Recap: Cavs 105, Pistons 109 (or, play-in? PLAY-IN???!!!)
2021-04-19Cavs lose their third game in a row, fumbling and bumbling their way to one of the worst losses of the year against Detroit’s G-League squad, 109-105. The Cavs simply couldn’t string together 48 minutes of good team basketball. They played lazy defense in the first quarter giving up 37 points right out of the gate. They ran selfish offense without any decent ball movement from the starters in the first and third quarters, scoring only 22 and 23 points respectively. For the game, the Cavs were outrebounded 44-39 and outassisted 25-24. Let’s dive into it with tonight’s takeaways:
Game balls: Isaiah “Hard Rock” Hartenstein and Matthew Dellavedova
It was the play of Hard Rock and Delly off the bench that sparked the turn around in this game after a disastrous start. They immediately gave the Cavs great team basketball with defensive energy and unselfish passing (nine rebounds, eight assists, six stocks combined). It’s a shame that the rest of the team didn’t take their cue from them and come prepared to play from tip-off.
Honorable Mention: Kevin Love post offense and Collin Sexton competitive toughness
Love had a really efficient night operating around the paint, with 7-9 shooting inside the arc and a few beautiful assists (four assists total) to cutters flashing in the paint. Love also threw in a solid eight rebounds and didn’t turn the ball over, which is a sign of better offensive rhythm and decision-making.
Sexton had an efficient night scoring (28 points on 20 FGAs) and performed very well while paired with bench unit. Sexton started the game off inauspiciously, opening the game with bad defense and a turnover, but showed some admirable competitive toughness tonight, with an eye-popping seven rebounds and three stocks. These are stats Sexton normally does not put up, so credit to him for keeping his head in the game and competing.
Should JB Bickerstaff be feeling some heat?
The Cavs’ shot profile: 86 shots, 26 threes. The Cavs’ defense: allowed 49% field goal percentage, 37% from three. The Cavs were wholly unprepared to play good team basketball tonight, and though they didn’t give up, the Pistons were intentionally trying to lose this game, sitting four out of their five best players. I will leave you tonight with this parting shot from Nate Smith:
This is the kind of loss that gets head coaches fired. https://t.co/dMjus4qzKm
— HoopsDogg (@oldseaminer) April 20, 2021
ON WINDLER—HAVE TO REMIND OURSELVES THE ROUGH START “MIGHTY ” JOE HARRIS HAD WITH THE CAVS AND LOOK AT HIM NOW …….JUST SAYING
Don’t think Joe Harris was made of glass though. I worry about him ever being able to stay on the court.
” AND THE BEAT GOES ON…..THE BEAT GOES ON ” ……..HOPE BOTH J.B. /// WINDLER THE BEST OF LUCK—–STILL OPTIMISTIC ABOUT WINDLER ALTHOUGH THE INJURIES ARE A MAJOR CONCERN ——-WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME KOBY SPOKE IN PUBLIC// NEWS BRIEF OR ANY MEDIA —–ONE THING GRIFF WAS GOOD AT —-COMMUNICATION // INFORMING WHAT WAS GOING ON
Windler out for season – had knee surgery – not sure if he’ll ever be anything of merit – but really thought he would and supplant a prime spot in rotation….had that 3 game stretch where he played well and was on fire from 3…then everything fell apart.
dang, didn’t know he had knee surgery again. Hope it works out, because I still believe in his shooting.
Cavs are notorious for being tight-lipped on everything and possible the JB stuff is just basic personal matter that means nothing, but usually, whether we deserve to know or not, we know of personal matters from athletes and coaches either way, media is always over everything. Be curious how team plays with an interim (for a game) coach.
Yeah I wouldn’t read too much into it. Hopefully everything is alright with him.
Hmmmmmmmm
intrigue! but hope he is doing OK
Dang, hope he’s OK…. also interested to see how Buckner does.
updated EPM:
#63 Allen +1.9
#120 Hartenstein +0.8
#145 LNJ +0.4
#234 Sexton -1.1
#243 KLOVE -1.2
#248 Wade -1.3
#271 DG -1.6
#285 Cedi -1.7
#315 Prince -2.2
#345 Stevens -2.8
#349 Dotson -2.8
#363 Okoro -3.0
#403 Windler -3.7
#410 Thomas -3.8
#429 Kabengele -4.5
#433 Delly -4.6
The offense is just so archaic. I like that Love got post touches but why can’t they run some pick and roll more frequently. Have Love pop and Allen roll on some double screen action. Also, I’m in favor of somehow getting Delly more time. He’s not amazing but he seems to get the team moving at least.
Hey David! 100% agree… just sucks watching such bad offense.
Delly definitely gets the ball moving and you never have to worry about him being ready to compete!
Delly was doing cardio for like the entirety of the fourth quarter on the sideline of the Detroit game, he’s a beast!
Man, the takes on Delly here at CTB and out in Cavs twitter are poles apart.
