Recap: Cavaliers 113, Celtics 100 (Or, Do you like apples?)
2015-04-20`
Whew. We got that out of the way. Tom Pestak and I tag teamed the recap on this lovely basketballiday. Bill Simmons’ 2016 presidential candidate, Brad Stevens (yes he’s over 35) had his scrappy Celtics squad as prepared to face Goliath as they could be, and the Cavs still covered the -12 point spread with a B- game. Once the emotions and nerves of the significance of the game settled in the second quarter the Cavs went on to out-score Boston 86 to 69 the rest of the way.
1st Quarter:
LeBron was pretty amped up to start the game. He uncharacteristically sprinted across the timeline with the ball on the Cavs’ second possession. You could tell the Cavs had game-planned to bang down low against the Celtics to try to overpower their small-ball lineups. Both LeBron and Kevin Love tried backing down in the post early in the game. But the Celtics did an admirable job bodying up each Cavalier that tried to impose his will, and the Cavs started settling for out-of-rhythm threes. J.R. Smith seemed a little too eager to fire away.
Around the 7-minute mark, Coach Blatt substituted Iman Shumpert for LeBron James. Isaiah Thomas checked in at the same whistle. At first, Kyrie chased Thomas through screens all over the half-court. It didn’t take long for someone on the Cavs to realize that wasn’t the best strategy, so Iman, sporting 40% more high-top, accepted the assignment for most of the evening. Offensively, the Cavs not named Kyrie were struggling in the early going. Shumpert launched a 3 about two feet over the rim on the ensuing possession. The dearth of 3-point makes may have convinced Blatt to try James Jones in the 1st quarter. JFJ canned a deep, left-corner 3 just a few moments after he took the hardwood. (Nice move, David Blatt).
At the other end, the Celtics were getting little mini-spurts from a variety of players. Tyler Zeller scored six straight points in the early going, flashing a mid-range J and a little runner. Kelly Olynyk had a clever fake-handoff that he took to the house which he followed up with a corner triple. A few plays later he threw down a dunk in transition and then canned another spot-3. Seems like Mister Olynyk didn’t appreciate us mocking him in our preview podcast. Mike Breen mentioned that Olynyk was a leader on the Celtics in plus/minus. The quarter ended with the Celtics ahead 31-27.
2nd Quarter:
Back-to-back turnovers for the Cavs to start the 2nd quarter. LeBron got his pocket picked by Jae Crowder and Iman Shumpert air-balled his second straight 3-point attempt, causing a shot-clock violation after Mozzy grabbed the miss. It was Marcus Smart’s turn to have a mini-spurt, and his irrationally confident rhythm 3 cut right through the net to give the Celtics an eight-point lead. It would be their largest of the game. As the ABC crew pointed out how the Celtics were playing with house money and that they were thoroughly outplaying the Cavs, Kyrie Irving bailed out the good guys with a tough, tough out-of-rhythm 3. Moments later, LeBron pushed in transition off a rebound and J.R. Smith canned a pull-up 3.
That quick six really opened things up for the Cavs. LeBron snapped a 70-foot chest pass to a cherry-picking Kevin Love for an easy lay-in. Moments later, Love recovered a loose ball and just threw it ahead of Evan Turner. LeBron accelerated past Turner, gathered, and dunked from about two feet inside the foul line. Kyrie Irving canned all four of his 3-point attempts in the 2nd quarter and three of them were both contested and a high degree of difficulty. He ended the half with a filthy buzzer-beating triple after crossing over Evan Turner. The Cavs used a 35 point quarter to take a 62-54 lead into halftime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYzvNtGSFfs#t=3m4s
3rd Quarter:
J.R. Smith lost his composure a bit at the outset of the 2nd half. Like the 20,000+ fans in attendance, he was irked by the uneven and ticky-tack officiating. After a cheap off-ball foul he just leveled Kelly Olynyk while attempted to fight through the screen. Blatt sat him down and he did not return in the half. If the 2nd Quarter was a “welcome to the playoffs” moment for Kyrie Irving, then the 3rd quarter would qualify as Kevin Love’s. Our chronically underutilized and unhappy stretch-four planted his backside firmly in the post. He got fouled, grabbed some o-boards, made two buckets at the rim, and really bullied the Celtics in the paint. His second pair of free throws pushed the Cavs lead to 20, their largest of the night. They held the Celtics to eight points in the first eight minutes of the quarter. But they didn’t finish them off.
