Recap: Cavs 126, Raptors 118 (Or, It Was Cavalier Basketball In The Sense That The Cavs Were Playing)
2010-02-26Overview: In one of the most offense-heavy Cavs games in recent memory, the Cavaliers were able to pull out a 126-118 win over the Raptors in overtime. LeBron James led the way with 36 points on only 17 shots. The Cavaliers made three straight three-pointers at the beginning of overtime to break the game open.
Cavs-Related Bullets:
-The defense. It was not good. Some of the reasons for this are understandable. The Raptors are a very good offensive team. The Cavs did not have Shaq or Z to protect the middle. Jamison is still learning the system, and had to play nearly the entire game.
Then there was Mo Williams’ defense, which has become an issue. Jarrett Jack should not be getting 24 points on 14 shots. What makes it worse is that only six of Jack’s points came from outside the paint. He was abusing Mo. I don’t know if it’s the shoulder injury or if Mo has just always been a bad defender, but this cannot continue.
Mike Brown is a more patient man than I am. He stuck with Shaq in the starting lineup and Shaq turned it around. (He really couldn’t have benched Shaq, but still.) He stuck with JJ and JJ turned it around. Now he’s sticking with Mo and hoping he figures it out. I assume his DNP-CDing Boobie to get Mo’s confidence up, but it’s hurting the defense right now.
-Gotta love LeBron in attack mode all night long. When he made a move, he was looking to take the ball to the basket. LeBron was only 2-8 from outside of the paint. He was 8-9 from inside the key, and 15-16 from the line. That’s being aggressive. Throw in nine assists against only one turnover, and I’d say LeBron had a pretty good day at the office.
-The Cavs gave up 29 or more points in three of the four quarters in regulation. Sometimes, it was Reggie Evans working the Cavs down low. Other times, it was Hedo Turkoglu doing his thing. After that, the Raptors would start hitting tough outside jumpers. And then Jarret Jack would work Mo Williams. And so on and so forth until the Raptors scored 111 points in regulation. Not what Mike Brown wants to see on the defensive end.
-Let’s talk about the stretch run. With just under two minutes to go, LeBron went for an off-balance dagger three with the Cavs up one. It missed badly. After that, LeBron stopped settling. He drew a foul on the next possession and knocked down the free throws. On the next Raptors possession, Hedo got Mo on a switch and drained a clutch three over him.
LeBron tried to force a drive the next time down, missed, and Hedo put the Raptors up two with a nice tip slam on the resulting break. LeBron got the ball out of the inbounds play and immediately put in a layup. Jack drew a borderline blocking foul on Mo the next time down, and the Cavs were down two with 17 seconds to play.
At this point, the Cavs were tired. Varejao had fouled out. The Cavs were thin up front. It was a back-to-back. Some people were expecting LeBron to let the clock run down, go for the hero three, take the 35% chance of a win and get some rest if it didn’t fall.
As it turned out, LeBron took all of four seconds to tie the game with a layup. Parker played some nice defense on Hedo and forced him into an off-balance three. Parker missed the game-winner, and after that it was time to play free basketball.
In overtime, the three pointer saved the day. LeBron won the tip, the ball got to Mo in his favorite spot, and he casually drained it. Next time down, LeBron found Mo in the corner for another three. After that, LeBron found AP for yet another three. On the next possession, AP played hero himself, up-faking his man and hitting a 17-foot banker to put the Cavs up 9 with about a minute and a half left. Game over. Three-pointers and LeBron James are the great equalizers.
-Leon Powe looked solid in there tonight, even if he was getting out-Powed at times by Reggie Evans. He’s built like a tank, he fights for everything, and he can finish inside. I like him. Could put together an Ultimate Jawad-type campaign if Shaq misses real time.
-Oh, Mo Williams, how conflicted I am about you. Sometimes you kill the defense. Nobody outside of LeBron can change the game offensively like you can. But late in the game, it was Mo nailing the big threes and saving the game. Hopefully Mo improves his defense, because his offense is crucial. I wish this were football.
-Hickson on the floor without LeBron: bad idea. JJ got worked on defense, and has no idea what to do on offense when he’s asked to create. JJ had a team-low -9, but that was more about the team using JJ in the wrong spot than JJ having an off night.
