Recap: Cavs 110, Celtics 79 (Or, Haikus for the Win)

The Cavs dominated for 36 straight minutes tonight. They could have done so for 48 minutes. However, going into the fourth quarter ahead by 42 points is usually enough. There’s no need to pile on against any team, especially one that started a bunch of young guys and one seasoned vet. The story of the night was the Cavs: The Blog Haiku comment challenge. The commenters committed to the Haiku format and that helped the Cavs win big. And, my fellow blogger Nate Smith was at the game eating all he could (he had all you can eat seats). So we’ll add Haiku-commenting and Nate eating at the Q to the list of ways to help the Cavs win.

First Quarter

The first quarter started as a LeBron James post-up fest. He had his back to the basket on the first four possessions. He earned two points for himself and gave Kevin an easy pass straight into his shooting pocket for a long trey. Tyler Zeller scored the first points for the Celtics and blocked Kyrie Irving a few plays later. Avery Bradley followed that with a mid-range jumper and a 3-pointer to put the Celtics up, 9-5. This would be the biggest Boston lead for the entire game. Bradley’s lack of athleticism sabotaged his next shot attempt. He tried to dunk it but the rim stuffed him. The Wine & Gold answered the Bradley trey with a 24-7 run. The Cavs focused on running during this stretch and initiated their offense early. LeBron and Kyrie combined for 20 of the points during the run, shooting 7-12 with four drained free throws. The Celtics simply couldn’t score because the Cavs wouldn’t let them get any easy looks.

Iman Shumpert had a beautiful play when he brought the ball up the court with 54 seconds left. He found a cutting King who easily found Thompson under the hoop for two freebies. Matthew Dellavedova then stopped Isaiah Thomas in transition to force a pass, without fouling. The Celtics shot 33% and were down big after one, 29-16.

CLF on the first quarter:

Defensive goal met,
For the quarter 24,
or less, way to go.

Second Quarter

King James and Kyrie took a quick break at the beginning of the quarter, well, sort of. LeBron still hit a long two to start the action. Then Iman, Delly, and J.R. Smith took over. Iman knocked the ball off of Isaiah to prevent a drive the first Celtics possession, but the Celtics somehow got the ball back. A minute later, Iman had the ball stolen from him by Marcus Smart, but he stole it back and hooked up Love for an oop. He found the Moz the next play for a smooth hook from the low post. Matty found Mozilla for a lob a possession later by driving to the right, but he didn’t stop assisting there.

Tom on an earlier Delly-Thompson lob:

Celtics Feared the Drive
Let Delly Lob to TT
Scouting Report Fail

After Delly faked a 3-pointer, which caused everyone to look towards the hoop, he passed behind the arc to J.R. JSwish drained the triple and activated his heat check mode. Irving sent him a pass for a 3-pointer, and then Kevin threw him a touchdown pass. J.R had eight points to add to Iman’s two assists, one steal, and stifling D. Of course, Matty outdid them both by getting four dimes.

Irving and James finished the action for the Cavs. During the final two minutes, they scored six points to the Celtics’ two. After dribbling slowly into the paint, Irving channeled his inner Hakeem. After faking a move to the middle and then going to the right, he stepped through for an uninhibited layup. LeBron summoned his inner David Blaine. After stealing the ball, he pulled the rock behind his back like a magician and Avery Bradley swiped at the air.

EvilGenius on this video:

BRON WITH THE SICK STEAL!
Where the heck did the ball go?
BEHIND THE BACK, YO!

Brandon Bass, aka the mid-range god, kept the Celtics from looking even less competent. He scored 10 points on eight shots. Four were mid-range jumpers, and one was a layup. The Celtics shot 36% during the first half and made only three 3s. The Cavs shot 52% from the field and hit six treys. Cavs entered the locker room ahead, 61-36.

