Live Thread: Cavs @ Celtics
2023-03-01Good evening CtB!
The Cavs have ventured to the shores of the Massachusetts Bay to take on the Boston Celtics in a primetime, national television showcase. This game features two of the elite of Eastern Conference, and certainly revenge will be first thing on the Celtics’ mind as the Cavs took the first two meetings against them early in the season. Caris LeVert had his best game of the season in the first matchup and Darius Garland put on a virtuoso performance in the second matchup. Much has changed for the Cavs since those matchups, so it’ll be interesting to see how the Cavs handle the hype of the game. So far, the Cavs haven’t handled big time matchups well so far in this recent stretch.
Statistically, the Celtics are the class of the NBA. There’s nothing they don’t do exceedingly well. If the Cavs have any designs on winning they will have produce their A-game.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30PM Eastern time and will be broadcasted live regionally on Bally Sport Ohio/Great Lakes and nationally on ESPN, Go Cavs!
P.S. Make sure you check out Adam Cathcart’s Atlanta recap!
WHY IT IS SO VITAL TO WHAT KOBY / JB / CAVS WANT TO CULTIVATE HERE
HOPING THEY GET JA THE HELP HE NEEDS AND HE “ GRABS ON TO THE LIFE RUNG THROWN TO HIM “ IT WOULD BE A TRAGEDY TO SEE SUCH AN IMMENSE TALENT GO TO WASTE
The NBA seems to have given up on trying to ignore Ja Morant’s gangster live style, and he will be out for a while.
Previously, after his car was pointing guns at the Pacer’s team bus, the league responded by banning the other guys in the car from attending games.
Guess who posted the video of Ja holding a gun in a club? Can you spell dumber than Kyrie?
Memphis is toast. It’s Incredible what happened to this team and to JA. They went from a league pass favorite and burgeoning face of the league to a bunch of dirty play trash talking losers that no one wants to root for
Yeah it’s crazy how fast they became very unlikeable
HAVE FUN DANK—-BRING HOME A “W” !!
Going tonight! CTB bump incoming!
THIS MIGHT SOUND REALLY CRAZY BUT FEEL THIS IS A “ MUST “ WIN GAME TONIGHT. MEANING WE HAVE TO WIN THESE GAMES AGAINST OPPONENTS LIKE THE PISTONS / EVERY WIN // LOSS IS CRUCIAL/ ESPECIALLY WITH THE KNICKS “ BREATHING DOWN OUR NECKS “
DON T WANT TO SAY I WAS “CORRECT “ BUT ONLY ABOUT 10 DAYS AGO I POSTED MY CONCERNS ABOUT KNICKS CATCHING THE CAVS AND WAS VIRWED BY MANY AS “ CRAZY —/ WILL NEVER HAPPEN “ RANDLE IS PLAYING LIKE HE DID 2 YEARS AGO // HAS HIS HEAD ON STRAIGHT/: BRUNSON — I WANTED CAVS TO DRAFT HIM —THEY ARE PLAYING WITH GREAT CONFIDENCE AND HAVE THE “ GARDEN “ CROWD EXCITED
I did not think you were crazy. They were only 2-3 games back.
Still, we have an edge. We have the easiest remaining schedule in the league. We have no back to backs left. Nor any game away vs the West. Our 3 toughest games (Boston, Philly, NY) are all at home. Celtics on b2b. Our toughest road games are 2 in a row vs Miami, which are upcoming after Boston. The Heat have lost 6 of 7.
The Knicks are 22nd in terms of SOS, but still have a nasty west coast trip (Sac, Clips, Lakers, Portland) & then get Denver at home.
Philly has the second toughest schedule in the league.
I think we are still very much in the hunt for 3rd. If we are still ahead of NY after the Miami games, I don’t think they catch us.
If we can beat Boston at home, I really like our chances.
We have an opportunity to gain some ground. We play Detroit at home tomorrow, which we should win, but you never know. The Knicks play the Celtics on Sunday, in Boston, so hoping the Celtics pull that out. Then the Celtics come to Cleveland on Monday.
If it all works out, we should gain 1.5 games on the Knicks.
At this point.. I’m more worried about dropping than pushing for 3rd.. 3rd would be an added bonus right now..
The Knicks have been 19-9 since Jan 1st.. We’ve been 16-12
Knicks have 10 away games (4 games on West Coast Trip)..will be rooting for them to lose a lot of those and at home against Denver and other East Coast Teams.
