Recap: Cavs 91 Hornets 87 (Or, Positive, Encouraging K-LOVE)
2015-01-02
Kevin Love scored 27 points on 15 shots, Dion Waiters came alive in spurts, and the Cavs came back from an early double-digit deficit to get a gritty road win against the struggling Hornets. They shrugged off a terrible shooting night from Kyrie Irving (8-27) and survived a take-your-breath-away scare when Kevin Love’s knee seemed to buckle early in the third quarter. Both teams shot horribly, but the Cavs took care of the ball and the Hornets didn’t. The Cavs scored 23 points off turnovers and only coughed up seven points – more than enough to account for the diff.
First Quarter: The Cavs looked pretty smooth on offense for the few first minutes of the quarter. They were moving the ball, moving bodies, and Kevin Love was firing away without hesitation. At some point, the offense de-stabilized into Kyrie playing a lot of one-on-one ball. Dion checked in and looked out of sync. At one point he put his head down and tried to drive through multiple defenders, got the ball tipped away, complained to the ref, and allowed the Hornets to drain a transition 3. The Cavs worked pretty hard on D but only managed 16 points. The bench was 0-5 in the quarter. Tristan Thompson seemed unable to secure many rebounds that he had landed a finger on.
How the hell you shooting 28% and have 1 offensive rebound???
— WayneEmbrysKids Official (@WayneEmbrysKids) January 3, 2015
Second Quarter: After being down as much as nine the Cavs did a nice job of shutting down the Hornets half-court execution. At the other end, the Cavs worked themselves into the bonus and knotted up the game at 28 behind some spirited play from Tristan and Delly. SuperDOVA found KLove for a layup and TT for a nice alley-oop. But the Cavs went cold again, and the Hornets started dominating the boards. Any and all effective defensive stances were rendered useless upon multiple Hornets offensive rebounds.
Cavs need Kevin Love to rebound.
— David Zavac (@DavidZavac) January 3, 2015
The Cavs went five whole minutes where all they could manage was two free throws (splits by Tristan and Waiters). The Hornets pushed their lead to 11 before the Cavs finally showed a pulse. After a TT offensive rebound, Dion hit a mid-range J. Dion forced two straight turnovers after that and at the other end tossed in a floater and then made a layup off a Kyrie feed. (Six points and two steals in under a minute for Dion.) Then, Kevin Love ran the floor and was rewarded with a layup. At halftime it was 46-40 Hornets. The Cavs were out-rebounded 31-17 and out-shot 41% to 33%. The reason they were only down six was that they only turned the ball over once to the Hornets’ eight turnovers (costing them 15 points).
Third Quarter: As if things couldn’t get any worse, Kevin Love’s knee appeared to buckle and he had trouble getting up. It looked serious, and after the timeout it was revealed he wasn’t even going to come out of the game. Wow, really? And then, K Love drained BACK TO BACK TO BACK triples! In NBA JAM jargon, “He’s On Fire!”.
Kevin Love scoring like Kevin Love, circa Minnesota
— Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) January 3, 2015
Kyrie’s energy picked up and good Dion checked in. Waiters’ J was off but he made four (yes, 4) straight layups off nice dribble penetration. He also got his hands on another steal. The Cavs took control of the game and finished the quarter ahead 72-64 as Tristan dunked home a missed Dion layup.
Fourth Quarter: Tristan started the quarter where he left off the third – cleaning up Dion’s mess with a throwdown.
I can't believe how many offensive rebounds Tristan Thompson got in this game. It was like it all just happened all of a sudden.
— WayneEmbrysKids Official (@WayneEmbrysKids) January 3, 2015
The intensity picked up in the fourth – every possession was a grind. Kevin Love took a gutsy charge and then Delly did the same but Delly was whistled for the block (bad call). Then Cavs got into the penalty early and even though neither team could score much, the Hornets got the line a few times. The Cavs did not work hard enough to get Kevin Love the ball. Lots of forced shots off the dribble from Kyrie and Dion. The Cavs managed just four points in over seven minutes. Fortunately, their defense was stout and the Hornets managed just 10 points over the same span.
