Recap: Cleveland 110, Portland 104 (or, Captain Band-Aid and Canadian Dynamite)

Friday night, the Cavs went to Dallas to take on the Mavericks and got expectedly obliterated, 143-101. There wasn’t much to take away from that game other than to say that Luka Doncic (30/7/14) is really really good, and that the Mavs have a boatload of shooters to surround him. The Cavs had no answer, but two positives did happen that game: Darius Garland broke out of his offensive slump (23/1/4 on 16 shots) while Cedi Osman had a solid all-around offensive game (18/4/3).

As John Beilein noted after the game “Our lack of size is showing up everywhere.” The Cavs’ pair of 6-1 guards struggled against the 6-5 and 6-7 Tim Hardaway Jr. and Luka Doncic, and the Cavs’ front line guys struggled against the twin towers of Kristaps Porzingis and Boban Majanovic. It’s slightly comical that the Cavs’ didn’t try to play with more size, ignoring Alphonso McKinnie, who could’ve matched up with the large back court, and Ante Zizic’s ability to counter Boban. It often seemed as if Sexton and Garland were ephemeral when they closed out on the Mavs larger shooters. Dallas didn’t even bother to waive them away as if they were gnats as the Mavericks canned 20-37 from downtown.

It was also kind of ridiculous that the Cavs played Kevin Love who seemed completeley checked out (eight points, -34). Love was apparently suffering from a back injury he’s been battling for the last week, and that injury kept him out of the next night against the Blazers. So, to get this straight, Instead of sitting Kevin Love on the front end of a back-to-back on the road against the (now) 11-5 Mavericks, the Cavs decided to play him and then sit him the next night against the (now) 5-12 Blazers. Nice “screw you” to your fans, Cavaliers.

Regardless, the difference between Friday and Saturday night was palpable. Much of that probably had to do with the fact that the Cavs’ 12-foot-2 backcourt was not facing the significant size disadvantage they do most nights going against the 12-foot-5 Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. In addition, the Blazers were without Hassan Whiteside and Zach Collins, so the 6-8 Anthony Tolliver started at center against Tristan Thompson, while Carmelo Anthony took on Larry Nance.

Not facing a size disadvantage against the one team in the NBA that might be smaller than they are right now, Cleveland dominated the paint 50-36 and won the rebounding battle 51-38. Tristan Thompson went off against Tolliver and the Cavs made it a point to get him the ball for 17 shots at the basket. Thompson, used that poutine push repeatedly against Tolliver while the Blazers rarely doubled and Canadian Dynamite finished with 25/9/2 and two steals. In addition, Thompson was the beneficiary of more than one heady pass by Cedi Osman that lead to dunks and seven free throws of which TT swished all seven.

Cedi Osman couldn’t shoot, but he was the Cavs de facto point guard in an offense that, at least in the first half, seemed much more purposeful about passing the ball than it had been in any 24 minutes this season. Osman went 1-7 from three, including missing a pair of wide open tries late, but while his shot wasn’t falling, he was doing everything else. Osman finished with 5/12/5, but should have had at least three more assists due to missed point-blankers by Thompson and Nance. It was good to see Osman rebounding and passing even when his J wasn’t falling.

Cedi’s frontcourt mate, Larry Nance Jr., did a fine job on Carmelo Anthony who missed a lot of looks for the Blazers and went 5-15 on the night and 0-8 from three. Anthony looks like a bench player at best, and though he still seems strong and can score in isolation, he’s still ‘Melo for better or worse. Larry played as fantastically as Thompson and the Cavs ran the offense through Junior at the top of the key during many key stretches. Nance used us his passing ability to direct the Cavs offense as the dribble handoff and high post cuts fueled many a Cleveland look, and the Cavs got to their second, third, and fourth options by moving the ball. LNJ finished 11/12/4 on the day and though he shot only 1-5 from three, he took open shots he should’ve taken, they just didn’t fall.

A lot of this game was a rock fight. The two teams combined to shoot 24-71 from three. Darius Garland joined the cold shooting Nance and Osman by going 1-6 from downtown himself. After making one early, Garland forced the issue more than he probably should have, and still hasn’t quite figured out where his shots are supposed to be coming, but at least he’s trying to be a little more aggressive. He and Sexton must have been doing something right in the first half, though, when the Cavs stymied Damian Lillard to the tune of 1-7 from the field and McCollum 3-9. Cleveland used that D to go into halftime up 49-42 on the strength of a 30 point second quarter.

