Recap: Cleveland 109, Chigaco 95 (or, Holiday Road Dawgz)

This was a makeup for the Miami game. You  know, the one on Thanksgiving Eve where the Cavs laid an egg against the Heat who laid down a 129-96 beatdown while missing Bam and Tyler Herro. I’ve said this for years, but unless your team is really focused, these holiday and holiday eve games favor the road team. The home team is usually worried about meal plans, family coming in, or travel plans… Meanwhile, the road team is stuck in another team’s arena with nothing but irritation, longing for absent friends. It brings the road Dawgz closer together, and lets em play with an edge.

On Thanksgiving eve, Miami had eight guys in double figures. Saturday night, Cleveland’s makeshift starting lineup all hit double digits, but the game was punctuated by a 48-37 rebound advantage that was the reason for an unexpected win this holiday season. Missing Mobley the Younger, Garland, Mitchell, and LeVert (four of their top six guys), Cleveland delivered an inspired present punctuated by Jarrett Allen’s 19/17/7 performance with two stocks and zero turnovers on just nine field goal attempts. Allen grabbed eight offensive rebounds, which helped Cleveland overcome 12-45 shooting from deep. JA got to the line 10 times, was at his most active this season, especially on the boards, and an Afro-Samurai drive and dunk late over Nic Vucevic helped seal the deal for Cleveland.

Meanwhile, seasoned rookie, Craig Porter Junior killed it with a base7 triple double: 25/10/11 (19/7/8 in base10) in 39 minutes with just three turnovers. CPJ continues to impress with steady point guard play, settling the offense when needed, getting teammates easy buckets, and using his athleticism on the boards and to deliver baskets in the clutch. Porter Junior has been such a steal for Cleveland with the spate of injuries to the three guys who’d probably play point guard ahead of him. “Doesn’t get sped up” was a description multiple teammates had for him post-game. Craig is so strong. He reminds me of a more athletic Jalen Brunson: another unheralded upper-classman who played above his draft rank. Porter’s two huge baskets down the stretch: a turnaround left block fadeaway over DeMar DeRozan, and floating bank shot on the left side with Alex Caruso on his right hip were coffin nails.

The seven minutes and change that the rook wasn’t on the floor were point guard by committee. Max Strus filled most of those responsibilities, but we saw some point-minivan from Georges Niang (it wasn’t pretty), and a general willingness by all the Cavs to pass the rock. It led to 28 assists, which is impressive since the Cavs’ missed 33 triples. Strus joined Jarrett Allen with seven assists and led the Cavs in scoring with 26. I’m loving the Cavs’ newfound realization that 3 > 2. Cleveland shot 45 triples to 43 two-pointers this game, and despite guys like Max going 5-17 from deep, the Cavs’ fearlessness in launching the long ball is exactly what this team has been missing for the last two years. I hope it continues when the good guys return to full health.

Dean Wade (11/7/1) and Isaac Okoro rounded (12/3/3) out the starters. Wade defended and shot open threes (3-10). Okoro looked competent as an occasional playmaker, and guy who attacks the rack. He’s gotten especially good at attacking from the corners and will Nash the baseline if teams take away the front of the rim. I don’t remember Okoro hitting a mid-range floater in four seasons, but he hit one this game… What Isaac still isn’t good at is shooting threes, as he was 0-5 from deep, dropping him to 35% on the year. But you can’t get better at em if you don’t try em. Ice was a part of a team defense that held the Bulls to 96 points, and did a decent job of closing out the three point line.

The bench in this game was nutty. We saw some crazy-ass lineups. The Cavs started off the fourth with CPJ, Niang, TT, Damian Jones, and Wade. WTF. It worked, weirdly. Damian Jones had been pulled out of the back of the pantry and hit a triple in the third before delivering a comical airball a few minutes later. He punctuated his return to the floor in the early fourth with a nifty reverse off a feed from CPJ for an and-1 that made me stand up and shout. The lineup did its job, eating a couple minutes and preserving the Cavs’ 12 point lead to start the final frame. It also worked cause CPJ is so damned good and the Cavs played damned good D.

