Live Thread: Cavs vs Hornets
2014-12-15
Forces in tension – something’s gonna snap.
1.) LeBron’s last six games versus Charlotte: 35.7 points on 68.4 percent shooting!
2.) Charlotte’s last five games versus Cleveland: undefeated.
3.) Cavs last 5 home games: undefeated.
4.) Both Kyrie and LeBron set career highs in scoring in their last game against Charlotte.
5.) Hornets 3PFG% in last 10 games: 26%
6.) Charlotte opponents during same stretch: 44%
Given all this information, my prediction: The Cavs barely break 90, LeBron and Kyrie shoot a combined 6 for 30, Charlotte shoots 15-15 from 3 and 15% from the immediate basket area. (HEAR K LOVE ROAR!) And Joe Harris’ 34 gives the Cavs the edge in triple overtime: 90-89.5 Cleveland Wins. I dunno, what do you guys think? Grab your Ecto Cooler from the mini fridge and let’s talk about this athletic contest!
Bismack had a monster second quarter. He completely controlled the paint why he starts over Zeller is baffling. Clifford might be the second coach to get canned this season, and it’s not totally his fault. Stevenson’s been a disaster, MKG can’t shoot, and he Blatt has a terrible collection of wings.
Love to see the defense from KLove tonight. He got his hands up in the fourth.
Andy was awful… so soft around the rim on offense and defense. That extension is starting to scare me.
Thank goodness they drafted MKG before we could.
heh – yeah I wanted him.
Me too. Turns out he sucks.
I just don’t know if the hitch in his shot can be fixed. He has many tools to be a starter but the moment he has to shoot he looks like a brick layer
He might actually need to go to the D-League to fix it. The other problem is that they can’t play he and Biyambo together, so they start Zeller who is <<<<<<<<< Biyambo.
Great and convincing win for the Cavs. KLove had an awesome game. LBJ looked energized. Kyrie’s shot starting to fall more. Dion with some mostly good effort off of the bench. Starters played a lot of minutes, but they didn’t seem like hard minutes tonight. They seemed to have the game well in hand from start to finish. Great start to the home stand!
Solid win – but I wouldn’t say “great” win.
That second quarter pissed me off bad, but it’s nice to see the team right the ship. I had one of those moments where I remembered the team at this point a year ago and a warm glow grew in my heart for a routine victory over a dysfunctional team in December. We should never take it for granted.
What’s not routine is Love’s stat line. Dude was a beast and actually trying on defense. What are the odds he starts in the all star game alongside LBJ and KI?
Love actually played some really good D on that play and got the questionable foul call
4 steals too. It looked as if he wanted to use positioning more than turning his back to snag a board.
Love is a monster tonight.
Wow! 18 boards for KLove. One of his best all-around games IMHO
Cols, I’ll give you half-credit on that LBJ block since it was only a 1/4 court chase down
Was that an LBJ chase down block?
Charlotte is pretty good at D, but they are pretty miserable at offense
Yikes, that was a really bad miss by Dion. At least he’s had some other really good shots tonight.
Well this one was easy. Our big 3 was too much to handle.
And thats MKG s improved jumpshot. Geez..
He’s really miserable.
I wouldn’t mind BIyambo
Plus he’s just begging for the nickname “Bitchslap Byombo”
Nah. An offensive zero. Do not want.
You don’t need everyone to be good at offense, Cols. He’s good at D
Plus he’s not a known headcase like some others who are D only big men
I admire Kyrie for what hes doing this year. Had to become second cog in the age of 22 after he signed the max contract to be the franchise player. I wa safraid how he would react. Yet he tries harder than ever on defense, he hustles, stays humble and helps even when his shot isnt falling.
When the big 3 play like this we can’t lose.
Two excellent drives and passes from Dion!
Strong D by Dion that possession
Would love to see the bench bunch put the Hornets away early in the fourth
KLove doing a little bit of everything tonight, not just scoring a rebounds, but 4 assists and 4 steals as well
Cavs doing a nice job of finishing the third quarter strong
This team rules.
TT with the nice rejection!
KLove playing particularly large tonight!
If I was a hornets fan I’d be so mad we spent the #2 pick on someone as horrible as MKG
Yeah, between him and the whole ear-whisperer fiasco, the Hornets are a mess/disappointment this year
Man LBJ looks great tonight. Well on his way to a triple double
Tristan finishing so well at the rim this season. Came out of nowhere
LBJ+cntract year.
With the exception of the Pelicans game the other night, totally agree. That was the only time in a while that he was back to the hesitation that would get blocked. Otherwise, he’s been great at the rim
Lebron def looks springier since Windhorst published that article.
I think the Windy article was spot on
Of course he has declined somewhat athletically but he has more energy these last couple games.
