Live Thread: Cavs @ Heat
2023-03-08Good evening CtB!
The Cavs venture to the beaches of South Florida to take on the Miami Heat in a pivotal late season Eastern Conference tilt. Miami is desperate for wins to hop into the sixth seed and avoid the play-in while the Cavs are fighting to hold onto the fourth seed. It appears that former Cavs and NBA champion Kevin Love is probable for the game, but the Heat will still be missing Kyle Lowry. The Cavs are fully healthy, exactly where they want to be heading into the playoffs.
What do the stats say about the Heat? That they’re not a good team and if the Cavs lose to them (which they already have once this season), it would only add ammo for those casual NBA fans who think the Cavs are a fraudulent team. While the Heat still have an excellent defense (ranked top 5 in the NBA in defensive rating), their offense is a disaster (ranked bottom 5 in the NBA in offensive rating). It shouldn’t have been a surprise to see the desperate Heat pick up Kevin Love and start him because their roster outside of Jimmy Butler is overrated and stinky. Unfortunately for the Heat, Love’s shooting woes from January have carried over to Miami in his short time there. The fact that Erik Spoelstra has this team above .500 is a miracle.
What will the key to victory be for the Cavs? It would help the Cavs to push the pace against this poor shooting team, as they prefer to keep the game a half court grind much like the Cavs do. Rebound and run will help mitigate the Heat’s excellent half court defense.
Tip off is scheduled for 7:30PM Eastern time and will be broadcasted live on Bally Sports Ohio, Go Cavs!
yeah…that’s a dumb young coach giving away a game to a headier team. how does mitchell just never get a break in the 2nd half? How does Okoro get THAT much run just because he made a couple hustle plays? Missing DG sucks but giving up a 14 point lead in like 4 mins due to pretty clear gassed legs just seems avoidable.
Caris has been a very effective player tonight. Probably needs more on ball time with DG out.
Shoot. Rough time of the year to lose Allen to an eye injury. Who gets his mins the next couple weeks? Stephens and we go small?
Should have been Rubio in for Mitchell for a couple mins and bring in Cedi or Wade or even freaking Danny Green for Okoro. JB doing his best Nick Nurse impression.
JB. Come on. Gotta take that timeout sooner
Mobley not good enough to to take those snap wing threes.
LT up
HOW ABOUT THEM BUCKEYES. KEEP IT GOING ALL THE WAY TO THE BIG DANCE
Miami 2.5 point favorites tonight.
OU Bobcats thumped ’em by 20 yesterday!
GOING OL SCHOOL POPPED SOME POPCORN LISTENING TO OUR LOCAL GIRLS BASKETBALL GAME STATE SEMI FINAL ON THE RADIO GO POLAR BEARS
RAOUL UNFORTUNATELY “ SHOOTING AROUND “ HAS TAKEN ON AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT MEANING
RAOUL YOU BRING BACK FOND MEMORIES OF LOCAL NEIGHBORHOODS PLAYING AGAINST EACH OTHER —–( NOT EVER SURE HOW WE MADE UP THE DIVIDING LINES )—-I HAD A VERY ATHLETIC// BIG FRIEND ( ACTUALLY PLAYED D1 BASKETBALL ) WHO LIVED OUT IN THE COUNTRY/// FARM—-DIDN’T REALLY BELONG TO ANY NEIGHBORHOOD —-WAS ALREADY IN ” TRANSFER PORTAL ” MODE WAY BACK THEN——WHENEVER I KNEW WE WERE GOING TO HAVE A ” NEIGHBORHOOD ‘ CONTEST MY ” FARMER FRIEND ” WOULD ALWAYS SLEEPOVER ( WAS ” TEMPORARILY ” IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD —— I WAS NEVER UNDER INVESTIGATION FROM THE NCAA : )
I recall shooting around at a playground at around 14. An older kid we knew who had a car would stop by, and we would pile in and go “on tour” to other playgrounds.