Yeah hope they go 0-3 on that West coast tour.
third vs. fourth means playing Celts vs. playing Bucks, but who knows which will be in first. Looks like the Bucks, at the moment.
so 3 or 4 doesn’t mean much, where as 4 or 5 means home court advantage.
Philly has 4 b2bs left. At Minny, at Indy, at Phoenix, at Atlanta. We have none. In addition to the b2bs above, they play at Milwaukee (twice), here, at GSW, and at Denver. Also have Dallas & Boston at home. Even if the Knicks catch us, we could still finish 4th.
Season series:
1-1 with Philly. 1 more here.
1-2 with NY. 1 more here.
Tonight: Pistons at Cavs, 76ers at Bucks
Sun: Knicks at Celtics
Min: Celtics at Cavs. B2B for Boston.
A win + 76ers loss would put us even with Philly on 40 wins. 3 back in the loss column.
We COULD be 2.5 up on the Knicks after Monday.
Core 4 in February.. We need them to continue producing like this.. I was surprised with DG’s numbers and efficiency. Darius Garland (10 games) 22.5 pts, 6.7 assists, 1 steal 33.1 min 7.9-14.5 FG (54.5 FG%) 2.9-5.5 3PT (52.7%) 3.8-4.4 FT (86.4%) Donovan (11 games) 25.5 pts, 4.7 rbs, 4.3 assists, 1.6 steals 33.4 min 9.3-19.4 FG (47.9 FG%) 3.5-9.2 3PT (38%) 3.4-3.6 FT – (94.4%) Jarret Allen (11 games) 18.4 pts, 10.9 rbs, 1.7 assists, 1.3 blocks 33.5 min 7.9-11 FG (71.9 FG%) 2.5-3.1 FT (82.4%) Evan Mobley (11 games) 19.2 pts, 8.7 rbs, 2.5 assists, 1.3 blocks, 1.2… Read more »
Our bench needs heavy minutes from Cedi, Neto, and LeVert.
Knicks win. Randle with 43. Knicks now 1 game back of Cavs. Kevin Love throws bad pass to Butler – Robinson intercepts.
And Heat fans accusing Love of being a double agent on Twitter.
😂😂😂
I kind of feel bad for Kevin. He ain’t going to be getting the love anywhere else.
Our bench in the last 2 games: VS Celtics on the road: 68 minutes 12 pts 5-17 FG 2-10 3PT 7 rbs, 7 asts VS Toronto at home: 68 minutes (core 3), 21 min in garbage time 10 pts (rubio, Levert, Wade) 16 pts (with 6 pts in garbage time) 3-17 FG (Rubio, Levert, Wade) 2-9 3PT (Rubio, Levert, Wade) The last time our bench had someone with 9/10 pts since Feb 1st (12 games) 2/2 VS Memphis: Cedi 21 pts (6th in 4th) ( Rubio (11 in 4th) 2/5: VS Pacers: Cedi 9pts 2/6 VS Wizards: Caris 10pts 2/8:… Read more »
Our bench needs heavy minutes from Neto/Rubio, Cedi, and LeVert. I’d almost favor Neto over Rubio at this point.
Dude… when did Julius Randle turn into a superstar?
Holy S$it Randle!!!
that was crazyy!!!!.. I wish both can loose since they are creeping up on us.
Yeah was rooting for the Heat, which is rare. I haven’t seen Randle play a ton this year, but every time I see him, he torches teams.
Definitely torched us the last time for 36, in the previous games he had 18 at home and 15 against us at home back in October.
Heat/Knicks tied at 116 with a 1:04 to go
Celtics about to lose to the Nets
Portland lost to the Hawks
Randle-Brunson is one of the highest scoring duos in Knicks history
Nets up 8. 82-74.
Robert Williams into locker room with non-contact injury. Home crowd booing the C’s.
I know Love cannot guard Randle…
No one can tonight.
Celtics were up like 28-30 points early second on the Nets. More than doubling them up. Fifty simething to twenty something.
Now tied at 70.
Nets take the lead
51-23 Celtics to 74-70 Nets. A nice 51-19 run.
Checking out Heat v Knicks.
I’ve changed my mind. The Knicks could beat us in the playoffs. Need to keep that 4 seed.
