Recap: Cavaliers 109, Pacers 97 (or, Go Fast, Play Defense)

The Cavs came into this game looking to continue the defensive trend, and they definitely followed through on that goal. They held the Pacers to 39.3% shooting, and they managed to have LaVoy Allen named the top performer for Indiana with 10 points and eight rebounds. That isn’t a typo, no one on that team could get hot. The Wine & Gold defense is turning into a legitimate game changer. The offense wasn’t bad either; Kevin Love put up 28 points making 9-13 shots to go along with ten rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Time to break it down.

First Quarter: The Cavs opened up the quarter with LeBron James setting a pick to free Love up to catch the ball and take a shot on the left side of the floor. Love nailed it and turned on his nitro tank. The rest of the team quickly jumped into the back of his efficient shooting and fast car that scored 14 points during a 20-6 Cavs run. At one point, the King hopped out of Love’s car to throw a crazy no look pass to Kyrie Irving by shouting,”hey, there’s an eagle in the rafters,” as a distraction. Then James decided he needed some money, so he happily accepted a charge from the Pacer’s Solomon hill.

Kyrie didn’t want to be a passenger the whole quarter so he did this:

The Cavs zoomed around much of the time creating shots before the Pacers set up their defense; however, Indiana managed to catch up at the end of the quarter, as Lou Amundson gave up two offensive boards that led to two easy LaVoy Allen layups. Allen also canned a wide open 16-footer. The Cavs didn’t see another basket for over four minutes at the end the quarter until LeBron finally nailed a shot with one second on the game clock. Cavs ended the quarter ahead, 29-21.

Second Quarter: I thought the Cavs had Cavs righted themselves early on in this quarter by poking at the ball the first few times the Pacers brought it down the floor, but I was wrong. The Wine & Gold slowed themselves down for some reason, and the offense didn’t come as easily. They weren’t really moving the ball but stayed in the game because Kyrie got Tristan Thompson two free throws and a basket to go along with his own nine points. Love’s nitro ran out, and he scored just four points instead of 16 in the quarter. LeBron was LaBrick but ended the action with a strong layup for an and-1 he didn’t complete to put the Cavs up by just 3, 52-49. The Pacers weren’t really as close as the score. They had six points off of two threes that were incredibly wide open because the Cavs defense rotated poorly.

Third Quarter: The Cavs took a time machine an hour back and were playing like it was the first quarter again to start the third. Love got the first touch in the opening minutes for the Good Guys and drained it. The King’s men then went on a 15-5 run that forced the Pacers to call a timeout three minutes into the quarter. TT was a cutting machine during this time. Look at this dunk! Solomon Hill also had a decent dunk where he drove through the Cavs defense, but LBJ negated it the next play down the court by willing himself through four guys for a layup. Then the King showed why he’s the top man in the NBA by making two more layups draped by multiple defenders. He disposed of them like they were pestering children. See here and here. The Pacers put up just 22 points and entered the fourth quarter losing big, 87-71.

Fourth Quarter: LeBron sat this quarter as Kyrie led the team onto the floor. The Uncle helped out his friend Joe Harris, by running a pick and roll with TT that black holed the Pacers to the middle. Tristan easily found Harris wide open when he received the rock rolling to the rim. Then Irving, aka the and-1 master, canned his second jump shot and-1 of the night. Love checked in for a two minute period to give TT an easy dunk pass, before he and Kyrie left the game with a half a quarter left and the team up by 18. The reserves entered  and it became the Dion mid-range extravaganza. Dion shot two more and made one. Big Lou finally scored. Both teams chucked it up and played lazy defense in the remaining time as the Cavs won it easily.

Thoughts:

1. The Cavs offense didn’t feature a ton of whip it around the perimeter passes tonight. It was lots of early action, find the open man quick, and finish the play. It wasn’t mesmerizing the way the Spurs are, but it was efficient. The Cavs had just twenty assists, but they were passing. They were jetting it to get the ball up the court quickly before taking one or two dribbles into a great shot.