Kyrie tried to shoot over “mouse-in-the-house” Isaiah Thomas from the left baseline and clanked it. On the next possession LeBron reverted to iso-ball and took a tough mid-range jumper that missed. The Celtics, fueled by Isaiah Thomas, scored 14 straight points in just two-and-half minutes, shrinking the once 20-point chasm to just six. The Cavs answered with? A James Jones turnaround fadeaway as the shot clock was about to expire after James Jones tried to back his man down. Want to talk about an unlikely way to stop the bleeding? That was it.
That turnaround jumper from James Jones was his 10th 2-pointer all season outside the paint, per @bball_ref.
— Kevin Pelton (@kpelton) April 19, 2015
The Cavs regained the momentum as the quarter expired with this pretty buzzer-beating triple from James Jones. That possession was brought to you by The Matrix Reloaded, who stole the ball twice in a span of a few seconds.
James Jones doing James Jones things.
WATCH the 4th quarter #CavsCeltics finish on ABC!#ALLinCLEhttps://t.co/qdlKWrLjRa
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 19, 2015
Fourteen of the Celtics 22 3rd quarter points came in a hurry. Outside of that, the Cavs really tightened the screws on defense. By going inside initially, they “controlled the line of scrimmage” if you will, keeping the Celtics from getting out in transition. They went into the 4th with a 15-point lead: 91-76.
4th Quarter:
LeBron drilled a “my turn” 3 at the start of the quarter. Then, the only play that I could describe as being more “had to see it to believe it” than the James Jones turnaround fadeaway happened:
Delly! https://t.co/hNn8BlfpTC
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) April 19, 2015
Come on. The Cavs continued to engage in some sloppy offensive habits throughout the fourth. LeBron was the most culpable. However, the Cavs got at least one signature play from each of the Big 3. Kyrie somehow swished a 20-footer as Avery Bradley took out his lower body. (He converted the And-1). LeBron had a nifty right-handed driving layup to the left side and followed it up by driving into the teeth and dime-ing Kevin Love right in the shooting pocket for what was essentially a dagger 3. They really made life difficult for Isaiah Thomas and coasted to a 113-100 victory.
BOO:
-The Celtics shot 57.1% in the first quarter and Kelly Olynyk and former Cav Tyler Zeller abused the Cavs bigs to the tune of 16 in the first frame.
-LeBron James turned the ball over five times and settled for numerous long twos.
-J.R. Smith struggled with foul trouble and it seemed to get to him. If you’re counting on J.R. Smith to be your secondary scorer every night, you’re in a bad place. If he’s your fourth or fifth option, it’s all good. I don’t doubt that he’ll propel the Cavs to at least one victory in the coming weeks.
-The refs man. I’m not saying Boston got all the calls either. LeBron got the star treatment on a couple of fouls and they called his obvious goaltend on Isaiah Thomas a block.
-Timofey Mozgov blocked three shots and altered a half-dozen more, but he was largely a non-factor on offense. Maybe I just over anticipated that he would dominate the Celtics frontline the way he backhands plates to the ground.
YAY:
-“Staaaay wit itttt!” Kevin Love struggled out of the gate shooting just 2 for 11 from the field in the first half. Was it first playoff game nerves? Probably. His effort was solid though as he posted six boards, and drew a charge from Kelly Olynyk. The Cavs season turned around with Love taking a charge in LA early in the season, and the Olynyk charge was the momentum turning point tonight. Love found his offensive mojo in the second half and converted on three of three shooting from the field and six for six from the charity stripe for 13 points, 6 more boards, solid defense and another drawn charge on Jared Sullinger. Love passed his first playoff test.
-Kyrie Irving hit his first five three-pointers and aced his first playoff test to the tune of 30 points on 21 attempts. Bill Simmons statement that Kyrie Irving could be poised for a 2006 Wade run this postseason is in play. Irving is one of 11 players in league history to post 30 points or more in his playoff debut. The Celtics gave solid defensive effort on Kyrie, but he nailed tough shot after tough shot including the halftime buzzer beater that electrified The Q.
-Tristan Thompson was in a funk during the last trimester of the season, but he passed his first playoff test with 12 points and six boards off the bench. Four of his rebounds were on the offensive end and three of which lead to second chance field goals.