The second half of this game was the most exciting 24 minutes of basketball this season for Cavalier. Though I didn’t get to watch the game till 16 hours after it aired, I was on the edge of my seat as the Cavs built a 15 point lead in the early third when Cedi Osman nailed his lone triple. After that, Cleveland got dribble happy and CJ McCollum started microwaving as he hit two quick treys. The Cavs clanked and turned it over while the Blazers kept gunning and went on 17-4 run in less than five minutes.

The bleeding stopped when Collin Sexton hijacked the offense and then somehow finished a finger roll after dusting three guys and then Cedi Osman found Tristan Thompson running the floor with a filthy dime. Captain Bandaid closed the quarter strong when he slung a right wing threeball to put the good guys up 76-69.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLpF00BTZYQ

The Cavs don’t win this game without an insanely hot Clarkson who hit a triple fourteen seconds later to start the third. Then JC sandwiched two treys around a pair of freethrows for eight straight points in the middle of the final frame. Captain Bandaid lived up to his CtB nickname in this one. There were flames flying from his fingertips as he scored 28 on just nine shots from the field. He hit a perfect 6-6 from deep and 10-12 from charity and committed zero turnovers, but his best plays of the game came when he used his gravity to set up shots at the rim for Thompson and Nance. He did that late as TT bulled Melo out of the way and two handed slammed to put Cleveland up nine with just a minute left.

Unfortunately, this game just would. not. die. Hood scored easily seven seconds later, eliciting a groan from Austin Carr about the Cavs’ penchant for giving up layups after made baskets. Cedi missed a three. Nance grabbed an o-board, Cedi missed another three, and Cedi tipped out the rebound to JC. That sequence burned 43 seconds off the clock, yet Clarkson went only 1-2 at the line after a McCollum miss, Sexton split a pair, and then Lillard hit a long distance trey to cut the lead to six with 12 seconds left producing yet another timeout. Nance missed a pair and the Cavs fouled Lillard 80 feet from his own basket to give Portland two more points, and cut the lead two four with just six seconds left. Finally, Sexton drained a pair and stole the ensuing Portland inbounds pass to drive a nail through a final minute that took seemingly 12 minutes of real time.

WHEW. Having seen the amount of chatter over the game on Twitter and the live thread, I thought for sure the Cavs had lost as I watched on delay, and was pleasantly surprised in this gritty win. Collin Sexton’s praises should not go unsung. Sexton was a more willing passer Saturday, and moved the ball, at least in the first half. He’s going to have to do that to break other teams’ scouting reports. While Sexton had no assists and four turnovers, he had passes that led to free throws and hit some timely buckets: a collection of driving layups and floaters that wouldn’t have worked against a lot of teams, but worked against the undermanned Blazers. He also played some heady defense in the first half on Lillard.

Like I just said, though, the Blazers are even more flawed than Cleveland and woefully outmanned up front. The Blazers were bouyed by their two ridiculously competent backcourt players, McCollum and Lillard. Though they combined to shoot 15-39, McCollum (20/6/5) hit a serious of ridiculously tough shots during the 3rd quarter Blazers run, and Lillard (20/8/8) got hot late by getting the Cavs’ young guards on his hip and going to the basket. Bady Dame Dolla also used his ridiculous range to swish 3-4 from downtown on his way to 19 second half points. Cleveland’s D wasn’t all that hot in crunch time and Lillard burned them by hiding behind big screens, getting to the basket, and bombing away from 30 despite AC’s insistence on laying off him.

One time Cavalier Rodney Hood had a nice night too, dropping 11/5/2, and it was weird to see two southpaws going against each other whenever he faced off against Kevin Porter Junior. Rodney is shooting the lights out this year with splits of 51/49/76 for a 63TS%. It was also a valiant effort by starting center Anthony Tolliver who scored nine (3-4 downtown) and grabbed seven boards in 30 minutes for Portland but was just overmatched against a determined Tristan Thompson.

If you could combine these two teams, you could actually have a really competitive squad. The only problem with those wishing for a Kevin Love return to Lake Oswego: the 5-12 Blazers might be too far out of the playoffs race by the time Dec 15th comes around. (That’s the deadline for players signed in the offseason to be traded). The Blazers are one of the few teams who could offer something of value now for Kevin Love, and part of that package of players and future draft picks would revolve around Anfernee Simons. Simons was -15 in his time on the floor, but showed off his uncanny shotmaking ability scoring 11 on just six shots. Though 6-3, the 20 year-old shooting guard has a big wingspan and is a chip that the Cavs should demand if any trade is forthcoming.

All in all, it was a damned fun game, and a much needed victory for ours and the Cavs’ morale. That being said, the Blazers are a pretty bad squad right now, and are suffering from many of the same problems Cleveland is. They’re both too short in a league that countered small ball by getting even bigger, better, and faster.