Recap: Cavs 125, Timberwolves 97 (or, February Fun)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTp9aDzqCnw

January seems so long ago now, doesn’t it? In a sub-.500 month that saw them finish 7-8, the Cavs proceeded to: receive a beatdown from the Warriors, choke away games to bottom feeding teams, face complications of a less-than-complete roster dealing with injuries, and endure barbs from the media following a series of public criticisms from LeBron James. As a fan, it can be tiresome to incessantly hear and be reminded of these problems, especially when they come during the slog that is the midseason of the NBA in January — so imagine how the past month has been for the players. Fans, players, and front office alike, all have constantly had to remind themselves that this Cleveland team will ultimately be judged only for its performance in June, that none of the noise matters.

Well, June aside, January was not a very fun time. After all their woes to start to the new year, the Cavs kicked off February with a needed W. And you know what? It was fun. Winning is FUN — what a novel concept! Last night, the Wine & Gold enjoyed a confidence-boosting blowout win at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves. While Kevin Love sat out his second in a row due to a bad back, the rest of the team got in on the fun to the tune of a season-high 37 assists, including a career-high 14 assists from Kyrie Irving, as well as a season-high scoring output from newcomer Kyle Korver (20 points) and double-digit scoring from five players total (and two more scored nine). It felt good. The team played with energy and joy. How easy it is to lose sight of the road traveled when all you focus on is the journey’s end. Even if the Cavs’ troubling streak of poor play continues into February, it is good to be reminded, if only for one game, that at the end of the day we’re all in on this thing for the fun.

First Quarter

The Cavs came out of the gate cold, missing a number of jumpshots and allowing the Wolves to extend their lead to as much as 15-7. Kyrie in particular struggled to get his shot going, missing the first four of his attempts. The Cavs were giving their young opponent a crack of daylight, and Minnesota was capitalizing. The Wolves had apparently read the scouting report on Cleveland and looked to push the ball up court every chance they got. They were going to force the older Cavs roster to keep up with their speed, and for the first five minutes of the game, it seemed like the gameplan had Cleveland in a funk.

The game really seemed to turn on a dime when Irving received a technical for arguing with an official a little too vigorously over the calls he felt he wasn’t receiving. Kyrie’s poor start combined with this new frustration apparently awakened something fierce within the point guard’s innermost superstar. A couple plays later and Irving jumped a passing lane and raced down the open court for a two-handed dunk — a rarity for Kyrie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xtn4fq90Cw

The rest of the quarter belonged to Uncle Drew, as he amassed seven points and an eye-popping eight assists over the frame’s final seven minutes. Following Kyrie’s technical, the Cavs went on a 8-8 shooting streak and only missed four shots the rest of the period. Of course, everything they made on offense was given back up on defense, and they finished the first quarter up, Cavs 36, Wolves 32.

Second Quarter

It was LeBron’s turn to kick of the second quarter, as he raced out into the open court a couple times and earned some free throws and a powerful dunk. He played with a renewed energy that at times seemed lacking in the Cavs’ recent stretch of games. James Jones also interestingly started the quarter after subbing in at the very end of the first. Jones’ first recorded statistic was a block on Nemanja Bjelica‘s floater attempt (who says the Cavs needed rim protection?!). Cleveland flirted with the idea of a double digit lead several times during the period, but every time the champs appeared to be on a run, Minnesota was able to make timely baskets of their own and keep the game close.

That two-man game though…#NBARapidReplay @ESPNNBA pic.twitter.com/IbbxXDSzMD

— NBA (@NBA) February 2, 2017

The highlight of the quarter was this play (above) where Kyrie hits LeBron rolling to the rim for a major-league slam. It is elegant in it’s simplicity. LeBron screening for Kyrie? Ricky Rubio finds himself in the impossible situation of being stuck in between the two Cavs megastars after his teammate, Andrew Wiggins, is unaggressive in his switch; Rubio keeps his eyes on Kyrie just an instant too long, and before he can react, a top-five all-time WR NBA player has already sprinted to the rim for a crowd pleasing alley-oop. The sheer respect Irving’s and Jame’s games command is enough to open up plays for each other.