Kevin Love has two shot attempts in the fourth quarter. TWO. After a sensational third quarter.
— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) January 3, 2015
Kyrie and Dion took “my-turns” dribbling into contested shots. After a while the rest of the team just stopped moving, assuming that the possession was going to begin and end with those two. So when Dion dribbled into a corner there was no one cutting to bail him out. The Cavs caught a HUGE break when Gerald Henderson missed a wide-open corner 3 that would have tied the game. Delly did a nice job securing the long rebound. On the next play, Kyrie drove left and was blocked out of bounds by Kemba Walker. With less than five seconds on the shot clock, the Cavs called timeout and #CavsNation groaned at the hero-ball that was snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Delly inbounded to Kevin Love who swished an extremely difficult turnaround fadeaway to beat the shot clock buzzer.
Hey look at that. Kevin Love finally got a touch in the 4th.
— realcavsfans.com (@realcavsfans) January 3, 2015
I LOVE you Kevin!!!!
— Abigail Marie (@abscrock) January 3, 2015
The Cavs, up five, let Kemba Walker drive without fouling him. He missed the layup but Cody Zeller grabbed the board and found a cutting Gerald Henderson who threw down an impressive two-handed dunk to cut the deficit to three. But Kyrie sank both freebies and the Cavs hung on.
The Good:
Kevin Love looked like Kevin Love. Right from the start KLove’s demeanor was different. He looked a little more selfish – which is exactly what the Cavs need right now. He had a quick trigger early, and of course after the knee scare he drained three straight 3s. It was baffling how the Cavs never went back to him in the late game half-court sets but hopefully they’ll learn after he bailed them out with that turnaround fadeaway. He had troubled securing rebounds tonight but let’s worry about one thing at a time.
The Cavs fight through screens now. All of them. Not just Delly. Dion fights through screens (4 steals tonight), Kyrie (yes, Kyrie Irving) fights through screens (4 steals tonight). There was a sequence in the first half where Kyrie fought through a screen so forcefully that it knocked the wind out of the screener and brought him down on one knee. For three years I’ve witnessed people pick Kyrie apart for overdribbling or playing hero-ball, or his inability to defend in general. But I always found the way he responded to screens to be egregious. I used to call them fly-paper screens because Kyrie ran into them like a drunken insect and would get completely removed from the play. It was like he was complicit too! He made no adjustments. Didn’t try to go over on the sharpshooters and under on the sub 35% guys. No more. As his overall efficiency has waxed and waned this season, his defensive commitment and intelligence has not. I’m not saying he’s a defensive stalwart, but by fighting through screens it’s making all the difference in the world. Tonight, for example, the Hornets’ guards were unable to get that parting-of-the-Red-Sea penetration that leads to the black-hole-collapse and subsequent 3-point orgy. It was palpable.
The defensive intensity in general was very good tonight. The Cavs gave up a lot of second chance points but their half-court defensive rotations were stout. The Hornets took a lot of contested jumpers. It was really nice that the Cavs didn’t have to deal with Al Jefferson tonight.
Delly played a nice game tonight – he found the cutter time and again and grabbed seven boards including a crucial board late in the game. He also inbounded the ball to Kevin Love on the dagger. I know that sounds pretty ordinary, but let’s not forget the inbounding escapades of last season. It was a well-executed inbounds play. Blatt on Delly: “Delly always give you effort, fight, and hustle. He was a glue guy tonight and we needed that.” He was a glue guy tonight.
Dion’s presence was felt. Often this season I’ve witnessed Dion fading into the background when the Cavs really could use some instant offense. He was pretty bad in the first half and then BAM he exploded for 6 points and two steals in the blink of an eye and suddenly the half-time deficit was manageable. It felt like the Cavs were down much more, and that’s the point. Dion single-handedly gave them the spark they needed. He continued his strong play in the 3rd quarter, making layup after layup after layup after layup (that’s FOUR LAYUPS). That was huge. He took over the end of the third quarter and pushed the Cavs lead to double digits. Even his missed layup at the end of the third resulted in a TT putback.
