Pre-Cap: Cavs 117, Magic 102 (or, Mooovin’ On Uuup…)

Much has been made of the median age of the Cleveland Cavaliers as they find themselves on the cusp of beginning their quest to repeat as NBA Champions. Some might even dare to call them “long in the tooth.” And, that’s not a wholly wrong assessment. In fact, now that Timmy has hung up his spurs in San Antonio, the Cavs are the second oldest team in the League at an average of 29.5 years old… just a grey hair younger than the Clippers (29.6). Though much of their core is still young or in their prime, several key bench contributors are on the wrong side of 35, and neither Mike Dunleavy (36) nor Birdman Andersen (38) did much to help that average.

As a team built to compete for a title on a yearly basis, the emphasis should of course be on experience… yet, it’s important to have an smattering of youth to help balance that out and keep the veterans fresh over the long haul of the regular season. Well, if the Cavs’ first preseason game of the 2016-17 campaign is any indication… youth is about to be very well served, and could possibly be movin’ on up into the rotation in the near future.

The Cavs won exactly one preseason game last season, primarily because they were missing the majority of their starting lineup. Kyrie and Kevin were coming back from injury, Shump had just gotten injured, and LeBron only participated in two early games before resting his newly injected back. That left J.R. Smith and the relatively shallow bench to mop up the meaningless contests. Not that it mattered since the games don’t count. Yet, this year, beyond the easy confidence of having a title under their belts, there’s something else brewing with this Cavalier bench… an infusion of youngbloods.

It was fairly clear from the outset of this kick-off tilt to the preseason that the Orlando Magic would not be a difficult obstacle to overcome, especially with injuries to Serge Ibaka and Elfrid Payton (not to mention a pretty rough bench bunch). Even without the services of a still-in-contract-negotiation-hell J.R., or a late scratch Tristan Thompson (due to a non serious foot issue), or a resting Uncle Drew (who was content to let the youngbloods get buckets in his stead… as long as they didn’t reach too high), the Cavs still showed they had more than enough to dispel the Magic.

LeBron James and Kevin Love had a blast from the start. James looked like the 19-year-old spring chicken that Ty Lue said he’s been imitating in practice, as he racked up seven points (on 3-of-4 shooting) and six assists in just 13 minutes. Two of his assists came on the first two buckets of the game, which were both threes, one by Love and one (off of a Vine-worthy baseline pass) by Shump.

https://vine.co/v/5guOU7vnEbu

Bron even canned a triple of his own before his brief first quarter stint was up, and could be seen dancing his way to the sidelines. For his part KLove added eight points and four rebounds in his 13 minutes of action, while looking strong and decisive both in the post and beyond the arc. He also had two assists, including another trademark touchdown pass to LeBron.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELxe5p7y21Y

Together, James and Love triggered a three point barrage in the first half (the team shot 12-16 for an incredible 75% in the first 24 minutes), and by the time both were out of the game for good, the Cavs were ahead by 29. They got plenty of help on bombs from the seniors including Channing Frye (5-8 and 2-2 from deep), Richard Jefferson and Mike Dunleavy (who both knocked down a triple). But they also got 2-3 from beyond the arc by the Orange Mamba, Jordan McRae, which was just a part of his highlights for the evening. It was almost enough to make you forget that Swish wasn’t a part of the long range festivities, as the Cavs finished 13-27 (48%) for the game from downtown.

Because Kyrie had a scheduled night off, the Cavs started former D-Leaguer DeAndre Liggins in his place. Liggins (whom I’ve temporarily decided to nickname “No Dub” or “No Dubs Allowed” since he’s like Wiggins without the “W” and because if he sticks, his D may help thwart the Warriors someday — okay, I’m probably trying too hard…) had a decent all-around game with six points, three assists, a steal and two blocks, while playing some good defense. He did turn the ball over three times, but not a bad showing from a career combo guard.

But, the real eye openers were the first two guards off the bench, McRae and Kay “Killer Shrimp” Felder. McRae led all scorers with a game high 20 points (on 8-13 shooting), with seven rebounds and five assists in just 24 minutes. He was also a team high +21, and he showed tremendous ability to not only hit his outside shots, but also to attack the rack with gusto. One particular foray resulted in an especially nasty posterization of Bismack Biyombo.

https://vine.co/v/5gu0PJZQit6

Jordan McRae just flushed a dunk all over Bismack Biyombo, harming his manhood worse that Dahntay Jones did in the ECF, I'd imagine.

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 6, 2016

This dunk, and the rest of his on-court performance led to a postgame interview, during which he was reportedly serenaded by LeBron from across the room as the rest of the team cheered him on.

“Movin’ on upppp, to the east siddeeee, to a deluxe apartment in the skyyyy,” James sang, belting out the theme song to “The Jeffersons.”

Though I couldn’t find footage of this… if you are unfamiliar with the tune, here’s a refresher…

Another reserve who was movin’ on up along with McRae was the rookie Felder, who came off the bench behind NDA to contribute 14 points (on 7-11 shooting), with four rebounds, two assists and a few steals. Not too bad for his first official NBA game, even if it was preseason. Though he didn’t join the three point barrage, KShrimp still did awesome things like forcing the Magic to call a timeout after scoring on three consecutive possessions, getting a steal and running the fast break, and jumping almost out of the gym to put back an offensive rebound over a 7-footer.

https://vine.co/v/5gurFjDquM2

Ty Lue sounded very pleased with the diminutive one’s performance on the night, but also seemed wary of putting too much on his shoulders just yet.

“He definitely can play,” Lue said. “I like him because he’s tough, he competes every single night. But to throw a rookie into the fire of a championship team and all the scrutiny that surrounds this team and the pressure of winning, I just don’t want to do that to him. But he’s a great player and we know that, so we’re going to bring him along slow and I think he’ll be fine.”

While both McRae and Felder’s got a lot more minutes than they can expect to see in the regular season, they still showed enough to make at least the beginnings of a case that they could handle rotation minutes down the line. Two others vying for jobs at the end of the bench that stood out on the night were Corey Jefferson (11 boards and six points) and Jonathan Holmes (5-10, 2-6 on threes for 12 points). Neither Markel Brown nor the newly signed Toney Douglas did much with their 12 minutes a piece on the floor, but there will be several more chances for them to show what they can do in the coming preseason games.

Granted, it’s still on the extremely early side, but the Cavs finally seem to have a promising youth movement on their bench. Even the oldest head, The Champ, thinks so…

“It’s necessary, it’s young blood,” said Jones. “It’s a boost… This team is built to grow, which means that we have to find another level. When you have a group of veterans, the levels we can reach, the jumps are incremental. The jumps aren’t as vast or as big as a young guy that you can infuse into this rotation. So, for guys like Jordan, Kay, DeAndre, they allow us to kind of transfer — transfer knowledge, experience to guys that have a great skill set with a little more energy, a little more athleticism and a deeper gas tank. You have to do it because those guys are actually guys that will challenge us as veterans every day in practice to be better, so that we never get complacent.”

Overall, it was an extremely fun and lively start to the preseason for the Cavs. We should see a return of Kyrie and Tristan on Saturday against the 76ers, and hopefully a return of J.R. in the not too distant future. Meanwhile, it’s terrific to watch the youngsters movin’ on up and growing into potentially valuable future contributors.

Until next time… GO CAVS!