{"id":25214,"date":"2014-03-30T16:17:10","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T00:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cavstheblog.com\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/?p=25214"},"modified":"2014-03-31T03:33:36","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T11:33:36","slug":"recap-cleveland-90-indiana-76-or-competitiveness-glorious-competitiveness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cavstheblog.com\/?p=25214","title":{"rendered":"Recap: Cleveland 90, Indiana 76 (or, competitiveness, glorious competitiveness)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"MVP!<\/a>

MVP! MVP! MVP!<\/p><\/div>\n

Today’s matinee loomed large for the Cavs’ fleeting playoff hopes, entering three games behind Atlanta and trailing New York by 1.5, with none of the teams having more than ten games left to play. \u00a0Normally, playing the Pacers, sans Kyrie, would look like another nail in the coffin of this season. \u00a0In a brutal March that features 18 games though, Indiana has won only 8 of 16. \u00a0Their offense is completely dysfunctional and their defense declined from “historic” to “very good”. Playing at the Q, it seemed the Cavs had a chance.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The game started beautifully, with Tristan nailing a hook shot and Dion splashing home two jumpers as part of an eight to nothing opening. \u00a0The teams traded baskets, and when Dion nabbed a steal for a breakaway dunk, Cleveland led 14 to 7 midway through the quarter. \u00a0In transition, Luol Deng tossed a sweet alley-oop to Tristan (Man, I wish the Cavs had more ‘oopers), then Andy & Delly entered. \u00a0Those two tallied seven points over the final minutes of the quarter as the Cavs went to the first break leading 25 to 20.<\/p>\n

The second quarter began with more Wine & Gold highlights. \u00a0Dion got out in semi-transition and initiated early offense for an easy score, while Andy pitched in another four points. \u00a0Eventually the shots quit falling though, as a 31 to 22 lead dissipated to one-point game, at 35 – 34. \u00a0At that point, Luol Deng had enough; he wasn’t going to let his streak of four straight years in the playoffs go down without a fight. \u00a0He quickly canned two jumpers, including an and-one, then grabbed a defensive rebound, took it the length of the court, and dished to Delly for a three. \u00a0A little later, he threaded a bounce pass to Andy for a pick & roll score and found Tristan to draw a Pacer foul, as the Cavs secured their first double-digit margin, 45 to 34. \u00a0Cleveland eventually pushed it to 13, heading to the half with the score 49 to 36. \u00a0Dion had 10 points on 5 of 8 shooting. \u00a0Deng posted eight points, three boards and three assists as part of a +15 showing. \u00a0Jarrett Jack, Andy and Delly all played well, too, combining for 21 points.<\/p>\n

As it pertained to the games outcome, the primary scare came early in the third quarter. \u00a0Dion and Tristan both started the quarter 0 for 3, the team couldn’t rebound, and when Deng threw away a crappy pass, the Pacers narrowed the lead to six at 53 to 47. \u00a0Fortunately, Indiana is a glorious disaster on offense right now. \u00a0They scored 11 points over the quarter’s last seven-and-half minutes. \u00a0Jarrett Jack drove & kicked to Hawes for a corner three. Zeller backed down David West for a nice post score. Then, Delly then took over, scoring on a transition run-out, drive & kicking for a Jack 3, then finding Tristan for another rim-rattling alley-oop! \u00a0Indiana turned the ball over five times in six minutes as Cleveland surged to a 73 to 58 lead.<\/p>\n

And the fourth quarter was one of those rare Cavs wins when there was no crunch time. \u00a0The game was never really in doubt, as the Cavs took care of business and the Pacers imploded. \u00a0Delly kept dominating, like only he and Chris Paul can, finding Dion for assists on back-to-back jumpers as the lead extended to 17. \u00a0Then, the Pacers really started losing their composure. \u00a0David West threw a\u00a0shoulder into Delly, leading Spencer Hawes to have some words with Mr. West. \u00a0The Pacer power forward shoved a hand into Hawes’ grill, leading Dion to start jawing at West, and the official to call a flagrant foul on Indiana. \u00a0Delly hit both free throws, Dion hit a jumper, the Cavs were up 21, and then\u2026a sweet, slow cruise to victory. \u00a0Indiana never got within twelve, as the Cavs won 90 to 76.<\/p>\n

This was a big win tonight, putting the team at 30 for the season. \u00a0They have won 14 of their last 26. \u00a0Jarrett Jack looks resuscitated. \u00a0Dion continues to prove his place on a competitive team. \u00a0Playoffs or not, it is great to watch entertaining games in late March, with a team obviously full of pride and competitive spirit. \u00a0\u00a0Now, get Kyrie back, win six more games and beat the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs!<\/p>\n

Hey, a guy can dream.<\/p>\n

A few bullets:<\/p>\n