The Bad:
Hero ball almost sabotaged this one. Kyrie and Dion shot 16/48 (33%) and just kept going 1 on 1 in the fourth quarter. Dion was 8/21 and seven of his makes were layups/a floater. So there ya go, other than one step-back jumper, he was 1/8 on jumpers.
Cavs are woefully undersized. They were getting killed on the glass in the first half and it wasn’t like the Hornets are a huge team. Delly was matched up with Gerald Henderson and he did an admirable job but it just felt like he was giving up a lot of size. So many rebounds were going off the outstretched fingertips of TT and KLove (especially in the first half). They really need to make a move for a big man.
The Ugly:
Delly air-balled an uncontested layup in the 3rd quarter. He should be glad this game wasn’t on National TV or that’d have a lot of YouTube hits by now.
Other Thoughts:
TT had a rough first quarter and really turned up the intensity towards the half. He was great in the third quarter and his energy and effectiveness around the basket went a long way towards the Cavs 32-point third quarter.
I thought Fred and AC called a really good game. I don’t talk about them enough in my recaps. I also appreciated that they talked at length about Kemba Walker’s relationship with Mark Price and the cameraman appropriately panned to Price on the bench.
This game was reminiscent of the ’05-’07 Cavs. They were scrappy, uneven offensively, but able to clamp down in the half-court and squeak out victories against inferior opponents. I guess Dion Waiters is our Sasha Pavlovic. I really enjoyed this game. I have a soft spot for defensive grind fests.
Man I really though the Hornets were going to be good this year. Nothing has worked out for them and now injuries are taking their toll. I feel like they are one piece away from being a great team – like if they had Kyle Korver or something I think they could be above .500. It’s just too easy to defend them with the spotty shooting in the backcourt and the lack of polish up front.
Way late, but I didn’t know you were a fan of family friendly christian radio.
Glad someone finally noticed the title!
I also didn’t realize that Griffin is a two time cancer survivor.
He’s a resilient guy. He also said some nice things about Stuart Scott when he was on with Fred and AC. Griff is a class act.
Per Griffin – “Everybody needs to settle down and let it happen”
Yeah, he seemed really ticked off in his pre-game comments. And I liked it. It was past time for him to chime in.
It was way past time for Griffin to chime in. Once again, Cavs fans were duped by media that have a daily homework assignment of writing a story we’ll devour. The taller the tale – the better. Sam Amico was in on this one. Once again we (I) was duped. Initially, I thought, “No way Blatt goes . . . no way!” After a few days of incessant stories, including some that picked out one phrase from long Lebron interview to create suspicion – even the Underdog was duped. Wait until we get closer to the trade deadline. I wonder… Read more »
Hopefully Houston plays lots of Josh Smith this Wednesday.
It’s kind of funny that the Pistons have won 4 straight since they dumped Josh, but the Rockets have gone 2-3 since they picked him up. Coincidence?
Dion and Delly will need to step it up in Philly.
@SamAmicoFSO: Following up on previous tweet, Kyrie Irving will not travel with Cavs to Philly for Monday’s game. Staying in CLE for treatment on back.
Probably for the best. Blatt should spot start Dion since he’s home in Philly. He’ll have to play a lot of minutes, although Price didn’t look too bad in limited work today.
I didn’t realize Steph Curry was born in Akron, Ohio.
January is going to be a tough month. We play OKC, Portland, Houston, Golden State, Clippers, and Phoenix. These could all be without LeBron too. Need to capitalize on beating inferior teams like the Sixers.
