Recap: Cavs 103, Mavs 97 (or, Someone Had to Win…)

The Cavs 2015 preseason is finally, mercifully, unquestionably over. Though it seemed more endless than a Ricky Bobby slo-mo crash at times, the Cavs actually got to wrap up their balance of games that don’t count in the standings before most other NBA teams… and (like Ricky) they got to do it with a triumph. In their last opportunity to avoid laying a goose egg, and going 0-for-the-preseason, the Cavs took on the equally winless Dallas Mavericks in a battle that someone would finally have to emerge from victorious.

Despite once again being without anywhere close to a full complement of their rotation, the remaining Wine & Gold squad fought back from an early deficit, withstood a strong challenge from the Mavs’ reserves, and then sprinted that last court length to the finish line. And, in the process, they may have not only found their 15th man, but also may have unearthed a new and surprising rebounding machine.

In the interest of wrapping up the preseason, and moving on to a week of rest before the real games begin, I’ll keep this recap relatively short and sweet, with a few quotes from Ricky Bobby and friends thrown in for good measure…

“Well let’s see. I got mauled by a cougar, my Crystal Gayle shirt is ruined, and I didn’t learn (expletive) about driving. Other than that, it was great…”

The list of guys who didn’t play in this game was almost as long as the list of guys who did. Sitting out for the Cavs were LeBron (rest/back injections), Kyrie (kneecap), Iman Shumpert (wrist), Anderson Varejao (rest), Mo Williams (rest) and Sasha Kaun (rest). Missing in action for the Mavs were Chandler Parsons (knee surgery), Wes Matthews (left achilles surgery), Deron Williams (right calf strain), JaVale McGee (left tibial stress fracture) and Maurice Daly Ndour (stress reaction). This meant a lot of unfamiliar lineups for both teams, and resulted in some stretches of uneven defense at best.

The Mavs got out to a hot shooting start behind the ageless Dirk Nowitzki and the newly acquired John Jenkins, while the Cavs struggled mightily to put the ball in the hoop early. The Mavs led by as much as 10 at various points in the first half, as they flirted with 50% from the floor. The Cavs bricked away at 26% in the first quarter, but heated up to almost 30% by halftime. Then, in the third, the Cavs’ starting unit really cranked things up on both ends of the floor, blitzing the Mavs for their highest scoring quarter of the preseason (40 points), and turning the screws defensively. If not for the efforts of John Jenkins, the Cavs would have enjoyed a fairly comfortable lead going into the fourth. As it was, it turned into a bit of a nail-biting affair as the Cavs’ reserves (bolstered a bit by James Jones and a surprising fourth quarter appearance from Moz) bled away much of the lead before Jack Cooley and Jared Cunningham helped ice the victory.

In the end, the shooting disparity evened out a bit (43% for Dallas, 39% for the Cavs), while the Cavs bombed away for twice as many triples as the Mavs (14 vs. seven), won the rebounding battle 51-45, and only turned the ball over 11 times.

“You gotta win to get love. I mean, that’s just life.”

The best news from the outset for the Cavs was the second night of a back-to-back start for Kevin Love. KLove was once again active and energetic, showing off his innate passing skills (he pulled off yet another behind the back beauty), mixing it up for rebounds and knocking the rust off of his shot. He wound up hitting 4-10 (2-5 on threes) for 10 points to go with four boards, an assist and a steal. From the look and the sound of things, he’ll be good to go for the opening night lineup.

David says he is proud of how hard @kevinlove worked to get back..does not expect any restrictions as far as his mins..

— Fred McLeod (@CavsFredMcLeod) October 20, 2015

“Shake and Bake!”

J.R. Smith had a rough start to the game, missing his first three shots (all threes), and collecting three quick fouls guarding Jenkins (including a shooting foul beyond the arc). He finally got himself going with a terrific “shake and bake” drive to the rack late in the second quarter. Then, he really turned on the jets in the third, scoring 14 of his 19 points, leading six Cavs into double digits for the game. Along the way, J.R. picked up three assists and two nifty steals, as he was extremely active upon re-entry into the game following his early difficulties.

“Now we shall dance. And yes, it will be a slow jam.”

Moz also got off to a slow start, after sinking his first shot. The big Russian still seems to be gradually getting his bearings back following his off-season knee surgery, as he doesn’t quite have the same lift on his hook shots, and also had a bit of trouble protecting the rim in the first quarter. He also got blocked by both Jenkins and Salah Mejri. Like J.R., though, the Mozerati would get tuned up a bit in the second half, finishing with 10 points and nine boards, and providing some crucial fourth quarter minutes in support of the reserves. The week between the preseason and the regular season should give Moz plenty of additional time to ramp his game up for opening night.

“I’m gonna come at you like a spider monkey!”

