Live Thread: Cavs vs Pacers
2026-04-05The NBA regular season is officially too long. The Pacers roll into town with a bevy of injuries, and the Cavs are submitting their own incomplete team for competition. The Cavs feature nary a rotation big man…
While the Pacers’ injury list stretches off the page (season enders to Johnny Furphy and of course Tyrese Haliburton fill out the list.) Adam Silver for prison.
With Mitchell and Harden being the best players on the floor, and the Cavs able to get some semblance of competence from Bryant, Nance, and Tomlin, they should have this. Stay tuned for a weird one. Go Cavs.
LT up
For Daspec90: The title pic is named “The Wounded Cavalier.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wounded_Cavalier
Tonight’s injury:
Cavs:
Out: Harden (personal), Mitchell (ankle), Strus (foot), Wade (ankle), Tyson (toe), Bryant (calf).
Griz:
Out: Morant, KCP, Jerome, Aldama, Pippen Jr., Wells, Edey, Clarke, Small, Mashack.
Doubtful: Hendricks, Gibson.
BIG CONCERN OF KA MAKING THE CORRECT “ IN GAME “ DECISION s / ROTATIONS
THINK IT WILL DEPEND ON MATCHUPS / IN GAME DECISIONS ON HOW EACH PLAYER IS PERFORMING— FOUL TROUBLE- GOD FORBID – INJURIES
This was eye-opening for me, as a kind of negative Nancy lately, from FTS:
Cavs ratings per 100 poss with Big 4 sharing the court. Only 165 possessions.
Offensive: 121.2/100. 88th percentile.
Defensive: 100.6/100. 100th percentile.
Net rating: +20.6/100. 100th percentile.
https://www.fearthesword.com/cavs-news/47526/cavs-kenny-atkinson-cleveland-cavaliers-indiana-pacers-max-strus-sam-merrill-dean-wade-keon-ellis-jaylon-tyson
The article is about who to start at the 3. And compares hiw Big 4 + Strus or Wade or Merrill oe Tyson or Ellis have rated out. VERY small sample sizes. Only 3 possessions for Tyson, none for Ellis, and Strus is likely still rusty. But I’d argue comparing how the Big 4 play with various options is only half the equation. The other half is how do the non- Big 4 configurations look in various combos. The big 4 floor time has been excellent no matter who the 5th is. FWIW, Merrill is the clear winner in the… Read more »
All 5 options give you something different.
Merrill gives you shooting & spacing. But if the shot isn’t dropping, we are kinda small. Rebounding & perimeter D not the strongest.
Wade guves you the best size & rebounding. And best Dcon big wings. A bit of spacing but not much gravity. Next to no playmaking.
Strus gives you streaky shooting, but good rebounding & secondary playmaking. D isn’t Wade level, but passable and irritating.
Tyson is similar to Strus. With better ballhandling ability, more consistency shooting. But also more mistakes on both ends.
Ellis gives you the best (high risk) D on smalls and a bit of shooting some nights. Not much else on O.
I think it will just depend on matchups, game state, and whomever has it going.
good points
If I had a vote:
MVP: 1. Wemby, 2. Jokic, 3. SGA, 4. Doncic, 5. Brown.
ALL NBA 1: SGA, Doncic, Brown, Wemby, Jokic
2nd: Murray, Spida, Leonard, Durant, Duren
3rd: Brunson, Maxey, Johnson, Avdija, Holmgren
Almost: A. Thompson, Sengun, Harden, Castle, Barnes, Ball.
THAT IS MY THINKING TOO SIMMO—- SO ARE THE CAVS GOING TO LOAD UP ON THE GRIZZ TONIGHT— GO FOR THE WIN —- CANT SEE SPIDA PLAYING TONIGHT——- OPINIONS??
To be eligible for awards & stuff, Mobley needs 3 more games. Not that he is an all-nba threat this year, but all defense (2nd) is possible. I think he’ll play 3 out of 4.
And let’s face it, he needs the reps!
MY GUESS IS THE GAMES VS HAWK s ARE GOING TO BE SOMEWHAT MEANINGLESS——-DO NOT BELIEVE EITHER TEAM ARE GOING TO SHOW THE OTHER ANYTHING———— ALTHOUGH I CAN SEE QUINN “ LOADING UP “ BEATING UP ON THE CAVS TO INSTILL CONFIDENCE——- ALSO QUINN COACHED SPIDA HOW MANY YEARS—- KNOWS HIS GAME BETTER THAN ANYONE
The Hawks are certainly not locked into #5. And could fall into the play-in. They are 2 games up on 7th and 3 on 8th/9th.
Their schedule is: NY, at Cavs, Cavs, at Mia.
IDK the TBs or who they may prefer. But they certainly are not gonna want the play in. If I was them, I’d want us over NY.
No gimmies in that schedule. Heat may need the last to host a play-in game. The Hawks will want to win.
Hawks will want to win both. Cavs not so much, especially if they win over the Grizz. Will be very interesting to see how many “injuries” Cavs have at that point.
RAOUL- CHUCK TAYLOR HIGH TOPS WERE THE STANDARD SHOE IN HS / COLLEGE TO WEAR———I BELIEVE WHEN NIKE/ JORDAN CAME ON THE SCENE IS WHEN THE BIG CHANGE IN SHOE APPARRELL CAME ——— TODAY EVEN IN HS THERE ARE “ NO TEAM / SAME SHOES “ —EVERY PLAYER WEARING WHAT THEY PREFER———- WHICH TO ME TAKES AWAY TEAM UNITY PROMOTES INDIVIDUALISM——— OF COURSE I AM “ OLD SCHOOL 🏫 “
good ‘ole Chuck Taylor days! they were the real deal when I was a kid ($8/pair). playing on rough concrete courts in the summer, I would wear a hole right through them every few weeks.