During the second quarter, the Cavs stopped getting down the floor, and this stunted the offense. It also seemed like they were having trouble just making shots when they would pass the ball around. James missed four of five. During garbage time, the second line was passing the ball around, which is great. It shows that there is an offense in place for when teams shut down quick options. Tonight, the team just didn’t need to utilize it.

2. The Pacers are an awesome rebounding team. They just constantly fight for offensive boards and beat Tristan and Love up in that aspect of the game. They ripped down 15 offensive boards. Ian Mahinmi had four alone. LaVoy Allen had three. Big T still grabbed four, but it’s just surprising seeing another big match him like that.

3. Tristan had a little trouble with David West. West scored his first eight points on TT.

4. The Cavs threes finally started to fall tonight, as they made 7-16. They still need to take more and not rely so much on Kyrie being able to make dribble up 25 footers. The Pacers made 7-22 from behind the arc, or 31.8%.

5. There’s a bench problem in Cleveland. The wood scored 16 points, but 15 of those came in the fourth quarter. They need to figure out a way to get production out of the bench men. Maybe, a trade is needed. I don’t know. The problem tonight exaggerated by Anderson Varejao not being available and TT starting.

6. I loved seeing TT in the starting lineup again. He has such great pick and roll chemistry with Irving. He knows how to get fouled or convert when he’s in that play with Mr. Dribbles. He can finish now too. Look at this big boy body bash.

7. Kyrie is turning into a defensive maniac. He’s fighting through screens like they’re wet paper bags. It’s mind blowing how fast he navigates them, and the Cavs defense is benefiting from it when they trap ball handlers. It’s so much less of a liability to hedge how they are when the guards move like the Flash Irving is.

8. Love is having issues defensively. Not only is he getting killed one-on-one, he is just not talking with people. He’ll switch onto a guy for too long at times. It happened a few times tonight. Shawn Marion would be trying to switch back onto his original man, and Love was not having it. Kevin must really not want to cover the big dudes.

Love also has trouble making smart rotations when he is forced to hedge up high. Sometimes, you don’t want to dart straight back to the screen setter, as they are already accounted for. This is especially true if the man who rotated to stop the screener was defending a player you’re now close to. Just go to whoever is closer. Tristan is getting really good at doing this.

Look at this video of a wide open CJ Miles three pointer. Love should have moved onto Scola, so Dion wouldn’t have to commit to him in order to stop a drive/shot. Love could have even darted to Miles to attempt to close out on the three. Standing there sort of perplexed was a bad move.

9. I can’t stand watching Lou Amundson. He always looks and moves like he’s a step behind, and he can’t secure any rebounds. It’s so frustrating. He was torched by Pacers player of the game LaVoy for six points at the end of the first quarter. Blatt should play Alex Kirk or Brendan Haywood instead.

10. Shawn Marion knows how to run the floor so well, but it’s starting to get frustrating seeing him miss a gimme shot every game. He’s going to lose a close one for the Cavs, and people will start to get angry the team didn’t try to find a more athletic floor sprinter.

11.Dion has officially lost it. I don’t think he took a single good shot this entire game. He’s constantly calling for the ball, and the guys on the second unit seem to actively freeze him out, since he shoots nearly every chance he gets. I nearly lost it in the fourth quarter during garbage time. He tossed an 18 footer up that he missed and then just sauntered down the floor to reach in on Hill. Come on, Dion. Grow up already. There’s a path for success on the team, and it avoids certain areas of the floor. Can you guess which areas?

12. This was a great defensive showing for the Cavs and this win showcased Love. Love needed this game; it was great to see him score with such ease and look comfortable playing again.

13.Kyrie had a double-double, but it was with points and rebounds. That surprised me given how good the Pacers are at rebounding.

14. LeBron set up the team at will and earned his fourth quarter rest by going into “I’m the best player on the floor” mode during the third quarter to put Cavs up by 16. Blatt didn’t really have to figure how to manage minutes this game, but I’ll take managed minutes however they come. James played 32 minutes and Love played 33. The Cavs are making progress one way or another every night now.