Recap: Cavs 108, Heat 97 (Or, A Game Of Firsts)

Tonight was a game of firsts for the Cavaliers. They got their first win on the second game of a back-to-back after failing three previous times this season. They played coherent defense for nearly 48 minutes holding the Heat to 44% from the field and just 49 points in the first half. Their defensive game plan could actually be summarized: “Switch everything that doesn’t involve a center, and trap whenever a center is involved before recovering.” It might not be a fluke that during their eight game win streak they have been holding opponents to a league best 31% from deep.

There were other firsts too, don’t worry, the headline wasn’t written for nothing. After getting a steal in the final two minutes of the third quarter from James Johnson, LeBron went the length of the court and put up a running floater. He felt there was a little too much contact, and there was, so he made it known to referee Kane Fitzgerald he wasn’t down with the call. His fist pump warranted a technical, and then whatever James said after that warranted his first ejection ever in the span of his fifteen year career.

LeBron James gets ejected for the first time in his career. 👀 pic.twitter.com/fvcUarH3AI

— Cavs Nation (@CavsNationCP) November 29, 2017

And, lastly, the Cavs got their first iconic Kevin Love game of the season. Love put up 22 points in the first quarter (second to only LeBron’s 23 point first quarter earlier in the season) on his way to 38 points in just 25 minutes. He went 10-16 from the field, and hit 14 of his 17 freebies. He even hit four of his eight threes and sucked up nine rebounds.

Kevin Love goes off for 22 points in Q1 on @NBATV!@cavs: 35 / @MiamiHEAT: 24#PlayersOnly pic.twitter.com/Pjk12mTVke

— NBA (@NBA) November 29, 2017

The numbers don’t do Love justice though. Right out of the gate Love overwhelmed the Miami defense causing them to rotate through three different centers to try and slow him.

Love opened his scoring barrage using an escape dribble to can a 3-pointer over Hassan Whiteside. About a minute later, he canned another 3-pointer which he followed up by taking Hassan into the lane and dropping a fifteen footer on him. Love finally grabbed an offensive board and put it back in on Whiteside, which forced a Heat timeout and personal swap.

Post-timeout, Kelly Olynyk tried his luck on Love. In the next two minutes, Kelly picked up two fouls directly because of Kevin’s activity. He got his third foul with 3:13 to go and Bam Adebayo got some run. At one point, Love had 19 of the Cavs’ 24 points. He even had a nice dive on the floor to steal the ball from Whiteside.

And, speaking of diving and hustle. Jose Calderon grabbed an offensive board diving early in the quarter, and somehow stood up and drew a foul on Goran Dragic. Dragic then fouled him on the inbounds play and had to sit for the remaining 7:58 of the quarter. The Cavs entered the second quarter up 11, but the Heat were very lucky. Dion Waiters ripped off 13 points and dropped three 3s to keep it close.

Miami tried their best to make a game of it in the second quarter and got as close as six points in the first couple of minutes. However, the Cavs bench did as they have been known to and kept the lead. Dwyane Wade dropped a 3-pointer and Kyle Korver split two defenders for a layup. That’s not a typo, that’s just how great the Cavs were playing tonight.

Wade even whipped the King a touchdown pass towards the end of the second quarter that Love surely would have been jealous of if he weren’t having a career game.

By the end of the half, the Cavs were up 75-49. It was their best half of the season and Love’s 32 points along with LeBron’s transition and steal fueled 16 were almost as much the Heat’s combined effort.

The Cavs opened the third quarter in much of the same fashion as the first, with lots of Love. On Love’s first touch, he popped out after screening for James and Whiteside fouled him as he drove in a tinsy bit and took a shot. Love only attempted “two shots” in the quarter, but he got to the free throw line eight times because he was absurdly active going to the rack and hanging onto the ball through contact.

The Cavs’ effort did start to falter a bit in the 3rd, they got sloppy with four turnovers. The Heat were able to go on a 17-3 run with the starters in, but of course the bench stopped that nonsense. As soon as Channing Frye checked in, he canned a turnaround jumper over Goran Dragic with 2:50 left. The bench mob  followed that up by sending Jeff Green to the line after he got fouled attempting an oop from LeBron. Cleveland left the third without LeBron due to the ejection, but they still held a 19 point lead.

While the lack of effort in the third may have left some people out in Cleveland, Austin Carr I’m talking to you, in doubt, the Cavs bench was able to finish the game out strong. Dwyane Wade held steady. Early in the fourth, he posted up Dion Waiters, then scored a turnaround jumper over him before pulling up for a mid-ranger. After his six straight points, he found Kyle Korver out of a post up for a 3-pointer to put the Cavs up 26 and seal the game with 8:12 to go. Wade finished the night with 17 points, five boards, and four assists.

Gripes

1. Bam Adebayo had a nice evening going 7-7 for 19 points and six boards. He just seemed to be in the right place at the right time through much of the night.
2. Dion Waiters also had an evening scoring 21 points on 8-19 shooting. He was just 3-11 from deep. Unlike Bam, he just put up shots regardless of what was going on in the offense.
3. It was a bit sad to see the Cavs effort wane in the third quarter, but they had a 75 point first quarter and were on the second night of a back-to-back. Thankfully, Love was able to supplement their scoring by going to the line time after time in the third.
4. Jae Crowder had a poor night. He had five fouls and zero points.

Hypes

1. I probably didn’t talk about LeBron James enough, but he played some fantastic ball tonight scoring 26 points on 10-16 shooting in just 28 minutes. He also had 12 rebounds, six assists, and five steals. In the first half he went 8-9 right at the rim.
2. 
3. James’ five steals were huge in the Cavs getting and keeping their lead. Cleveland had 17 fast break points tonight and the pushing to get those points helped drive their offense the entire evening.
4. The offense looked crisp, which isn’t what I’d expect with Love going off how he did. They were feeding him the ball for sure, but it came within the flow of the game. Props to Tyronn Lue for keeping Love involved the entire time he was on the floor.
5. And, even more props to Lue for letting the bench finish out the evening.
6. Cleveland’s 3-ball was flowing again as they went 11-33.
7. I’ve mentioned it before in this post, but the defense was nearly flawless the whole evening. The Cavs even kept the lid on the 3-point line for the Heat. They went 10-33.
8. This game was a signature walloping of the season.
9. And, I lied above, there was one more first this game. I actually enjoyed watching an entire Cavaliers outting. I loved the effort the team showed all evening. Everyone was just diving for balls and working to get extra possessions. I even heard LeBron yelling about where he was on defense. This was a beautiful win.