I kind of like it though. In too many games against inferior EC competition, the Cavs just don’t seem to have the laser focus and the kind of effort they should. Having to play some tough WC teams on the road may result in some tough losses, but hopefully it brings them together and seasons them a bit. If they can play .500 ball until LBJ gets back, they should finish the month strong. I’ll bet LBJ has the Bulls game on Monday the 19th circled as his return date. After that game, they finish most of the month at… Read more »
Dallas is just a better team (even when we do have LeBron). They are a deeper squad. I’ve pretty much giving up on believing that this team will get to the finals this year. I think we have the talent, just not all the pieces. I’m hoping that Blatt won’t get fired, and LeBron and Love resign this offseason. I think that after a year of playing together, adding some bench depth in the offseason, giving our players some playoff experience, and getting Andy back then our team will be ready to contend for a championship next year. Not playing… Read more »
By adding Rondo, Dallas has nearly an All-Star starting lineup and their bench is better than probably a dozen current starting lineups in the league. They are a scary deep team and should be in the conversation for the WC representative in the Finals. If Griffin’s pre-game rant to the media is any indication, Blatt’s job is safe for the foreseeable future. Obviously, Dan G can always change his mind, but I don’t think Griff comes out that strong without full support of ownership. I don’t think there’s any question LBJ re-signs. Love is a bit more of a wild… Read more »
Dion is either really good or really bad, without much in between. I’m happy to see KLove playing better offensively, Griff alluded that he was previously playing through injury and maybe that’s why he wasn’t playing well. As much as the Sixers suck, we need to take them seriously, because it could be one of those games where we play down to the competition. I’m happy to see Griff show support for Blatt and put these firing rumors to rest for a bit.
Let’s hope Dion goes off and scores 30 against Philly. Maybe they’ll trade for the Philly kid and pair him with old Syracuse teammate Michael Carter Williams and be willing to part with Noel in some type of package.
In principle, I’m not for trading Dion. However, if he destroys some team, and afterwards they’re willing to overvalue him in a trade – I wouldn’t be against that.
So, how was the Dallas roster built? It obviously wasn’t the OKC model. I know that Nowitski agreed to take less in salary to be surrounded by better players. Monta Ellis reminds me of a turbo-charged Delonte West. Wish we had been able to sign him. Think about him starting alongside Kyrie. I think that was many peoples’ expectation for Dion Waiters. More and more it seems that teams that have players that have been together a couple of years do better. My last point would be that – even though the Cavs need a big, physical rim protector –… Read more »
Got to hand it to Cuban and Donnie Nelson. They’ve been making some shrewd moves and pick ups over the last few years. Getting Chandler back was key. I also thought they overpaid for Parsons, but it turns out he was just the right fit for them. Yes, Dirk agreed to take the discount, but he’s always been a pretty selfless, team-oriented guy. Getting Rondo to put beside Ellis was a terrific capper. Just a scary good team that can beat you a number of ways.
Yeah, Ellis and Rondo are a great combo with a tough, veteran’s, winner’s mentality. Chandler is good, not great . . . but brings the requisite toughness that every team needs to be great.
Great write up. Very nice work.
Thanks Johnny!
JUST READSING ON NBA TRADE RUMORS—PACERS ARE SERIOUS ABOUT TRADING HIBBERT—-IS THIS A PLAYER CAVS SHOULD PURSUE ?—WHAT WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO GIVE UP ?—-JUST CURIOUS ON WHAT THE THINKING IS FROM ALL YOU CTBER’S
I’m not opposed to Hibbert…he could fill the defensive stopper role next to Love. I have no clue what we’d have to give up to get him. He is not injury prone to my knowledge which is a huge plus.
I don’t think you’d want to give up too much. Hibbert is a liability at times. You can’t really play up-tempo with him and he’s certainly not a floor spacer. He’d be a situational match-up guy.
He also seems to have uneven effort. I wouldn’t give up a pick for him that’s for sure.
