Recap: Kings 92, Cavs 93
2012-02-19
The Cavs edged the Kings in a game that was decided in the final seconds.
–I suppose we should talk about that last minute of play, huh? With 35 seconds left in the game, Kyrie Irving drove to the basket from the wing and missed a lay-up which was promptly tipped in by Tristan Thompson (Kings 90-Cavs 90). Then DeMarcus Cousins demanded the ball in the post, threw a cross-court pass to John Salmons as he felt the defense collapsing, and hauled in an offensive rebound after Salmons clanked the three. A couple wild misses by the Kings frontcourt followed, and the pile-up in front of the rim ended when Cousins fouled Alonzo Gee, who made one of his two free throws (Cavs 91-Kings 90). On the next play, DMC demanded the ball again, hooked around Antawn Jamison (should have been an offensive foul), and converted a tough reverse lay-in (Kings 92-Cavs 91). After a Cavs timeout, Irving drove the lane with almost no time left on the clock, and Tyreke Evans—who I think assumed the Kings had a foul to give—wrapped up Irving, who sank both free throws. And the game ended after the Kings got two shots at sinking a game-winner with 0.4 seconds left on the clock? For some reason? And Keith Smart was really angry about this? I dunno. It was a weird conclusion to a weird game.
–This game was sloppy mostly because the Cavs decided to play at the Kings’ pace. The action was end-to-end for extended stretches, and there were a lot of turnovers, offensive fouls, and contested shots early in the shot clock. I’m pretty sure the Kings shot exclusively from behind the three-point line or within the painted area. I suppose this is as good a strategy as any for a team full of ball-dominant penetrators, back-to-the-basket big men, and shooters, but they still managed to shoot just 37% on the game. If there’s one team in the NBA that desperately needs a pass-first point guard, it’s the Kings.
–Isaiah Thomas isn’t that pass-first point guard, but he did outplay Irving, whose jumpshot faltered in the second half. This might be the last time I write this about Irving because it’s becoming the norm, but when the Kings were mounting a comeback in the fourth quarter, he demanded the ball and attempted to stem the tide. He failed, mostly (ultra-clutch free throws notwithstanding), but the fact that he wants the ball and that his teammates defer to him in crunch time is encouraging. Now, if only he can work on staying in front of shifty point guards…
–Tristan Thompson had a huge game. 15 points on 6-10 shooting, and 12 rebounds in 30 minutes. He was Varejao-esque on the offensive glass, tipping boards to both himself and his teammates. TT looked healthy for the first time in about a month (I had forgotten how bouncy dude is), and worked relentlessly on both ends of the floor. Maybe this Varejao injury has a silver lining insofar as Thompson, as long as he plays hard, will get some extended burn, and Cavs fans will get a chance to see what he can do when he has a better chance to get into the flow of the game (some players can’t figure out how to be effective in only 12-15 minutes of action).
–Omri Casspi was 3-12 and 0-5 from behind the arc. This is getting depressing.
–Ramon Sessions should never be allowed to enter a game in which the other team likes to run. When Kyrie Irving elects to push the ball, he usually does so in a controlled manner, but Sessions just sprints down the court like a child that’s ingested a drug store’s worth of Skittles. At least three or four times, Sessions pushed the ball into traffic and flung a wild shot at the backboard. I really hope the Lakers can see through his glaring flaws, and put in an offer for him.
–Antawn Jamison was 7-21. You might be sensing a trend here: this was not a well-played game by either team. Way too much shooting, not enough passing, and intermittently sleepy defense. I’m sure both coaches will chew their young squads out for this performance.
The Cavaliers are at home against Detroit on Tuesday night. Until tomorrow, friends.
Very good point by Herr Wagner on the JJ vs. Casspri comparison. What matters is that Casspri is better than JJ, a better teammate than JJ, doesn’t demand as much money as JJ, excites the Beechwood fan base in a way that JJ couldn’t, that Casspri does not walk around for years feeling entitled to lobs from LeBrundage, and that, eventually, he finds his 3-point shot. And no excuses about ‘the Cleveland effect,’ has anyone been to SACRAMENTO lately? It’s a dive, a quasi-national capitol with no symphony orchestra and a bunch of drunks downtown; if Cleveland is good enough… Read more »
Don’t forget when comparing Thompson to some of the players drafted after him that currently he is already a much better defender and has room to improve in that area. So while he might never catch some of them offensively, he has a good chance still to be the better overall player, especially when you consider the rarity of truly good/great defensive bigs. I don’t think the gap is as big as some people would make it when you consider the defense.