-David Blatt’s daughters were in attendance for the first time this season. Considering all of the picking and preening the media vultures have done on Blatt this season, he handled himself with charm and candor. He signed on to coach a young team to the playoffs, and he fortunately inherited a team with title or bust expectations. An underreported aspect of his season is that his family was an ocean away all season, in a country that is under constant threat of terrorist attacks. The cat deserves some serious credit for his composure.
I honestly don’t get why anyone picks the celtics to even win one. Hell, even their coach pretty much knows they have no shot. I mean, congrats on the good season but they know they’re done.
This will be a sweep. Against the Bulls will probably go 5. We beat the Hawks in 6 or they beat us in 7. We will lose to GSW in the Finals, is my unfortunate prediction.
one thing for sure is the Celtics won’t lose due to coaching…Brad Stevens is definitely my COY…i mean people were saying this team would be lottery again easily and they are a 7 seed in playoffs. Cavs are just better at each position, Celtics with edge on the bench and coaching is rather even. problem for Celts is they have no one to guard Kyrie or Lebron and when Love gets going the team is winning by 20+. may have mentioned this in game thread but i see Game 2 being the blowout of the series, like 20+ win and… Read more »
This should be a relatively easy 4 game sweep. I DO NOT like the fact that we came out with no sense of urgency in the first quarter. I understand that we’re playing a sub-.500 team and it wasn’t Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but this team CANNOT have that mentality in these playoffs. If you’re down early in the game in the ECF or NBA Finals, you won’t be playing a sub-.500 team to come back against. I’m glad to see Kyrie and Kevin play so well. While Love didn’t shoot exceptionally well, he really played a great… Read more »
Agree about the sweep, Gordo, but disagree about the sense of urgency… The Cavs actually did come out with some pressing D in the first few minutes, but the refs called the game pretty tightly to start so they backed down a bit. When Bron subbed out halfway through the quarter, the Cavs were up 10-8. They then went on a four minute stretch where they lost track of Olynyk, couldn’t stay in front of Isaiah Thomas and did a bad job covering the pick and roll between the two. The later defensive lapse in the third seemed more a… Read more »
congrats to TT for finishing 5th in the 6th MAN OF THE YEAR VOTING ( although I think he should have been higher—scoring pts gets you more votes than rebounding / somewhat biased voting )—-WHEN NOT ” IF ” TT LEARNS TO CREATE OFF THE DRIBBLE AND SHOOT A CONSISTENT 15″ SHOT STATIONARY AND OFF THE DRIBBLE HE WILL BE A FORCE TO CONTEND WITH —-HE HAS IMPROVED HIS GAME EVERY YR SO IT IS JUST A MATTER OF TIME TO DEVELOP THE OTHER SKILLS——REASON CAVS NEED TO SIGN HIM THIS OFF SEASON
He was definitely the 6th Man of the Game yesterday… TT really changed the tone with his garbageman efforts under the rim. I don’t know if he needs to become an offensive force to contend with, NOMAD. I’ll be thrilled if he just continues to be a less crazy version of Dennis Rodman on a Cavs championship team.
Because Blatt uses him properly. Mike Brown, aka, the worst coach ever, tried to make him a shooter.
And no, he will probably never be able to make 15 footers consistently. But maybe 10-12 foot range in his future.
How many votes did Dion Waiters get?
The defensive tenacity of my favorite players, KLove, TT, and Schump, was delightful. The Cav’s beat down starting at 31-39 echoed the LbJ’s wired, “All I care about is defense.”
And, yet, it was just a B+ performance–which is a good thing, given that the dial can be turned higher.
I think the Celtics showed why they had such a good past six weeks, but the Cavs are a top five team for many reasons, many of which were showcased in this opener against an overmatched beantown squad.
Yep. Celtics are very well coached. I love Stevens. But they are also extremely undermanned.
Sure wish they would review goal tends instead of wasting interminable minutes with the wretched clear-path thing. God knows why that is the one thing deemed review-worthy. Very nice game by the Cavs aside from JR losing his head a bit. The Delly super spin move only works on a zero-rim-protection team like the Celtics. Take it to ’em, kid! Here in Boston there is virtually no attention being paid to the Celtics. Spots talk radio is all RedSox or Bruins (still! they’re not even playing!) I have yet to hear anyone who thinks they can win more than two… Read more »
Good for Celtics fans to realize they have pretty much no talent outside of Thomas and to a lesser extent Bradley and Smart. They are a pretty awful team, especially from a big man point of view.