VALID POINTS JASON—— 1 OF THOSE THINGS “ DAMNED IF YOU DO —- DAMNED IF YOU DONT “. TOUGH DECISION TO MAKE—- NOT SURE WHICH IS CORRECT
Yeah. I am not opposed to resting guys with an ouchie. Allen’s knee, Sam’s hammy, Spida’s ankle, etc. I would not take risks trying to catch NY. Health is more important than seeding.
But the play in tourney gives a bit of a built in break. I certainly would not rest healthy guys when #3 in the east and #5 overall are still on the table.
Last b2b is tonight. And we pre-rested guys. Plus, we could have the Hawks and I do not want to face them after losing two late.
I know I am in the minority, but I strongly disfavor tanking to avoid the Celtics. We are supposed to be contenders. We are likely gonna have to face them anyway at some point. And I’d rather have HC vs the Knicks than not if it comes to that. Ditto every Western team outside of OKC/SA. The Nuggets, Lakers, and Rockets are all on 28/39 losses. If by some miracle it isn’t OKC/SA, I’d like home court for the Finals. While health is indeed paramount at this point, I’d much rather do the thing that puts us in the best… Read more »
I see your point, but one can argue that the best position is to not face the Celts as long as possible. for one thing, the Knicks are a rough and perhaps dirty team, and who ever faces them has a bigger chance of getting banged up, which might be the Celts. as for HC advantage, we wouldn’t be playing the Knicks until the ECF, and they aren’t likely to be there.
because I am happy arguing this one either way, I am happy either way it turns out. I am good with resting and healing up players for a couple games, then going full tilt in the last game, or maybe first half of the last game.
The Pistons are just as rough and almost as dirty.
I think most folk here are underwstimating them. They just keep on winning, even without Cade.
Agree on their underestimation, but I think given their age, when another PO team with proven all-stars locks in on them in a 7 game series, they won’t survive.
I think this season, the Cavs can handle the Knicks comfortaby.
Two years ago I was strongly against tanking to keep the 4 spot, partly bc it was setting up what seemed like an obvious bow-out in round 2 against the 1-seed Celtics, rather than keeping alive some hope of getting to the ECF (for the first time “without LeBron on the team” since 1992). But I don’t feel strongly now. It’s clear that the Celts are the toughest matchup. And the later the Cavs are set up to potentially face them, the better the chance that something happens to affect the matchup – could be something fortunate for Cleveland or… Read more »
The Pistons are better than Boston. Boston is a worse matchup. I’m good either way.
NO DOUBT EVERY PLAYER IS WEARING ANKLE SUPPORT/ GETTING TAPED/ ETC
I have a question for the group. It seems like nobody wears high tops anymore. Are they all wearing some kind of ankle support thing under their socks?
I think so. I recall a highschool practice where a guy broke his ankle wearing lowtops (I still see this guy at HS reunions), the the coach gave us a stern lecture to ALWAYS wear high tops, which I did for decades. around 20 plus years ago, some sort of “inner high top supports”, laced up and worn under low tops, became popular. the younger guys convinced me to give them a try, and I used them for my last few years hanging out in gyms. it was not obvious if they were better or not — if you get… Read more »
Nate, please tell me about that image. I can’t make the connection.
yeah, it’s pretty cool, appearing to be packed full of symbolic stuff, but who knows what
Think Nate is just using this to highlight all the injuries. The painting itself is of the end of the Royalists in Scotland, dude dying was their leader.
check the DM move that caused 40% of the Pacers to fall down:
https://www.fearthesword.com/cavs-scores-results/47560/cavs-use-big-fourth-quarter-to-beat-the-pacers-117-108
only have a one game cushion on the Knicks — might need some more rest days!
Time to start losing.
In typical Cavs fashion, we were sleepwalking vs a team trying to lose.
Mitchell & Harden were both good offensively. Bryant with a double double. Ellis made some triples, which offset a cold Strus night, though he did had a good floor game (7 reb, 5 dimes, 0 TOs).
The bench was unspectacular but solid. And everyone had a moment or two. Schröder mostly under control. CPJ solid but unspectacular and 2 blocks. Tomlin hit a consequential 3. And itcwas noce to see LNJ get some burn & contribute.
SO I AM ASSUMING SPIDA NOT PLAYING TOMORROW NIGHT—— HOW BAD OF ANKLE SPRAIN
Spida says he’s fine. Suspect he and Max sit tonight, zoo crew for both Hawks games and full out against Washington to close.
If the Knicks beat the Hawks today, 4 is locked since they have the tie breaker.
Thanks Nate had to work late and listened to it on the radio…
Nance making clutch defensive plays in the 4th … glad KA got a clue.
CPJ and Tomlin turned the tide too pretty easy to play guys who play hard KBozo hope you learned something!
Thomas Bryant agenda fully vindicated as well, haters in piss
Mitchell and Strus hurt…Strus played the second half and Donovan got Zaza’ed while hopping to celebrate a 3…
It’s just all luck…some 10-day gump wanders into celebration range and you get hurt. Minutes and load management mean nothing, fk Indy
Bryant bumps it to 11 Cavs had the most success today NOT playing four guards
Cavs were pulling away, but went cold.
JUST GOING BY THE BOX SCORE——— IS ANYONE WATCHING THIS TRAIN WRECK
YAWN 🥱
👍🙏 GOOD JOB NATE —— “ REVERSE “ TANKING IN EFFECT——-GO CHARGE ——- I MEAN CAVS