Recap: Sacramento 109, Cleveland 95 (or, Whine Country)

The Cavs could not keep their heads in the game for more than a few minutes at a time, and Sacramento seized the opportunity to put the Cavs down late, as they held the Wine and Gold to just 15 fourth quarter points, while putting up 24 of their own.  Much was made before the game of the Cavs’ impending Wine Country trip (on the 28th) and it looked like the Cavs’ minds were elsewhere through much of the game as careless turnovers, poor ball movement, bad defensive execution, and (again) an inability to get key rebounds and loose balls doomed them.

The Kings shot 51% to the Cavs’ 43%, and Sacramento’s bench destroyed Cleveland. Sactown’s non-starters racked up 68 points to Cleveland’s 32. The quadragenarian, Vince Carter, shattered his previous season high of eight to drop twenty-frickin-four on the Wine and Gold, mostly on a hapless Kyle Korver who got in a hole defensively and never climbed out. Carter started out swishing threes, then took Korver into the post. Kyle was -27 for the game, though much of it was due to Dwyane Wade’s lousy point guard play.

You ever look at a box score and swear it can’t be right? Wade was -20, with five points on 1-3 shooting and only one turnover, but I counted a lot more throwaways than that. Flash routinely led the the team into offensive sets that either put up a rushed shot that was ill conceived (like Dwyane walking into three point attempts while ignoring wide open, much better shooters) or offensive sets that bogged down because of an inability to get penetration that led to open shots. Too much dribbling was the theme of the night as Wade and LeBron both looked very sloppy with their handle while guys like George Hill made them pay by getting steals or tying them up for jump balls. Side note, if you force a jump ball in the NBA and then win it, it’s not scored as a steal in the box score, Hill had more than one of these.

The Live thread made much of Tristan’s first quarter appearance and the offense bogging down immediately upon his arrival. Indeed, Thompson was -8 in the quarter and he appeared to stymie much of the Cavs’ offensive flow. Part of the problem is that his teammates appear reluctant to throw TT anything other than a lob pass. Teammates routinely ignored him on cuts (not hard cuts, mind you) where the passing angle was a bounce pass or a quick pass off the dribble. Perhaps they read Ben’s article yesterday and new that TT in the post is mostly a lost cause. The other problem is that Thompson played with Kyrie Irving for too long. Thompson is just bad sometimes at timing his roll and sticks on the screen way too long. Probably from years of being crossed up and acting as Irving’s fullback instead of being allowed to be a dive man. The coaching staff needs to work with him on this.

It was definitely a game of runs, and Sacramento overcame Cleveland’s early 12-4 and 23-18 advantages to make their run to get back in the first quarter by outscoring the Cavs 10-4 in the final two minutes. LeBron inexplicably left Bogdonavic open at the top of the key for three, Vinsanity wore Korver like a cape on a right baseline cut for a reverse, James’s bad handle gave Hield a dunk, and Tristan Thompson showed awful defensive shot clock awareness when he let Bogdan swish a 22-footer over him as the quarter clock expired.

It was funny that on the Live Thread Arch Stanton proposed a trade of Thompson, Shumpert, and the Cavs’ first rounder for Koufos and George Hill, to which I replied, “Problem is Cauley-Stein is a better version of TT.” The second quarter started with an ill omen as Willie Cauley-Stein tipped in an oop from Carter then raced back down the court to block Wade at the rim. Stein throttled the Cavs the rest of the night, racking up 17, nine rebounds, four assists and just a game high +28 as he absolutely owned the paint on offense and defense in his 36 minutes. Cleveland had no answer for him, or rather they refused to use their answer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKPYs63MWVA

When I say “refuse,” it’s because the Cavs seem to constantly forget when they have a red hot Kevin Love. Love only scored 23 on 12 shots from the field and his jumper looked like butter, but he couldn’t get the ball. Cleveland spent much of the second and fourth quarters ignoring him after Love scored 11 in the first and eight in the third. Matching Love up on Cauley-Stein and pulling Willie out of the paint seems like a no-brainer adjustment that the Cavs’ refused to make. In Lue’s defense, Kevin picked up a cheap fourth foul which sent him to the bench early in the third, after Kevin Love and J.R. combined for four threes (all on dimes from LeBron) to go on a 12-2 run which put the Cavs up one.

Cleveland seemed energized then, but blew soo many opportunities after getting the lead back that much of their energy went to waste. After a James steal, Crowder got swatted on a chase-down by Garrett Temple, on a play where Jae looked like he needed to make a New Year’s weight loss resolution. Still, there were some brilliant plays, like Love with a nice cut and finish of a LeDime, and James dunking all over Bogdan Bogdanovic.