Matthew Dellavedova has looked like the best version of himself in the last few games. Something has happened with his shooting motion, and as a result, he looks more confident than ever before in his shot. He’s drained 8-14 from beyond the arc over the past three games (3-5 against the Mavs), and has averaged 13 points and nearly five assists per game. If he can keep up some semblance of this consistency, there’s a real chance he could play some starting minutes early in the year for the still recovering Kyrie. One thing that hasn’t changed is Delly’s intensity on defense, which was in full effect against Dallas. He even uncharacteristically used up all of his fouls in just 25 minutes of play.

In 139 regular season games in his first two years in the NBA, Dellavedova never fouled out. Tonight he did – 6 whistles in 26 minutes.

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 20, 2015

“No one lives forever, no one. But with advances in modern science and my high level income, it’s not crazy to think I can live to be 245, maybe 300.”

The two elder statesmen of the Wine & Gold made their presences known against the Mavs. Richard Jefferson continued his campaign to convince us all to take the blue pill and forget all about The Matrix, by scoring 10 points on an economical 3-4 shooting (2-3 from deep) to go with six boards. James Jones matched that output with 10 points of his own on 3-6 shooting (2-4 from downtown). They also provided some terrific veteran leadership during their limited stints on the floor.

“I like to think of Jesus like a ninja, fightin’ off evil samurai.”

The man we’ve affectionately dubbed “Much Danger Ninja” here at C:tB, had himself another strong showing in his bid to become the 15th Cav, leading the team with a +18 margin. While he’s had a tougher time finishing at the rim (just 2-11 on the night), and looks to be rushing his shots a bit, he still was able to continue his parade to the charity stripe (5-6 for a total of 50 trips to the line in seven games). He also drew another four offensive fouls against Dallas by taking contact and running over screens to keep his defensive position (although he did catch a break when Jenkins misfired a last chance three after breaking the Ninja’s ankles severely). Cunningham was able to ice the game from the line, however, and the two buckets he was able to convert were both throw down jams off of steals… including this one where he just refused to give up…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDrR8pTbcJs

“Does that blow your mind? That just happened!”

With Sasha Kaun and Andy both out due to rest, Jack Cooley got to see more minutes than most expected he would. All Cool Hand Jack did with his 18 minutes of play against the Mavericks was average nearly a rebound for each one of them. Swallowing them up like so many eggs, Cool Hand used his intensity, tenacity and sneaky good positioning to pull down 15 boards (including seven of the offensive variety). Granted, many were against the second line of Mavericks, but it sure makes you wonder if a Max contract is in the Cooler’s future (sarcasm). At the very least, the decision to bring Cooley in for a tire kick looks like a smart one by the Cavs… and maybe one that might generate a little perspiration over in camp Klutch.

Jack Cooley High Harmony w/ 15 reb in 19 min tonight to help CLE to its 1st win of the preseason in its last game. They finish 1-6.

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 20, 2015

Cooley and the Gang (Christmas, Harris, Cunningham) closing the third quarter. Cooley with 12rebs in 14mins and whole 4Q still to go

— Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) October 20, 2015

“If you ain’t first, you’re last.”

Unfortunately, for anyone not named Cunningham or Cooley, this might be the end of the road. The battle for the 15th spot most likely was clinched (if it wasn’t already) by Much Danger Ninja in this final preseason game, while the Cooler looks to be at least a temporary candidate to be a warm practice body and additional rebounder until the TT situation is resolved. That leaves the likes of Quinn Cook, DJ Stephens, Austin Daye, Nick Minnerath and Dionte Christmas most likely looking for work elsewhere. It’s possible that some of these guys could be headed to Canton under the right circumstances, especially Cook who still seems young and malleable enough to be groomed as a future backup point guard in the league.

The Evil:

The Cavs gave up way too many backdoor cuts for uncontested alley oop dunks to the Mavs. Mostly, this was just a bit of laziness and a failure to get back on defense. I wouldn’t expect this to be an issue once the games that count begin.

Johnny Cash Jenkins had himself a game, and seemingly did pretty much whatever he wanted on offense. Cunningham did slow him down a bit with some drawn fouls, but Jenkins almost had the last laugh with a terrific move to get free for a three that could have put the Mavs up and jeopardized the Cavs’ lone preseason victory. As Nate mentioned on the thread, Jenkins would have been a great pickup for the Cavs in the off-season, as he looks to be a terrific fit for the Mavs.

Joe Harris had some better flashes this game, especially early with a couple of threes, but late in the game, he once again reverted to something less than an NBA level player. It seems silly that his place on this team is guaranteed following his underwhelming preseason.

The Genius:

The preseason is finally over! Real basketball begins in a week!

Nobody else got injured!

The Cavs helped raise a ton of money and awareness in the fight against breast cancer with their #PinkTheQ promotional night.

The countdown to opening night in Chicago is on!