Recap: Cleveland 128, Memphis 113 (or, Dawgz)

It’s no secret that we’ve criticized JB Bickerstaff on this site. His in-game tactical adjustments have left some of us irate at times, and after Tuesday’s loss to the Heat, the mood around the Cavaliers was somber and a little bizarre. J.B. must have pushed the right buttons because the Cavs came out of the locker room with scintillating energy that lasted the whole game. After the contest, there was little doubt that coach B is still the vibes king for the Cleveland Cavaliers, awarding the coveted Junk Yard Dawg award to an ejected Donovan Mitchell, for “standing up for himself.”

Thursday’s game was highlighted by a third quarter dust-up between NBA All-Butthole first teamer Dillon Brooks and actual NBA All-Star Donovan Mitchell.

After a missed layup, Brooks rolled over and clearly tagged Mitch in the jimmies. Donovan went after Dillon like junk yard dog of yore, shoving brooks Brooks into the stantion, sparking an altercation that featured every player on the floor, both coaching staffs, epically oblivious commentary from Reggie Miller, and a hilarious “boink” sound effect TNT’s Kevin Harlan added to the replay. Mitchell and Brooks were ejected, Donovan had nothing nice to say post-game. He also ended up with a $20k fine.

If there was any doubt who was winning this one, it was snuffed out post-dust-up when Cedi Osman, Darius Garland, and Ricky Rubio led an extended Cavalanche that put Cleveland up 22 by the mid-fourth and relegated crunch time to garbage time.

To be fair, the motivation the wine and gold found coming into this one could’ve been due to a rare appearance on national TV, and their physical dominance had more than a little to do with the absence of Jaren Jackson Junior and Steven Adams. But all you can do is play the team in front of you, and the Cavs did just that. Missing two Memphis starters, Allen and Mobley feasted, posting 18/11/4 and 18/14/5 lines while they combined for seven stocks.

Mobley especially seems to be coming into his own lately. (Not that Allen was any slouch tying a team high +2-).

Evan Mobley's last 9 games:

20.4 points (57% FG)
9.2 rebounds
2.1 assists
1.2 blocks

He leads the entire NBA in Defensive Win Shares this season

— Tony Pesta (@Tony_Pesta) January 28, 2023

The big guys did struggle a bit keeping tabs on starting power forward Santi Aldama who drifted out to the wings and the corners for too open triples to finish with a 21 point 10 board night. Sophomore Aldama is yet another brilliant draft pick by Memphis who feature former #CavsTwitter stalwart Jacob L. Rosen as the head of their analytics department. Xavier Tillman started at center and turned in Memphis’ only positive plus/minus (outside of garbage time) at +13 with six points and six boards, but the good guys absolutely roasted Brandon Clarke (game low -28). Much of that had to do with the Cavs smaller lineups with Cedi and Wade at the four.

The Cavs didn’t defend the three that well yet again, but at least countered by shooting 14-29 from deep to Memphis’ 10-23.  The Cavs lost the rebound battle 41-44, but won this with better offense, converting 49 field goals to the Grizzlies’ 41.

The fracas left Mitchell and Brooks ejected, and honestly, the way Mitchell was clearly laboring through a groin injury, the exchange was probably worth it for Cleveland. Mitchell was 2-11 at that point with just six points. Fortunately, this game featured Darius Garland balling like a golden god as he controlled the entire game to the tune of a 32 point 11 assist masterpiece on just 19 shots.

It certainly helped that the Cavs bench featured shooting and athleticism as Wade, Cedi, and Rubio combined to swish 8-16 from deep. After the game, I tweeted my CtB compatriots that that the Cavs should trade for this Cedi Osman guy (21/0/4, +20) if they want a 30-minutes-a-night wing who can light it up. It almost infuriates when Cedi doesn’t get to play some nights, or when people talk about trading him while he’s flying up and down the court, confidently launching Js, or knifing to the basket.

Cedi also chased Memphis’ leading scorer Desmond Bane doggedly around the perimeter, and limited Bane’s looks in the second half after Okoro struggled to stay with Bane, and over-helped inside. Bane still got his 25 on 6-7 from deep, but as hot as he was, the Cavs limited him to just 7 three point attempts from deep.

The Cavs schemed Ja Morant like champs too. The NBA’s most high flying guard, Morant notched a base8 triple double (24/8/8), but struggled with foul trouble throughout the game. Many of those fouls were due to a very good game plan by the Cavs to target Morant defensively. With the Grizz “hiding” Ja on Isaac Okoro, the Cavs posted Okoro up early, and then put Okoro as the roll-man in the pick-and-roll in the second half, and Isaac played beautifully: scoring 12 points on 5-5 shooting and dishing a pair of dimes out of these sets or getting Garland and the bigs in favorable matchups. Keep ballin’, Ice.

Finally, Ricky’s back. The ball was zipping around when Rubio was on the floor, and his transformation into a willing and effective three point shooter this late in his career has been unique . Early in the game, hall-of-fame idiot Reggie Miller noted that going under the pick-and roll and letting Ricky shoot was a good job of “knowing your personnel” by Memphis. Fortunately Ricky made Reggie shove his dumb words back in his dumb mouth when Rubio canned 3-6 from downtown to finish +15 with 13, four dimes, and three stocks in just 21 minutes. Don’t lose that number, Ricky.

Kevin Love was reportedly healthy enough to play but was a DNP-CD. Apparently Love’s been informed his minutes are going to be cut, so that’s something. The Cavs were sky high after this one and the vibes were good. The only dark clouds were how well the Cavs played without Caris LeVert and Kevin Love who represent roughly $48 million in salary this year. That’s a bit of an eye opener with the trade deadline just a week away. Will be interesting to see what the Cavs do with  the trade deadline coming in the middle of a 7-in-10 games stretch heading into the all-star break.

Ending this with the note that this is our first sponsored recap in a hot minute. Thanks to our friends at FOCO (Forever Collectibles) for sending us some Cavs gear and this unique Dual Bobblehead featuring Darius Garland and Evan Mobley!  For any sports fan looking for unique collectibles, check these guys out!