Recap: Spurs 109, Cavs 117 (or, Eye of the Tiger)

The Cavs coasted to a casual win against the hapless San Antonio Spurs 117-109, in a game that left many including Coach J.B. Bickerstaff unsatisfied. Luckily, due to the MVP-type of leadership displayed by Donovan Mitchell, the Cavs eeked out another one to extend their winning streak to seven games. Let’s dive into last night’s takeaways…

1. Eye of the Tiger

You would’ve never known the Cavs had won if you were listening to J.B. Bickerstaff’s post-game presser last night. He said the Cavs were “lucky to win” at least twice in a press conference that uncharacteristically lasted a little more than 120 seconds. It appeared to take all of his self-control to not lash out and say something regretful about the team. But he was clearly unhappy that the Cavs stopped feeding the big men after a great first quarter, he was unhappy about Darius Garland’s turnovers, and he was stark-raving mad about the apparent lack of respect the Cavs showed towards the Spurs especially in the second half as they gave up 60 points in the last half of the game. J.B. was clearly using the press conference to send a message to the team, and that message was one of pure disgust.

J.B.’s presser actually reminds yours truly of the great golfer Tiger Woods’ many press conferences wherein he’d subvert the interviewers and listeners’ expectations regarding how a particular performance was processed. For example, when Woods would have a fantastic day the only thing he’d talk about post-round was all of the mistakes that were made. When Woods would crap the bed with a terrible performance, all he would talk about post-round is the positives and “bright spots” in the round and how much progress was made. J.B. looks like he’s taking a page from one of the greats in order to keep the team on an even keel, “never too high, never too low.” Last night was one of the precious few times he was hyper-critical towards the team, with only Donovan Mitchell escaping his wrath post-game.

2. Perhaps They Were Just Tired?

The second half malaise from the Cavs could easily be explained by the fact that the Cavs are still at the tail end of a brutal stretch of the schedule. DG’s awful game can easily be chalked up to fatigue. J.B. did no favors to his squad by employing yet another “Thibodeau special” with a 8.5 man rotation phasing out the solid contributions from Dean Wade (+4 plus/minus in only six minutes) and Caris LeVert (+4 plus/minus in only 20 minutes) in the second half. J.B. didn’t play Wade in the second half and only played LeVert six minutes. Instead he rode (punished?) the starters with 20 minutes of action across the board in the second half except for DG, who was actually benched for Ricky Rubio in the middle of the fourth quarter because he stinking up the joint so badly. As always the message from yours truly is #FREENETO #FREELOVE.

3. Donovan Mitchell, MVP

As it was aforementioned, the biggest bright spot of the game was Donovan Mitchell’s performance from tip off to buzzer, 41 points on 26 shots, five assists, four rebounds, two stocks, and a team-high +17 in 37 minutes of action. Notably he was the only player to escape Coach Bickerstaff’s post-game rage presser. This is the kind of game that demonstrates what Mitchell will mean to the Cavs once the playoffs start. Mitchell is a guy who can carry a team to a win any night he chooses. I CANNOT WAIT to see Spida do his thing in April.

4. Quick Note on the Spurs

The Spurs are clearly in the tank for the Wemby/Scoot sweepstakes, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t bright spots for Coach Pop’s team. The Malaki Branham Agenda is heating up after a miserable start to the season for the 19 year old from Saint Vincent-Saint Mary High School and the Ohio State University. Check out the work the local kid has been putting in recently:

Per PBP Stats, 136 NBA players have self-created at least 50 mid-range shots this season.

Malaki Branham's 56.3% clip (40/71) on those shots ranks 2nd!!! Behind only Kevin Durant

Mid-range maestro already

— Ethan Fuller (@ethman43) February 14, 2023

Bickerstaff was quick to sing the praises of Coach Pop and the Spurs about how “pure” and “unselfish” they played the game even while getting down big early. Yet another needling at his own squad? You bet!

5. Next up, Primetime Television

The Cavs will wrap up the pre-All Star Break portion of the season with a primetime, nationally televised Eastern Conference heavyweight showdown against the Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow night. The Cavs and Sixers are two of the hottest teams in the NBA, and are both locked in a tight battle for the third seed in the East. Surely revenge will be on the mind of Joel Embiid and the Sixers as the Cavs beat the crap out of Sixers 113-85 in late November. In that game, the Sixers were without two of their most important players in James Harden and Tyrese Maxey. But the Cavs were also without Jarrett Allen (and Ricky Rubio). The Cavs were clicking on all cylinders then with Caris LeVert leading the way for the Cavs with 22 points and Darius Garland putting in a masterclass point guard performance. The beatdown was so thorough Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell didn’t crack 30 minutes. Let’s see if the Cavs can take the season series with a win tomorrow night, Go Cavs!