Recap: Dallas 121, Cleveland 116 (… a Dollar Short)

Cleveland mounted an uneven effort against the shorthanded Mavericks, who opted to sit Luka Doncic, while Cleveland opted not to test the injured Larry Nance and Tristan Thompson. While the Cleveland offense was solid, especially from three, the Cleveland defense was often nonexistent. I was watching this one at a bar, and I’ll admit I left before it was through. With the Mavericks up 12 with 3:14 left, the two teams traded clanks for a minute straight, and with Sexton at the line with 2:20 left, I assumed it was was over. Then the Mavs tried to let Dirk drive the tank.

Only today, I realized that the aged once the aged one entered the game, Dallas immediately started force feeding him, trying to bump his 14 point night. Nowitzki kept missing and Love canned a 29-footer and a pair of freebies to cut it to five before Collin Sexton grabbed a Hardaway Jr. miss and raced the length of the floor to cut the Dallas lead to three with just five seconds left. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), Devin Harris Harris hit two free throws to ice the game and put this contest out of its misery. The Cavs were a day late and a dollar short.

It was a somewhat miserable night in the Association. Phoenix won in New Orleans on one of the fishiest endings I’ve ever seen to a basketball game. Up by three late in overtime, New Orleans opted not to foul in the closing seconds and allowed Phoenix to shoot a three and tie it up. Then Alvin gentry pulled a Blatt C-Webb, and took a timeout he didn’t have, Phoenix hit the freebie and won the game… and the NBA wants to partner with legalized sports betting.

So, uh, this is how Suns-Pelicans ended in OT. Just stupendous tanking. pic.twitter.com/AWhH8iHVrT

— 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐨 (@FlyByKnite) March 17, 2019

Anyway, the Cavs had some fun moments. Little General Junior, Collin Sexton, shot the lights out on 73% true shooting, including 4-7 from downtown dropping 28/3/4 with zero turnovers and +3, while Cedi Osman went 6-7 from deep (and 0-5 from the rim) for 22 points. Kevin Love matched him with 22/12/4 and the Cavs went 21-22 from the free throw line, while Ante Zizic put up 11 and a game high +14. Unfortunately, the Cavs’ lack of big man depth hurt them bigtime. CtB’s Mike Schreiner put it best.

Guys, Marquese Chriss may not be good at basketball.

— Mike Schreiner (@Mike__Schreiner) March 17, 2019

As Mike subsequently noted, the difference between Chriss and Nance or Thompson is enormous. Quiche was baked in a dumpster fire, going 1-5 from the floor, and posting a mind numbing -17 and only two rebounds in 17 minutes. He was browned to a flaky golden crust by second year man, Maxi Kleber. The undrafted German has quietly turned himself into a pretty decent bench player and put up an 18/12/1 line against the Cavs, including five o-boards. Meanwhile, quiche can’t box out my grandpa and is consistently lost on both ends of the court. The difference between Matthew Dellavedova at backup point guard and Nik Stauskas is similarly wide chasm.

This game didn’t come down to rebounding though, or turnovers, or officiating. This one was all about the unwillingness or inability of the Cavs to guard the roller in the p/r, and rotate out to shooters. Additionally, the weakside defense was garbage. Ante was often having to guard two guys. The Mavs had seven guys in double figures, shot 51% from the floor, and buried a whopping 16-35 from downtown. Dwight Powell was especially brutal, as he was 6-8, mostly on screen slips, weakside cuts, and this filthy lob finish over K-Love.

Powell was fed by the guy most of the Association slept on, and who was even surprising some live thread commenters (though I mentioned him in the preview): Jalen Brunson. Brunson ran the show for the Mavs, and I noted that they’re very generously listing him at six-three. Except when I went back and watched, he looks shorter than he is, because he is always in a defensive stance or hunched protecting the ball on offense. I like Brunson a lot. It gives me hope for whoever the Cavs draft with the Houston pick.

While Powell and Bunson were good, Dirk Nowitzki got the crowd going with 14 points and +8. He even had two steals and two blocks, as the Cavs were waaay too lackadaisical finishing around the basket against Dallas (who finished with six blocks). But it was Dorian Finney-Smith who was the glue for the Mavs with solid D, great shooting, notched 14/6/6, went +12 in 34 minutes, and a thumped a dunk over Cedi Osman.

It was a weird game for Cleveland, who never really adjusted to Dallas’ pace and ball movement. The wine and gold were victims of bad games by Chriss, Brandon Knight (-12), and Nik Stauskus (1-7).  This left Osman, Love, Zizic, Sexton, and Clarkson to do the heavy lifting as David Nwaba couldn’t find his way onto a non-Chriss lineup, and inexplicably played only 15 minutes and change.

Jordan Clarkson was his usual infuriating self. While he put up 17 on 12 shots, his unwillingness to make simple swing passes to more open teammates is maddening. This habit seems so much worse with Delly on the DL. His amazing ability to get consistently high-sided on screens or get lost in rotations is similarly cringe inducing. And then to watch him make ridiculous finishes in traffic, is almost doubly infuriating. If Clarkson didn’t break out of the offense constantly and if he could channel his talent into smart team play he could be an all-star. Instead, he took too many three point pull ups and went 1-5 from downtown.

Ultimately there’s not a lot to get upset about here, it was what we wish for as this rebuilding season winds down: entertaining losses. Youngbull looked very good, and over his last five games he’s averaging 26/3/4 with splits of 56%/52%/90% YOWZA. The dude can score and has totaled 23 or more in each of those contests. Sexton is getting into the body of his defender so much better on layups and he has to be one of the best catch and shoot three point shooters in the league. The Cavs should not send him to summer league. They need to lock him in a room with James Posey and Tony Allen and have him break down film, play tough guys all summer, and just turn into a badass. While he’s at it, he needs to study Kevin Love’s pump fake.

Well, that’s it for me. Sorry for the late post. Incidentally, if you’re interested in providing any draft profiles for the blog, hit me up via email. The Cavs return home to take on the Pistons Monday who are fresh off beating the Raptors tonight. Andre Drummond looks like the best rebounder in the universe, and Detroit looks like a team that won’t be fun to grind with in the first round. See you then. Go Cavs.