MY 1 SON GRADUATED FROM KENT STATE—HAVE TO GO WITH THE GOLDEN FLASHES —-FOR A BEER : )—————–HEY EVIL DIDN’T YOU GRADUATE FROM AKRON—-YOU WANT IN ON THIS BET ALSO
The four “three days, two games, one city” events are actually kind of an advantage for the Cavs. For one thing, each one saves a travel day. For another, the “day between” should be a really good day for practice.
I don’t recall any of these in the past. Then four in the last month of the season. Weird.
extremely weird. also we have somehow played 3 more games than the 76rs thus far…they have 2 b2b sets left…3 game difference this late in the season is weird. everything is weird this season. your thoughts on whether the lakers make the play in?
Light the beam! Cavs pick up a half game on the Knicks.
yeah buddy!
right now is the time to solidify a top 4 finish.
if you are buying that the Bucks and 76’s are better than the Celts, let’s hope that Giannis is out for a while and the Bucks fall to 2nd. That might set up Cavs/Celts in the second round, which I would prefer.
The bucks are the best prepared team for the playoffs in the NBA. we can agree there. But what on earth makes you think we stand a better chance against the celtics than against the 76rs??
I think the Cavs potentially match up better against the Celtics than the Sixers. Embiid is going to have his way against the Cavs. Doesn’t mean the Sixers win the series, but that’s a huge advantage at one position. And Harden, aside from all his nonsense, has been really good, too. With the Celtics, it’s all a matter of how they shoot threes. If they go relatively cold a few games, they would be in trouble. I don’t love the Cavs chances against either, but they’d at least have a shot. Barring injury, I don’t think they have a shot… Read more »
every single team except possibly the cavs is in the position of “if they shoot above 45% from three they win” on a one game basis. Defense is what makes the difference in a series, imo. The celtics play better d than the 76rs. And I pray to God we can somehow get Mattise Thybulle on a cavs roster within the next two seasons. But the celtics are still sickeningly good on D. Williams will be back by then. I expect us to lose in round one, btw. Cuz JB has yet to outcoach a single opponent for more than… Read more »
The difference with the Celtics is the sheer volume. They’d be perfectly happy only taking threes the entire game if you let them. There’s a big difference between a team shooting 52% for a game shooting 23 threes and a team shooting 52% shooting 57 threes.
last I checked: 3 – 1
Knicks lose, which is nice. Keep it up.
AGBAJI PLAYING SOME DECENT MINUTES FOR THE JAZZZ// COULD SEE HIM HAVING A CAREER SIMILAR TO OUR “ 23 “ MINUTE BENCH PICK UP GREEN —- SEE WHERE THE NETS PICKED UP NOEL WHIO IS STARTING FOR THEM HENCE NO MORE FROM ME TO TELL KOBY TO PURSUE HIM ARE WE EVER GOING TO SEE “ 23” MINUTE GREEN SET FOOT ON THE FLOOR AGAIN THIS SEASON CANNOT COMPREHEND GO BUCKEYES KEEP IT GOING ALL THE WAY “ TO THE DANCE “
May the team up north all stub their pinky toes on the way out to the court! There’s nothing I like more than a terrible college team making a mockery of the dance by playing their way in as better teams in the conference attempt to walk the line between rest and keeping an edge. I’d love for the Buckeyes to sneak into the sweet 16 for no other reason than it’ll make me and my dad laugh with each other. I don’t know how they got to be so bad after their hot start, NOMAD.
I think best case he could be like Quentin Grimes, who is a pretty damn nice player.
Although I do think Agbaji’s handle will hold him back. Who knows, maybe he’ll level up his dribbling.
gonna be an All Ohio MAC final 4. My street vs your street this afternoon at 5:00.
bottle of BEER on the outcome!
If I’m reading this correctly the Cavs have 2 second round picks in the 2023 draft.
With the 45th pick NBA Draft Room has the Cavs selecting – (from Warriors pick) Terquavion Smith
His comp is Bones Hyland
Terquavion Smith, Bones Hyland? Whats next – Saggitariutt Jefferspin? Scoish Velociraptor Maloish?
The artist formerly known as “Mouse cop..”
The third.