Hoopsdog, I realize that your point was that good players can come from all parts of the draft. The Cavs need to minimize mistakes with their high draft picks and find some gems with their later picks. I look at the late first round and second round as a place to look for one of two things. 1) Find a player that has developed long enough in college to be able to contribute immediately to at least temporarily fill a roster need. 2)Find a player with great potential that can be developed into an important contributor over several years. The… Read more »
Hoopsdog,
In the short term those players might be doing better than TT right now because they almost all played and developed for several years in college, while TT was one and done. I agree that some of those players may likely be better players than TT in the long run also. That in itself doesn’t make taking TT at #4 a bad pick, just maybe not the best possible pick. While getting the best possible pick is something to strive for, not making any truly bad picks is a more realistic goal.
I think TT is awesome on defense. He’s a little clumsy right now, but he’ll be a monster in a few years.
In the second half, when TT guarded him, Cousins had zero points and 2 or 3 TO’s depending on a little interpretation. So why is god’s name was Jamiaon guarding Cousns on the Kings next to last possession? A rare mis-step by the coaching staff but almost a fatal one. Btw, TT’s play has convinced me that if we get a damn good offer for Andy we take it. TT is an offensive rebounding machine. He’s got a way to go on D but he’s still above average defensively for a rook.
Mallory: My comment was to more a rebuttal to iso1512, an assertion that good players can be found after the 11th pick, and a followup to a comment that got eaten by the monster. But I do think many of those guys will be better players than Thompson. Kenneth Faried’s rebound rate is phenomenal, and his offense is better than advertised. Marshon Brooks is going to be a good scorer. Isaiah Thomas has a lot of J.J. Barea in him (with a better jump shot). Of those players, I think Burks, Leonard (both of whom were in the convsersation for… Read more »
i know the Thomas character played alright, and his stats may have been better than Irving’s, but watching the game I never really thought of it as Kyrie getting outplayed. Irving wasnt even guarding him for most of the game it didnt seem like
They only lottery the top 3 teams. After that, the rest of the draft is done in reverse order of your record.
So if the Cavs finish with the 11th worst record, they have a very small chance of landing either 1, 2, or 3 and a 0% chance of picking 4-10. They could, however, pick 11, 12, 13, or 14. Its not really a true lottery.
I really agree with Bonus Wagner (nice pseudonym by the way) on this one. Casspi may not be draining his open looks right now, but his D has really gotten a lot better since the beginning of the season, and he’s a decent rebounder. Not only that, he works pretty hard most of the time, which is really all you can expect when dealing with a young guy who is having shooting issues. I think he’ll probably, eventually, begin hitting his shots, a la the law of averages. HoopsDogg – do you really think all those guys you listed have… Read more »
Markieff Morris, John Leuer, Marshon Brooks, Nikola Vucevik, Kenneth Faried, Alec Burks, JaJuan Johnson, Jordan Hamilton, Kawhi Leonard, Isaiah Thomas: All players posting an above average PER who were taken 12 or later.
iso, there is a draft lottery for the NBA. Draft positioning is not determined by record for the non playoff teams.
Despite Casspi’s shooting woes, he is rebounding and contributing something to this team. Which is more than I can say for JJ Hickson. He looked terrible for the Kings tonight, his statistical regression has been much worse than Omri Casspi. The fact that the Cavs can score a future 1st round pick in that deal makes it a winner regardless of what Casspi does.
I’m not exactly a tanking-for-a-top-3-pick person, but I think after this win we have the 11th highest pick of the draft, which is not good enough to get a good player in this draft. I hope we end up around 8th so we can get brad beal and still win some games.
Omri had 12 boards! And all those 3P shots were wide open, I know he didn’t make them but it’s good spacing.
“And the game ended after the Kings got two shots at sinking a game-winner with 0.4 seconds left on the clock? For some reason?”
On the first inbound, the clock started when the ball hit the rim. By rule, it should not start until it touches a PLAYER. That’s why they got two chances at it.
As far as why Smart was mad, I have no idea.