one, Ben. I’m on vacation, and though I tried to watch the game, my slingbox wouldn’t cooperate. I definitely noticed the ticky-tack-ness of the fouls early (I got through about 10 minutes of the first before giving up). It sounds like Kyrie the communication between the Cavs bigs and guards was non-existent, as was Lue’s coaching acumen. I’m a bit baffled why they didn’t run that TT, JJ, Delly, Mo, RJ lineup that worked so well in the second. Anyway, I appreciate you painting a good picture of what was happening (basically, the Cavs’ pissing away… Read more »
A mess?!
A mess.
OK Nate.
Whatever. A mess. A mess with the 3rd best record in the NBA. A mess with the clearest path to the Finals. A mess. Whatever.
I’m convinced when you watch cavs games that numbers are just scrolling past your face. Every three or so games we throw up a lame duck. When we lose, it’s to teams we should most definitely beat. Those are bad signs.
3rd best record haha.
Cols in the offseason – Champs!
After GS murder – Finals!
A few embarrassing loss – No one will beat us in the east
A lot more – Still got 3rd best record, doesn’t even matter if we got 2nd seed.
After May – Welp we got into the ECF, still better than going into the lottery.
Cols sees the matrix…
A lot of people were hoping for a championship with this team, but you are apparently fine with third, even playing in the weaker East. I’ll try to find out if a trophy is awarded for third best record.
I’m more or less over Kevin Love these days. I like the guy and all but I always suspected he was soft before he set foot in Cleveland and he’s never convinced me otherwise. He racks up rebounds but is invisible on the boards every single 4th quarter. TT and LeBron always take over this department. LeBron, TT and Frye together pretty much cover all the roles that Love does, only with better defense. This is a guy where him taking a charge in that “bowling trip” Lakers game is such a big deal that we’ve talked about it over… Read more »
Yep. I’m coming around to this as well. The good thing is that we have Love on a great contract and he’s a very valuable trade piece if we need to deal him.
LeBron is really much more valuable than anyone is giving him credit for.
Devastating comment which I would dearly “love” to disagree with but cannot….
Why is this devastating? It’s just looking like the truth. It’s fine, sometimes it’s hard to mesh 3 stars together. It doesn’t change the fact that they can still win it all this year and are still a great team with the 3rd best record in the NBA and a clear path to the Finals.
It’s just the reality of having 3 stars, sometimes it’s not easy to all work together.
Well I dunno about devastating but if we fall short this year and Love gets traded it’d be tough not too look at these as 2 years of prime LeBron wasted. And that would suuuuuuuuck
(PS – to CtB staff, small gripe, but I miss being able to add spaces between paragraphs in the comments… made it a tad cleaner to read)
I don’t think Love is soft. Inefficient might be the word for me. He needs a LOT of touches to put up the numbers he did in Minny. And actually being a spot up shooter isn’t his strength back then. We will never maximize his playing ability, and if we do it will be on the expense of the other two which in perspective might be a worse situation for us. On the flipside we might not even have to as long as the other two consistently plays an effective attack game. A Lebron-Kyrie combo is a bigger monster than… Read more »
Maybe soft is harsh but I see a guy who consistently gets beat on the glass in 4th quarters and gets bullied out of his spots on the floor. How bout that second one, and his comments regarding it post-game? per Jason Lloyd: “I don’t think I got the touches inside,” Love said of his fourth quarter disappearance. “They were doubling me and sending another guy from the top. We had to play the kick outs and look for different guys to make plays. They definitely played me different in the second half.” Compare that to LeBron “I don’t take… Read more »
Yeah, the guy is demoted from being a superstar in Minny to whatever he is in here. Mindset might did the same.
I do not think utilize him in the most efficient way possible as we do not move a ton off ball and constantly. In Minny he got a ton of open shots through cuts, weakside distractions and coming off screens. But yeah his d was always my concern.
Well shucks. You knew Harden was going to bring it in the 4th. Beasley was amazing — what a pick up. Rockets are much better now with him and Cappella improving.