No question Delly’s probably one of the worst players in the NBA, but one thing he does better than Sexton is pass the ball: Delly assist ratio: 47.3 Sexton assist ratio: 14.8 and the one thing he does better than Garland is not turn the ball over: Delly turnover %: 10 Garland turnover %: 16 Those are two important things in guard play that the Cavs don’t get on a consistent enough basis. Also, I think Delly was clearly the 4th string, end of roster PG, with Garland, Sexton, and Exum around earlier. But seriously, having Delly is definitely not… Read more »
Think it was JohnB who suggested they pair the two on the bench. Set Sexton up for all the shots he wants.
it’s a good idea IMO!!! LMFAOOO and it seemed to actually work especially with both Delly and Hard Rock this past game!!! they’re both elite passers granted small sample size on Hartenstein.
Also shame on me I should’ve added, DELLY IS AN NBA CHAMPION FOR THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS!!!
We all saw him shut down prime Curry game 2… done a lot more in this league than KPJ has! LMFAOOOOOO
more to the point for this moment of the season, unlike Damyean Dotson he does not have a bum knee and can finally play some minutes. the alternatives we’ve been presented with at backup point are Quinn Cook and Yogi Ferrell, although there were/are probably some other options out there…
Not bad. Take more 3s, though.
His EPM has jumped up into the 200s, if he can make another leap next year, then he becomes a viable starter.
nearly every Cavs writer is ripping this team…even Fedor…you know its getting ugly when he’s crapping on them…this team reminds me of old Browns teams that we knew were bad but the lack of trying and little effort was always irritating…this Cavs team lacks effort unless things get bad, they arent very smart playing with each other, and they have a coach who I don’t think the players really respect anymore, then again the coach is busy yelling at officials..players see that and wonder if coach has had in game or is too fixated on dumb stuff…being a young team… Read more »
The lack of basketball sense is annoying beyond reason.Watching the game last night there were several instances of them getting to within a basket or two of Detroit and like clockwork three or four possessions would be wasted on Sexton(and to a lesser degree DG) driving into the lane and getting the ball jammed down his throat or making a bad pass because he left himself no options.Ten second dribbling with no play and a hurried shot before the clock expires,,,turnovers with bad defense on the other end etc. An 8 point turnaround and an unnecessary mountain to climb.Not once,several… Read more »
The last three games make the very nice Charlotte road win a distant memory.
yup, honestly pretty surprising article from Fedor. Rumblings about JB, JB openly criticizing Sexland. Maybe there will be a breakthrough??? LMFAOOOO
in the presser after the Detroit game Kelsey Russo (the Athletic) tried to give JB a pathway to a nice answer about something, can’t remember if it was the cohesion of the starting unit now that they are finally together and JB was like “they still sucked at the beginning of the third quarter” and shut down even the implication of happy talk. Obviously when he says “we need to grow up” he’s not talking to Kevin Love. Have any of the beat writers asked about Jarrett Allen? Feels like he’s an X factor with this team but hasn’t really… Read more »
yeah definitely caught that little exchange from Russo and JB… a rare time I’ve seen JB push back on the positive spin!!! lMFAOOO
Nope, not that I’ve seen, and his impact metrics are steadily falling, which is not good.
at least JB hasn’t gone full Billy Donovan lately in his pressers, the whole “this is good for our team” thing is not encouraging. Thanks for the note on Allen — I think he like a lot of players probably could use another All Star Break right about now to get more rest!
oh yeah, the injuries, blowouts, the ridiculous schedule….. it’s bad. And Allen was doing some heavy minutes earlier in the year.
WITH THE CAVS LOSS—AND BULLS/ //WIZARDS WINS—I EXPECT THE CAVS TO BEAT THE BULLS ON WED AS THEY NOW HAVE SOME —“TANKABLE WINNING BREATHING ROOM ” —–OKC IN FULL TANK MODE ALSO AS THEY HAVE LOST 11 STRAIGHT TIED WITH THE CAVS WITH 20 WINS // THAT IS OUR “REAL PLAYOFF ” RACE :-)
Exactly–this team is quietly putting together one of their better tanking portfolios in their rather storied history of tanking. Bickerstaff should not be judged on this–he is doing as he is told, right down to the “down twenty early” indignation. I still am shocked they let Delly play. He is decidedly an anti-tanking presence, as is a healthy LNJ. They make others better and promote team concepts.
“This team is quietly putting together one of their better tanking portfolios in their rather storied history of tanking” — this is the quote of the week for me, well said! You have to wonder what Koby Altman has told J.B. and how real the outrage is.
LMFAOOOOO I second that… pretty good line Chris K!!!!
