Live Thread: Cavs vs Pacers
2020-02-29The Pacers aren’t much in danger of falling past the sixth seed in the east with an 8 win lead against the Magic, but after going 4-6 in their last 10, losing Jeremy Lamb to an ACL tear, and battling injuries throughout the season (Oladipo remains questionable tonight), they could sure use a get right game against the Cavs.
The Cavs meanwhile, are sitting TT, which is a good move given his general awfulness in back-to-backs this season, and starting Andre Drummond who’s been out the last two games because of sucking and making us all realize the Pistons fleeced Cleveland a calf strain. Let’s hope he has his own get right game.
Alfinzo McKinnie remains out as does Dante Exum. Let’s hope Delly and Ante Zizic can continue their positive bench play as they fill in for the injured rotation guys. Edmund Sumner is also out for Indiana. Key to this one will be a bounce back for Kevin Porter Junior who had a rough shooting night against New Orleans, and Kevin Love giving a crap. Predicting a Pacers win, 115-107.but a Cavs upset isn’t unfathomable. Go Cleveland.
Live Thread up..
WITH ALL THE PLAYERS OUT —-WHO IS PLAYING –DID WE CALL EVERYONE UP FROM CANTON ”” CANTON CAVALIERS ” TONIGHT
No worries Simmo and NOMAD, no offense taken, my take was based on how Love’s advanced metrics have improved substantially over the last 2 months… went from being one of the three worst players on the team to just behind the Nance/Delly/Zizic tier.
He definitely has picked up his effort since Bickerstaff took over. In the beginning of February and late January he had games where he showed fairly consistent effort, but not with the consistency he has displayed of late. Of course he still has had moments of failing to get back in transition, but so has everyone else besides one or two guys.
yeah, i think what’s happening is that we’re hard core fans that have scrutinized every play that’s happened this year, and what the stats are showing is the big picture IMO, which is that there’s definitely been an uptick in Love’s play, especially on defense the last two months.
Don’t get me wrong, Love went from playing defense that would get him kicked out of the NBA to playing below-average-ish defense LMFAOOO. Also, he’s seen the ball more on offense and maintaining his efficiency.
Soon….
… Next portion of Waiters visit… meeting with LeBron.
OK, given our injury list, not so much.
No Sexland tonight. Gotta be Porter or Delly.
Get-able game tonight vs Utah, who have been struggling of late.
JR Smith going to work out for the Lakers. Love it. They are going to sign JR or Dion for sure, my guess is JR, since Lebron has more of a relationship with him.
SIMMO SO PROUD OF YOU TO MAKE SURE YOUR KIDS ” DON’T DROWN ” YOU THE MAN / THE HERO / TRUE DAD : -)
CLF YOU ARE ONE OF MY “TRUE CTB BROTHERS ” BUT GOING TO SIDE WITH SIMMO/ TTM ON THE LOVE POST —–ALSO AGREE WITH YOU TTM——LET’S GIVE GARLAND AN ENTIRE SEASON / SUMMER OFF TO GET IN SHAPE / STRONGER / ETC —–AGREE THAT SHOT IS WAY TO SILKY SMOOTH NOT TO BE A PROLIFIC 3 PT / SHOOTER —–CONFIDENCE DOES ENTER THE EQUATION
Wanna give a shoutout to Kevin Love busting his ass since that episode awhile back, started giving a crap and been playing some of the best basketball on the team the past 2 months… too bad the effort wasn’t there for about half the year.
Since the beginning of January? I think “busting his ass” might be a bit of a stretch. My man wants no part of playing aggressive D. I think it’s more “not screaming at his teammates in public”.
CLF I love you to bits, but I’m with TTM here – I don’t get the vibe that Love has been doing what you say. Granted, I have missed the last two games completely, it’s a public holiday weekend here and I’ve been far from home on beaches making sure my kids don’t drown. I take it he has played well.
I think Love has been … ok?
TT on the other hand….killing it, although I’m sad he has ruined his 3pt % last few games.
LMFAOOOOO I missed the part about the kids Simmo, living the good life my man!!!
Cavs desperately need a dead eye shooter ….thought it would be garland but he’s extremely passive and not sure when he may become something of merit…maybe Windler if he hadn’t been hurt….team just has no legit outside shooter and have lot of guys clanking and bricking wide open looks
Agree… and Garland’s shooting regression from December/January is disturbing.
he was trending towards 40%, now he’s struggling to stay over 35%. Not that 35% is bad, but he’s fallen at least 2 or 3 points since January.
I’m holding out hope that adding some muscle in the summer and actually having an Non-injured off-season will shake something loose. That release is too silky for him not to be a 40% 3 ball shooter.
It’s all mental for him IMO… doesn’t believe in his shot, rarely maintains a consistent, aggressive offensive attack.
He should watch film of Curry, dude literally never stops moving or attacking.
Also come to think of it, It’s honestly one of Sexton’s best traits… he’s always looking to score, never stops attacking. Just sucks that he’s a ball hog who can’t pass.
WHY NO MIN’S FOR ANTE LAST NIGHT —ESPECIALLY WITH T.T. OUT —AND ANTE BEEN PERFORMING WELL LATELY
115-107….113-+104…
Pretty damn close. Take that prediction to Vegas.
Either way, the game was worth watching for the Drummond Love Love Drummond outlet pass sequence alone.
Wow. Memphis blows out a non-resting lakers.
Morant hit a bit of a wall of late. Maybe this breaks him out of it.
without BC or JJJ either
Yeah, surprising. Actually, based on the box score, probably Morants best game of his career so far.
Morant tried to dunk over AD (just like his play over Love earlier), and almost pulled it off….lol…would have served Davis right for trying to take a charge.
Garland taking 2 threes out of 13 shots is inexcusable. 3 turnovers and only 4 assists for Sexton is inexcusable. KPJ’s shot selection got progressively worse throughout the game, but at least he took 6 threes so i’m not gonna kill him for that.
Cavs offense really failed them in the 4th quarter… only 18 points? Yikes… put it on the kids tonight… Garland, Sexton, and KPJ just not efficient nor smart/experienced enough.
Yeah. Just out executed. Still, a competitive game.
Yeah. That 3 Drummind took with us up 3 early in the 4th was world class stupid as well.
Cavs defense is really bad not sure how much is scheme or personnel
Personnel is a lot of it. No scheme can do much with this team. Not only do we have terrible awareness, communication, and bad rotational chemistry, we also have poor individual defenders with limited physical traits at multiple positions who also have low defensive iq.
yup… what John B said.
I can agree to that…seems like we are only team getting lost on screens and not rotating properly….offenses aren’t that complex these days
Sexton’s played the most minutes out of any Cav, and has some of the worst defensive metrics in the NBA.
And there’s probably 3 legit defenders on the Cavs… Nance, Delly, and KPJ… all three are bench guys.
I would say Nance, Delly and TT are the only plus defenders. Drummond could/can be with effort and the right scheme. KPj occasionally shows a flash, but he makes too many mistakes and gambles too much. Not surprising since he is a rookie.
Pacers shot ~65% in the 4th
Cavs look competitive on the 2nd night of a back to back…wish the home crowd saw a win but there is a trajectory starting to show. Lots of assists. Just failed to continue the execution down the stretch
Defense. Defense. Defense. Dunno how we become more than terrible defensively with the current backcourt, an immobile Love, and a somewhat laterally slow and thin Cedi.
We had 9 players on a the 2nd night of a back to back. We played 8. They were all pretty gassed and the Pacers are a big team top to bottom. I agree our defense sucked but we have the guys we have. Would have like to see a little zone at the end
Yes, I think a zone look could cover some of this team’s weaknesses. You can’t zone every play, but most great modern defensive teams switch looks every so often.
Of course you have to be on a string for a zone to work in the nba. These guys might not be capable of that. Would love to know if they have tried to practice it.
