Recap Extravaganza! (or, Eyes Wide Shut)

Like a college student cramming for their finals before winter break, yours truly has finally emerged from his convalescence dungeon (AKA my sister’s basement) to fire off some scorching hot takes on this Saturnalia 2022… let’s dive right in!

1. Grinding out a good one against OKC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w4gA1UVlZw

The Cavs were able to bounce back from their choke job against the Sacramento Kings by grinding out a workmanlike win against the improve Oklahoma City Thunder 110-102, without their best player Donovan Mitchell. Tower City dominated, Caris LeVert re-discovered his scoring rhythm, and even Coach JB Bickerstaff used a nine man rotation! Perhaps best of all, Lamar Stevens really delivered a sterling performance in his junkyard dawg role with 10 points, seven rebounds, four stocks, and a team-high +15 in 31 minutes of action. He really had Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in absolute hell. Raul Neto also made a rare appearance, and seemed to have set the table for more appearances as the week went along.

2. Worst loss of the season on the Riverwalk

The Cavs began their Texas Two Step Tour with perhaps their worst loss of the season against the shamelessly tanking San Antonio Spurs. The game bore a familiar pattern of the Cavs playing with their food for three quarters before starting to put in actual work in the fourth quarter, only to no avail as Darius Garland missed the game winning three pointer to seal their fate. It was also the game that started Cedi Osman’s tenure in J.B. Bickerstaff’s doghouse for inexplicable reasons. Granted it was the bench that mainly couldn’t hang in that game, but Cedi was by no means the only guilty party with Kevin Love and Isaac Okoro also pitching in subpar performances. The lone bright spot off the bench was the much maligned (not by yours truly of course) Caris LeVert. It appears the Cavs took this loss to heart because they haven’t lost since. As coaches love to say, it’s much easier to correct players after a loss than after a win.

3. Best win of the season in the Big D?

The Cavs put forth a contender for game of the season in Dallas, Texas taking out Luka Dončić and the Mavericks 105-90. It was obviously one of the best defensive performances on the season, holding Dallas to sub-40% shooting and outrebounding them by 10. On the offensive end, there was the brilliance of Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley, who both spearheaded an attack that only turned the ball over six times and shot over 50%. It’s a guarantee Coach Bickerstaff locked the game tape away on this game to be used in the future playoff scenario.

4. Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat

In spite of fantastic performances from several Cavs players, this was a game that the Cavs had no business winning. The Cavs’ defense was shredded by Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin for the first three quarters. But as soon as the Cavs applied themselves on defense and put some pressure on Indiana, they folded like a cheap suit. There were several positives coming from this game, including Coach J.B. Bickerstaff using a nine-man rotation! Cedi Osman and Caris LeVert were stellar off the bench contributing 26 points combined, which belies the winning impact they had in all facets of the game. Donovan Mitchell put forth a ho-hum MVP performance with 41 points, while Darius Garland dropped a 20/10/6 gem in a recent string of All-Star level play. Yours truly ultimately came away pretty impressed by the Pacers, but they were no match for an elite team such as the Cavs.

5. Got your back, Spida

The Cavs easily dispatched the Utah Jazz 122-99 in the battle of “Cavs East versus Cavs West.” The whole squad was locked in from jump ball in support of Spida, who got the win against his former team in emphatic fashion. The Cavs shot over 60% from the field while holding the Jazz to sub-40% shooting, and the game was over by halftime. Cedi Osman provided 22 points off the bench in only 24 minutes of action, so hopefully Coach Bickerstaff is done with his foolishness yanking Osman in and out of the lineup.

6. Revenge is a dish best served cold

The Cavs avenged two of their worst losses of the year, handy defeats against one of the NBA’s championship contenders Milwaukee Bucks, with a lunch pail win Wednesday night 114-106. The Cavs came out of the gates like a bat out of hell, then salted away the clock until the end of the game. Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen really set the tone for the game with their two-way games, and Kevin Love looks finally back from his broken thumb to dominate the game in his minutes, a team-leading +17 in 29 minutes off the bench. The win puts the Cavs’ win streak at five games, and don’t look now but the Cavs are only one game out of the top seed in the Eastern Conference. With almost half a season under their belt, the Cavs are clearly headed to the playoffs, a legitimate championship contender, and are exceeding the wildest of pre-season expectations. And don’t forget this…

… ⏳

— Ricky Rubio (@rickyrubio9) December 17, 2022

7. Eyes Wide Shut

EWS is my favorite “Christmas” movie, so yours truly decided to shamelessly plug it in this article. It is a fantastic movie on the subject of relationships, but be sure kids are tucked away in bed as it is for adult viewing only (LMFAO). But also it serves as a nice theme regarding the excitement surrounding the Cavs this season. Google says that the idiomatic phrase means “a person that refuses to see something in plain view, because of preconceived notions of what this something should look like.” The phrase could be applied to Cavs fandom in general, especially in regards to discourse about how to “fix” the team, especially that pesky starting small forward spot. There are endless discussions re-litigating the Donovan Mitchell trade, and how to dispatch Kevin Love or Caris LeVert for some enigmatic, non-existent “two way wing” that’s “available” in a trade. Yours truly will continue to be a pillar of strength against the Caris LeVert and Kevin Love slander, and vindication will soon come once Ricky “Spanish Fly” Rubio hits the court. So just enjoy the ride, the Cavs are a contender, they haven’t reached their ceiling, and just wait until Dean Wade and Ricky Rubio are back… the real fun is just beginning!

8. Post your Favorite Christmas movies!

CtB wishes you all the happiest of holiday seasons, and yours truly is grateful for the community here that loves the Cavs and talking basketball, among other things. So celebrate well with you and yours, and as always GO CAVS!