Recap: Cavs 125, Spurs 101 (or, Darius Detonates)

In the first quarter, the Cavs got off to a slow start, with an offense that looked slow and even predictable. Whether it was Kevin Love in the paint, a Sexton push shot, a Darius run along the baseline, or a Sexton pop and stop jumper, the Cavs came away empty each time and the Spurs were building a small early lead.

Fortunately Darius Garland finally broke the dam with a 3 point swish. Admiring Garland’s panache from the bench, Lamar Stevens leaned back, put both of his hands up, palms upward, and looked straight up, as if he were at a revival meeting rather than a basketball arena and shouting a hosanna that the gates would be opening this evening. And open they would. (See the end of the first sequence in the following highlight package.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4jRhkICFY0

Garland went on to carry the Cavs scoring load for the quarter, going 4-7 (2-5 from three) for the period.

The supporting cast around Darius did fine. Neither Dean Wade nor Kevin Love’s shots were falling, but they were snagging rebounds, setting screens galore, and keeping San Antonio out of the paint. When Love is in the game, the Cavs’ passing just seems much sharper on the whole, a tendency which is taken to yet further extremes by Isaiah Hartenstein, who ideally will have the distinction of having gone from Jokic to Love as a primary big man passing mentor. Cleveland also moved into zone at a couple of possessions to switch up defensive looks.

So what about Collin Sexton? The Young Bull could not get the ball to go down in this quarter. His mid-rangers weren’t falling, and his threes both circled out. So did he up the intensity on the defensive end? Not precisely — on one possession he twice gave up the baseline to Rudy Gay, and got lost in no-man’s land, ceding Gay an open three.

In the second quarter the Spurs went cold for long stretches and did not threaten to seize control of the game, but still they managed to score 21 points, mainly due to crafty moves by veterans DeMar DeRozan and Rudy Gay. DeRosen got a couple of favorable whistles and was perfect from the line, but for the most part the Spurs supporting cast played with very little flow. Derek White couldn’t hit anything, Kelden Johnson had flashes of strength but didn’t take over the game following from a strong take and flex. Poeltl was getting equalled or surpassed by Hartenstein on both ends of the floor. Croatian rookie Luka Samanic started the game at the shooting guard spot but went scoreless in the half and got into foul trouble.

In the Cavs front court, Taurean Prince continues to be a minor revelation, keeping up his high level of play from his mini-breakout in Miami and playing with a load of force and intensity. Although he blew a dunk and was upset at one point that Sexton wouldn’t give him the ball on an aborted fast break, Prince was really everywhere, with two blocked shots and a steal as well as five points in the quarter. He does seem to be kind of in his own head sometimes, but Prince is also an obvious upgrade over Cedi (again 0 minutes in this game) or Windler (any estimates on if he will be back on the floor this year?).  Prince might also have been energized and validated in San Antonio because he finally got the call he’s been working on for three games, namely the headsnap/flop going around an offensive screen. Presumably this is like the proverbial Zen monk leaning against a wall – you keep doing the same thing, eventually the wall is going to fall down.

The Cavs kept coming on offense. Delly muscled his way around the court, a cannonball with compound eyes. Hartenstein pulled a Jarrett Allen in ripping upwards through two defenders for a very strong two and had some nice action with Garland. Wade was not making shots but played well for with four rebounds in the quarter and some good passes. Sexton was still frustrated (epitomised by a monster missed jam) but when his shot started going down, he could at last scream upwards and double flex in the general direction of the Cavs bench while backing and then bounding out of the paint. And Sexton was not terrible on the defensive end, hustling for loose balls and never getting visibly burned.

Looking at the Spurs lineup in this half, they clearly missed Dejounte Murray – the other young guards were getting some run, but didn’t impress overall. The Spurs’ own Delly equivalent at backup point guard — his fellow Australian national team member and St. Mary’s College alum Patty Mills — is now 32 years old  and not running heavy minutes, nor did they really run the offense through him or give him the green light to just jack threes when he was out there. Gorgui Dieng, R.C. Buford’s new pick up from Memphis meant to fill LaMarcus Aldridge’s shoes, looked alright in his limited minutes in the second quarter, but is still learning his role.

.@GorguiDieng is excited to join the franchise after having #SpursFamily ties since his Basketball Without Borders and SEED Academy days 🤝 pic.twitter.com/TQoIspjMDj

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) March 29, 2021

Like Tyrese Halliburton of the Sacramento Kings, Dejounte Murray is a taller and more versatile guard who would have made this a harder matchup for Cleveland. But, although the Spurs are in a funk, but they are still pretty fundamentally sound and don’t turn the ball over much. So the Cavs were up 53-47 at the half, but this game was hardly going to be an inevitable win – if the experience of putting up 9 points in a disastrous third quarter against the Lakers was still haunting anyone.

Fortunately the third quarter was one of the Cavs’ best of the year, hoisting 43 points. Garland and Sexton combined for 26 in the period, and everyone else in the rotation chipped in a bucket or two, with the exception of Okoro who was otherwise focused on his defensive duties (in which he was spelled by an able Lamar Stevens after three fouls).

Darius and Love showed some chemistry, with the two of them dominating the offense in the opening minutes, including a long football pass from Love to DG.

KEVIN LOVE OUTLETS 🥰 pic.twitter.com/DVZ9wlr4ah

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 6, 2021

Sexton got involved shortly thereafter, keyed by a break after an ugly three point attempt by DeMar DeRosen, then canning a three pointer with a double-teamed Kevin Love again assisting.

Fans of perimeter passing will have lost their minds in delirium after a possession which started with Sexton to Love in the post, went all the way around the horn, and with Sexton getting the assist by giving it back to Love in the corner to bury a three. With a momentary increase in defensive energy (Patty Mills windmilling all over Delly going full court), it felt like the Spurs might have a run in them, but Sexton and Hartenstein teamed up to definitively slam the door on this possibility.

In the fourth quarter, Popovich relinquished all hope that the game could be won and put in such NBA luminaries as Quinndary Weatherspoon, Tre Jones, and Devin Vassell for the last 8:30. For some reason J.B. kept Sexton in the game for the better part of the quarter (Damyean Dotson never got off the bench, nor did Cedi), and the Cavs won easily.