Recap: Cavs 103, Grizzlies 86 (Or, an ugly win is a win)

Overview: In a game that is now mercifully over, the Cavs were able to grind out a 103-86 win over a depleted Grizzlies team. Kevin Love led all scorers with 29 points, and J.R. Smith added a season-high 23 points.

The Breakdown:

I actually had a lot of things that I really liked in the first half, but after that third quarter, the game should be summed up thusly: The team the Grizzlies rolled out had no business being on the floor with the Cavaliers, and the Cavaliers didn’t screw things up badly enough on either end of the floor to allow Memphis to bridge that talent chasm.

The Grizzlies did come into Tuesday’s game with the best defensive efficiency rating in the NBA, and the Cavaliers were resting Kyrie Irving, so it shouldn’t be that surprising that there weren’t a lot of good actions being run with a starting backcourt of DeAndre Liggins and J.R. Smith. The Cavaliers went out of their usual actions and went into finding mismatches and playing bully-ball for the most part, which was honestly a solid plan. I’m going to dive straight into the individual notes, because on a macro level this game was really ugly and I don’t want to have to relive it.

Game ball goes to Kevin Love, who continues to reclaim his spot as one of the best power forwards in the NBA. He made strong moves in the paint to get buckets, he popped out and drained long shots when he needed to, and he kept the Memphis defense continually frustrated by drawing canny fouls and getting himself to the line. Beautiful, efficient all-around performance from Mr. Love.

J.R. Smith is showing some signs! He finished the game 6-10 from deep and 2-7 from inside the arc, because of course he did, but this was a very promising performance. The Cavs are going to need the J.R. of last year back, and he looked like his old self on Tuesday night.

Just another night at the office for LeBron, who finished with 23/6/8. I liked how forceful he was in the first half — he was really forcing his drives and post-ups and getting layups and free throws, in a good way. When he got a mismatch, he wasn’t afraid to bully it, which is what I’ve been wanting to see from him in the post all season. In the second half, he went away from that, and his turnovers continue to baffle me — he had six of them on Tuesday, and they’re not a result of him trying to do to much with his passing. They’re just flat-out mistakes — he lost his handle, he threw it where he thought his man was going to cut, or he threw a lazy pass that got picked off. Odd thing that’s happening this year.

This game was a strong case for the folks who believe the Cavs need to make a move for a backup point guard. Liggins had a great game defensively, grabbing two steals, pressuring the ball, and drawing (by my count) three charges, but he was an absolute mess offensively, getting run off the three-point line when he should have taken the shot, losing his handle out of bounds, miscommunicating with LeBron on a cut for what should have been an open layup, and ultimately finishing 1-7 from the floor. He can be a solid player in this league, and has earned his minutes, but asking him to take on real offensive responsibility might be a bit ambitious at this point. Kay Felder, meanwhile, looks lost without the ball in his hands, which is an issue when you want to share the floor with LeBron James, and he got bullied defensively a few times, which is something there isn’t an easy fix for.

Channing Frye seems to be pressing a bit — he took some quick-trigger threes under pressure instead of waiting for those nice, open pick-and-pop threes he never misses. It’s something that I expect to get better as he gets his rhythm back after his time away from the team and Kyrie is back on the floor to draw the defense into the paint with more consistency, even if Kyrie doesn’t always kick the ball back out.

That’s honestly all I have for tonight — tomorrow, we do it all again. See y’all then.