-When Jamison’s on his game and cutting, he looks like Varejao with skills on the offensive end. That’s an awesome proposition. I continue to remain skeptical of his jumper, but he got five points on five jumpers tonight, which is passable.
-42 minutes for Parker and 0 for Boobie? Really? I don’t mind AP, but I’m not sure what Boobie’s done wrong.
-Alright, that’s about all I have for tonight. See you guys tomorrow.
parker is the 3rd cockiest player on the team, and i think that serves the cavs very well.
Great post Tom Pestak. Mo’s defense is just plain bad and the Toronto announcers pointed out that he was the weak link in crunch time versus Jack. This is had been standard routine. Boobie should be getting solid minutes at point guard. I think another important comparison is Boobie to AP. Boobie doesn’t make easy shots for anybody and is really a 2 guard. I’m sure the reason why AP gets so much playing time is because he is a smart defensive player. Coaches love that. Plus he can hit open threes and handle the ball. But so can Boobie.… Read more »
I’ll give this to AP. I’ve almost never seen him in the wrong SPOT in Mike Brown’s defense. When he gets beat, it’s because athletically he can’t hang. But he makes pretty much every rotation. Super Jamario, not so much. Also, notice how many times a game, AP gets a hand on a pass because he’s in good defensive position. He just plays the right way and Mike Brown trusts that. And I guarantee he’s going to be trusting that in the playoffs. Mike Brown has always liked tall guards. And he feels Mo gives him more than Boobie in… Read more »
After being bitchified by the Cavs on Thursday, Boston just lost at home to the Nets. Wow.
Here is a simple question I have for everyone. Let’s say MB expands the rotation and gives more minutes to Gibson and Moon. Would you all be ok with a few more losses because of extra guys playing? It does disrupt the rhythm of a team. Personally, I’m ok with 58 wins as opposed to 68 wins, but I know other people would be up in arms. Imo, it’s a no win situation for MB. He expands the rotation, the team takes a while to adjust and he gets killed for it. He doesn’t, and he gets killed for it.… Read more »
“He’s not going to continue to shoot above 50%…”
I disagree. I think there’s a strong possibility he could finish the season shooting above 50%. He’s gotten so many easy shots since he was traded here because of LeBron. I don’t see why that won’t continue.
“Hedo, what was the difference between the Cavs and the Raptors in this game? ”
“Ball.”
Oh, and why does MB wait to the VERY last possession of a game to switch offense/defense. Why couldn’t we pull out Mo and put on moon on defense before the last play? I was amazed he did it, but he should’ve been doing it for the last 3 possessions. I at least give him credit for having someone other than LeBron take the last shot (though why it had to be a 3 is beyond me). I’d love to have seen Jamison setting a back screen for a LeBron Lob, and then hit Jamison if they go with LeBron.
From yesterday’s Chat Wrap. “Bill, with a gun to your head right now…who’s the 2009-2010 NBA Champ?” Bill Simmons: “The Cavs. That team has an answer for everything – they can go fast, slow, big, small, doesn’t matter. The only guy who can stop them is Mike Brown. And don’t put it past him.” MB is killing me every game with the substitutions. First of all, if you want to trim the rotation, dump Jawad Williams who has been worthless for the 3-4 minutes he’s playing in the first half every night. Give these minutes to Moon, who’s a roleplayer… Read more »
“Also, why does it have to be feast or famine with all these guys? I understand that in the playoffs a rotation is usually 7-9 players but why does Boobie either start games, play 30+ minutes and score in double digits, or else DNP? I mean, toss him in there for two 5 minute increments or something. If he starts hitting 3s, ride him, if he’s not really contributing, you just gave either Mo, Delonte, or Parker a 5 minute breather.”