Tristan Thompson’s resurrection has been nothing short of shocking after looking dead and buried after leaving the Cavs in 2020. TT wasn’t even in the Association last year, and clearly spent the year getting healthy and back in shape after looking like TTXL there for a couple years. Thompson had another strong showing: 8/6/1 including four offensive rebounds in 13 minutes. TT drew countless fouls on Bulls too. We even got an Emoni Bates sighting in the second quarter. Emoni was a bit over-excited, but still had a triple and a block as he ate nine minutes, going only -3 in that stretch.

My only complaint this game was my wife’s complaint for seven years of our marriage: I hate driving a minivan. Georges Niang continues to Dogberry on offense: just an absolute buffoon. Niang bumbles and stumbles his way through every possession he touches the ball. When Georges does succeed its because players are afraid of getting hurt by the spastic gesticulations of a chaos elemental. Point Niang was a comedy of errors that somehow resulted in only two turnovers. Still Georges went 3-12 from the floor and 0-5 from deep. He remains because he’s basically anchoring the Cavs’ crash line with Thompson: go out, lay some wood on dudes, and take no shit. The Cavs needed guys like that, but maybe not for $24 million.

It makes one wonder how bad Niang has to be to get the hook, since he got outplayed by Damian Jones tonight (game high +16!). How many threes does Georges have to miss until we see Isaiah Mobley? And before you poo-poo that, note that there weren’t many expectations on Sam Merrill or Craig Porter Junior before they started playing regular minutes, so I’m quite curious how good Mobley the Elder could be.

John Blair Bickerstaff seems to do his best coaching when he has few options and has to rely on just motivating the guys he does have and putting them in a position to succeed. It was clear that the Bulls underestimated Cleveland Saturday. DeMar DeRozan tried to grift his way into a comeback, launching himself into dudes for foul calls to finish with 21 points, but it wasn’t enough. Vuc gave the Bulls 20/12/4 but was a statue on offense and defense, and let the Cavs’ bigs control the o-boards. Even “best rebounder in the Association” Andre Drummond was checked out this one, and made me wonder why I ever wanted to trade for either of ’em

JB is good at overcoming low expectations. He did in this contest with inspired moments. In one of the most comical moments, Max Strus absolutely posterized Nic Vucevic who went down in a heap holding his groin after the dunk. The officials called a VERY late whistle of a “kneeing” offensive foul on Strus and actually took two minutes to review it for an offensive flagrant.

To Bickerstaff’s credit, he immediately called “bullshit” on the review, and as soon as the flagrant was denied, challenged the foul entirely, and yet another replay review rescinded it. It should’ve been a foul on Vuc, and a tech for flopping. From the opposite angle, it didn’t even look like Max’s knee made contact with the big man.

So, good on ya, JB. He pushed all the right buttons in this one, and has been frankly fantastic since Darius Garland and Even Mobley were ruled out for extended time. Coach has been 4-1 in that stretch, including 2-1 during Donovan Mitchell’s bout with the flu. The lone loss was basically a scheduling loss to the Pelicans on the second night of a back-to-back for which few could blame the Cavs for losing. My only gripe there was they should’ve said “eff it” and given Emoni and Isaiah extended run.

This 2023 Cavalier Advent calendar has been pretty danged delightful. At their most basic, Cleveland fans love guys who play hard, and the Cavs have been doing that for the last week and a half. Max Strus, isn’t shooting a superlative percentage (35% on the year), but he’s been a prolific shooter unafraid to let it fly. That’s what the Cavs have desperately been missing the past few seasons, and his ability to generate offense out of pindowns, the pick-and-roll, and in transition has been fantastic for pulling defenses away from the basket and letting guys like Jarrett Allen feast. Max has validated Koby’s investment in him, and CPJ is looking like an absolute rabbit-out-of-a-hat move.

Cleveland gets a real test Wednesday in Dallas, and then on Friday at home against the Bucks. Hoping for health for DM and our man, Sam for those contests. In the interim, I hope you all enjoy a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. I was super bummed I couldn’t make our 300th podcast, and I know I don’t write as much as I used to, but I want you all to know how much I value all of your readership and friendship, and especially the staff of this blog. I am incredibly blessed to have had you all in my life for the last 14 years. This site is bastion of decency in an internet filled with spam, ads, creepware, and mediocre copy. The fact that we still have such a dedicated following is truly one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever gotten. Thank you, and Merry Christmas.