Seems like a significant decline – but I agree his energy has been up
TT bringing the energy in the second half. I like it
Kyrie and TT starting to develop a pretty great two man game
Is this buddy ball like the drama from last year?
Nah, not on this year’s team. Just a necessary progression
MKG gets an Oscar nom for that flop… SMH
He’s terrible.
Matrix not capable of boxing out on the offensive glass these days
A zeller sighting folks.
If you look close, there’s a Zeller in nearly every NBA game these days
The nba version of the gronk brothers. Except there will be no zeller superstars
What the Cavs have seldom used is the most lethal weapon in basketball: Lebron the Power Forward.
I know its not easy when when u have a top five PF in Love who unlike Bosh cannot defend the basket to save his life, but they should go at it more.
Lebron the PF 2 titles.
Lebron the SF 0 titles.
I know im oversimplifying it but facts are facts.
more to the point – LeBron going into the post, drawing doubles, and the other guys moving around like crazy.
Been making breakfast for dinner so I had ac and Fred on. Seems as if ac reads this blog because he mentioned most of the salient points the authors and commenters say
Watched the warriors played the other day, their offense is very fluid where everyone gets a touch. Something I thought Blatt offense would be. The Cavs offense pretty much pick n roll.
Which is fine. We have awesome players. We don’t need a fancy offense
Kemba and Marv the only things keeping Hornets anywhere close to being in this game. Cavs slowed down a bit in second quarter, but they’ve looked really good so far tonight.
I used to drink ecto cooler at lunch every day from 6th grade on. Even as a senior. I loved that stuff
Best drink ever
Love james and irving all playing well. Dion too. This is fun.
By far, Kyrie has been giving the best defensive effort out of anyone all year.
The most consistent for sure.
Little guys are actively trying to strip LBJ this year on the double team. Way more than I can ever remember seeing before.
LeBron’s handle has been suspect all year.
I agree, but maybe it’s lead to opposing guards being more aggressive on double teams.
He dribbles it a little higher than usual I think.
I dont remember him having so many dribbling turnovers before.
The agian its still early in the season adjusting to an offense different to the pace and space beauty in Miami.
MKG sucks. Just a putrid player on offense. I can’t believe he was the #2 overall pick. How do you play basketball your whole life and not learn the basics as a guard or wing?
Delly still showing some “ill” effects, but Dion not so much
What I d like to see more, especially in cold stretches, is Love posting up.
Slow the game down a bit fot you.
+1 on that GCF. Would love to see more Love post up
yes they need to do this more. They need to become a more even team
Defense starting the fast break in a great way
DION!! Back to back with great finish at the rim on the FB and clutch corner three!
That’s two EASY ones that Andy has missed now. Lack of focus?
Andy’ been good at pick and pops this season – not so much pick and rolls
Now the Hornets are throwing pebbles into the ocean and the Cavs are rimming out
That was the most casual two man game I think I’ve ever seen with LBJ and Andy. Weird
There’s always a guy open on the other end when you stay and argue about foul calls
Not “a” guy, its always Lebron. Hes become Wade2.0 at that.
Sorry misread that but u get my point
I was making the same point as you, just more subtley ;)
Nice ball movement on the outside on that Matrix shot
Good timeout from Blatt. Guys not closing out on shooters early in second
Lebron actually looks like hes having fun for once.
Good point. He does seem to be in a good mood out there (a 19-0 run will do that though)
Nice effort by Delly at the end of the quarter to try for the buzzer beater. Wow, what a terrific first quarter! Keep up the intensity fellas!
Who will go scrub-fuego tonight? I’d guess Gary Neal
TT playing well on offense so far
Can’t let Kemba get hot
What an effort by TT to snag that rebound after the blown alley oop. Great pull up three by LBJ
Hornets need to make a couple so as not to have a historically bad first quarter…
Why are the staters still in when we’re up by 20 in the middle of first quarter? Should Lebron be sitting right now?
its not the 4th quarter
And he’s not 39
Well, we always talk about Lebron playing too many minutes. This is a good time to put in the bench. Want to see Lebron play 25-30 min today.
I hear you, but doubt it’s under 35 unless it remains a blowout into the second half.
Guess they were either really mad about the Pelicans game, or they had some spirited practices the last two days. Maybe both?
yeah – helps when your sticking transition 3s
HOLY COW!!! What a start! What happened?
Cavs making everything – playing with energy. HNets getting nothing but contested long2s – missing.
This is going very well. Where the heck is everyone!?
Varejao is so MONEY from 15-18 feet he starts running the other way as soon as he releases it.
#NEVERTRADEANDY
Nothing more fun than AC describing the physics of a terrible shot:
“someone opened a window!”
“he threw up a sidewinder”
Nice start for K Love. Stepping into these shots with confidence.