Recap: Cavs 119, Bulls 112 (or, Point of Order)

So, let’s see… you traded away your All-Star point guard in the off-season, your two best replacements are injured and more injured, and your remaining back up choices are between a fork-wearing octogenarian Spaniard and a dude who’s recent play is reminiscent of taking a dump in a shower because the tiny dude you just cut is about to have his coming home revenge game. How do you plead? Or, more importantly… to whom?

That’s easy… you turn to King Judge James to restore some order to your court.

Proving there’s really not much left that he can’t do in the grand scheme of basketball, LeBron answered the call after his head coach, Ty Lue, roped him into starting point guard duties… and responded with a game high 34 points and 13 assists (the 25th time in his career he’s posted at least 30 + 12 – the most of any active player). And, as impressive as the numbers are… they don’t come close to presenting the full case for LBJ’s greatness. It was how he got those points and assists… driving and kicking relentlessly, threading holes smaller than needle eyes, seeing the court from every conceivable angle, and fully controlling the Cavalier offensive attack. He didn’t even bother with rebounds, as he totally embraced his role as the ruler of the rock and arbiter of assistance.

The Cavs would need all of the jurisprudence LeBron could dish out on this night, as their defense (not unlike their poor outing on Saturday) continued to rest for much of the first half. The mostly unknown “Baby Bulls” must have missed the tanking memo handed out by management following training camp (maybe they were distracted by that time Bobby Portis rearranged Nicola Mirotic’s face), because they came out looking to stampede the wine & gold with a barrage of threes. Like the Magic did in the previous game, the Bulls knocked down 17 triples (on 33 attempts for nearly 52%) for the game, and many of those rained down in the first half. Rookie, Lauri Markkanen (heretofore known as Baby Unicorn), was the primary culprit, swishing 4-5 from downtown with relative ease as the Cavs offered precious little resistance. The big Fin would finish with 19 points and eight boards, although he did most of his damage in the first two quarters.

The poorly constructed defense mounted by the Cavs nearly surrendered 40 points to the supposedly-horri-Bulls (38 to be exact), and just shy of 70 (68) for the half. It was clear that at least part of the issue was the factor of a fourth starting lineup in four games, but it was also clearly apparent shoddy effort, poor rotations and lazy (or non-existent) closeouts on shooters. Aside from Baby Unicorn going ham, Justin Holiday continued to not take one against the Cavs, also knocking down threes (4-9) and pouring in 25 points for the game. And, since of course no insult should be deprived of its injury, newly acquired backup PG, Kay Felder (aka Killer Shrimp), returned to torment the team that just dumped him. Perhaps upset that the Cavs didn’t even consider giving him a tribute video… K Shrimp decided to use his highlight reel in the second quarter as exhibit A. The diminutive guard scored 13 points in just 16 minutes with four assists, and even hit a pair of threes to make life at least partially miserable for concerned Cavs fans in the gallery.

Fortunately, LeBron was there to restore order, keeping the Cavaliers in striking distance with 23 of his points in the first half (4-4 on threes, the last one to pull them within three at the half, 68-65). He also got some early assistance from Dwayne Wade and Jeff Green, who ran the second unit well… and even some surprise testimony from Channing Frye who returned from the Roadtrippin’ witness protection program with eight points in seven minutes. CFrye was perfect on three attempts including a three. Still, it took until the second half for the Cavs to finally all rise defensively to help the honorable Judge James.

After surrendering 68 points in the first 24 minutes… the Cavs turned the screws on the Baby Bulls in the remaining 24, holding them to a more reasonable 44. From the sound of it, Coach Lue chewed his team out at halftime… although commenter JoeyB had a different suggestion for the halftime reversal:

JoeyB
Bulls halftime speech: “Uh, guys, you know we’re tanking, right?”

