Recap: Blazers 141, Cavs 105 (Welcome Home Old Friend)
2021-05-06In completely predictable fashion, the Cleveland Cavaliers were boat-raced by the superior Portland Trail Blazers 141-105. The Cavs probably lost this game before it even started given the tough overtime loss two nights ago to the Phoenix Suns, along with the reality of all the injuries with which the Cavs are dealing. It was purely a character game for the Cavs, with nothing to glean from the basketball side of things. With that in mind, let’s go into last night’s takeaways…
Game Ball: Jarrett Allen
Everybody loves a good @_bigjayy_ putback!
šŗ #CavsBlazers on @BallySportsCLE pic.twitter.com/6bWptHGmjb
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 6, 2021
While JA had a tough matchup against skilled big man Jusuf Nurkic, there’s no question that Allen at least competed on both sides of the ball, leading the Cavs’ starters in plus/minus (+2) and net rating (-0.5) by far. It was really nice to see Allen scrap on the boards with a team high 13 rebounds, and pitching in two stocks in 29 minutes.
Honorable Mention: Dean Wade
“James” Dean Wade turned in a professional performance off the bench, with insanely efficient scoring (18 points on 103.1% TS) and also chipping in five rebounds. The Cavs posted an elite 120.4 offensive rating in the 29 minutes he was on the court. It’s a shame that the ball didn’t find him more because his jumper was on, and he probably showed the best competitiveness on defense among the regular rotation guys.
.@deanwade3232 is a perfect 3-for-3 from downtown and has double-digit points off the bench š„š„š„#BeTheFight | @cavs pic.twitter.com/bJK0EH1Dhz
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) May 6, 2021
Embarrassing defensive performances: Kevin Love and Collin Sexton
Yours truly is possibly the only Love defender left in Cavs’ fandom and will forever defend him given his rĆ©sumĆ©, but last night’s performance was truly indefensible. He probably shouldn’t have been on the court last night given his age, game schedule, and recent injury history. But nevertheless, the stat line suggests a player who simply didn’t put any effort into the defensive part of the game. The Cavs posted a laughable 161.4 defensive rating while Love was on the court, granted no Cav really put in a defensive performance worthy of praise and Love was stuck with a lot of non-competitive bench lineups. The two nice things that can be said about Love’s play last night was that he did clean the boards as expected (33.3% defensive rebound percentage) and scored efficiently (64.3% TS). But that simply won’t cut it from one of the most accomplished Cavs (if not, the most accomplished) in the organization.
Much of the same can be said for Collin Sexton, whose defensive performance ought to receive the same type of scrutiny Love’s performance has post-game. Zero rebounds in 34 minutes is completely and utterly unacceptable under any circumstance. The Cavs posted an embarrassing 143.5 defensive rating while Sexton was on the court. Maybe the lack of defense could’ve been justifiable had Sexton performed well on offense, but his offensive performance was mediocre at best (43.6% TS and 18.2 assist ratio on lower than season average usage). There’s a growing pattern in Sexton’s game of being either incapable and/or unwilling to play NBA quality defense, and his offensive game hasn’t yet justified the lack of defense the Cavs are receiving from him.
Quick notes on the Blazers
Goodness, what a masterful performance by Damian Lillard. 32 points on only 17 attempts, nine assists and only two turnovers, and out-rebounded Sexton and Okoro combined to put the cherry on top. Portland is desperate for wins trying to avoid the play in tournament, and Dame did what great players do… refuse to lose. Another bright spot for the Blazers was the play of Jusuf Nurkic. He has been riddled with injuries over the past two years, so it’s a heartwarming story to see Nurkic persevere and get himself back into decent playing shape. Three other Blazers deserving of praise were the bench mob of Carmelo Anthony, Enes Kanter, and Anfernee Simons. The Cavs’ bench was simply no match for Melo and Kanter’s veteran savvy and Simons’ athleticism and energy.
One curious thing to note about the Blazers is the recent report from Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic that Coach Terry Stotts is virtually guaranteed to be fired at the end of the season. While it might be fair to characterize Stotts as an average NBA coach (.513 career winning percentage) he seems to be well-respected around the league and may become a hot commodity this offseason.
Ending on a better note, Anderson VarejĆ£o
Now checking inā¦
Welcome home, @VAREJAOANDERSON! ā¤ļøš pic.twitter.com/WvUlQtW3Z5
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 6, 2021
Wild Thing checked into the game with six minutes left, and received a hero’s welcome from the home crowd desperately needing something positive to root for. VarejĆ£o delivered, showing all the parts of his game that will forever endear him to the Cleveland faithful. He showed professional effort on the boards and on defense. He showed his unflinching team first approach to the offensive side of the game. Wild Thing embodies what it means to be a Cleveland Cavalier: competitive fire and unselfishness.
LT up
Airball to startā¦ only up from here
No Love….kinda relieved actually. Give the kids a run.