Randle basically destroying the Heat
RAOUL I HEAR YOU // 17 GAMES LEFT DON T YOU THINK THIS IS MORE REASON TO HAVE A “ SENSE OF URGENCY “ TO SEARCH // FIND – SIGN A LEGIT BACK UP POST // IAM STILL IN FAVOR OF PURSUING NOEL 1 BIG DRAW BACK IS HE NOT FITTING THE CAVS POSITIVE CULTURE AND “ ROCK THE BOAT “ NOT GETTING PLAYING TIME HE MAY WANT // THINKS HE DESERVES// SO POSSIBLY NOT WORTH THE RISK
Yeah, Noel seems to be a bit of a head case and underperformer. As I recall, on the advice of Klutch agency, he did not sign a big contract and held out for more. That didn’t happen because he is lousy, and he sued Klutch and whatever. Who knows what the deal is, but he sounds like trouble.
FEAR THE SWORD HAS A GOOD ARTICLE ON MERRILL ACCORDING TO HIS COACH HE IS A VERY GOOD TEAM DEFENDER// DOESN T MISS AN ASSIGNMENT// CAN CREATE OFF THE DRIBBLE// HOPE J. GIVES HIM LEGIT MINUTES TO GET A TRUE EVALUATION
We may sign a series of guys to 10 days until we find a keeper.
Team should be able to compensate for a weak individual defender who is a good team defender through help & scheme.
Unless the team just mindlessly switches everything all the time like some crazy Michelle Yeoh movie. Which mostof the NBA does nowadays.
I am in favor of giving some of the hopefuls a good look. But maybe that is why I am not an NBA coach. Through at least three quarters, most NBA games could still go either way, so most coaches are hesitant to try anyone new.
Fear The Sword with some good stuff today!
GOOGLE SAM MERRILL AND YOU CAN WITNESS HIS SWEET SHOOTING STROKE THE ARTICLE LEANS TO IT MIGHT BE A QUICK 10 STINT FOR HIM — UNLESS HE REALLY OPENS SOME EYES —JUST BUYING TIME FOR CAV TO PERUSE THE MARKET FOR THE BEST FIT STILL THINK WE NEED A LEGIT BACK UP POST ROLO MIGHT BE A LAUGH A MINUTE // GOOD LOCKEROOM GUY BUT WE NEED A PLAYER / POST WHO CAN GET IT DONE ON THE FLOOR
17 games left.
Sam Merrill: https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2023/03/cavs-to-sign-g-league-standout-sam-merrill-to-10-day-contract-sources-say.html
“ELDER ” MOBES WITH A GOOD PERFORMANCE LAST NIGHT 17/ 10 / 5 —–3-A KITE 27 /12 —HAS GONE 11 / 15 FROM 3 THE LAST 2 GAMES ——-WINDLER WITH ONLY 5 MIN’S PLAYING TIME —-WHY SEND HIM DOWN IF YOU AREN’T GOING TO PLAY HIM—-UNLESS HE IS INJURED ” AGAIN ” OR THEY ARE BEING CAUTIOUS —BUT IT IS MAKE OR BREAK ( HOPEFULLY NOT LITERALLY ) FOR WINDLER—PLAY THE GUY !!
good report. I keep hoping for 3-A-KITE to turn into a rotation player.
He’s got the tools, hopefully he can put together the game.
” MORE ON MERRILL ” HE HAD 2 SEASONS AT 46 % FROM 3’S AT UTAH STATE –CONCERN IS SAME AS “GLASS ‘ WINDLER—STAYING HEALTHY AND IS HE ATHLETIC ENOUGH TO DEFEND AT NBA LEVEL —-WE SHALL SEE
SAM ” MY MAN ” MERRILL 44 % FROM 3’S—WOULD BE EVEN HIGHER IF HE DIDN’T HAVE A FEW ” BAGEL ” OUTINGS —-MIGHT BE HOVERING AROUND THE 47–48 % —JB JUST GIVE THE KID A CHANCE ——HAS A PURE STROKE
SPIDA GETTING MORE CHECKING ON HIS GROIN INJURY —–WORST CASE SCENARIO HE DOESN’T PLAY AGAINST THE LOWLY PISTONS AND WE LOSE THE GAME —–THE PESSISISM IM ME SURFACING
THANK YOU WINDMILL —GLAD YOU SEE THE COMMON SENSE OF NOT GIVING A PLAYER A LEGIT OPPORTUNITY ——IT NORMALLY TAKES A PLAYER 2-3 MIN’S JUST TO ‘WORK UP A LATHER ‘ GET INTO THE FLOW OF A GAME
JA: 5 pts. 7 reb. 1/2 from the line. Here’s my in-depth analysis. That’s not enough.
