Recap: Celtics 116, Cavs 106 (or, Addition by Subtraction)
2019-03-27The old adage that less is more was in full effect tonight at the Quicken Loans Arena. In the macro sense, for the Cavaliers less wins equals more ping pong balls in the upcoming Lottery. In the micro sense, less Kyrie Irving equals more wins for the Celtics.
To further pile onto the Live Thread introduction, Uncle Chicken didn’t bother making this latest return trip to play his former team… and, not un-coincidentally, his current team ended their longest losing streak of the season at four games. Sure, this is a Cavs team that fights hard but typically folds towards the end… but there’s an interesting pattern forming. After this win, the Celtics are an incredible 11-2 minus their “leader” vs. 33-29 when he plays. And, if you think that sample size is small… consider that the Celtics looked a whole lot more like the team that took last year’s Cavs to the brink in the Eastern Conference Finals tonight then they have with Kyrie on the floor lately.
Meanwhile, the Cavs added some toughness off their bench… while subtracting some shooting from the starting lineup… particularly Kevin Love. It was a pretty rough night for Kev, as the front line of Aron Baynes, Al Horford and Jayson Tatum gave him fits shooting the rock. He was 0-8 in the first half on his way to a brutal 3-13 (0-5 from three), though still managed an ugly double double with 10 points and 11 boards. Support did come from the pine… not just in the form of points (45), but also with some surprisingly decent defense at times to help the Cavs continually yo-yo back into the game.
It was also another good game by Collin Sexton who continued to subtract the mid-range from his repertoire in favor of adding three point shots and drives. Boston is a good defensive team, so the Young Bull was just 3-7 from downtown as many of them were contested. Still, he finished 9-19 overall, and chipped in three assists against just one turnover.
As mentioned, it was a yo-yo type of affair, where the Cavs would fall behind by 8-12 points… only to claw their way back with stops, hustle and timely buckets. They kept things competitive right up until the last two minutes when they were still within six. At that point, the Marcuses (Smart and Morris) took over on both ends… scoring and preventing scores with equal efficiency.
The first quarter was all about Jayson Tatum showing what he can do minus the yoke of Kyrie running the offense for the Celtics. He scored 14 points in the period, and all 21 of his total points in the first half, making all three of the triples he took before halftime. Fortunately for the Cavs, Cedi Osman and Jordan Clarkson helped subtract the deficit with plays like this touchdown reception…
Jordan Clarkson does his best Uncle Rico impression for a State winning touchdown pass to Cedi! #BeTheFight pic.twitter.com/2hk0hCH0Lv
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) March 26, 2019
Though the wine & gold trailed by just five at the end of one, they fell behind by as much as nine early in the second. Once again though, Cedi Osman helped spark them with a deep three from the top of the arc…
.@cediosman is starting to cook.
📺 #BeTheFight on @FOXSportsOH pic.twitter.com/wMV8gZT6W1
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 26, 2019
Then Collin Sexton added to the comeback, giving the Cavs their last lead of the game (51-50) with a five point burst. But, the Celtics finished the half on a 7-0 run authored by Al Horford and Jayson Tatum, and the Cavs trailed 57-51 at the break.
The Cavs went dry to start the second half, making just one FG in the first six minutes. They fell behind by 12 at several points, as the starters couldn’t get the ball in the hoop. Once again, the claw back was ignited by a Cedi triple… and followed up by some more Jordan Clarkson playmaking magic…
.@JordanClarksons is droppin' dimes tonight. pic.twitter.com/y2FPBDgwaX
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 27, 2019
How about that wrap-around dime to Nance, Jr.?
The Marcuses pushed the lead back out with a barrage of threes (as they’re wont to do against the Cavs… especially when Kyrie isn’t playing), but the Cavs hung tough, down just seven at 88-81 going into the final frame on the strength of this roll-out Young Bull dunk just before the buzzer…
FLEX THOSE HOPS, ROOK! #BeTheFight pic.twitter.com/M1bQHdzv76
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 27, 2019
The momentum really seemed to be in the Cavs favor over the first three minutes of the fourth, as they continued to close the gap, and finally pulled even with the Celtics on a rare five point spree by Marquese Chriss. The big quiche threw down a dunk on a dime from Nance, Jr., and then drained a triple to knot things at 92. After that, Boston turned up the defensive intensity, the Cavs got sloppy with the ball, and Horford drained what looked to be a heartbreaking dagger three.