A win by Orlando vs the Hornets tonight would be lovely. Hornets on 2nbtb. Minny at Miami.
Kings losing to SA would put them 4 back in the L column with 5 to play (6 for SA). They have OKC twice and would love a dispiriting loss before they play.
Tank Commader time.
Wins, Team, Schedule.
16. Hou. Who cares? They aren’t winning 21.
20. Det. @Phil, Chi, Minn, Den, Mia.
20. Minny. @Mia, @Orl, @Det, Den, Bos, Dal.
21. OKC. @GSW, @Sacx2, Utah, LAC.
21. Orl. @Cha, Minn, @Mil, @Atl, @Philx2
21. Cavs. @Dal, Dal, Indy, Bos, @Wash, @Brk
“CHANGING GEARS HERE “——-DO YOU THINK FRANCISCO ( LINDOR ) MIGHT WANT TO BE BACK ” IN THE LAND ” WHERE HE WAS ADORED BY FANS // MEDIA // COMMUNITY ———–BATTING .160 AND BEING CRUCIFIED ALREADY BY THE PRESSS// FANS —–ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE IF HE DOESN’T START TO PRODUCE …….AS THE SAYING GOES ” IF IT IS TOO HOT ….GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN “
NOMAD..i will just enjoy the moment, and hope he crashes and burns.. but probably finds himself tomorrow and finishes the season hitting .325 38 121 and wins the MVP while the Mets sweep the Yanks in 4
If the yankees get swept, that’s a net good LMFAOOO
WATCHED SOME OF THE CLIPS// LAKERS GAME—-WOW DRE IS SOOO LOST // OUT OF HIS REALM —-NO CHANCE LAKERS RESIGN HIM
Lakers are a mess right now, and AD’s injured again, and Vogel just said LeBron’s absence is not injury related…. and now they’re at risk of playing the play in.
I really wonder what the market for Drummond is going to be. How many teams really want to start him and play him big minutes? I can’t believe there are many.
Just bottom feeders looking to bring in a “name.” Dre is going to have shed some pounds and change his game if he wants contenders to vie for him
Pistons win over Memphis. OKC at GSW now.
Wins:
16: Hou
————–
20: Detroit, Minnesota
21: Cavs, Thunder, Magic
Tomorrow:
Cavs at Dallas (btb for Mavs)
Magic at Hornets (btb for Hornets)
Minny at Miami
Nice cap, chris. Thia was a weird one.
thanks, think your point about JB was really the story IMO
Draymond tampering already
He’s right, tho…
Far be it from me to disagree with one of the best defenders of this generation LMFAOOO
Garland, Okoro, pick, Love, Allen
Vet PG, Sexton, Prince, LNJ, Hart
Probably stuck with Love for another year. Start him but play LNJ a lot. And Wade. Would love Delly to hang on as PG#3, but he may not have enough left. Coach if not.
Keep Wade & Cedi around. Plus whomever impresses most among Stevens, Thomas, Kabengele, etc.
AGREEE MIKEO—HOPING CAVS AT LEAST GET IN TOP 5 —–TOP 3 WOULD BE EXCELLENT —–# 1 AND ……..” MORE BEER PLEASE “
DO YOU THINK THE CAVS –( IF THEY ARE NOT IN TOP 3 DRAFT PICKS )– WOULD TRY TO TRADE SEXTON// AND SWAP PICKS TO MOVE UP —–IS THAT TOO MUCH—–WOULD THE OTHER TEAM DO IT —–OPINIONS ???
Really doubt they are of the mind to trade Sexton. Koby never talks to anyone, so who knows, I just doubt it. Sexton is good, too, and the Cavs need good players. I personally have doubts he’s 20+ mill a year good.
Really hoping hard the Cavs get some luck in the lottery this year.
On Sexton, I just think his ceiling is Jamal Crawford. You don’t build around Jamal Crawford. I’d rather overpay for winning players (Nance).
We are like the girl with no self-confidence who ends up knocked-up by and married to the first dude that shows any interest in her. She ends up afraid to leave an abusive relationship and stuck with her dud.
He needs to accept his role (bench scorer) AND get better, or we move on.
In teams that tend to stink year after year, the rot tends to start at the top. Donald Sterling’s Clippers. Mike Brown’s Bengals. And Gilbert’s Cavs are all in that category.
Things are unlikely to change unless there is a new owner or the owner goes hands off.
yeah… unfortunately know that all too well in Cincinnati.
One thing that can be said about Gilbert in contrast to lil Mikey Brown is that Gilbert will hire an actual GM and spend money!!! LMFAOOOOO
maybe it was a dream, but I thought Gilbert’s Cavs win it a while back?
He is willing to spend, but not sure if they have ever have had much organizational stability, coaching success, or player dev chops during his tenure. Draft record has been shaky too aside from Kyrie. I think Gund was still there for drafting lbj which was guaranteed. With Sexton and Garland the verdict is out.