Horrors, Williams and Tatum had 11 rebounds each. Just saying
JASON YES I AM PSYCHED IF JB ( I HAVE TO THROW MY SARCASM IN AS I SEE IT HAS CREATED A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION TODAY) HAS “ TRUST “ IN HIM TO DISPLAY HIS SHOOTING SKILL NOT JUST A 1 TIME / 3-5 MINUTE STINT / THAT WILL NOT ALLOW HIM TO SHOWCASE ANYTHING// WE SHALL SEE …………I NEED “ MORE BEER 🍺 PLEASE “
Since Wade is struggling, let him have his minutes.
Wade is a PF. Merrill is a SG. One guy is 6’9″. One is 6’4″.
Shows what I know about the G league. Let’s try it. A 6’4 guy at PF.
Like Barkley
That’s the key point – giving him a legit rotation to see what he can do. If JB puts him in a game, yanks him after 3 minutes bc of one bricked shot, or blown assignment, and never plays him again . .’. then what will he really have learned about him?
Sam your man on a 10-day. NOMAD has to be psyched.
Frustrating game to watch as our perimeter defense on their front court sucked! How was there not better in game adjustments by coaching staff once horford hit 3 in a row?!?
I digress…Im enjoying watching laker highlights these days over my own Cavs. They really made some impressive moves at the deadline! How we’re we not able to land one of the players they got (like Beasley) for Love? The Bamba pickup is low risk high reward at this point for them and I love Venderbilt’s energy
They gave up a first round pick. We cannot do that.
Was just listening to Chris Manning on his pod, and he (I think it was Chris) brought up the idea of a player like KCP on this Cavs team. How perfect would that be? Of course, KCP is a lot like a Danny Green type player, and I don’t think Green played a single minute last night. Who knows why, maybe it was a scheduled DNP, I have no idea. And I’m not trying to claim that a 35 year old Danny Green coming off of an injury is a panacea, but it’s hard to imagine him being worse than… Read more »
Doris Burke: Why are we looking at this? That’s clearly a foul.
Me: You obviously don’t watch the Cavs very often.
*call is overturned*
Crap like that is why I’d be okay getting rid of replay review. It takes forever, and they still make decisions like that.
Atrocious officiating matters in a 4-point game.
The awful part was, Smart had zero chance to get the ball. Even with no foul, it should have been our ball.
They called it a loose ball foul on Mitchell (somehow) hence Celtics ball.
Agreed. Even if the call was reversed, it should have been a non-call, not a foul on Mitchell. It’s just baffling that they take 5 minutes to get the call completely wrong.
I can see why JB would not like the Cedi / Boston matchup. Cedi is best when we can pick up the pace with defensive rebounds and steals leading to transition open looks and layups. My prediction is that next year he is playing for a team that plays at a faster pace and puts up significantly better numbers. Not lots of transition opportunities in the second half last night, until late in the 4th when Boston started to get a bit tired or complacent. Boston is a top team at home and came to play. Lots of good film… Read more »
What I’m thinking.
Only matters if the bench is actually used.
MIKEO NATE SAID CAVS JUST CALLED UP MY MAN MERRILL WHO IS GREAT CATCH AND SHOOT BUT LIKE PREVIOUS POST WONT PLAY DUE TO JB S LACK OF TRUST
At some point, JB will have to expand the playable group. He might have been cautious with this game (understandably), but as the season winds down that isn’t going to work. Yeah there is next year to think about. Right now though, I know the loss stinks, but the most important thing is staying healthy and letting guys get experience – this is the main reason I’m pissed, because Spida is carrying a load and is still not 100%. The Cavs are well recognised now for pushing / allowing guys to play when they probably shouldn’t. If the ballclub truly… Read more »
Good post. But let me disagree.
We played more guys earlier in the year, mainly due to injuries. Love played. Stevens played. Nada from Llama last night. Grant Williams did not play for Bostin, BTW .
We have zero b2bs left. None. Nil. Nada. Rest is far less important now than ever. This should be all about building cohesion with the core group.
Building a better bench is a task for next year. And yes, Rubio & Green are going to be nursed back. Having them right for the POs is job #1.