But, the Cavs kept being the fight, subtracting the gap down to six with just under three minutes remaining on this LNJ jam over a prone (and floppy) Baynes…
Give @larrydn22 a runway and he's bound to take off! 🛫
📺 #BeTheFight on @FOXSportsOH pic.twitter.com/Us2f2DBm7p
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 27, 2019
From there, the Marcuses multiplied their effort and divided the Cavs’ chances for victory.
Pluses
The Cavs shot 49% from the field and spent the night moving the ball well, adding up 24 assists.
Collin Sexton and Cedi Osman stayed relatively hot from deep, combining to hit 6-13.
The bench was a positive integer with 45 points on 17-30 shooting, with 15 rebounds and 13 assists.
Larry Nance, Jr. and Jordan Clarkson both had above average games.
Kevin Love still wound up totaling a double double, even though his shot wasn’t falling.
David Nwaba provided a defensive square root on the second unit to help keep the Cavs in the game.
Minuses
The Cavs allowed the Celtics to shoot 50% from the field and spent the night not closing out on shooters.
Tristan Thompson and Brandon Knight were limited in their limited minutes.
The Boston bench was almost as good as the Cavs with 40 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists.
The Marcuses, Gordon Hayward and Horford had great games, and Tatum had an insane first half.
Kevin Love almost shot the Cavs out of this game by himself in the first half going 0-8.
The Celtics defense turned the Cavs over 14 times which was costly.
All Things Being Equal
While it wasn’t quite the satisfying close loss the Cavs suffered at the hands of the Clippers last Friday, it also wasn’t the blowout they experienced against the Bucks on Sunday. It was somewhere in between, but still served the purpose of keeping the wine & gold locked into the third best odds to win the NBA Lottery. It was also (aside from my diatribes) completely free of the misery of Kyrie Irving. Honestly, I’m glad to have the youthful exuberance and refreshing candor of a Collin Sexton over the petulant snark and dramatic self-centered aura that exudes from Uncle Chicken. The Cavs might win less games without him around anymore… but the Celtics might just start to realize they can win more. He’s probably still the addition they need once the playoffs start… but for now, he’s just a subtraction from their collective focus.
Great recap/great stuff, Guys.
I am just so glad we didnt go through another entire season where no young talent gets developed. You cant rely on the summer for young guys to develop if they dont have a season’s worth of minutes to know what to add experience points to in the player configuator.
Amen to that.
AGREE WITH YOU BUCK——HIS SHOT WITH A QUALITY SHOOTING COACH AND MANY QUALITY REPS WILL ONLY IMPROVE ——AND HAS THE ATHLETICISM TO GO ALONG WITH IT ————ALONG WITH WORKING ON HIS SHOT / DEFENSE / WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM WORK ON HIS ” HANDLES ” ESPECIALLY IN TRAFFIC AND 2 OR 3 GO TO EXPLOSIVE MOVES TO THE BASKET
season 3pt % comps.. from highest to lowest (top tier guards).. curry.. hield.. SEXTON.. klay.. kyrie..mccollum.. lillard.. harden.. mitchell..trae
the sample size is large enough.. this is NOT an aberration.. the kid is a shooter.. no, that is not correct.. the kid is an elite shooter.. numbers don’t lie, and he is a great athlete as well.. mark my words, the shot will only get better, as will the rest of his game..
regardless of who we get from zionjaba.. cavs are in a very nice position for the foreseeable future..
murray (36.8%) and harris (35.1%) DEN are also both trailing sexton (41.3%), as is russell (36.2%) BRK and kemba (35.4%).. pretty freakin’ impressive
Volume of attempts, defensive scheming, type of attempts matter a ton for percentages which I think Mike was alluding to. He is not the third best shooter in the league which I don’t think you are necessarily saying, but should be noted. But he is very good and getting better. Has gotten better and been pretty consistent except for December. What could affect him is how teams game plan him next year. His shooting has mostly been under the radar and only in the last month or two have teams started to actively try to get hands up on him.
READ THE OTHER DAY IF WALTON IS LET GO—“CLUELESS ” WOULD BE CONSIDERED FOR COACHING POSITION—-HELL YES AND COME AND GET YOUR DEFENSIVE WIZARD LONGINBARF
I truly love this headline:
“Luke Walton tried to get Rajon Rondo to make more fundamentally sound passes, but Rondo just reminded him who has more career assists”
Good news is Melo can control Rondo, so next year should be smoother.
WEST COAST THANK YOU FOR YOUR “LAKERS ” FAN INFO / PERSPECTIVE——-THERE IS NO DOUBT LEBRON KNOWS / REALIZES WHO THE ” BEST DAMN FANS IN THE LAND ” ARE !!!!
Lance is hilarious.
Eff Uncle Chicken. That dude does not have the emotional toughness to play in NY. It is funny that he thinks he does.
These Cavs are hard to watch sometimes. But mainly do to stupidity/inexperience rather than laziness.
I do not miss Bron & Kyrie.
I miss Bron. His drama was his drama, but he was great on the court and he kinda belongs in Cleveland for the end of his career.
I miss the asset we should have gotten for Kyrie (Tatum or Brown or a second 1st).
CtB’rs be glad to be a Cavs fan, to be in the land and not in Laker land. I was given a pair of tickets to the Lakers- Wizards game. My daughter was so excited to see LeBron, hell, we both were. The atmosphere at Staples is horrific. We had great seats, pricey season tickets. In typical LA fashion the game was more about being seen than seeing a game. LeBron looks completely disengaged, a heroic warrior reduced to parlor tricks for an entitled self-absorbed crowd. Outside of what appeared to be tourists from Asia, the crowd sat staring at… Read more »
AGREE WITH ALL THE POSTS ABOUT YOUNG BULL —–GOTTA LOVE THIS KIDS “HEART ” / DESIRE TO IMPROVE———NEVER LOSE THAT YOUNG BULL—-THAT IS WHAT ALL THE PEOPLE “IN THE LAND ” ARE ABOUT !!!!!!
GREAT RECAP EVIL –LMAO——-HOPE ” UNCLE CHICKEN —FLAT EARTH -JELLYFISH ” KYRIE LANDS UP IN NEW YORK WHERE THE MEDIA WILL CRUCIFY HIM—CAN’T “CHUCK AND DUCK ” IN THE BIG APPLE
Great recap. Tortured metaphor, but Evil Geniuses should be expected to torture everything, and it made me laugh more than once…especially because Uncle Foot-in-his-mouth was the biggest victim of said torture.
He is right. And I like that he said it.
But we could have done more to help him. I remember one sequence where we ran an action to get a switch on Kev down low & he hit a hook, but there was a foul before the shot. We should have come right back to it, but never did.
Good cap. Couldn’t watch tonight. Seven 3 attempts almost seems normal for Sexton now. He could probably take a few more. If 3/7 is an average night from three (which it is based on his percentage on the season) he is/will be one of the best volume three shooters in the league. Glad to see he bounced back from the bucks shooting night. I don’t think anyone can say his 3 point shooting is just a streak or unsustainable anymore. Think the sheer volume of attempts since about mid January and the percentages since then basically point to him being… Read more »
I do expect the % to fall off some, but the more important thing is the *kind* of shots he’s taking. He’s no longer just taking catch and shoot/ no dribble shots from three almost exclusively. He’s been taking a lot more off the bounce and off of pick and roll stuff. If he can continue to hit those it’ll open up a lot more stuff for everyone else, as well as for himself. It’s pretty obvious he’s working his tail off. Should be interesting to see him after the summer.
I agree on all points! Isn’t it so refreshing to hear a guy is “working on” a part of his game and it’s the people around him saying they see it, not just the typical player mantra a la “Im in the best shape of my life” platitudes? And even better, the results are obvious as hell to anyone watching. It really defends the arguement of drafting Sexton for his “heart”, “work ethic”, “competitive drive”, and “character”. Everyone knows that YB’s draft stock went up because of that 3v5 game he played at Alabama. It’s easy and typical to look… Read more »
If his defense improves, we’ll really be cookin’. That will be something we have to see about next season. As many have said, rookies rarely play good defense.
If they draft Morant he’ll be off ball. His percentage might go up since catch and shoot opportunities may go up. He has four months over 40% and March and February are nearly identical at 5.6 attempts per game. February he was still shooting 41%. March is 46%. Meaning for two months he has been shooting an identical number of threes, a large number of threes, and still averaging at least 41% on them. January was 3.5 attempts PG at 41%. He really has been remarkably consistent this year despite attempts. December seemed to be an aberration.
Clever stuff, EG. That YB drive and dunk just before the halftime buzzer was one of my favorite plays from him all season. Seems like Love never gets much inside against Baines, but his shooting was killing the Cavs. At this time of year I’m just happy with a competitive loss (even against this garbage franchise), especially if Sexton and/ or Cedi have good games. Sexton was pretty good, at least.