HAD TO LEAVE EARLY LAST NIGHT —WASN’T TOTALLY UPSET// AT THE TIME CAVS WERE DOWN BY 20+—–GOOD TO SEE THEM FIGHT BACK—–WHY ONLY 4 SHOTS FOR ALLEN ??——-WHERE IS CEDI AT LEAST FOR A FEW MIN’S——DO WE SEARCH FOR A NEW COACH// BELIEVE WEST COAST POSTED —CAN’T CONTINUALLY HAVE A ‘NEW FACE ‘ AS YOUR LEADER —NOT GOOD FOR PLAYERS ESPECIALLY YOUNG PLAYERS // THAT WOULD BE SEXTON’S 4TH COACHING CHANGE —-DO BELIEVE THEY NEED TO SEEK OUT A VERY OFFENSIVE MINDED COACH AND LET IT BE KNOWN TO J.B. / PLAYERS / ETC HE HAS THE OFFENSIVE SAY !!!
Allen does not appear to be 100%, but there is also the matter of finding the lob/pick and roll timing with Garland in particular; it’s just off right now. Same with Allen and Sexton.
Yup, the DG/Allen timing seems to have taken a step back recently… granted Allen and DG have been in and out in spurts lately.
“DITTO” WHAT SIMMO POSTED—-CLF FOR ROY // CTB WRITERS :-)
LMFAOOOOO heck yeah, time to start lobbying CtB leadership for the award!!!!!!
You have my vote Chris, and good idea Simmo and NOMAD. Think of the butterfly effects: CtB ROY trophy is awarded to CLF–> contract talks start –> CLF shows next level performance under pressure, smashing recaps and live threads galore even as the Cavs begin to crater –> his recaps begin to lay the groundwork for “one hot take to rule them all”, which has something to do with floaters and why they are the best –> with this counterintuitive take on the supremacy of the midrange in the NBA strategic outrage is generated and clicks and blog stats go… Read more »
LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOO OMFG this has been screenshotted!!! LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOO
Post of the year. MVP material.
Thanks for the writeup Chris!!! Your efforts are appreciated.
You’re always welcome Simmo! In spite of the Cavs’ play, really nice to talk ball with everybody at CtB and practice my writing!!! It’s definitely my “home away from home” since I haven’t lived in Ohio for a long while and I have an incurable Cavs obsession!!!! LMFAOOOOO
the way this season is going I would be shocked if this team wins again..if they cant win end of this month I dont know how they win in May…doesnt matter how young guys are – if you truly want to win you do whatever it takes – this team is broken and coaching staff has no answers and JB is too worried about frickin officiating…literally the last moment I saw of the ame in 3rd quarter the Cavs cut the lead to like 5 and before commercial break, JB is barking at a referee…again just not the right focus… Read more »
Can’t comment on the cavs because I only watched part of the 4th qtr. So instead….Curry. This is his best season.
Why? Because he doesn’t have anyone else (Thompson out, nowhere near the bench, no KD) and is putting up scoring and scoring efficiency numbers close to 2016. 49 points on 28 shots. If he doesn’t get injured I think he could basically do this for the next 3 years just based off what his game is/requires.
heck yeah, some amazing performances this year really in weird circumstances, was gonna post this in LT:
That’s absurd. I do wonder what these stats would be like circa 2000 to 2010. Nowhere near in all likelihood and not just because of analytics and the advent of true spread offense. Feel like the reffing just isn’t the same. It was weird thing that espn had a glitch in the system like a week ago where like there were like 6 PERs over 31 (close to the record) and then a few days where like there was no one over 28. Then back to normalized levels with like two guys over 30 (Embiid and Jokic). PER is regularized… Read more »
oh yeah, totally agree, they would definitely be lower!!! LMFAOOOO
TBH I haven’t PER is probably the only advanced stat I haven’t really kept track of in awhile… but that’s interesting if that’s the case!
7 TOs. But still.
yeah, but you probably take the 2:1 assist/turnover ratio along with the efficient scoring and rebounding!
It’s amazing and also unconscionable that they totally whiffed on the draft and then punted on the trade deadline. It’s absolutely nuts.
Yup, double screw up!!!
i shit on Curry a lot but i can admit this is his best season as well and props to him – he stepped up and proved he can lead a different inferior talented team like other superstars
Totally agree. I have detested Curry for a long time and for several reasons. But he has silenced those who have argued he is no good without superstars alongside. Hats off.
He’s the best PG of his era by a long shot (sorry CP3). He has the most gravity of any of the Dubs (sorry KD & Klay). Their biggest threat off ball and best with ball in hand. Never had the signature/Finals MVP series. Ty Lue prioritized stopping Curry over KD. In 2017 Curry averaged 26.8/8.0/9.4. Shot 44% on FGs and 38.8% from distance. KD feasted as he was open more due to Lue’s gamble. Had 37 in Game 5 in 2015. Injuries and being a bit of a late bloomer are factors. But 2 MVPs. 3 titles. 5 straight… Read more »
I will say the regular season impact CP3 has is pretty ridiculous. Phoenix second in west and having a .716 win percentage after being sub 500 last year is insane.
Playoffs are a different story with him, but he is a transformational player.
But yes don’t think anyone can argue with Curry’s resume as the point guard of this generation.
Yup agree with all three of you, Leo, Simmo, and Jason!