Last night was about Mitchell leading. I had no problem leaving him in and letting him go. He was the only guy who really played well. Okoro early. DG VERY late. They gave good effort. Just a lot of dumb stuff. Bad shots. Dumb fouls. Being in the bonus for 9 min and getting 5 FTs.
Cedi & Wade were invisible.
Our pace picks up dramatically when Rubio enters.
everyone always gripping about JB and “lack of trust”. that is another way of saying that JB mostly plays the guys that are better. not sure this is a bad thing.
If you play like crap, you should sit.
SO TRUE DAN K I ALWAYS PLAYED ALL MY PLAYERS MAYBE NOT EQUAL TIME. ALL THE PLAYERS DESERVE MINUTES HELPS TO KEEP THEM MOTIVATED STAY SHARP GIVE THEM THAT VALUABLE GAME EXPERIENCE PROMOTES A POSITIVE ATMOSPHERE AND YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN A HIDDEN GEM MAY SURFACE JB DOING AN INJUSTICE TO ALL THE PLAYERS IN MY OPINION AND WHAT HAPPENS IF A STARTER OR KEY ROTATIONIONAL PLAYER GETS HURT AND YOU NEED TO PLAN A PLAYER WHO HASNT PLAYED IN A LONG TIME
or at least go 8-9 deep where you are giving the starters some decent rest to amp up their energy in the 4th. like, i can only imagine if you are in and out of the rotation, play 5 minutes one half and then none, like are you just going to come out firing from 3 when you have the shot or are you going to hurry up and give it to DM and DG ?
ha-ha: wish you had been my coach, who usually played about 6, and I was 7.
But, those guys were better than me, and we always had a great record, so can’t complain.
JB S SO CALLED “” LACK OF TRUST “ IN PLAYERS IS CULTIVATING THE SAME ATTITUDE WITH PLAYERS TOWARDS JB ——- CEDI ONLY 5 MINUTES WHEN WE DESPERATELY NEED SCORING A /— IT IS EARLY IN THE MORNING/ WATCHING REPLAY AND I ALREADY NEED …… “ MORE BEER 🍺 PLEASE “ JB GOING TO RUN SPIDA “ INTO THE GROUND “ TO WHERE HE WILL BE FATIGUED OR INJURED COME PLAYOFF TIME
my HS does the same stuff, 5-6 man rotation… only certain guys allowed to create/shoot. drives me nuts! We had like 2-3 other guys off the bench who could contribute but were never given the shot.
I know some guys are more talented than others but if you cultivate a system predicated on ball movement and looking for the best shot in addition to trusting your players overall I believe they will succeed!
For the year, 3PT%:
LeVert 35.5%
Osman 34.8%
Okoro 34.7%
The idea that Cedi provides shooting that the others do not is a myth. None of these guys are good shooters. And Osman the worst defender of the bunch by a wide margin.
He is streaky. And a more willing shooter than the others, but it is still almost all catch & shoot. LeVert creates more for others.
That is why he does not play sometimes. JB is trying to let the nucleus of the team grow together. And develop together. Mobley & Garland still do a lot of dumb stuff. Okoro needs to play if he is going to improve. Rubio needs time to round into form. Wade plays a different position.
Osman is what he is at this point, for the most part. You can put him in if you need him.
Osman had no points, no rebounds, and no assists in 5 minutes.
Wade had 0/1/0 in 15 minutes.
In 16 minutes, Okoro had 9 points.
Allen & Mobley were poor.
Wade tonight: 15 minutes, 0 points, -6.
He has to look for his shot. Cavs desperately need some catch and shoot production.
His mechanics don’t look great.
JB basically ran a 7-man rotation tonight 😂😂😂
Garland with some super shooting at the end but overall he and Mobley need to play better to hang with Celtics at full strength (and at home).
Cavs can’t beat good teams starting Okoro
It’s just not gonna happen this season.
Cavs cant beat most teams on the road…good or bad. Definitely havent prepared to beat almost any team with a mins spread like tonight. Find me the team that has consistently won after about 2012 when defenses had to extend to 30 feet who also only plays 7 guys over 20 mins. It doesnt exist. That is high school crap. Use your roster or quit coaching. Have I had a couple beers and let this get to my head? Yeah. …yeah.
I though he had an excellent 1st quarter. Scored on a drive for an and 1. 3/3 FTs. Had an excellent block. Did not get back in till 4-5 min left in the second.
Not much after that. Still better than Wade & Cedi, though.