True…brand new coach and a new center. Seems like a tough ask. I see good trends since bickerstaff took over but that could be honeymoon phase. Is JB coaching for a contract or will his current contract cover the next couple years? cant remember
I believe he is fully the coach. No interim tag. But I don’t know if he is up for renegotiation, but I think I remember there being something built into his current contract in case Beilein was out.
D really suffering since Longo left town…
Just not enough d to close it out
Over. Big shot by turner
that’s his shot… didn’t like how Drummond was the one forced to scramble on defense… everybody else just standing around.
Yep. Tough to be even a mediocre defensive team when your perimeter defenders are out of position, a step behind, too small, picked off easily, and take bad angles.
And have relatively slow big men rotating, especially on the perimeter
Yeah, but even Gobert or Giannis couldn’t make this team an average defensive team with how sieve like and small we are on the perimeter.
Drummond with a lack of situational awareness.
Pacers score here it’s over. Haveto get a stop
Bickerstaff went with LNJ finally at the 3… subbed in for Garland.
Just grab the damned ball!
Yep knucklehead play. Even if you can’t you always take the back court to stop a break.
Our defense doesnt really make sense with this lineup. Too small. Sucks to have 9 guys active but this was a super winnable game if we knew how to run any kind of offense
Big love three. Haveto get astop here
instead of going to LNJ at the 3 against Warren, Bickerstaff going with KPJ, who’s 3 or 4 inches shorter.
Somehow the cavs have to get three or more stops in two minutes and score at least three times…..
Warren en fuego
Sexton forcing it too much, terrible play.
Way too much space for warren.
WHAT A PASS LOVE!!!
Unravelling
Bickerstaff should’ve been using LNJ more on Warren
Pacers pulling away. Cavs can’t pout. Have to focus on defense. Need to get into offensive possessions early. Get it and your butts up the floor
TJ Warren has gone to another level… looking like he did at NC State.
WOW, Drummond got hammered… no call.
Drummond got hammered
Surprised the charge on Warren was upheld.. looked like a blocking foul in real time to me. But HEY, we’ll take it
excellence matters, even if it is not in the most “important” factor of the game, or anything for that matter.. drummond is excellent.. he excels at what he does.. feasting in the post..
I see you working, dg!
HEY NICE PLAY DG!!!
NICE PASS GARLAND… hit the roll man earlier
Just checking in for the end of the game, surprised the game is this close!
Drummond showing off some great hands on defense the past couple of possessions.
awful offense…. Drummond missed an open Sexton for 3 on the DHO.
oh nice skip pass Delly, KPJ had the open look… Delly to Sexton open look, no dice
WTF DRUMMOND… 3rd dumb shot of the game.
WHAT A PASS NANCE!!!
ANOTHER FIND LOVE, GREAT CUT SEXTON!
WOW AWFUL CALL REF< CLEAN STEAL KPJ!!!
WOW, worst defensive play I’ve ever seen from Nance… never see that from him.
also Love shoot that open 3… 2nd one he’s passed up tonight.
Love’s been passing up 3s since he got to Cleveland
I don’t get it LMFAOOOO
Slow release. Needs a lot of space to feel confident
FLUSH!
WHAT A FIND KLOVE!!!! LNJ AND 1!!!!
Sexton probably should have asked for a screen
HOOOOO BOY WHAT A FINISH KPJ!!!
Great finish by kpj after sexton loses it
Bickerstaff with Love and Sexton back in after watching bad offense for the last few minutes.
PREACH IT BUCKAROO….PREACH IT !!—–STILL HANGIN ONTO HOPE FOR DRE ——SHOWED SOME SKILL/ AGALITY WITH TAKING IT FULL CT TO THE HOOP
Kpj with some bad possessions
He’s not a good offensive player despite showing some incredible flashes.
Yep
OMG Garland, what happened to your 3 ball?
Also hate this lineup from Bickerstaff…. Sexton or Love should be on the court at all times. Stagger them if you have to.
Let’s stop this “Detroit fleeced the Cavs” crap. It is utter nonsense.
Someone is saying that?
Nate does LOL… but he loves reactionary hot takes!
This is true