+1
Henry Abbott linked to Mo’s 82games page in today’s bullets. Here are some stats for comparisons sake: Boobie: Net +2.3 points/48 minutes (not great) Mo : Net -9.4 points/48 minutes (yikes!) At PG Boobie: PER: 13.0, Opponent PER: 13.1, Net -0.1 Mo : PER: 17.9, Opponent PER: 18.0, Net -0.1 Clutch Stats:(per 48 min) Boobie: .667 eFG%, 10.8pp48, asst’d 77% Mo : .357 eFG%, 16.8pp48, asst’d 38% What I gather from this: No one is calling for Boobie to start or play 35 minutes a game, but these stats should show that he can be a great situational player. His… Read more »
I’m similarly confused about the lack of minutes for Moon and Gibson. One question I have: do NBA coaches just have some sense that they should not be giving significant minutes to more than 8 (or at most 9) players? Is it something about getting players into the rhythm of the game? This is my only theory to make sense of the substitutions, although there is one other point to note: for all of AP’s frustrating misses, his +/- tends to be quite good. It was +15 last night.
Ditto the sentiments about Moon. When the Cavs got the ball back with one in regulation, why did we throw it in to Voldimort to brick a contested 3? We could have had Moon set a few back picks and then cut to the hoop for a game winning lob. Giving the ball to LeBron in that situation would have been predictable but sensible. Giving it to AP was semi-predictable and nonsensical. Tossing a lob to Moon would have been completely unpredictable and possibly would have won the game without overtime.
Also, I want to see some more Boobie.
Excellent point, Shawn. I would also like to see moon getting a couple more minutes (in addition to a few for Boobie). I’m not say either needs a ton of minutes, but if you’re going to play Parker for 42, I’d like to see a few of those minutes distributed elsewhere.
I know that people are clamoring for Boobie to get minutes around here, but I feel Moon deserves some more time on the court as well. He got 4 minutes last night to Parker’s 42. He’s longer than Parker and quicker and without a doubt more athetic (we’ve all seen him sky for the alleyoop and go up and grab a rebound in traffic). I’m not sure what Mike Brown sees in Parker that most fans don’t see, but I’ve always felt that Moon is the one player other than Lebron who provides an athletic edge for the Cavs over… Read more »
I’ve noticed that Parker seems be the 2nd option at the end of quarters, the half, or the game when there is good ball denial on LeBron. I know these are difficult shots, but he has come up empty every single time. Just an observation.
At this point in the year, I’m convinced Parker has some compromising photos of Mike Brown with mid-sized farm animals.
Charlie,
I agree that the Raptors look like Orlando-lite. Sometimes I don’t understand why the Cavs defensive system will send help to double ANY player with the ball! This is how Orlando destroyed us–there is always some knucklehead with a bad ass three-stroke waiting open on the perimeter. I’m so sick of Mike Brown refusing to adjust his system for teams like Orlando or Toronto. It doesn’t work against them!
The Cavs defense was terrible, but part of that was due to the lack of a true center (when the Cavs have no answer for Reggie frakking Evans what more can I say?) … and the fact that Toronto is simply not a good matchup for them. With Bosh, Toronto is very dangerous … kind of an Orlando-lite with their dominant big man and sweet-shooting bigs. Hell, by getting Turkoglu and Orlando trading for Vince, Toronto’s arguably now out-Magicked the Magic. After his inauspicious 0-12 start with the Cavs, Jamison has averaged 17 & 7 on 55% shooting the last… Read more »
Any win on the road is good in the NBA.
I think Boobie needs to get some burn. He is a more capable defender than Mo and his shooting has been lights out this year.
I loved seeing LeBron win that tip. If the season ended today he’s have the all-time best PER.
Amazing.
What Boobie is doing wrong is being to short. Bring him in to guard who?? Hedo??No..he couldn’t do that so that means we have to use LeBron on Hedo, making our star work harder. It really is that simple, Parker and Moon have size, and Boobie doesn’t. (I mention Hedo because the comment was that Boobie should be getting run in place of parker). I’m sorry Krolik but you needed to spend more time on that Hickson 2nd quarter disaster. I mean, we get on Mo for poor defense, but excuse Hickson for being used wrong? Idc about the offense,… Read more »
Show me your Boobie, Mike Brown.
I know Im mister negative… loved to watch the win, even with this many points but I gotta agree with one thing;
“42 minutes for Parker and 0 for Boobie? Really? I don’t mind AP, but I’m not sure what Boobie’s done wrong.”
Same here, Especially with Mo’s defense. Boobie too can hit a three.