last year T.T. developed a right hand/ this year he got in the weight room and added some muscle and also a soft 10′ and in jump shot—this kid works hard every off season to improve his game—I can see him 3-5 yrs from with a consistent 15″ jump shot and being able to take someone off the dribble—I am sure other g.m ‘s see this and are ready / willing to make a huge investment—-regarding BLATT and his n.b.a. coaching—-I think the biggest / hardest adjustments for him is the number of games / and the short turn around… Read more »
They also only play 40 minute games as opposed to 48
Fun recap, Tom. I too have a soft spot for grindfests. Some notes: The run at the end of the first half is textbook on how to close quarters. It went a long way towards the Cavs taking the lead in the third. The last two minutes saw an 8-3 close by the Cavs, and the only Charlotte points were a Gary Neal “I look like Snoop, and I can shoot the rock” 26-footer that you just have to live with (Neal was 1-7 from three for the game). That blocking foul on Delly against MKG was the worst. Not… Read more »
Yeah that blocking foul wasn’t even a flop. I’m surprised Delly didn’t get a concussion or have a rib cracked or something. MKG “led with the crown”. And yeah that habit of dribbling into corners and getting stuck – Kyrie did that a lot last season too – teams were forcing him into traps. That’s one nice thing about Delly – as soon as his angle is cut off, he swings it back out. Dion likes to go baseline and I’m actually starting to like it. He’s drawing that big from the other side of the baseline and it’s leading… Read more »
I’m buying TT stock, too, Nomad.
He does all the dirty work . . . and he’s doing it for a lot of minutes. I have to think that a post that battles as much as TT does has as many bruises as a football player after a game. He’s gotta be taking painful shots to ribs, head, thighs, etc and he keeps on coming. And so far this season, his game elevates to another level in the 4th quarter.
I am going to purchase some ” T.T. ” stock—the value is sure to rise—keep it going T.T.—get yourself a fat / rich contract
It should be noted that the bench was Dion (34 mins) Marion(23 mins) Haywood & Jones only 3 mins each. How does anyone expect bench production from 3 min players but yet everyone screams the bench stinks? Dion had 17 pts (shot 8/21) 5 rebs, 2 assts, 4 steals and ONLY 1 TO per nba.com Marion 7 pts (shot 2/7) 10 rebs , 2 asst 1 block Tristan 14 pts (shot 5/10) 14 rebs, 3 spectacular blocks, 2 TO Delly 3 pts (shot 1/4), 7rebs, 4 assts. And the NOT mentioned Mike Miller 0 pts, (shot 0/1) 4 assists, 1… Read more »
Softball treatment from who exactly? It’s not like it wasn’t mentioned repeatedly tonight. Agree with your point about the bench though. That has been Blatt’s biggest shortcoming this season, aside from odd substitution patterns and lineups. He needs to get more guys involved. Haywood didn’t look all that great, but there’s no reason not to get him back in there, or see if Kirk can provide any meaningful minutes. Same with Harris, Price and Jones.
Hey, I got no problem with the rotation tonight. Bench stinks. Blatt knows it. Charlotte is way too athletic to play Jones, Haywood, or Kirk. Blatt protected the lead down the stretch. They won. No complaints here.
Well, if CHARLOTTE is too athletic, then what’s he going to do against the rest of the league? Seriously, it makes no sense to at least try and get some minutes out of some of these guys. You didn’t mention Harris or Price. Both of those guys are athletic and could contribute. Also, Haywood wasn’t terrible in his early minutes, why not spell TT for a few extra so he doesn’t have to play 43. Listen, you won’t find many more staunch supporters of Blatt than me, but if he has one major flaw so far it’s that he rides… Read more »
Regarding ‘softball treatment” was if you actually counted negative vs positive comments on Kyrie 1st thru 4th section above. There were only 4 compared to Dion’s 8 negatives. Then there was the shot chart pic of Dion’s but not Kyrie’s which was worse. This is pretty typical from most local sports reporting. Even on Fox Sports Ohio, they were ignoring the bad shooting in their recap and stated that ‘Kyrie Was On Fire” Huh? Well yes and the game was almost lost to the hero ball of jacking up shots from both he & Dion as it was articulated perfectly… Read more »
I didn’t hear the Fox Sports Ohio reporting after the game, so if they were softballing Kyrie’s shooting vs. Dion then I get it. For the most part though, I don’t think the C:tB guys are so biased on that front. I think your last statement is the truth. When Kyrie is on, he’s terrific. This year, there have been more examples of good Kyrie than good Dion, and conversely more examples of bad Dion than bad Kyrie.
