InstaCap: Cavs 100, Hawks 99 (Or, Sense of Destiny)
2016-05-08Immediately after the game, LeBron James was asked about the Hawks fighting to the bitter end. LeBron credited the Hawks with having a “sense or urgency” and commented that the Cavs tried to have a sense of urgency throughout the game, but, because the Cavs weren’t down 0-3, it wasn’t quite as easy. But watching the Cavs reach into their bag of 3-point tricks night after night makes me wonder if this team is starting to feel a sense of destiny. Channing Frye was a DNP, and then he’s helping set 3-point records. Something feels different…
It’s not easy to win your first eight playoff games. The Cavs did it in 2009, but that was with 2009-LeBron. This Cavs team just keeps coming at you from behind the line. I’m not sure a team has ever had two prolific stretch bigs (Kevin Love and Channing Frye) and two efficient contested 3-point shot makers (Kyrie Irving and J.R. Smith). Round that out with Matthew Dellavedova, Iman Shumpert, and Richard Jefferson, 3 guys that have proven to be outstanding spot-up 3-point shooters, and defenses are spread about as thin as it gets.
Programming Note: Our regularly scheduled Monday morning podcast will air Tuesday morning.
And oh yes btw.. Happy Mother’s Day to Cav fans! Cavs did just that today!!
If you haven’t seen Kevin Durant’s story The Real MVP, I recommend it. It was really good. Durant’s last name was really Pratt . He changed it later to his mother’s maiden name out of respect for her. His father had very little involvement in his life until he saw he was going to be a NBA player. I also never knew why he wore the #35. Very sad.
Another ugly Game 4 Win but it’s a W. There was many Lebron mistakes that drove me nuts as well as brilliant passing . These game 4’s seem like a chore for them. They just want it over with already. Love did very well tonight after a sketchy start. I am liking the bench more and do want to see them develop chemistry. This is one of the best chemistry I have ever seen with our starters. I would love to see Kyrie get back to some of the Lillard like drives we have been seeing in these playoffs. He… Read more »
Terrific read… especially if you found yourself not liking this team as much as you wanted to this season…
Lebron has always had a history of inviting team mates over to his place. This isn’t new. What is new is Love has more confidence because he is contributing more so therefore is more sociable . Not exactly rocket science.
Maybe not… but I love hearing about what these guys are doing together off the court…
https://twitter.com/ElusiveGin/status/729497896953880576
This three-jacking must be killing Pop…
Whi is Kawhi taking threes?
Yeah, that’s more like it… airball as 24 second clock expires…
And then after a great steal… gets blocked by the rim on a fastbreak layup attempt…
That was amazing.
Wow! St. Weirdo just hit a three! He’s got 17 points!
He was impressive tonight on both ends of the floor.
Is Tim Duncan done? Between age and the way the league is changing, he might be better off retiring regardless of what happens this year…
Cols probably hates these sweeps… since it means he has to go a full week or so without a Cavs game to watch…
Cols are you watching Kawhi?
I am. What do you see?
Oh just Cols thinks Kawhi can’t score in isolation or be “the guy”
Kawhi’s been pretty great tonight… although he probably shouldn’t take threes…
Oh, he can score. And play great D. But doesn’t create much for others on O. Mostly an isolation guy or spot up shooter.
love this. great stuff.
http://thebiglead.com/2016/05/08/kevin-love-on-cavaliers-chemistry-game-of-thrones-is-on-tonight/
Pretty cool the Cavs have that streak against two teams. EG did predict the sweep and pointed out at the time, it would then be 12 straight vs Det and Atl. The Hawks need an updated “certificate of appreciation” for their participation in the Eastern Conference Semis.
I’ll take credit for predicting the sweep (even Cols thought it would be Cavs in 5), but I got my 12 straight info from Tom… he’s been pointing that out for some time…
Keep on sweeping! But ugh that fourth-quarter offense, especially the first 5 minutes when Bad Kyrie resurfaced and the Hawks caught up. The margin for error in the Finals will be too small to get away with that kind of thing.
Net ratings in the playoffs so far:
Spurs 16.5
Warriors 15.9
Cavs 10.4
Good reminder of how good those two teams are. As good as Cavs playing, Finals is going to be a whole different beast.
I think Kyrie was exhausted from playing 42 minutes… my one criticism of Lue today would be that he should have played Delly a bit more (15 mins) earlier to keep Kyrie fresher…
Love is UPG
Barkley just said the Cavs are gonna win it all.
Yeah, but what does he know?
I’ll tell ya – the way SA Spurs are playing offense is less nightmarish to me this year. They do a lot of post-up iso with Aldridge. I think that slower pace could really favor the Cavs. Golden State, to me, is still the cream of the crop. But if Steph isn’t 100% – that changes things.
Yep. SAS is a very ordinary offensive team. They do a lot of traditional stuff with LMA and KL in ISO/Post-ups. They don’t really have the crazy extra gear of Cavs and Ws. What makes them great is their D. If we play them, I think we win. GSW is at a different level than SAS in my book. And I really can’t imagine how Steph would be less than 100% by Finals. Sadly, I think the Cavs are going to need to conquer full strength Ws to win it all. I think they CAN do it, but it’s going… Read more »
On some level though, isn’t that what we want? You gotta beat the Champs to be the Champs, right?
Cavs are still the only undefeated team in the playoffs… Kevin Love is also now 12-0 in the playoffs…
LeBron-Love-Irving are 12-0 in the playoffs together. I like it.
It’s funny how you mention Windy writing off that team stat when he’s the first one to dig up meaningless stats on LeBron.
So true…
I think it’s an interesting stat from a matchup dominance perspective. Like, Atlanta fans at this point have to just be terrified of LeBron. Detroit fans were pretty brazen in their booing given LeBron has now won 12 straight playoff games against them. That’s why I enjoy that stuff. Same reason people talk about championships. It certainly doesn’t matter this year but historically it is important.
If the Cavs are able to set this all-time record and take it away from the Lakers that will be fun – to have an all-time record.
I just want them to start a new streak against either the Heat or Raps…
This. ^
I think today we found someone who rivals Ben for Schroder love… you’d think Hubie peroxided that 17 in the back of his head himself… sheesh…
Excellent InstaCap TP! Very happy the Cavs were able to close out these Hawks again and give themselves another good break to rest up and heal up any nicks and bruises…
Thanks EG! I’m really happy everyone seems totally healthy. And now they get rest.