Agreed. Goal tends not being reviewable drives me up the wall, particularly the ones that go off the glass first and then get blocked. That is something that could so easily get overruled without disrupting the flow of the game. If they can change a 2 pointer to a 3 pointer after the fact, don’t know why they cant do this. I’m actually sick of any reviews at all at this point, but if they can do it with minimal interference to the game, it’s not as bad.
it is great to see THE BIG 3 ” BOND ” ( ALONG WITH THE REST OF THE TEAM ) so well lately —of course bill simmons would have a totally different viepoint on this ——HEY BILL NEWS FLASH–LOVE IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE ESPECIALLY NOT TO YOUR BELOVED CELTICS
Totally agree NOMAD… It was awesome to see all three of them take the post-game podium together also!
I agree too but I think the main reason for the big 3 on the podium was to accomodate the media. Playoffs bring about more media credentials and rather than have twice the number inside a crampled locker room, they bring the players and coaches that all the media want to ask questions to out to them.
If it was just the Cavs beat writers, they all would be interviewed individually like usual. It was nice seeing the 3 together but its not the kumbayah story some are saying it is.
Not suggesting it’s a kumbayah story at all… just saying it’s nice to see the three of them presenting a unified front regardless of reason. I was a little worried at first because it seemed like it was a bit awkward that Kev was not getting any questions. But even if it was a media accommodation thing, it was still fun to see Ky have some fun by putting his mic in front of Kev’s (as if Kev’s wasn’t working). You have to admit, the last few weeks have seen some better outward chemistry between the three…
Maybe not you but I’ve seen fans comment that this is proof that Love is staying. He stays or goes, it has nothing to do with being invited to the podium. The few Heat press conferences that I remember, Bosh was a third wheel there too. Lebron/Wade or Lebron/Ky are going to get the attention. I think Love knows this and isn’t bothered by it. Now if starts getting zero or one question in these conferences, maybe he stops showing up to them and then fans and media will take it 180 degrees the other way. And again, the podium… Read more »
Definitely not proof that Love is staying or going, but certainly better to see the three of them at the podium than just LBJ and Kyrie. LBJ made as many positive comments about Love as he did about Kyrie it seemed. Just noting that they all seem to be vibing together for the playoffs.
The true test of whether he stays or not in the end will likely be a fairly direct result of how things play out in the playoffs. Got to believe that winning playoff games and being an integral part of that success can’t hurt…
I was really impressed with Love’s D. He took two charges and got whistled for foul on a block/strip that was anything but. The only real issue for me was Kyrie’s lack of fight when it came to playing his main and his willingness to let him go uncontested to his inside help. Blatt switched Shump onto Thomas pretty darned quickly. For all of Kyrie’s defensive improvement early on this season, it falls off some games. He needs to be as engaged on that side of the ball as he is on offense. Cavs got complacent on offense in the… Read more »
I agree that Kyrie had a few lapses on D early, but was really locked in in 2nd half. Even the announcers gave him credit for his D, which never seems to happen.
So we really should thank LeBron for coming back and making yesterday possible. The past four years were awful and horrible and we were staring down the barrel of a 5th sucky year.
Thanks Leb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great win… but more than that… Great experience to be back in the playoffs! In my opinion, the Celtics played a really good game (maybe the best game they’re capable of), and the Cavs played well (but not nearly as good as they’re capable of), and despite being down early due most likely to nerves, they still won in convincing fashion. After coming out strong, LBJ seemed to slow things down and become more of a facilitator after the early aggression got him a couple of fouls. You could hear from his “wired” comments that he was recognizing how nerves… Read more »
THANK YOU NATE —SOMETIMES THE THIN AIR IN COLORADO AFFECTS YOU DIFFERENTLY—–JUST JOKING COLS —-1 4 ALL / ALL 4 1
Haha. Especially this past weekend…
Well it is 4/20 today…
Yep. Denver was rather crazy this weekend.
on tues hopefully they carry over their energy and defense and ” punch them hard early and often ” keep that 17–25 pt margin the entire game —-I believe if they do this —- FLEX THEIR MUSCLES FOR THE ENTIRE GAME –WITH A RELATIVELY EASY WIN —this series will be over in 4 games —-let’s do it cavs !!!
