Recap: Cavs 114, Bulls 108 (Or, ALL THE REBOUNDS!!!)
2014-11-01
See ball get ball, Tina.
The Cavs won! They survived NBA-JAM-FIRE Kirk Hinrich, and Tristan Thompson had a Dagger OBoard+Flush in the waning moments of OT. LeBron looked bad and still 100x better than last night. Derrick Rose sprained his ankle, stayed in the game, left later, and never came back.
A few weeks ago I wrote about the rebounding prowess of the Cavs. They finished with a 52-42 edge in rebounding, dominating a good frontcourt despite fighting through the second night of an exhausting back to back.
1st Quarter: LeBron came out firing, scoring 9 points and looking a lot more Jamesian. Anderson Varejao filled the lanes and seems to be the only Cavalier that LeBron passes to effectively. The Cavs made some deep jumpers off mostly second chance points thanks to TT’s four offensive rebounds. The Cavs lead 28-27 after one.
https://twitter.com/Cavsanada/status/528347769241882624
2nd Quarter: The Cavs methodically worked the Bulls in this quarter. After last night’s game I thought it would be a while before they could settle down, identify mismatches, and just out-execute. They did just that in the 2nd, dropping 30 points on the Bulls. Kyrie Irving went right at Aaron Brooks, scoring nine points in the first few minutes of the quarter. Derrick Rose checked back in and gave the Bulls a lift. He also landed on a Cavalier shoe and turned his ankle. He hobbled around for a second (the crowd almost lost its mind) but stayed in the game. The Cavs took a six point lead into halftime. On the last possession, Dion, uh, demonstrably requested the basketball from LeBron.
https://twitter.com/netw3rk/status/528355178442158080
3rd Quarter: The Cavs defense really slowed down the Bulls to start the 3rd. Varejao and Delly in particular forced the Bulls into contested 2s. The Cavs offense couldn’t generate much except transition baskets. Kevin Love threw a touchdown to LeBron and the Cavs held the Bulls to just 17 points. Derrick Rose tried to shake Delly with three straight crossovers but couldn’t even manage any separation against the Mongoose-quick Delly.
Did the Bulls crowd really just Oooh and Aaah over a bunch of crossovers that didn't get anywhere near taking out Delly?
— SportsNom (@SportsNom) November 1, 2014
Rose left for the locker room with 2:38 remaining and never returned. They’re calling it an ankle sprain. Seems precautionary.
4th Quarter: We’ve seen this offense before. LeBron was really killing the Cavs at times tonight, and his two turnovers late in the 4th were awful. The Cavs bled away points until they were up just one with three minutes left. After a LeBron turnover, Kirk Hinrich drained a transition 3. On the next possession, LeBron high-dribble fumbled the ball. (Hasn’t exorcised the dribbling demons yet). Hinrich proceeded to bury another 3 after Delly chose to go under a screen. After a Kevin Love dunk off a nifty LeBron feed, Hinrich did his best Reggie Miller impression and canned a step-back 21-footer with Dellavedova embedded in his DNA. The Cavs trailed by five with 46 seconds to play and all seemed lost. But LeBron drew a quick foul and drained both free throws. Then the Cavs got an excellent defensive stop with Kyrie blanketing Hinrich. Immediately after, Magnum KI earned a generous continuation call after being bumped at the elbow and kissing a shot off the glass. If it seemed egregious it’s because 1.) NBA continuation rules are egregious and 2.) His two steps were the long, slow kind. Up until about five minutes left in the game, it really felt like the Cavs were getting the short end of the officiating stick. But it seemed to even out with a flurry of calls/no-calls going the Cavs way down the stretch. After another sublime defensive possession the Cavs had a chance to win it. LeBron inbounded to Kevin Love who fired up a contested 3 and clanked it.
How can LeBron not take that shot? Snell can't keep him from the basket or at least the free-throw line.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) November 1, 2014
Overtime: LeBron finally came alive in overtime, scoring the first eight points. He went coast to coast for a too-strong and-1 and had a circus flip shot go in. After Hinrich converted two free throws to cut the Cavs lead to 106-104, the Cavs flailed about on offense before LeBron bricked an uncontested baseline J. But someone detonated some CANADIAN DYNAMITE just as the ball was coming off the rim. TT skied for the sphere for his TWELFTH O-Board (this one being an OH! board) and instead of kicking it out to burn clock (there was about 24 seconds left when he speared the board) he went back up and DUNKED ALL OVER the Bulls! THROW THE HAMMER IN THE DIRECTION OF THE EARTH’S CORE.
