Not a Recap: Cavs 97, 76ers 84 (Or, Heat Check Lineups and D3LLY Dagg3rs)

Nate and Cory attended this game – and I think they’re still at the Horseshoe.  So expect a more thorough recap tomorrow.  In the meantime I’ll offer my thoughts for you to sound off.  Here are 11 quick takes – Lloydian style – in honor of the 11-game winning streak.

1.) This was one of the sloppier games the Cavs have played in a while.  They continue to throw bounce passes into heavy leg-traffic.  They also go for the touchdown pass a LOT.  I think they collectively missed about six alley-oops tonight.

2.) Tonight was a nice win because LeBron and KLove really struggled shooting the ball.  They combined to go 7-24.  For all the talk about the Cavs not getting Love involved in the offense or “using him properly” – I’ve seen so many occasions this year where he spots up on the perimeter, receives the ball, and then swings it around to someone that’s not spotted up.  Tonight he passed up a perfectly wide-open 3 to give the ball to poor Delly, who had to make something happen with time running down on the clock.  Love wasn’t the only guy to do this to SuperDova.

3.) Kyrie Irving really took over in the 4th quarter.  When he starts building confidence offensively, he is ridiculous.  Which each passing day I feel like more of an idiot for saying he wasn’t worth a max contract.  I mean guys know what he is capable of – he’s not sneaking up on anyone.  And yet, he continues to blow my mind with how well he gets into the paint without the transcendent athleticism of someone like Westbrook.  Is there a guy in the NBA that has more control over the ball, his body, and his defender’s body than Kyrie Irving?  Maybe Chris Paul – but CP3 doesn’t finish like Kyrie.  Magnum KI has established himself as the best finishing guard in the NBA (according to my eye test).  Also, that crossover and left-handed finish tonight was just filthy.

4.) I don’t claim to have 10 games going at once on a CIA-like big screen in my home.  I’ve only seen the 76ers play two other times this season.  I had no idea who half of these guys were.  Some of the names I recognized, but almost none of the faces.  Most of them have the same trendy buzzcut that looks like their kid brother punked them in their sleep.  At any rate, they are athletic and scrappy as hell.  It’s no fluke they almost took down the Hawks the other night.  They really took it to David Blatt’s “Heat Check” lineup (that’s a lineup without any combination of LeBron/KI/KLove) and when the Cavs top dogs came back in the 76ers acted like they didn’t notice any difference.  Started jacking (and making!) a bunch of YOLO 3s.

5.) Iman Shumpert went 4/4 with 2 steals.  He’s still a mess when he puts the ball on the floor but he’s got a nice arc on his shot.  Between Shumpert, Earl Smith III, Delly, and Kyrie, the Cavs have greatly improved their ability to help and recover around the perimeter.  Their team defense has improved by leaps and bounds since the additions of Mozgov and Smith, and Shumpert is adding to that.  Delly doesn’t seem as effective this year in single coverage but he’s still closing out on shooters very well.  Kyrie’s defense has improved 10fold this season.  Effort, anticipation, recovery – he’s a completely different player at that end.  The Cavs have really been playing stout D the last few weeks.

6.) Delly has become a lightning rod these days.  He’s got his share of haters this season. I’ll admit I have been disappointed at times (thought he was better defensively last year)  but I don’t see what all the fuss is about.  He’s a smart player.  He always knows the situation on the court and makes heady plays.  Once again he fouled in the open court tonight knowing he had a foul to give to bring a 76ers fast break to a screeching halt.  He does stuff like this every game.  I think Blatt trusts him in big moments more than a lot of the fan base.  The thing is, it’s going to be hard for Delly to impress anyone because for the Cavs to be playing optimal basketball, Delly shouldn’t be shooting, and he probably shouldn’t be racking up assists either.  His role on offense is to get rid of the ball when he gets it, move to the open spaces, space the floor, and convert enough 3-pointers to keep the defense honest.  And he’s done that.  Tonight he coupled some heady plays with a bunch of ugly offensive possessions.  And on none of them did he have any desire to score.  There was a play where the offense stalled and LeBron swung it to Delly to reset with about 8 seconds left.  Delly got a high screen from noted non-floor spacer Tristan Thompson.  He drove right, hoping someone (ANYONE) would cut off ball or move to an open spot so he could drive and kick.  LeBron sat 5 feet behind the line with a guy shadowing him and didn’t move one bit.  Nor did anyone else.  So he kept his dribble and threw up an awkward brick. (I’m pretty sure the picture I chose for the heading is the play in question) There were about two more possessions like that in the game.  Fans were outraged that Blatt kept him in as long as he did.  And it wasn’t like Delly was playing Grindfather defense at the other end.  Well, with the Cavs struggling to get their engines firing in the 4the quarter, Delly hit not one, not two, but three 3s.  The second one being the dagger in my opinion.  He gets burn because he wins possessions, spaces the floor, hits 3s, and always defers to the stars on the team.  In crunch time, that’s what you want.

7.) Rough game offensively for Mozzy although he did swat five shots.  At the other end the 76ers had 23 combined Steals+Blocks.  That’s an athletic team.  Marion looked “fork-in-back” done again.  Of course he looked a decade younger last week, so maybe he’ll be springy again soon.

8.) David Blatt was prioritizing rest tonight.  He admitted he didn’t handle the 3rd quarter particularly well, but the Cavs are starting to increase their margin for error.  Other than the Portland game and a few moments in the Clippers game, there haven’t been many moments during this win streak when I thought the Cavs were in dangers of losing.  They have a different air about them.  They’re finding ways to win and even as teams seem to get up for playing against LeBron and his “Big 3”, the Cavs are absorbing the body blows and landing these 4th quarter knockout punches.

9.) Once again Kevin Love couldn’t hit a shot but played well in other facets of the game.  I apologize for referring to him as a “poor man’s Spencer Hawes” (AMERICAN PATRIOT) earlier this year – it was partially in jest.  He had some man’s-man rebounds and his usual assortment of fun deep-ball outlets.  He led everyone in +/-.

10.) I loved LeBron’s post game comments.  He’s right, the Cavs haven’t won anything.  Stay hungry my friend.

11.) The Cavs finally made up a game on the Hawks!  The revenge tour continues!  Depending on who you talk to, the win streak is being partially fueled by Urban Meyer’s speech or someone from C:TB attending games in the flesh.  Of course some would say they’re 11-0 since going bowling.  But I think we all know the real reason the Cavs are undefeated since January 13.  Because Frank Caliendo did his Charles Barkley impression in the locker room after that blown loss to the Suns.  It’s been uphill since!

Frank Caliendo is visiting the Cavs postgame locker room. His Kiper Jr. impression slays me every time.

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 14, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwMONEPz4yA