Recap: Thunder 87, Cavs 94 (or, From the Desk of CLF)

Last night, the Cavs gutted out a real grit and grind game sending home the Oklahoma City Thunder with the loss, 94-87. The Cavs won this game because of three things: defense (held the OKC to sub-40% shooting), hustle (outrebounded OKC 54-41), and unselfishness (outassisted OKC 22-16). Let’s dive in…

1. Close Call for the Finnisher

Thankfully, Lauri Markkanen came out the game with only an ankle injury. It was such an ugly injury that the channel had to be changed until the action restarted. It really sucks that Lauri goes down just when he’s catching his rhythm offensively, as Coach J.B. Bickerstaff noted in his presser. Surely the services of “James” Dean Wade will be called upon in Lauri’s absence, too bad it’s via injury instead of Wade’s decent play this season. But, get well soon Lauri!

2. Cavs played with their food on offense

51.4% from the free throw line and 22 turnovers are simply unacceptable from an NBA team, let alone a playoff-bound NBA team. With the turnovers, at least there’s an excuse about injuries, moving parts, shifting roles and lineups. But the free throws? C’mon man! Disgraceful, pitiful.

3. Individuals stepped up

The Cavs’ starting lineup across the board really put their imprint on the game. Starting off with Isaac “Ice” Okoro, five rebounds and four stocks is exactly what the Cavs need from him. Ice has really found his groove defensively. Jarrett Allen had an efficient double double with 14 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. His board work was essential to the win. The same goes for Evan Mobley, who set a career high with 17 rebounds, and also turned a double double with 15 points. Darius Garland registered his own double double with a team high 23 points and 11 assists. The offense was simply non-existent when he was off the court.

4. The bench is lost without Rubio

The bench did not put in their best performance. Cedi Osman’s lost his shooting groove and hasn’t been able to expand his role. Brandon Goodwin couldn’t make a shot. Lamar Stevens’ defense wasn’t disruptive. Kevin Love’s struggling to find his touches and shots without his running mate Ricky Rubio. Coach Bickerstaff also shares some of the blame for not taking some risk and giving some other guys a shot, mainly Dylan Windler and Dean Wade. Figuring out the bench rotation and linups is a work in progress due to the loss of Rubio, which just goes to show how important Rubio was to the success of the team.

5. From the Desk of CLF

The subtitle of this recap was inspired by some of J.B. Bickerstaff’s comments after the game. Generally speaking, Bickerstaff was displeased about the performance of the team, that they played an entitled brand of basketball for a team that actually hasn’t accomplished anything yet. And it’s his right to say that, he knows his team best. But from an outsider perspective, it was really only the bench that played terrible from an impact stat perspective. The starters did their job and won their minutes. It appears that J.B.’s ire should really be directed at Koby Altman, for not making a serious enough attempt at a proper replacement for Rubio.

So, what’s Koby’s plan? Why haven’t the people of Cleveland been graced with one of his legendary missives from his office? Why the radio silence? The Rajon Rondo was a shrewd, prudent move but Rondo’s age and injury history will always be a limiting factor. Brandon Goodwin was another good move, but J.B. clearly lacks some trust in him and he is a limited player as a point guard.

The Cavs have six draft picks this year and next year. Koby needs to get some bodies in the backcourt, he has plenty of draft ammo and some tradable contracts to do it. 40 minutes of Darius Garland is not a plan. Get something done Koby, show the people why you earned that big fat extension!

6. Up Next, the Knicks

The Cavs will be recipients of some good scheduling fortune with the New York Knicks traversing to the shores of Lake Erie for their second game of a back to back. So while the Knicks will be desperate for a win to stay in the play-in race, they will have to play with some tired legs. The Cavs can continue to grind their way thru the NBA season with their elite defense. GO CAVS!