Key moment in this game which speaks to DG & DM gelling & understanding their worth – late 2nd Q, DG fakes a pass to DM outside the perimeter. Two Heat players LURCH towards Spida like their lives depend on it. Darius now has an entire zipcode all to himself, and knocks down the open three. A thing of beauty.
great! it takes a while for them to figure out how to work together. it will continue to get better.
Oh man, VanVleet totally want off on the refs after the game. That’s gotta be a huge fine and probably a suspension. I haven’t been able to fine any tape of the actual call, the ESPN clip only shows the aftermath. My own, seemingly minority viewpoint, is that NBA reffing is fine, and it’s mainly players, coaches, and maybe forces inherent in super high stakes pro sport that is the problem. Players today constantly work the refs. They constantly fake fouls, crying “and one!” After every shot. The Raptors especially live on the bleeding edge of physical defense, daring the… Read more »
I think for the most part, reffing is fine. We know certain crews have a penchant for rule interpretations that annoy, but on the whole it’s the competitive juices flowing that makes competitors to step over the line.
I agree that the constant bitching about calls from a lot of players is unbelievably annoying (oh, you got touched, and you’re enraged at the no call? You’re gonna be happy if they call that touch foul on you?), the flopping from some players is a well known joke, and the way perimeter fouls in general are called is garbage. But some players have a point when it comes to refs T’ing up players. Some techs are richly deserved, and guys like Bray and Luka deserve way more than they get, but some refs are throwing techs around because they… Read more »
Indeed. The T on Jordan Clarkson for tossing the ball with a bounce pass was crazy.
Have been missing 2nd halves thanks to this ridiculous thing called work recently. Sitting down the the replay, which I shall enjoy with peppering of contemporaneous CtB comments.
And oh my lord, anyone see Draymond vid going in on Dillon Brooks? I can’t stand Dray the player but off the court he is quite a worthy raconteur.
right. the distance between the dirtball bully POS on court Draymond, and the witty fun guy he is off the court, is very large.
Reminds me of me. Except the other way around.
HaHa! me too. I mean me of me too.
on a related note:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35815581/ex-nba-star-shawn-kemp-booked-felony-drive-shooting-charge
Grizzlies imploding before the playoffs. I heard Morant could potentially miss 50 games, because of the gun.
there’s no set number of games according league rules, and he just got cleared of charges in Colorado. Maybe doesn’t come back this season, but I doubt that.
Thanks for the info. I saw this as basically a meme on Facebook, so questioned its accuracy. This is my vetting space, but I promise to do a better job of pre-vetting my comments.
nah I saw the same info you’re all good LMFAOOOO just sharing what I heard as well, crowdsourced journalism >>>>>>>>>>>> LMFAOOOOOOOO
totally up in the air. he may never play again.
the recent event makes it harder for the NBA to continue to ignore the night when Ja and his homies drove up to the Pacer’s team bus after a game, and were pointing their gun’s laser aiming dots at the Pacer players.
rather an extreme case of “no harm, no foul”.
the Pacers ought to get fined a few million for not calling the police at the time of the event.
I think Mobley will shock other fans in the playoffs. I think people who follow other teams have no idea what a monster he’s becoming.
Plus he can do a backflip on the beach. Beware rock lobsters!
Yeah definitely on the offensive side, where the leap is happening.
Mitchell: Swish, sorry I had to do it to you. (passing JR’s franchise 3-point record)
I thought it was Collin Sexton cause everyone said he’s just as good.
Not as good…very slightly worse.
“very slightly” 😂
Mitchell: Let’s do it again on Friday!
I’d love a win Friday…but if they could possibly make it less stressful to watch, that’d be cool.
Miami, if healthy, is a top 5 defensive team. So it’ll likely be close.
They’re 24th in net rating, they’re a terrible team that’s getting carried by Spoelstra.
It’s really Jimmy, Bam, Herro, and a bunch of has beens and never was.
Plus NBA Champion Kevin Love, also known as Double Agent Kevin Love
Bam and Herro are Jimmy and Spo merchants.
Still top 5 defense, right?
yeah, with a bottom 5 offense as I said above LMFAO
Yep bottom 5 offense, now with NBA Champion/Double Agent Kevin Love
Obviously Spo should’ve played him more! LMFAO
Cavs had 19 FT’s; Jimmy Butler had 15 FTs 😂
Butler will always get to the line if he wants to, but the Heat definitely got away with a lot of physical play. Not sure I could have handled more FTs…game lasted forever as it was.