Aw Man I grimace every time someone says the Good Dion/Bad Dion thing like he’s a dog or something. I’m not sure I could get away with saying that about my own kids. I’d get killed. LoL Kiddingly aside, you have to keep in mind that Dion’s production is reflective overwhelmingly on minutes he gets. A 6-7 minute Dion is pretty useless compared to when he plays 25 mins or more. You will never see this to be an issue with Kyrie. He’s playing +30mins every game. Wouldn’t be at all surprised why Dion was less than thrilled to be… Read more »
Okay, how about productive Dion vs. non-productive Dion, or locked-in Dion vs. aimless Dion. I understand your minutes played argument, but Dion’s actually been getting a ton of minutes lately since the injury bug struck. Dion has proven time and again that he’s not as effective as a starter as opposed to coming off the bench. Blatt is not the first coach to determine this. Coach Boeheim at Syracuse was the first and he’s got a pretty good track record. Agree about your Delly point though. They do really push the pace when they’re on the floor together. Also, don’t… Read more »
For what it’s worth, here is link to Kyrie or any other Cav player’s shot chart from tonight’s game. http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/shotchart?gameId=400578776
With LeBron James out, Irving is supposed to take more shots. He was ice cold tonight and his hero ball almost lost the game for the Cavs. That said, he played with outstanding energy and effort throughout, and did a nice job on Kemba Walker.
I don’t mind Kyrie taking and missing mid-range jumpers – he’s a good long-2 jump shooter: 45% from 15-19 and 42% from 20-24. Dion is not as good: 38% from 15-19 and 35% from 20-24.
I was going to ask, how did he defend Kemba and others? Because really, it sounds as if effort and defense won this game. If so, that’s great to hear.
Great recap Tom! The peppered in tweets are awesome as well! I’ve got very few complaints about this game, mainly because the Cavs had a lot of energy and activity on both ends, and also because they really needed this win after three straight losses. I was really happy to see KLove respond from pretty much the opening tip (he even took two charges!). You could see that he took his share of the leadership mantle tonight. And weirdly, having the injury scare was maybe the jolt he needed to go all NBA Jam and flashback to his Minnesota days.… Read more »
Any reason LeBron wasn’t on the bench in a suit supporting his team?!?! As I recall, in Miami when not playing, he was on the bench fully supporting his team in a loud, expressive manner. Do you know if he just isn’t traveling with the team?
They are not required to travel with team to away games when injured. If he really wanted to go that badly, no one would stop him. LoL But it’s not required. If you did notice, Mike Miller would travel to some of the away games when he was hurt because he REALLY enjoys cheering his team mates on.
Not meant to make Lebron look bad. Just it’s a Mike Miller thing.
Also, flying exaccerbates swelling, etc. There’s no reason to subject ‘Bron to the stress of traveling when there’s no need. Miller had a concussion, and it’s a different protocol.
True concussion is a different protocol. However, I do work in the medical field and don’t want people to get the idea that you can just fly if you have a concussion, A concussion is a brain injury and they are classified in 3 levels. I, II, III with III being the most severe. Most likely Miller was a Grade I. People still need to check with their doctors if it is safe to fly with a concussion because swelling from the flight can exacerbate the brain injury if severe. When you get a concussion, the injury is inside the… Read more »
Thanks guys! Appreciate the responses….good info.
The fourth was ugly but Bismack was cheating off of Triston when Love was trying to establish post position before the pass. He’s got to clear the area. I hope the coaches see that and make the appropriate adjustments.
Exactly. And the Cavs still cannot string together two or three quick passes to get the ball to the weak side when teams are doubling the post before Kevin gets the ball. Here’s a tip: if someone is being double teamed, someone else is open.
Great write up tom. You didn’t miss a thing except Tristan thompson’s block party!! Did anyone else think he had more blocks than he was credited for? He absolutely stuffed ke ba or Henderson at one point and looked marginally intimidating.
Thanks Scotch. I must have missed it his blocks. I can’t seem to recall. I’m just loving all the allalley-oops and his ability to finish (or get fouled) around the rim. And of course all the extra possessions he is stealing