<<<<<FAINTS>>>>
— _3 to 1 lead blower enthusiast (@_Believeland) November 1, 2014
After the Cavs conceded a layup, Kevin Love threw an outlet to a leaking TT who was insta-fouled. Jeff Van Gundy decried this strategy, saying “gotta get it to your best free throw shooters.” Normally I’d agree, but TT has become an excellent free throw shooter. His silky touch triple-tapped the rim before dropping through the net. He buried his second as well.
Cavs win. CAVS WIN!!!
Notes:
-LeBron played like crap at times and still finished with 36 points and more steals than turnovers. I have to remind myself to have some perspective when I see the Cavs playing 4 on 5 because LeBron is arguing under the opposite basket. It’s October. LeBron’s definitely out of shape. He asked to be taken out of the game at various times and has almost no lift right now. He’s playing below the rim. Blatt needs to quell the temptation to play him 40+ minutes a night.
-Kyrie forced the issue when it was smart to do so – particularly when Aaron Brooks was checking him. He also doused the Hinrich flames after Delly was roasted. His and-1 down the stretch saved the game for the Cavs. He made all 10 free throws which helped offset an otherwise rough shooting night.
-Dion Waiters had a St. Weirdo game for sure. He finished just 3 of 10 from the field and a handful of those shots were of the “screw it I’m shooting” types. I often refer to Waiters as cold-blooded. Maybe he’s cold-blooded like a reptile that needs to bask in the warmth of the tan rock in his hands in order to regulate body functions. Despite some happy talk, Waiters doesn’t seem to be interested in running around screens and trying to find himself open off the ball. I don’t recall being particularly furious with Dion for any defensive breakdowns but apparently Blatt was yelling at him about not getting back on defense. Delly played 30 minutes including all of crunch time and OT and Dion played 26. He may already be in the doghouse. ::sigh:: On a positive note, the release on his jumper seems higher and more regular than last season.
-Kevin Love is definitely struggling to find his place in the offense. The left wing is historically his preferred spot-up location and yet he took 5 shots (all misses) from the right side of the court.
He has been working hard on defense though, fighting with the Bulls bigs tonight. He had some sweet outlet passes and finished with 16 rebounds and 4 steals.
-SUPERDOVA played all of crunch time much to the dismay of Marc Jackson. He had a bit of an uneven game. At times he was the best defender on the court. He drew some key charges and finished with a game high +15 in 30 minutes. That said he had some defensive breakdowns and questionable shots. He was burned by Rose and Brooks in the first half. On both occasions he overplayed a bit on the perimeter and wast just blown by. (Rose blows by everyone). Later in the game he allowed Hinrich to step into a rhythm transition 3 instead of fouling when the Cavs were at a disadvantage. On the next possession he went under a screen and Hinrich buried his second straight triple. Still, he was a net positive. His defense, particularly in the 3rd quarter, stifled the Bulls.
https://twitter.com/HPbasketball/status/528376983600656385
-Tristan Thompson is the MVP tonight. He had TWELVE offensive rebounds including the DAGGER and fought all night in the trenches. He looked great tonight. Seven of thirteen with 12 offensive rebounds and 2 blocks?
Maybe Tristan Thompson is really the Cavaliers' Dennis Rodman.
— Kevin Pelton (@kpelton) November 1, 2014
Despite the effort and pleas from CavsTwitter, TT did not get a contract extension before midnight. He’ll be a restricted free agent next summer.
-Varejao played great and they managed his minutes. His Kareem hook is just awesome. It was surprising to see him on the bench in crunch time but with TT’s four overtime offensive rebounds I’d say Blatt pushed the right button tonight. Turns out Andy signed a 3-year extension tonight. I’m just so proud that the #NeverTradeAndy initiative was so successful.
Final Thoughts: The Bulls frontcourt won’t be terrorizing me in my sleep for a while. I fully expected them to dominate the Cavs. But the collective tenacity and rebounding talent of Varejao, Love, and Thompson was too much for Gasol, Noah, and Gibson. The Bulls finished 8-22 in the paint. The Cavs finished +10 in rebounding. If Derrick Rose can stay healthy the Bulls will be a formidable foe. There may be a nasty rivalry about to form between two Central Division foes – harkening back to the late 80s. The Cavs were fortunate tonight that the Bulls were without Jimmy Butler. LeBron was presented with single coverage from mostly Mike Dunleavy all night. I am concerned that Rose is too stubborn to accept his injury-prone nature. He was crashing into the basket support and generally exploding all over everything. He’s one of the most exciting players in the league. I’d like to see him develop his jumper and pick his spots to ignite the afterburners. It’s October and he was playing like a man possessed (just like in the pre-season game against CLE). Great win for the Cavs – they didn’t play that well but hung on in a playoff-like environment. The Cavs are going to need to dig a little deeper on their bench. Mike Miller went in early but only saw 15 minutes; Marion just 12. Now that Blatt’s got his first NBA W and LeBron seems to be settling down, I’d like to see Joe Harris get a little burn (or work on his game in Canton).