Those four things are absolutely crucial for a small non FA destination to be a good team year in, year out.
That said he isnāt the worst owner.
Credit goes to LeBron, not Dan.
Gilbert is willing to spend. But he constantly whiffs coaching hires and has never extended a GM.
He has more money to spend than Brown. And is not an overt racist like Sterling. But he is a Dan Snyder type of problem. The org is borderline dysfunctional.
Jason, nice call–the GM is the sticking point. Whether you think Griffin got too much or not enough credit, he deserved an extension…so what happened?
Gilbert didn’t like not getting enough credit for the title. He thought Griff got too much of it. Plus, Griff wanted autonomy. When they could not agree on the direction of the franchise (what Gilbert wanted to do), Griff was out.
Gilbert wants a malleable GM who does what he is told. As an owner, he thinks he knows better. Jerry Jones. Snyder type.
If you’re the fan of a professional sports franchise, there are a few boxes you want to check regarding the ownership. One of them is ‘willingness to put funds into team’. Gilbert checks that one (or has checked it). Can’t think of any other boxes he checks, though.
Wish the Dolans were that, but their organization checks about every other box. And well the Indians are competitive despite that. If they were willing or could afford to spend they would probably be a dynasty.
Not the take you were expecting from me.
“A coach with autonomy” in this organization? HAHAHA, you sweet summer child…
Alex Jensen…
Was pretty bummed when Nurkic got hurt, was loving the way that team were developing. From last night, it looks like he’s regained the strength that made him a beast. Fun team to watch!
Same Simmo…. and it’s wiped out some of the prime years of Nurkic’s career.
Yup, Blazers have always been a fun watch to me with Dame and CJ…. Dame’s improved as a passer over recent years and has really become one of the best offensive players in the NBA.
remember drafting St. Weirdo instead of Dame?
lmfaoooooo man
THANKS AGAIN CLF——–REMEMBER LAST YEAR WHEN COVID STOPPED EVERYTHING —–THERE WAS GENUINE EXCITEMENT ABOUT THE CAVS —-J.B.’S COACHING // THE ANTICIAPATION OF WATCHING DRUMMOND// LOVE PLAY TOGETHER /// SEXTON COMING ON STRONG —–WOW HAVE THINGS CHANGED —-HEY AT LEAST WE HAVE “WILD THING ” BACK FOR A SHORT TIME TO HELP ENDURE THE REMAINDER OF THE SEASON —-I CAN ALMOST SEE THE CAVS BEING “STUPID ‘ AND GETTING A ‘W’ OR 2 THE LAST FEW GAMES AND DROPPING IN THE DRAFT ——AT LEAST I SCORED HIGH MARKS LAST NIGHT WITH THE MRS NOMAD IN THE ” +/- ” METRICS :… Read more »
at your service NOMAD!
yeah, turns out when sell out your whole organization to cater to players who haven’t done anything in the league yet, veterans who have skins on the wall tend to get frustrated!!! LMFAOOOOOO
LMFAOOOOOO way to get after it NOMAD!!!
Everytime I watch Sexton play, I see Jamal Crawford at best and do not see how he can possibly be built around.
Time is on his side, but the problem is that there’s really been very little progress for Sexton in the passing or defense department.
Hopefully they’re thinking twice about spending max money on Sexton…. 538’s RAPTOR projection has Sexton as a negative value rookie contract, which pretty hard to achieve unless you’re a really bad player.
What has me worried is that they will give him a massive extension in order to prove that they are progressing, even though I don’t believe they can progress with a guy like Sexton on a massive contract. DG has shown more growth in multiple facets of his game this season than Sexton has ever shown. DG seems like the type of guy who makes the people around him better. Sexton feels like a rich man’s Nick Young.
I share that concern big time… and if Sam Amico’s sources are correct, they’re content with letting Garland walk, which is mind-numbingly stupid IMO from a basketball perspective.
Yikes!!!!
Sam amico’s sources are not right. This is silly.
I went back and read his report, looks like his sources were non-Cav NBA insiders/execs and possibly even DG’s agent. So obviously they’re (NBA insiders/execs) bias could be that they want to acquire Garland.
Also, I didn’t recall this tidbit, but he claims it’s really Garland that wants out.
Thanks for the solid recap, Chris — I saw Andy bouncing around in the replays & doing his best to box out but am looking forward to watching the whole game. Looks like Cavs buried themselves / could not fight back in the last few minutes of the third.
Thanks Adam! After listening to JB’s post-game and fishing around more stats, I think Nate had a better take than I did about this game…. this game was really on JB. Love had no business playing in this game because they were absolutely dead from the Phoenix game. If you look at Phoenix’s stats, they played just as badly as the Cavs did last night.
So if you’re reading Love (LMFAOOOO) sorry I was harsh, you gave it your best and kudos to you for doing your job. JB get your act together and don’t leave guys high and dry.
this is the correct take IMO: