Recap: Miami 124, Cleveland 100 (or, Beilein Benches Koby’s Kids)

Objectively, we all knew the Cavs weren’t gonna win this. I mean they haven’t won in South Beach since Shaq put up 19 for the Cavs in 2010… but we all hoped the Cavs would bounce back from their current skid and at least make it interesting. It wasn’t to be. The match-up for Cleveland that saw Darius Garland and Collin Sexton guarding a starting backcourt of Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson was just too much for Cleveland to handle. If you’ll recall, the Cavs traded Kyrie Irving to get Sexton and tanked last year to get Garland. Pat Riley picked up these two from the G League.

Duncan Robinson warmed up because the Cavs over-helped early, and simple ball-swings got him shots. Then the Heat started running flare screens and pindowns to get Robinson open and he hit a couple of those. Then, Duncan got open off simple handoffs or just by standing there on the wing. I can’t even really blame Cedi for any of Robinson’s makes because he was already red hot before Cedi got on him and Osman covered him pretty well. Osman got burned twice covering for GarTon’s lapses. McKinnie was scorched a couple times at the end of the first half too. Robinson hit seven first half triples, and one more for good measure in the second half.

Robinson was a supernova, but a lot of looks came off the Cavs trying to cover Miami’s first round pick in 2019, Tyler Hero who was almost as hot as Robinson. That kid can shoot. Herro scored 22 on 13 shots, mostly coming because Kevin Porter Junior over-helped and was crashing all the way to the bucket for no reason, giving Herro open looks from the corner, while Sexton and Garland just generally got discombobulated covering the wing and the top of the key. The Heat weren’t even running anything all that complicated – just setting up a primary action, watching the Cavs over-react, then lose their track of their assignments. The Heat simply moved without the ball, then swung it till the ball got to the open three point shooter.

Miami shot a scorching 12-20 in the first half from three (19-37 on the game) and 69% from the field. Meanwhile, the Cavs’ starting perimeter crew were putrid.

Sexton, Garland, and Osman are a combined 3-18 with 3 assists, 5 turnovers and 0 rebounds in the first half. It's time to bench two of them. I'd send Sexton and Osman to the pine and bring in KPJ and Clarkson or McKinnie. And I'd do it to start the second half.

— HoopsDogg (@oldseaminer) November 21, 2019

To be fair, those stats were adjusted slightly postgame, but the point stood. Only Kevin Love and Larry Nance’s 29 first half combined points kept the Cavs from being completely helpless. The Cavs trailed after the first half 75-48. Amazingly, coach Beilein took my advice and benched all three of the Cavs’ perimeter guys to start the second half. Delly, Clarkson, and Porter Junior started in their place, and after getting torched by Herro again, coach dumped KPJ for McKinnie a couple minutes in.

Cleveland started actually fouling people and slowing down the game and ran that lineup deep into the third. Cleveland actually played some D and won the period 29-24. The banished youngsters returned and played with more force, especially Collin Sexton who attacked like a demon. Cleveland cut the game to 16 in the early fourth before Herro got loose again, and then Jimmy Butler decided enough was enough and sandwiched a couple threes around a Herro deuce to send Cleveland to the showers.

It was a frustrating night, but at least the Cavs who know how to play basketball kept it from being a complete and total disaster (see the 50 point loss the Warriors suffered against the Mavs for an example of that). Kevin Love was scorching hot to finish with 25/13/2 while Larry Nance, who started in place of the injured Thompson, notched 16pts/9reb/2ast/0to/2stl/1blk. The Cavs offense was at its best when it ran through Nance and Love (duh). Collin Sexton got his points (19 on 16 shots) and is SOOO much better when he is playing without the ball. When he gets a run at a handoff and goes charging at the bucket, or cuts hard, he’s a very hard man to stop at the rim. The Cavs should run the foul line handoff play they used to run for Ramon Sessions for Sexton. When Collin shoots catch-and-shoot triples, he’s very competent. When he goes off the dribble he puts up goofy shots and ignores his teammates.

Jordan Clarkson let his inner Harden out when he started in the second half, routinely executing passless possessions, and ignoring his bigs to brick his way to 1-6 from downtown. Delly was 0-3 on the floor but dropped 5 dimes, and led the rotation Cavs at just -4. KPJ looked competent on offense but trailed the whole team at -24 in 23 minutes. His ability to lose shooters was the main culprit. McKinnie: very meh. 0-3 from the floor and lost Robinson a couple times when he was scorching in the second quarter. Ante Zizic’s six points and three boards also induced yawns, but God’s own Widow’s Peak was the victim of more than one horrible foul call.

The officiating in this one stunk. Check out this absymal call where Chris Silva throws himself into Zizic and then Ante gets an offensive foul call and the refs take three points off the board. I was also annoyed about a complete garbage whistle double dribble on Cedi. Silva routinely got the benefit of the doubt on calls while grabbing six offensive rebounds in 12 minutes. Meanwhile the Heat shot 23 second half free throws and the refs allowed Jimmy Butler to go 2-10 (both backbreaking threes) yet still finish with a 21/5/5 line because he shot and made 13 freebies. The Cavs never got a whistle and after getting the diff down to 16, an uncalled foul on Collin Sexton led to a four point swing and put the game out of reach. The free throw disparity was 31-16 in favor of Miami.

This game wasn’t pretty either. Both teams combined for 42 turnovers. One of those was Cedi Osman’s who dribbled the ball off his foot while just standing there, and was 1-6 from the floor. To say he’s struggling with his confidence would be an understatement. But, Cedi was only -6, and he was not the defensive culprit in this one. He scrambled most of the game because the three youngest Cavs were haplessly out of position or routinely lost their men. Garland put in another stinker: 4-12 and four turnovers. He just seems so raw. It was a mistake to make him a starter at the beginning of the season.

It comes down to this: Garland and Sexton have zero chemistry offensively or defensively when they share the floor. It’s just insane that the Cavs are starting two 6-1 guys. At the very least McCollum and Lillard are 6-2 and 6-3 by comparison. It’s not doing Sexland any favors to play together. One of them should move to the bench. I don’t know who to start instead. Maybe Porter Junior, maybe Delly. I’d prefer Knight, but he can’t stay healthy. When Clarkson starts he takes over the offense to its detriment. Delly at the very least would give them some defense. McKinnie? I can’t think Koby would be thrilled about that, but it would at least give the Cavs some defense, and there’s enough playmaking on the front line to make it work. It would help Cedi. KPJ’s defense off the ball tonight proved you can’t start him for Delly.

As for who sits, it should be Sexton. He annoys the crap out of Love and if Garland is the “point guard of the future” he ought to play. And I’ve seen enough to know Sexton is no point guard. He just doesn’t have the instincts. His 12.7% assist percentage this year and 1.4 assist to turnover ratio prove it. I’ve at least seen enough flashes to know that the Cavs have to surround Garland with four willing passers. Sexton should focus on being an off the bench two guard.

Sadly, I’ve reached one inescapable conclusion. I am probably channeling my inner Buck Turgidson here, but the Cavs have wasted their last two lottery picks. You just don’t throw high draft picks away on short point guards. It’s a wing’s league and you have to draft for size and athleticism combined with ability to play. There are plenty of short point guards that you can roll the dice on as second rounders, undrafted free agents, g-leaguers, or Euroleague guys. If they work out great, but there are plenty of options available there. The Cavs just aren’t uncovering those guys while the Kendrick Nunns, Brad Wannamakers, Fred Van Vleets, Duncan Robinsons, Carsen Edwards, are not getting drafted high and having impacts.

The whole point of NBA team building is finding a superstar or two and surrounding him with really good role players. I get if you draft a raw young guy you think you can develop. That’s why Kevin Porter Junior is in Cleveland. But why you’d spend the 5th pick of the draft on a 6-1 player who is also raw is beyond me. The number of 6-1 or shorter superstars since the 70s? I can think of three: Allen Iverson, Chris Paul, and Kemba Walker. (Post-publishing correction: I forgot Stockton and Isaiah Thomas the elder). I could throw Terell Brandon into that mix if you’re a Cavs homer. Maybe Lowry? Your odds of a small point guard being a guy you can build your team around are miniscule. And I get being bad to get more picks, even if I don’t agree with it, but it comes at the expense of wasting the picks you do have, that’s just dumb. These two guys aren’t growing any more, and Darius Garland isn’t good at anything… (hopefully there’s a “yet” at the end of that statement).

I’ll still watch, but the number of teams conjuring good players out of zero “assets” is really frustrating when you watch the Cavs sitting there with an open roster spot. Anyway, Friday the Cavs take on the team that just beat Golden State 142-94. Let’s hope the Cavs have shuffled the starting lineup by then and that KinnieLand becomes a thing. At least we can watch Luka and laugh at the Suns and Kings. Until then.