evil yes he did play in the summer league and actually out played wiggins
I think Blatt is doing some real coaching with Dion, and I expect him to bounce back, soon. Dion seems like he plays better with a chip on his shoulder, so maybe with a little time on the bench, he’ll be able to turn it up a notch. Really I expect him to.
It was really cool to see out the Cavs bigs totally held their own with the Bulls, who have a very strong front court Clearly the game could have gone the other way if Rose doesn’t sprain his ankle, but hey, Cavs are just getting going and most of the Bulls are back from last year. Love is really, really good. His work under the boards is just outstanding. He is a big reason TT was able to get so many O rebounds, as he was occupying so much space underneath. I was also really jazzed about the Love ->… Read more »
this is an EARLY blog to get us started on Monday morning —–checked out the new player WILL CHERRY ( GOOGLE HIS NAME AND CHECK HIS PROFILE / HIGHLIGHTS )—- he is considered an ELITE / ON BALL DEFENDER WITH AN NBA BODY —do you think we made this move with the bulls in mind —being ale to defend their gds —-ROSE AND BROOKS ——said in the interviews this kid ( Cherry ) has owned Damian Lillard —might be a good pick up for the cavs
Great idea!
Check the WC highlights from last year (on KJG):
He looks like KI shooting, MD defending, and LBJ passing. Of course it is D-League highlights, but he looks like the real deal.
Think of running a full court press with something like WC+MD up front, LBJ in the middle, and AV+TT back.
Didn’t Will Cherry play on the Cavs Summer League Team for a few games? If it’s the same guy, I remember he stood out with his speed and defense.
That is what I thought. Somehow he wound up with the Raptors.
per usual, way to many over reactions about Dion.
Like I stated yesterday, if we only won one of the first two games it would be much more beneficial winning the game against the Bulls in their house. Check!
it is still early ( only 2 games ) a lot to figure out experiment on —–don’t forget about haywood ( I know some of you might be laughing ) but IF healthy he could be the 4th big ( 8-12 minutes / game ) and add to the board strength—- ANDY AND LOVE already have great chemistry together —–hoping THE MATRIX can regain some of his old form—he has missed / not finished at the rim several times already ( on nice passes from love ) —miller needs to get more minutes to see if he is going to… Read more »
While I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt (and since Blatt has only played him sparingly it’s not a big sample size), Mike Miller may just not have anything left. I was worried after he was a virtual no-show in the preseason, but there just doesn’t seem to be anything there. Marion also looking washed up and old. Hope I’m wrong, but really need to see them get some run to see if there’s a reason to keep them around beyond veteran leadership.
Oh geez. It’s been two games Miller was great last year. so was Marion. They will be fine.
They are younger than the Spurs Big 3.
Yes, because last year has relevance. Love the platitudes about Miller and Marion from the guy who said Delly would be lucky to play 10 mins a game.
Eh. So I was wrong about Delly. Whatever. The larger point still stands. Those two aren’t old enough to fall off a cliff.
We’ll see. Like I said, I hope I’m wrong about them. They don’t pass the eye test thus far. Hoping they can get some run against inferior opponents. Utah on Wednesday for example. Or maybe they’ll play in your Denver game.
This is only two games in. There is lots of time to figure out how to use other (not first 7) players. Maybe M and M can still play, maybe not. Plenty of time to find out. Maybe Harris and/or Kirk will be ready before long. Maybe Lou, James, AJ, or BH will be a solid rotation player. After you get the basic system working smoothly for the front 7, you have time to see who you can use where and when.
If none of these guys work out, then you have a problem. Personally, I am not worried.
Interesting game. Didn’t see the same thing with LeBron everyone else is. He’s clearly picking his spots. He does look a little out of shape, but “hurt?” I don’t see it. Dude was a monster this game. Anyone who doesn’t think the Bulls are a threat is kidding themselves. They gave this game away. If Taj doesn’t take a terrible shot early in the shotclock and then allow Kyrie a continuation, the Cavs lose this game. This was without Rose or Butler. The Bulls/Cavs series could go seven. Dion needs to come off the bench. This would solve a lot… Read more »
He was a monster to start the game and a monster in the OT, but in-between LBJ looked more limited/tentative/lethargic than merely picking his spots. He also still was way too sloppy with the ball and his handle looks terrible at times. Both Amico and Windy reported that there is some issue with his back. Obviously it’s not serious since he was able to play 85 minutes in the first two games. Cols is the only one who doesn’t think the Bulls are a threat. I think everyone else has a healthy respect for them. However, they “gave this game… Read more »
I think 2 of his fouls were charging too.
You’re right, and one of them should have been called a block. The other was Bron’s fault with how he got him the pass
Anyone who still thinks the Bulls are a threat is delusional. The Cavs beat them on a back to back away game and Love, Wait, Miller, Marion, didn’t play well all that well.
Come playoff time the Cavs will run that team off the court.
No offense Cols, but saying this makes you seem delusional
Why? Why can’t you see that this team has 3 players that are all better than anyone on the Bulls? Just because Cleveland fans have been beat down so much that they can’t believe their great fortune to assemble a monstrously talented team?
I refuse to take teams that aren’t better than us as a threat. The Bulls are not better than us. You saw it yourself last night. A well rested Bulls squad couldn’t take us even though the Cavs didn’t even play remotely close to their potential.
So stop it. Cleveland can have nice things. Be confident.
Cols, this team has one player that is clearly better than anyone on the Bulls. LBJ. KLove might be that on offense but not defense. When healthy, Rose is better than Kyrie right now. Beyond that, the Bulls are much deeper than the Cavs and have the advantage of playing together not only for years, but also in the playoffs. I am confident that this team will be one of the best in the league. I also know that anything can happen. It’s ridiculous not to consider other teams threats. Maybe you are mis-using the word “threat” A threat is… Read more »
If injuries happen, then sure the Bulls could beat us. But if not, then there is no way the Bulls can beat us in a 7 game series. Or a 5 game series. Or a 3 game series. A one game series, yeah.
Otherwise, the NBA playoffs often go chalk for a reason. The best talent wins.
Cols the best talent doesn’t always win. See the 2007 Mavs. Also the Thunder have more pure talent than the Spurs, see how that has worked out.
ESPN had LeBron with 18 drives producing 16 points. I would guess that’s at best about two-thirds of his usual driving efficiency. Physically he isn’t himself right now.
13 offensive rebounds is impressive, but when you consider they came against Noah, Gibson, and Gasol you must understand that Tristan has grown into something special. I don’t think we understand how strong he is now. He always had a big butt, but his upper body has caught up. In the preseason game against Chicago, Taj Gibson stepped onto the court thinking he would have his way with Tristan. TT didn’t back down and it became a war between the two. Blatt noticed, and it seemed that every time Gibson stepped onto the court last night, he sent TT in… Read more »
I agree on TT, especially the insane turnaround on his free throws since entering the league. I have no worries when he steps to the line. He’s growing up.
They shoulda paid the man. If he keeps this up, there will be a lot more than 12M per out there for him. Cavs may be looking at 4 years/60M in the summer unfortunately.
I would have liked to have seen him locked up. But when you’re in a championship run, it’s good when a guy is playing for his next contract. He’s hungry.
Me too. I debated all of the people bad rapping TT last year and over the summer. We should have locked him up because his price will skyrocket after the year I hope he has. On the other side of the coin, the money stuff is very tricky, and there is no reason to think that DG+DG don’t have a better plan then I can guess. For all of us thinking long term, next summer we should be able to lock up TT + pick up a quality vet + hopefully a useful draft pick. Somehow.
Yes. If he averages 12 offensive rebounds a night we’ll be looking at a ridiculous salary. Literally the night before everyone was saying how awful he played.
I was screaming at the TV for them to run LeBron/Love P&R and to get Love some touches in the post. What’s going on there? He’s too talented to be thought of as a second or third option on every single possession.
LoL Agree. I was screaming too on that and get Mike Miller out of there. We have some other shooters out there USE THEM BLATT!! I tired of the Mike Miller experiment. James Jones was pretty consistent in the preseason. Give the dude a shot already.
They will figure out how to play with Love. It’s just going to take time. it’s nice to see LeBron and Varejao haven’t missed a beat
Andy at least had a great pass to Love early in the fourth. That was an awesome find and Love flushed it.
I think the Bulls may have the greatest collection of ugly dudes on their team. No one on their team is attractive.
Amen to that. Conversely, I would say this Cavs squad has some rugged good looks, no?
Especially Noah. Top-knot? Check. Gap-tooth? Check. Just an all around tough helmet. His nickname should be Pebbles.
Pebbles – I lol’d
One comment on Love: he is not the best one and one defender but his defensive rebounding is insane. He battles for everything, has incredible hands, and is always positioned well. He inhales rebounds and limits possessions. Last night I thought his defensive rebounding was key to the defensive effort. I didn’t realize how tough he is on the boards. I have zero concerns about our frontline right now. AV, TT, and KL are going to wear a lot of teams down. Also, in my mind I always compare the Cavs to the Heat. One thing that is now clear:… Read more »
Yeah. Love is a rebounding beast on the defensive end.
We are similar to the heat in our propensity for creating turnovers and killer transition game. But our rebounding ability will be some of the best ever, making that transition game even more terrifying
what’s so unique about the rebounding dominance is that it’s coming without the need for a lumbering, back-to-the-basket “i need to be fed” big man.
Right. which is great.
Well, I actually think Love can play the role of a “lumbering, back-to-the-basket” big man. That is what is so amazing about him. He kind of does eveyrthing. I never realize he had that ability to be a brute downlow. But he does.
My only fear is the prolfic-ness of their rebounding gets to their heads and they start to slack on D assuming they’ll just be grabbing all the boards, or mostly that they worry too much about securing the O board and are out of position on the other end. This could be something to monitor during the season.
I noticed a few times how good Love’s box out positioning was and then I started to look for it and it was amazing how much he seemed to seal off Noah and grab the rebound. Cavs have legit 3 of the top 10 rebounders in the NBA right now. Awesome to watch
I hope Lebron starts to trust KI. There is no need for him to run the offense almost every single play. At the end of the game the Bulls knew he was going to wait for a pick then try to get to the rim….turnover. If he plays off the ball at times we could see some of that beautiful Spurs-like whole team passing as the defense falls over themselves. Delly will get better. He’s playing with a teaching coach. Hilarious Cols. The Bulls were no threat because they were down a few guys while the Cavs were full strength.… Read more »
Yeah half court offense is pretty bad right now. They need time to learn each other’s tendencies. LeBron’s gotta tighten up that dribble.
Re: Rose, I think his absence last night was not a huge deal b/c Brooks and Hinrich both got hot. But over the long haul its a huge deal. We’ll see how it shakes out.
Yep. The most inexplicable plays were at the end of the game when Leb lost the ball twice. I’m thinking he’s more injured than letting on. But still 80% of Leb is better than 99.5% of all NBA players.
I think Lebron would be more effective off the ball . . . receiving a pass on the move with one guy on him . . . and the rest of the defense out of position. When he’s dribbling at the top there are three guys locked on closing in on him. Let Kyrie handle it. Or, put the ball in motion.
Also in the post with the other 4 guys moving
agree with you on kyrie—-defense HAS become part of his game and he seems mentally tougher—ready to take on the challenge–slowly becoming a COMPLETE / ELITE player
Kyrie is going to make The Leap this year. By playoff time we will be hotly debating over who the 2nd best player on the Cavs after LeBron is.
Re: James’ health, Amico is reporting he has a back issue and is basically just out of shape. He is clearly playing without his explosiveness right now. When it comes back, this team may just be what Cols envisioned – utterly unstoppable. The thing I am noticing is that, even with LBJ clearly hurting, Kyrie is getting tons of 1-on-1 opportunities. Once LBJ starts blowing by people, there will be so much space on the floor. How about some love for KYRIE’s DEFENSE? Not perfect, but boy is he better. He completely stuffed Brooks a few times. More than anything,… Read more »
Yeah Kyrie actually switched onto Hinrich and the Bulls wound up with two empty possessions thereafter.
Yeah. Kyrie has looked fantastic on that end compared to last year.
Windhorst also reported that LBJ had some sort of electrical device on his back as well.
Well, I guess I was right about one thing and wrong about one thing. I was right that the Bulls were no threat to this team. I was wrong and Delly is going to get major minutes.
What a great game. The offense looked good, the defense looked good. Thompson even looked good.
I think Blatt (wisely) realizes that Delly is the anti-Dion. And anytime Dion does something stupid, Delly is going to come in and Dion is going to sit.
But it remains clear that Dion has SO MUCH talent. He just needs to learn some tough lessons and keep getting better. When he reaches his potential (great shooter, selective penetrator, great defender), this team will annihilate all that come.
Yep. Delly actually looked pretty useless down the stretch. But Leb took over in OT for the win.
he drew a critical charge on Aaron Brooks down the strech
Yeah. Delly was very solid. Blatt described him in the postgame presser as someone “who makes good decisions” and “can fit into any lineup.” Which is a perfect compliment to Dion as he continues to learn and grow.
I would like to see more Delly and DIon out there. It doesn’t seem the team is using Dion’s talent the best way out there. The dilemma is who takes his spot? Delly played more because of Kyrie’s foul trouble and his defense was critical in crunch time. This is the Chicago Bulls afterall.
Dion needs to work on fitting correctly into the team this season but yeah Blatt ain’t doing him any favors so far
Yeah Delly played more than normal because of Kyrie’s early foul trouble.
They could have substituted Dion back in for Delly late in the game. But Dion was playing poorly and doesn’t seem as interested in being a role player right now. With his constantly-improving jump shot he should be curling around screens and playing off the ball. It’s not that he can’t handle the ball, but he was way too interested in calling for the ball at the top of the key so he could try a dribble pull-up.
Lee, if you recall this research I did last season:
the Cavs were +11 points per 48 minutes when Delly and Dion were on the court together. I hope to see them more together too.
The team that took us to OT sans their best player is NO threat? Not even 1%? At least show them a little respect, man…
Great win. They may have been missing some players but ours have played together for about a month. A playoff series with them could be epic! Another couple of points: – Delly is just awesome. More than capable of being in a 3 guard rotation. He’s not the greatest scorer but we have many other options on that front and he still has to be respected as a 3 point shooter. His defensive mistakes are just the result of inexperience. He gives effort on that end and therefore further defensive improvements will come. – Waiters starting (really finishing) makes so… Read more »
this was an exciting game and win! can tell these are the elite teams on the eastern conference already and the start of many future battles to come. – Lebron had to have the quietest 36 points ever….I didn’t realize he had that many until OT they showed a graphic under scoreboard on TV and Im like what?! – Delly played decent but couldn’t hit a shot to save his life….he was definitely hit or miss last year and it would be nice if he could offer something offensively if/when Kyrie or Dion get in foul trouble and have to… Read more »
One nite on LeBron – I think its less he’s out of shape and more that his back is hurting. Still. Hopefully its not something that’s going to linger through the season.
“nite” should be “note.” That’s what I get for typing on my phone.
the bulls outscored us by 30 pts from behind the arc ( 3 pt shot ) if we do a better job of defending this and also get our 3 pt shooting going this game wouldn’t have been that close yes rose and butler were out but also kyrie was in foul trouble and sat more than normal—–LBJ is just getting back into shape wish dion would take t.t.’s attitude—-don’t worry about starting / scoring—-just play hard all the time and the game will come to you will still need to get more production / deeper bench as the season… Read more »
Yeah the Cavs definitely need to develop their bench. They can’t ride 7 or 8 guys all season.
They will. Marion and Miller are going to play huge roles for this team after they get eased in. They are older so easing them in makes sense.
There’s plenty of teams that rely on a 7 or 8 man rotation, especially in close games and the playoffs. I really don’t think fatigue throughout the course of a season hits certain guys or teams especially hard. There’s always an injury possibility, but I think we cherry pick guys in the playoffs who play 3 or 4 bad games and chalk it up to their “body breaking down” from the long season. If they had the same stretch of games in January, we’d blame it on something else. The cavs will give plenty of minutes to rotation players throughout… Read more »
Such a fun win. All sorts of frustrating and uplifting moments…LBJ can trust these guys much more than he seems to think sometimes. For instance, if he can figure out how to USE Dion Waiters, i think they will be a deadly due to close games/halves/qutrs. Against lesser competition we should find open threes at least once a posession…we should start destroying teams once the defense stabilizes.
Awesome Cavs win! Had to double check the box score since it really didn’t seem possible that LBJ had 36 points. While he still looks a little sluggish at times and way too sloppy with the ball, this was a much better showing than the night before. What can you say about Canadian Dynamite? He was amazing! 12 offensive boards! Ridiculous! Love’s shot was way off, but he made up for it with a tremendous rebounding effort, some TD passes and some somewhat improved defense. Kyrie actually had a pretty effective game despite getting into early foul trouble. Blatt’s rotations… Read more »