Wait, so yesterday’s win wasn’t doing just that? They destroyed the Celtics yesterday.
And yes, if they keep doing it, they’ll keep winning. I think that was his point.
Great made for TV game. The end of every quarter had a defining shot and Kyrie was epic. No one could consistently stop Kyrie or Lebron. I doubt the Cs have the makeup to do that this year. I could stand for less lapses in concentration though. The next round gets much tougher.
Loved LBJ’s energy and his commitment to KLove. It seemed like the guys were really playing for each other in an extra intense way. Great start. And they still can play so much better.
Yawn. Good recap to an easy win. When is the ECF?
Sorry you are bored with the playoffs. For me, this is exciting. The Cavs are fun to watch and if they win or lose by 1 or by 13 or by 25, I’m not going to be the slightest bit bored.
As to your question, try again about a month from now. If the Cavs are still playing, most will still be here but if not, maybe it will just be you and your eagerness to see the 2 remaining EC teams.
Oh it’s exciting. It’s just this team won’t be challenged until the ECF.
Bulls will be pretty tough in the next round. Probably more than ATL will be in the ECF.
Bulls will be lucky to even get to the 2nd round. They haven’t made it passed 5 games in a series in a long long long time.
They’ve not been healthy in a long long time. Why is this hard for you to compute?
Your comment is the equivalent of some guy on a Bulls blog saying the Cavs will be lucky to make it to the 2nd round. They’ve not been to the playoffs in a long long long long time.
See how ridic that sounds?
Yes. Cause that was the point the writer was making.
I agree guys. It must have been awful with the media attacks around the new year without having your family around to help you through it. He has handled himself incredibly throughout the year.
“An underreported aspect of his season is that his family was an ocean away all season, in a country that is under constant threat of terrorist attacks.”
Yah you never know what that ethinicity that lives behind the wall without access to electricity or water will do. That’s why it is necessary to bomb and shoot them without discretion. His poor family. Truly their suffering is an under rated aspect of this Cavaliers season.
Really? That’s where you want to go with the first comment on a sport blog after a win?
Cause that’s where we’re going to solve the Palestinian/Israeli problem (a term that vastly oversimplifies an incredibly complex and passion inspiring issue) — on Cavs: the blog. Suffice it to say that Cory’s opinions on the subject are his own. I think the point he was making was that Blatt has been very composed under what were probably very trying personal circumstances. We all have our own opinions on middle eastern policy and issues, but if you want to take umbrage with Cory’s phrasings, please do it outside of this forum. Thanks for your readership.
If it’s deemed appropriate to bring up in a recap of a basketball game, I don’t know why it’s considered out of bounds for a commenter to comment on it. Maybe leave it out of the recap then. I found it bizarre to be mentioned in this forum. I think it’s mildly inappropriate to speculate on the coaches’/players private lives in the first place, let alone touching on something that’s so politically charged. Not trying to be overly PC, just more why bring this up here? Is it adding anything of value to the commentary beyond speculation?
The politics of such a complex situation, one of which I’ve spent the majority of my academic career studying, was not anywhere near to the point of that statement. The comment was made to convey (whether correct or not) that Blatt was without his family, who lives in a hostile, conflict ridden region of the world, was an ocean and continent away from his most valuable support system. All while dealing with the NBA’s intense media circus environment.
Well said JMay. I think the content of Cory’s point spoke more to Blatt’s frame of mind and was not designed to be a commentary on world conflict.
True, but even if my children were in a bunker in the Middle East without me, I’d worry. Even if the bunker was behind the 25′ high Israeli wall. Them are my babies!
Exactly. Not sure why a couple of people needed to turn this into a Yahoo comments section.
My point is that the issue itself is politically charged, and you can’t be shocked when a throwaway line like that sets someone off. Nate saying Corey’s free to express his opinion, but you can’t comment on it just seemed off.
Thank You Nate. Well said. There was absolutely NOTHING wrong in Corey’s comments at all. He didn’t insert any political views. This is the man’s family and they happen to live in Israel. and yeah btw He’s Jewish. So what? Enough said. Blatt is doing a good job thus far in these playoff series. I don’t care what religion. color of his skin, ethnic background, or the political party he is from. The players on this Cavs team doesn’t either
Sit on it Sage.