Shump’s drives to the hoop are just so wild and out of control.
Lue has a lot to learn about coaching a good 4th quarter. I guess it’s harder than it looks.
The game was fun in the 2nd when the shots were falling, though.
It’s really too bad the Cavs didn’t hire Lue last year. Living through his growing pains is tough. It’s also too bad the Blatt was so arrogant his players hated him. Dude might have been able to turn into a decent coach if given more time.
Its too bad my alter ego is an absolute fool. Living through this life constantly drunk and high has cost me a lot of brain cells. Dude may have been able to turn out decently if not loaded with drugs all the time.
It’s all good- Lue will be gone this summer if the Cavs don’t win the title, and then they can have the man who built the Warriors machine: Mark Jackson.
Delly was terrible once again.
Delly wasn’t great but he is a role player and does not move the needle much. Stars like Love are the players who really matter and when they don’t step up in games we can blame them much more than bench players like Delly.
Sure. I agree. Just pointing out that when Love is off his game and Irving needed just a little help, Delly was not able to do anything.
8 dimes and zero turnovers in 20 minutes? He was actually pretty good getting our offense into a flow. He isn’t a starter, and he isn’t a great player, but I don’t think “terrible” is even remotely accurate. Just plain Delly hate.
Can you point other games where that exact scenario happened apart from this one?
There may be other games but if Love is on his game and Kyrie doesn’t need help, Cavs win every single time.
Yep, everything will change.
Resting key players is a fine line gamble in some ways, but it’s a big ask for the Raptors to close the gap – Lue & Co obviously want 1st in conference but also full health come playoffs. I like the time / rest management so far, regardless of game outcomes. Playing the long game.
Huh? Lebron’s the only one who sat out. How does that equate to full health? And how does that even relate to this very winnable game even w/o Lebron? We have a question mark on closing out games and the reliability of the players to perform great as a whole w/o their leader. What does his sitting out had to do with this particular game??
I wasn’t referring to only this game. I referred to resting key players (plural) that we’ve witnessed the last few weeks, which Lue commented on in the post-game.
You ask good questions re: LBJ, this game and our closing out ability. I don’t have any answers for you.
So when you said ‘everything will change’ you mean that they will all suit up in the playoffs?? Hmmm.. Ok.
Yep, Resting is key. LeBron doesn’t mind the #2 seed. The only way the #1 seed matters is if we are playing a game 7 in Toronto. Considering the Raptors have never won a playoff series, I think that’s a pretty tall ask from them to get to the ECF and take it to 7 games.
I like our chances quite a bit from any seed in the east.
What the connection of that to this game?
They rested LeBron so they lost. If they didn’t rest LeBron they win.
You’re wrong. But if you say so..
Lebron is young. He doesn’t need rest. Pop doesn’t know what he’s doing resting players and it cost them in the playoffs last year. Resting is for old people and Lebron isn’t old. He should play every game.
Considering the Cavs have never won a championship, I think its a pretty tall ask of them to get there and win it in 4, 5, 6 or 7 games. Its not happening.
Your earlier narrative was that players don’t need rest, and you continually mocked the Spurs for resting players. What changed?
Playoffs will be a different story. Everyone on this team knows what they are here for — and then the complaining will stop.
Yep. There still doesn’t seem to be any sign that they will lost before the Finals. 3rd best record in the NBA.
It’s that easy eh? Can you give me some lottery numbers then??
Not sure what the connection between the Cavs almost certainly going to the Finals and lottery numbers.
You’re even more simpleton as I thought you were Cols..
Someone idiot will say here that if Delly JR and Frye hit those shots they normally do this would be a win.
cLUEless lol……… EuroGenius sounds better..
Cavs suck without LeBron. Which is fine. Spurs suck without Leonard. GSW suck without Curry.
Actually the Spurs and Warriors are a combined 8-10 this year with those two missing.
*8-11
typing typing typing typing
Yep. They suck.
Would be interested to see how many of those losses came when the spurs and warriors were missing both those guys and green/thompson and duncan/parker.