Third Quarter

Nate on halftime:

The Q is rockin’
But hot dogs are knockin’ and
mens room line’s sooo long

The King, Love, and Irving didn’t want to play a long time this game and showed that this quarter. LeBron and Love checked out with 4:41 left and the Cavs up 82-47. The King assisted on or scored on 10 of the Cavs 21 points during the first eight minutes. And, the King even air-balled a turn around jumper, which Moz cleaned up and dunked. James didn’t get an assist for that. Love drained a 3-pointer off an Irving kick out and made two free throws off a touchdown pass interference call.

Phil Hubbard on those two freebies:

LeBron throws it long
Connects with Love in traffic
On the skinny post

Irving had four points, two assists, and a cornerback style interception. He even opened his defensive stance to Isaiah Thomas, so he could feed the block monster sleeping deep in Moz’s belly. The Celtics had 11 points to the Cavs 21 during the first eight minutes. They also had three turnovers. This felt like the strongest Celtics stretch of the game, so that says a lot about their night. After Love and James checked out, Boston still couldn’t mount a run. James Jones drained a trey. Tristan Thompson scored from the post, and caught a Delly lob. Cavs entered the fourth up huge, 53-95.

Fourth Quarter

Tom got meta:

Another Delly
Lob to Thompson Throws It Down
My Worst Haiku Yet

If the last four minutes of the third quarter could be called garbage time, I don’t know what this quarter could be called because it was even beyond regular garbage time status. The Celtics trotted out some unknowns like Phil Pressey, Luigi Datome, and Jonas Jerebko. The Cavs played Kendrick Perkins, Mike Miller, Matty D, James Jones, baby Joe Harris. Kendrick wanted to score really bad and got 5 points on seven shots. He even had an and-1. The Cavs bench went wild when this happened as if LeBron just had dunked over James Harden and managed to hit him in the groin at the same time. Joey hit two 3s. Boston’s bad guys played better than Cleveland’s bad guys, outscoring them 26-15.

Gripes

1. The end of the Cavs bench isn’t that great because it needs a man who is capable of getting into the paint.

2. Why isn’t there a mercy rule in the NBA? The Celtics were down by 42 points going into the fourth. Has that deficit ever been overcome in just one quarter in the history of the NBA?

Hypes:

1. The Cavs defense was absolutely stifling. The Celtics shot just 11-35 in the paint and shot 35% for the evening. They played into the Cleveland game plan. With Cleveland’s bigs dropping back against pick and rolls, the mid-range game was open, just ask Brandon Bass. The Celtics shot 52% from that area and still lost. Most teams aren’t going to shoot 52% in that area. The ten Cavalier steals also show how tightly the team played. The Wine & Gold refused to let the Celtics get easy cuts to the basket.

Celtics shot chart

2. Cleveland scored 48 points in the paint, which is simply outstanding.

3. If there were a stat for avoiding getting touched by a pick when playing defense, Iman would be among the top in the league. He spins, stutter steps, and contorts himself to get around all picks. With a little work, Iman’s ability to move around guys on defense could be translated into cutting off the ball on offense.

4. No Cavalier played over 26 minutes tonight, which will be a saving point for the team tomorrow against the Toronto Raptors.

5. The Celtics tried to play defense the entire evening. Marcus Smart was relentless trying to get at the ball, even when he was clearly on someone much bigger like LeBron. And, Evan Turner seemed like he wanted to stop LeBron, but was too weak any time he saw the King’s back. I wouldn’t say the Cavs simply scored at will. They were just the better team tonight.

6.

BREAKING: LeBron James has just passed Ray Allen for the #21 spot on the NBA All-Time Scoring list. pic.twitter.com/VvhyBkmMzg

— Cavs Nation (@CavsNationNet) March 4, 2015

7. I really appreciate Delly’s singular crossover move to the right. He does it the same way every time and finishes with the same lob/floater towards the rim. I’m not sure a dunker has to be there because the shot might go in without one. Delly had two lobs tonight doing that. He even switched it up and threw a lob from the left side, a rare site. He had seven assists total.

8. LeBron packed the box score with 27 points, five assists, three steals, three rebounds, and just one turnover. He made 12-23 shots and took just one three, which he missed.