Recap: Milwaukee 125, Cleveland 108 (or, Road Win, Road Loss)

Thursday and Saturday, the Cavs had a pair of games that saw similar, valiant efforts from the wine and Gold, and a new change in tactics when it comes to developing Darius Garland and Collin Sexton. While the first effort against the Spurs produced the Cavs’ most exciting win of the season led by the heroics of Captain Bandaid, the subsequent effort against the Bucks saw the Cavs massively overmatched by one of the two best teams in the Association, and Donte Divincenzo outplayed his 2018 draft mate, Collin Sexton.

In the first, Cleveland, coming off the second game of a back-to-back surprised a lethargic Spurs squad who’d been resting for four days, and went to halftime with a 53-43 lead. In the second half, the Cavs tried valiantly to fend off a hungry Spurs squad led by DeMar DeRozan and Derrick White. The Spurs came back and took a six point lead with about four minutes left, and after a Jordan Clarkson turnover oddly reminiscent of his flub at the end of the Rockets game all seemed lost with the Cavs down five with 20 seconds left. But Collin Sexton raced down the court and scored a layup in five seconds, and then DeRozan did the unthinkable and missed two free throws.

I was convinced, in a game where John Beilein’s out of time out plays had been thoroughly debunked by the Spurs’ defense, that the Cavs were doomed, and indeed only a headsup gather of a deflection by Jordan Clarkson, and a pump-the-brakes flyby triple by Kevin Love got Cleveland to overtime (queued up below).

https://youtu.be/qyR0U7G4Avw?t=46

But in overtime, the Cavs traded a Clarkson Layup and a pair of triples by Osman and Love for a couple LaMarcus Aldridge deuces, and then both teams went cold. LaMarcus Aldridge cut it to two with a tip-in, but a scintillating Jordan Clarkson reverse out of a timeout made up for Jordan’s sins at the end of regulation and in the previous game. It gave the Cavs a four point lead with 53 seconds remaining. After a Patty Mills miss, Collin Sexton closed out the game with four straight free throw makes, to give Cleveland their grittiest win of the season.

In Milwaukee, it was only close for a quarter, as the Cavs gave up 43 points in the second and never recovered. The Cavs trailed by 35 at one point, and only garbage time made it respectable, as Giannis and Middleton combined for 53/6/10. The Bucks destroyed Cleveland on fast breaks 35-15, and used every turnover and rebound to quickly get into their paces as the Bucks ended the night with a 24-3 record.

For Cleveland, things looked very different five minutes into the Spurs game. Why? Because Darius Garland went to the bench and Matthew Dellavedova came in. Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor wrote about this, Sunday.

This new setup means Dellavedova, the steady veteran, gets more time alongside Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Collin Sexton and Cedi Osman. Dellavedova’s presence gives the group an experienced conductor, a pass-first leader who provides a different dynamic to a unit that has plummeted in its effectiveness lately.

This also meant that Darius Garland got a lot more run with the second unit. Delly looked more in sync and competent as Delly and Cedi got the Cavs into their offense, and Garland was a lot more aggressive when paired with the bench. Garland put up eight points and five assists with five turnovers against San Antonio, while he put up 10 and five against the Bucks.  It wasn’t a breakout, but he did look more comfortable against the bench mob.

Matthew Dellavedova was his chippy and energized self in both games even though Delly posted just 2/2/4 and 5/0/3. He played with an edge and got the Cavs into their sets, and actually sets screens as a guard.  The change that got Sexton and Garland sharing the floor less helped the offense and the defense against San Antonio, though they don’t have the most physically overpowering guards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXivcYVBJ9Y

Collin Sexton seemed freed. He even managed to get through two straight games without getting his shot blocked. Though his threeball has fallen into Lake Eerie, Sexton scored 28 against the Spurs, but just eight against the Bucks. Against the Spurs’ weaker defense, Sexton was a blur up and down the court and got to the rack and the free throw line frequently, and was a big part of the Cavs win with timely buckets late and in overtime. Against the Bucks, Youngbull was thoroughly outplayed by Divincezo who was starting for the injured Eric Bledsoe.

Donte Divincenzo, once a draft favorite of CtB’s Ben Werth was fantastic playing off Giannis and Middleton, going 6-8 from the field and finishing with 15/5/4 with three steals in a turnover in just 25 minutes, including a resounding late dunk. For the Spurs, Derrick White put up 17 on 9 shots, but Forbes, Mills, and Murray were held to 6-19, as the Cavs mounted a pretty solid defensive effort against San Antonio. While the Spurs shot 48% from the field, they only managed two offensive rebounds.

The real victory this game came at the three point line where Cleveland managed to shoot 15-45 while the Spurs managed just 5-16. The Spurs are a midrange team, and Cleveland kept them there. Lighting it up from three: Osman, Love, Clarkson combined to shoot 11-28. Cedi Osman looked like the glue guy he’s come to be with 15 points. It was a far cry from his struggle against the Bucks where he was routinely toasted by Middleton and scored just eight on 11 shots.

The big change in the last three games has been Kevin Love who looks much more engaged of late, and who has also been set up as the ball handler as the pick and roll on sets with Tristan Thompson. It was a good gambit to free Love from Giannis. Love had a monster 30-17 night against Spurs, but was 12/10/4 and -35 against Milwaukee. One thing that was made a lot of during the live thread over the last couple games, was Love’s failed outlet passes, but I’ve decided not to worry about them. Because honestly, is it any more risky than a three? I mean if he doesn’t connect, it’s no worse than a shot attempt. At least the defense is back if it turns into a live ball turnover, but it’s more than likely to end up with an out of bounds play.

Tristan Thompson had a nice game against Milwaukee with 12 and 9 and set a lot of nice screens in both games. But he was mainly caught in no-man’s-land against the Bucks most of the time. TT had a blow-up at coach Beilein in the third quarter and it got him sent to the bench for the fourth quarter and Overtime against San Antonio. There were now repercussions from it in the Bucks game and both teams tried to downplay it.

Tristan Thompson vs. John Beilein on the Cavaliers bench… https://t.co/xudS9WLezN

— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) December 13, 2019

Larry Nance Jr. had a decent couple games. He filled in for TT against Milwaukee, and though he didn’t score, he had some big stops against Aldridge and DeRozan down the stretch. Against the Bucks, he was a team leading +17 and he put up 7/7/3, looking for his shot more and was a part of those bench platoon lineups of Delly, JC, Clarkson, Henson, and Porter Jr. KPJ made a statement for more playing time against the Bucks with 15 points, after a ho-hum game against the Spurs. John Henson is looking more and more comfortable in the backup center role and continues to flash one or two nice plays every game.

The Cavs’ big hero against the Spurs was Jordan Clarkson whose 25 points were monstrous, as was his smart play to to tip the ball out to Kevin Love. Against Milwaukee he put up 13 with three dimes. He’s the engine of the bench, and his ability to balance smart isolation play and distribution has been really impressive, but the starters got too waxed for him to do much against Milwaukee.

All in all, it was an exciting weekend for the Cavs, and now that the 15th has rolled around, all the Kevin Love trade talk can really start. Woo hoo.