Recap: Heat 101, Cavs 91 (or, I Got My Youth Back For Christmas)

Santa decided to get Dwyane Wade a little taste of his youth for Christmas, and little Dwyane used it up to beat his old buddy King James. Wade had 24 points in the first half, and the Cavs aided the rest of the Heat by tossing away the ball ten times. They also decided to give the Florida natives the present of acting like a soft blanket in the paint for the first 24 minutes and were out hustled in every way possible to be down by 14 going into half-time. During the second half, the Cavs shook off their Christmas hangovers and played much tighter, but there weren’t enough sandpaper plays in the world to rough up that blanket they gave Miami early on.

First Quarter

David Blatt opened the game with Shawn Marion starting again and Kevin Love moving into the five spot to play some small ball. Kyrie Irving made the first score of the game with a nice turn around jumper and then proceeded to sink his next three shots out of isolation situations. LeBron followed Irving’s iso love and drove incessantly, so he could make just four of seven free throws. The Heat, on the other hand, drove to the paint using screens or good old fashioned passes and were met by the league’s softest center who is named Love and was all love. Wade recognized this and was 6-9 in just ten minutes for 12 points. He did this all over Kevin too:

Wade promptly handed Santa his “return to youth” card after that play, and Santa said he would destroy it forever after the second quarter. And, even if Wade couldn’t have pulled Miami on his own, the Cavs had six turnovers that made sure the Heat were going to have a lead heading into the second quarter. Heat up, 30-27.

Second Quarter

The softness of the first quarter continued, as the Heat opened play with a wide open three from Norris Cole. The next possession Tristan Thompson grabbed two big offensive boards which led to Dion Waiters getting two free ones. That was the lone highlight offensively for the Wine & Gold during the quarter. Shawne Williams hit another open three, and the Cavs called a timeout. The Good Guys were ten behind at that point and wouldn’t be closer than that the rest of the quarter. LeBron fed Kyrie with a crazy pass out of the paint to the three line to try and build momentum, but Erik Spoelstra called a timeout immediately to stop the LeBron assist run foreplay. Out of the stoppage time, Dwyane hit a three where he stared the King in the eyes like a spurned lover and said, “I do deserve love.” With the Heat now up 12 at the five minute mark, the Cavs tried to play a zone and gave up a Mario Chalmers three. Luol Deng finished the quarter strong dishing an assist on a Wade three, nailing a late shot clock baseline jumper, and making a driving layup. Cavs ended it down, 62-49.

Third Quarter

The Heat missed their first shot, and the Cavs looked to run for action early in the shot clock. Kyrie even dove to the ground and managed a jump ball against Mario Chalmers. He lost it, but the team forced a shotclock turnover, so Kyrie could come down the court and feed LBJ for an easy layup. The King’s Men opened on a mini 8-2 run to force the Heat to call a timeout. Around the six minute mark, the Cavs had the lead cut to six, and Miami somehow recovered two offensive boards on one possession to get Chris Anderson a two. LeBron yelled at the young guys on the court to rebound, and it seemed like everything was going to fall apart. However, calm prevailed, and the Good Guys would have a play at the 4:52 mark featuring five passes and two drives to get Dion a three in the right corner. Dion was hyped up after this play and became a defensive maniac for the rest of the game. The King went to the locker room after jumping over a row of seats. Out of the timeout to get him off the floor, the Cavs finished the quarter on a 10-4 run. They were down slightly less heading into the fourth, 77-74.

Fourth Quarter

LeBron returned from the locker room hyped and without injury. Early on in the quarter, Matthew Dellavedova stole a pass and found the King running like a Ferrari in transition for a dunk that was harder than Adamantium. LeBron got a tech for hanging on the rim but seemed energized after putting the Cavs up by one. They wouldn’t lead again for the rest of the quarter, which is sad because Dion was playing such hard defense. He had two blocks, an assist, three steals, and got the rock after a jump ball. Blatt decided to pull Big T to play a small ball lineup at the four minute mark because he must have been rebounding too hard and making Love feel bad. The Cavs got within three after a Miller three, but playmaker Deng set up a Danny Granger triple and a Chris Anderson layup the following plays to the put the Heat ahead by eight with two minutes left. The Cavs didn’t foul after coming out of a timeout and ran the “let LeBron chuck a shot from 30 feet away and hope it goes in play.” It went in once; the next time he tried it it was a brick. Cavs lose, 101-91.

Gripes

1. There were so many turnovers by the Cavs. The first half they had ten and the Heat only had four. In the first quarter, the Cavs were making 62.5% of their shots. That doesn’t really do anything though when the opponent has seven more shot attempts than you. During the Cavs comeback third quarter, they had just one turnover. Coincidence? I think not. They had four in the fourth quarter, but the Heat had six. They turned only two of those Heat gimmes into points. The team played like sloppy little piggies.

2. Shawn Marion shouldn’t start. He had two points and five rebounds. He also had an absolutely terrible attempt at running a fast break by himself.

3. And, maybe Kevin Love shouldn’t start either (okay, I kid). He had just five boards the whole night. He stood in the corner a ton and didn’t move around at all. This is his fault and coach Blatt’s. Where is the action to involve the big dude? My biggest issue is that on defense he was so soft. If I could dunk, I’d want to practice doing so in live game situations against Love. He’d look at me smiling, and if I got super close to him, he would move a little out of the way. Small ball centers need to be spunky, and he was not that at all. He might lead the league as far as being dunked on goes.

4. Love being dunked on though is partially a result of poor perimeter defense. Mike Miller can’t guard anyone and has arrows on his jersey pointing to the right and left saying “layup lane” and “layup drive.” That’s fine if a Roy Hibbert esque figure is behind him, but the Cavs don’t have that.

5. Shooting 23.1% from three land isn’t winning basketball. Weren’t the Cavs supposed to be a lights out shooting team?

6. Where is the offensive motion, Mr. Blatt. Right now, the Cavs play a brand of iso ball that almost rivals that of the Byron Scott led teams of the past.

7. I know Wade used up his gift of youth today to put up 31 points, five rebounds, and five assists, but why help him out even more by not even putting him to the floor one time. In the first quarter when he shot 10-16 for 24, he should have been fouled hard. He’s old and that’s just a sound basketball move.

8. LeBron needs to practice his free throws. He was 10-18. Those extra points would have helped.

9. Back to point number seven. Luol Deng needed a hard foul too in that first half. He was 6-9 for 13 points, and he had four assists and seven rebounds.

10. Some of those rebounds are why the Cavs lost the rebounding battle 43-37.

Hypes

1. Kyrie and LeBron both had high scoring games, but it didn’t feel as if they were trying to. That’s sort of good because it means there is still some semblance of team ball going on.

2. Dion went 3-8 for 8 points this game, yet he didn’t check out at all. He made himself into an X-Ray machine looking through guys to get the ball. He had three steals and two blocks. This new defensive stopper guy is what the Cavs need.

3. Tristan played really hard too grabbing nine boards and trying to protect a rim that was as busy as the mall during the weekend before Christmas.

4. LeBron and his Miami friends all power hugged, which was a warm moment. LeBron can also be proud that although his team lost he still remembers a lot of different handshakes.

5. The Wine & Gold play Orlando tonight. That could be a win. I don’t have much positive to say about the team right now.