Plus all those reviews
Love had 8 rebounds
Yup, played better than Wade or Cedi or Stevens LMFAOOO
Hell you played better than Wade or Cedi! I did like Love got two of his patented plays—two charges drawn and two turnovers on ill-advised outlet passes
LOVE = CAV FOR LIFE
Stevens and Love both can’t shoot. Stevens is better at everything else.
Where was Kevin Love at the end of the game? Oh yeah on the bench because he’s unplayable defensively come crunch time. Yes I’m bitter.
Did you see him trying waving the crowd during the Mobley free throws? Little sour grapish, imo 😂
NBA Champion Kevin Love
Pretty much. Pretty surprised the Heat are starting him, honestly. He still can be a useful player, but not ideal to have him starting if you fancy yourself a contender…
Have you seen their roster? He’s definitely better than all the scrubs they play off the bench.
Yeah, that may well be true, but it’s not great if he’s your best starter option at that position…
Well yeah because they suck LMFAOOO still don’t know why anyone’s surprised.
He’s been strictly starting 1st and 3rd quarters.
Bingo. He’s played in the clutch two games for the Heat and basically single-handedly lost both of them. Against the Hornets, he failed to box out Mark Williams who got the rebound and put back dunk to decide the game. And we all saw his abysmal inbound attempt against the Knicks (while he held a timeout in his back pocket).
I was just laughing that we started Mitchell on him.
Some of those rebounds were long bounces off of missed 3s. Cavs got a bunch of good contests in without giving up easy put backs.
Now the question is will double agent Kevin Love take the Cavs out for drinks and maybe become a TRIPLE AGENT! #miamiflu
Did Miami out-rebound us?
Yes, 37-32…
Lucky Heat had 24 turnovers…
I mean, the team forced some of those, like 1 or 2 lol
DG FOR MVP
Filling in for nomad tonight?
MORE BEER PLEASE
Lol!
NOMAD using subcontractors!
Need to root for the Kings tomorrow. Light the beam!
JA with 12 boards and helped hold Bam to 1.
JA had a godawful whistle, too…worse than usual, even…
CAVS > HEAT AND OFFICIATING
Oh yeah! Great tough win.
Nice road win !!!
need another one on Friday to take the season series.
The Professional
Frustrating at times, but damn good win…never going to be easy against the Heat…
Phew!!! Good win!
Omg, that was ugly. Underhand it
The end of this game is a fucking joke. JA clearly fouled before the ball was inbounded
Same as the last game.. surprised they didn’t call it correctly.
Why wouldn’t JA give the ball to Mitchell for the free throws.. I don’t trust anyone besides DG and DM at the line.
Should have just kept it. He’s a better shooter than Mobley.
HERRO DIDN’T WANT THE LAST SHOT???????? LMFAOOOOOOOOO
So hilarious.
Effed around for 12 seconds.
LOVE IT!
WTF was herro doing? Lol. Why did Allen pass that to Mobley?
HERRO SCARED LMFAOOOOOOOOOO
Dumb .. just not smart
Jfc
Please get a ft
Good lord this officiating.
What? That was before the play.
Before the inbound
It should not be this effing hard to inbound the effing ball.
I mean really,,,,,
His sets are so effing obvious. I knew the play that was coming before it came.
That’s two huge defensive brain farts in a row in final seconds for Ice. At least he didn’t foul him.
Gotta inbound first before worrying about making free throws AC
Ice afraid to foul there?
didn’t play the correct leverage against the picks
Fucking unreal
WHAT ARE YOU DOING OKORO
Ooto turnover has officially been renamed by nba stats as just a “JB.”
Inability to inbound.
WTF !!!!!
JESUS CHRIST LEARN HOW TO DRAW UP AN OUT OF BOUNDS PLAY
That was the quickest 5 second call I’ve ever seen.
Home cooking’…
I hate these refs. F$ck them!
Classic Cavs
Wtf was that