But seriously, the Cavs did start actually hustling more defensively and forcing the Bulls into at least somewhat contested shots. LeBron also really dropped the hammer on Chicago, dissecting them with ridiculous dimes repeatedly in the second half, fueling a 15-3 run midway through the third to take the lead. Even though the Bulls came back to lead briefly going into the fourth, in a flash of white lightning… it was pretty much over. After a Kevin Love triple, Kyle Korver went all La Flama Blanca and torched the Bulls for two threes in 33 seconds. Chicago tried keeping it close as Denzel Valentine forgot the halftime message, sinking three triples in the quarter, but Judge James dismissed the Bulls with a left-handed layup over the Baby Unicorn.

The Evil:

The defense didn’t just rest in the first half… it was asleep. As Ty Lue said in his post-game interview, the Cavs have to stop spotting teams 17 three pointers. Obviously, it’s super early… and even more obviously, there hasn’t really been much in the way of continuity due to new pieces and injury. However, the trend of slow starts and poor effort on defense can and will certainly come back to haunt the Cavs on nights against better opponents, particularly on the road.

Ty Lue without being asked a question: “We can’t keep starting games like this. Thank God for our bench. 17 threes again.”

— Nikki Goel (@Mr_NikkiG) October 25, 2017

After some publicized grousing, JR Smith returned to the starting lineup tonight in place of Dwayne Wade. Maybe he was pressing, or maybe (as was reported earlier in the day) his back just wasn’t right and tightened up on him. Either way, he didn’t acquit himself well on the court. Swish was a dismal 1-8 (1-7 from deep), and committed a couple of silly fouls. He did at least contribute in other ways with four rebounds and four assists.

It’s time to hold Iman Shumpert in contempt. He was an absolute black hole on offense, and managed to get abused by Kay Felder on defense. About the only positive thing I can say about Shump is that, thanks to Urban Dictionary, I finally have a definitive metaphor to describe his playmaking ability…

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Shump&defid=8200722

The Genius:

Did I mention LeBron James…?

In addition to doing the bulk of the scoring and assisting, his three steals vaulted him past Paul Pierce for 19th all time in that category. And speaking of records, LeBron quietly tied Big Z for the all time team lead in regular season games played at 771.

Tonight, the Judge could rely on his bench, as the Cavs’ reserves combined for 46 points. Jeff Green led the way with a solid 16 points on 4-6 shooting (7-8 at the line), and Dwayne Wade (11 points, four assists, three boards), Kyle Korver (11 points, 3-6 from three), and Channing Frye all chipped in their support. No matter who’s on it, the second unit has been very sustainable thus far this season.

Kevin Love had another efficient double double (20 points, 12 rebounds) and really asserted his will on the offensive glass in the second half. Tristan Thompson also contributed nine boards and five points in his move back to the starting lineup, and Jae Crowder continued to be in the right places at the right times with 11 points (3-7 on threes) and some tough D in the second half. He’s close to automatic with that corner three now as well.

Ty Lue once again spread the minutes around and found a decent balance amongst the 10 guys he played. It would be great to see him find a way to work in Cedi Osman and Ante Zizic, but until there’s some garbage time to go around, that’s not likely. At least Channing got in and was able to make an impact.

Weird stat of the night: Both teams had identical rebounds (39), assists (28) and turnovers (9).

The Verdict:

Though it wasn’t exactly the kind of open and shut kind of game the Cavs should have had against a team that should really be in full on tanking mode, at least they were able to keep it close behind a superlative effort from LBJ at PG, and another terrific effort from the bench. One hopes this (and the Magic blowout before it) were more a product of inappropriate levels of effort against an inferior opponent, and not an ongoing mitigating flaw for this team.

Next up… the second back to back of the season against another surprising bottom-dweller turned upstart. One against whom a surprise loss would be doubly damaging to the value of the prized first round pick now residing in the Cavalier coffers. Yet, Ty Lue promises a continuation of this new starting five construct for at least two more games.

How you feel about some more time restoring order at the point, Bron?