LEBRON JAMES. #NBAVOTE https://t.co/4xs0GUm8vr

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 28, 2017

But LeBron missed his next three shots and turned it over as Love fouled his way to the bench. Channing Frye came in and mostly stunk for three minutes, and Lue went back to Tristan. Thompson rewarded Ty with a tip-in, and the Cavs cut the deficit to just two before this awful defense and ridiculous Carter shot on the longest possible inbounds pass, put the Kings up 85-80 as the buzzer  droned to end the third.

At the tail end of that clip you’ll see Vince stroking a 28-footer over a helpless Korver midway through the fourth. It was pretty much the story of the final 12 minutes; the Kings just had too much rhythm to be put to bed. James started with a turnover and a settle three (miss) before Bogdan and Cauley-Stein pushed the Kings’ lead to nine. Cleveland wouldn’t score in the fourth until 8:21 when Korver finally hit a three (after a miss and stepping out of bounds – on a bad James pass). Amazingly, after checking in at the 10:06 mark, Kevin Love did not get a fourth quarter shot till six minutes later, while Korver had six looks (making two). This came despite a surprisingly hot J.R. Smith (15 points 5-7 from three on the night) sitting till the 5:11 mark. As I noted in the Live Thread, Dwyane Wade was a waste of space on both ends of the floor.

Meanwhile, Sacramento rode Carter, Bogdanovic, and Cauley-Stein to 65% shooting to the Cavs 33% in the final frame. Stein dunked unmolested on drives, cuts, and lobs. Vince Carter abused whoever was guarding (or not guarding him), and the Kings put up a 24-15 fourth quarter. To say the Cavs were already thinking about their Malbecs would be an understatement.

Yay!

One silver lining: it was a great night for the Nets’ pick. Sacramento, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, and Memphis all picked up wins while the Nets lost. Brooklyn is one of four teams sitting on 12 wins, with four teams sitting on 11 wins, and one team on nine wins.

Lose, baby, lose. J.R. got his shot back and led the team with +5 in plus/minus, and Kevin looked hot. George Hill looked like a perfect bench guy for Cleveland, and the Cavs should be targeting him.

Boo!

Dwyane Wade was hot garbage, and the Cavs gave Kyle Korver absolutely no defensive help. Lue waited way too long to adjust and the Kings abused Kyle. Korver is a good team defender, but you can’t leave him on an island. Lue pushed all the wrong buttons. Questionable decisions included just 22 minutes for Calderon (team high +13), not getting Kevin the ball, and very little Cedi Osman (barely old enough to drink wine). But Lue’s not the one out there taking bad shots and not defending.

But, Lue’s switching scheme was a disaster this game. Players were consistently late or in the wrong spot.

The Tristan Thompson narrative is snowballing. His fans are losing confidence. The Cavs have to either bench him or figure out something he can be good at. Right now, he’s good at nothing.

Tristan Thompson fans… I need something to make me feel good about his game… anything.

— realcavsfans.com (@realcavsfans) December 28, 2017

My least favorite LeBron move is the yell at the ref for a foul that obviously wasn’t a foul, and the yell at his teammate move for his screw-up. James did this both in this game. That’s not leadership, it’s whining. When he does it, James gets into really petulant habits that infect the team. I saw Kevin Love stare at a loose ball that went right by him in the fourth. The Cavs were out of craps to give in this game.

Meh.

The team wanted it’s mini-vacation and their heads were clearly elsewhere against a team coming off a back-to-back. The Kings often proves problematic, and they dropped one in Sacto in 2015. It’s annoying, but I’m not losing any sleep over it (hence the late AM post). Still, the entire pre-game, midgame, and postgame stuff was all about this trip, and after putting a postage stamp on this one, the Cavs kind come off like a-holes. It was enough to tick off even the most casual of Cavs fans. And after Friday morning’s wine headaches, and a full practice Friday, I’m not counting on a win over the Jazz, Saturday. But who knows? The team certainly needs to practice.

The Cavs refused to make the Kings pay for going big with Cauley-Stein. They didn’t exploit Kevin in the fourth and the Cavs’ lack of a center that can play with force burned them. Again, not losing too much sleep over it.

After an MVP November and first half of December, LeBron’s been good-not-great for the last two games, going 13-35 with 11 turnovers, 20 assists, and 16 rebounds. He’s third in the league in turnovers with 152 (to DMC’s whopping 170). Remember, James always gets the seasonal affective in January. It’s going to probably get worse before it gets better. Hang in there Cavs fans.