Throughout the first half, Cleveland’s second level of defense was generally awful and kept the Wolves in the game. Whether it was a switch coming too late (or not at all), or help just not being available when the first defender got beat off the dribble, all Minnesota had to do was beat one guy and expect a basket. It is telling that the Wolves scored only four three-pointers in the entire half and kept it a three point game against a Cleveland offense that was rolling. Minnesota found easy looks at the rim and open daylight for mid-range jumpers from players who are confident making them. If nothing else, though, the Wolves’ plan to run the Cavs into the ground was somewhat subdued as the Cavs played smart ball and only committed three turnovers in the half. Cavs 63, Wolves 60.

Third Quarter

The ball movement and offensive engagement that characterized the Cavs’ first half continued out the gate. However, either Tyronn Lue gave the boys the speech from Miracle or someone put something in the water during halftime, because Cleveland came out of the locker room and defended as hard as they had all season. As in, they really tried. Iman Shumpert was especially bulldoggish, and he and Kyrie paired to form a surprisingly formidable front line. The team put renewed emphasis on rebounding and, as is the case when this team is at its best, used defense to spark the offense. Shumpert himself ended up collecting seven boards on the game — impressive for any guard and not the first time Shump has tallied a high count in this category. Still, for the remainder of the game, the story is really just that the defending champs came out and played like who they are.

The theme of “fun” bears repeating here once again, because that’s what it was: fun for the players and home crowd alike. LeBron even brought the elephants, tigers, jugglers, and trapeze artists into town when he made this ridiculous circus shot (below) that would put the Cavs up 18. Look at that smile on the King’s face. The game felt like it could be over at this point, and Cleveland was able to reach a 20-point lead, but the Wolves were able to crawl within 14 at the end of the quarter. Cavs 93, Wolves 79.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2Ivzjb3osk

Fourth Quarter

The final frame went much of the way as the third quarter, only Kyrie would not return to the floor, so LeBron and rookie Kay Felder helped helm the team quickly back to a 20-point lead. The Cavs stopped playing cat-and-mouse and put this one to bed halfway through the quarter. Despite the Cavs starters eventually being pulled, the team still held the Wolves to only 18 points in the final period after allowing 19 in the third. While Cleveland would end up on top by a margin of 28 points, the game was close enough throughout to provide thrills and, above all else, FUN. Final: Cavs 125, Wolves 97.

Thoughts

-Let’s get this one off the chest: thank goodness for Kyle Korver finally coming through! Korver scored a season-high 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting and 4-for-7 from deep. He was constantly in motion on the offensive end as he worked into his spots where he can get shots off in the blink of an eye. Korver had been with the team only a couple weeks but looked a hot mess. A game like last night’s can go a looong way in assuaging fears of the Korver trade being a bust. It’s amazing what having time to acclimate to new surroundings and getting some plays installed can do for a player, so let’s hope last night finds Kyle on the upswing. (Now, about that defense…)

-Speaking of Korver, it has been reported that Korver has recently been helping Tristan Thompson with Thompson’s much-maligned free throw shooting. Last night, TT finished 4-for-5 from the charity stripe, and is 9-for-12 since Korver began to help. The second coming of Mark Price?

-The team as a whole still isn’t shooting very well from the free throw line, finishing at 63.7% last night, and averaging 74.6% on the season, sixth worst in the NBA. However, they certainly make up for that in volume, taking 22 attempts on Wednesday while averaging 25.0 on the season (seventh best in the NBA).

-Seriously, though, what was in that water at halftime? The Cavs came out and defended like crazy, while continuing to orchestrate a fluid offense in which the ball moved between hands from side-to-side. It’s the calibur of basketball we’ve come to know and expect from this team. No one can expect it to be a nightly, 48-minute occurrence, sure, but displays of brilliance such as last night’s second half… against the Timberwolves?… only makes underwhelming times like January all the more frustrating. But hey, it’s February, so let’s move on.

The Cavs had some of the good stuff at halftime

–Kyrie Irving was amazing in this one. He was a one-man wrecking crew in the first quarter and helped keep the Wolves at bay throughout the second and third frames. He got his guys involved, assisting to six different players (six were to ol’ King James). After the game, Irving mentioned that once he realized his shot wasn’t falling, he was looking for other ways to impact the game. For all this talk about needing a playmaker, the Cavs sure have a heck of one already.

-It’s just sick that we can simply wave off LeBron’s 27 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds, two steals and a block as another day at the office. But it is what it is. Instead, James’ highlight of the night was his receiving of the NAACP Jackie Robinson Sports Award on the first day of Black History Month. He’s a known philanthropist and a voice for the African American community, and his efforts were appreciated Wednesday night with the honoring of the award.