Recap: Cavs 90, Nets 88 (Or, The Time I Just Wanted The Game To Be Over)

With 15 seconds left in the game, the Cavs were up by three points. Brooklyn called a 20 second timeout (their final TO) after the King hit some free throws, so they could advance the ball up the court.

I felt confident that the game was over. Who on the Nets is a knockdown 3-point shooter? The Cavs had to make a decision. Do they foul before a shot goes up to give the Nets two free throws and no chance to win, or do they just contest their hearts out at the 3-point line and hope for the best?

J.R. Smith flipped the script on everyone. During the Nets’ inbounds play, Joe Johnson got some separation from J.R, so J.R. had to sprint out to him at the 3-line. Thinking Johnson was not in his shooting motion, or just inside the 3-line, he fouled him. And, it was for three free ones.

Of course, Joe Johnson hit all three of the free throws to tie the game at 88.

I jumped up and said a few unkind words. Smith had bit on a Joe Johnson pump fake less than a minute earlier, and Johnson got to the line for two free ones, which put the Nets up, after they were trailing by one.

The whole game was too much for me at that point. The Cavs committed 20 turnovers. They took 27 3-pointers, which seemed open 90% of the time, and they hit just nine of them. They had 12 offensive boards, and scored just eight points from them (two of them were free throws from a loose ball foul). And, the Cavs sent an invitation to Brook Lopez saying that the paint is a fun place to hang out and they would like to give him a VIP table there. Lopez torched every Cavalier big man tonight, scoring 18 of his 22 points down low.

Simply put, this game was a terrible watch. When the Cavs were in their little huddle coming up with an inbounds play to win the game, one thought crossed my mind: “I want them to win, so I can stop watching.” The Cavs literally sucked the fan out of me this game.

Thankfully for myself and the Cavs, they pulled out a win. LeBron received the inbounds pass from Matthew Dellavedova at the middle of the court. He dribbled for a few seconds, sizing up Joe Johnson, before Tristan set a high screen. Johnson, foolishly, played James out past the 3-line and got stuffed by the TT screen. LeBron went to the left around the pick, then cut back to the right across the paint and dropped in a high arcing hook over Lopez to win the game.

Just unreal. Guy is so good. pic.twitter.com/PTkVTRH2bS

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) November 29, 2015

Having no timeouts and down two with one second left, the Nets were forced to live with a three quarter court heave from Jarret Jack that the Cavs failed to contest. The shot was an inch away from breaking the Cleveland’s heart as it just missed going in the basket.

First Quarter: I should have realized this game was going to take some heroics after just a few minutes of action. The first play of the game, Lopez got the ball at the top of the key and drove right by Mozgov for a layup. It looked like I hit a slo-mo button watching Lopez run. All of of Lopez’s moves seemed ultra drawn out, but he managed to get 10 points on 5-8 shooting. When the Cavs subbed Mozgov out for TT to slow Lopez, TT picked up a moving screen violation right away. It was that type of evening. The Cavs tried to move the ball and were getting open shots after just one pass most of the time, but they were just 31.8% from the field and hit just one of six 3s. Mo Williams kept the Cavs close scoring six points, while James Jones and RJ both registered blocks in the final minute of the quarter to slow the Nets down. After one, the Nets led 24-17.

Second Quarter: TT started the quarter getting an offensive board and getting fouled on the put back. He missed both free throws though, and then he missed two tip-in attempts a few plays later. Again, it was that type of night. With 5:09 left, the Nets led by 12 after hitting five straight shots. The King drove in for two to make the score 39-29. On the inbounds play following that layup, Lopez stepped over the line and turned the ball over. Love then hit a three. Mozgov stole the ball the next play, dribbled down the court, and then dished it to Love for two.

https://youtu.be/4h8dmUi8DRI

The Cavs, however, couldn’t capitalize on their run. Brooklyn took a time out and Lopez drew two fouls in a row on Love to get four total points. The King had eight in the quarter, but the Cavs still entered the locker room down by six, after Jarrett Jack nailed a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left. Nets up, 50-44.

Third Quarter: This was the sloppiest quarter of the night by both teams. In the opening three minutes of action, both teams combined for just six points. The Nets were blocked twice and missed three of their four other shots. The Cavs missed four shots. Both teams turned it over once. It felt like I was watching one of those half-time shows where the little kids get to play on the court and there are ten air balls in just five minutes. Kevin Love was hot fire in the quarter after that little stretch of pain. He hit four 3s. During his barrage though, the Nets were able to hit some two-pointers, mostly against him, to keep from losing their lead and falling behind.

Look at it this way: Love’s defense is only costing #Cavs 2 points, usually. He’s making 3s tonight. So he’s still +1 on most possessions — Jason Lloyd (@JasonLloydABJ) November 29, 2015

J.R. Smith finished the quarter with a strong showing. After throwing a bad pass, he sprinted down the floor and blocked Jack from behind. A few plays later, Hollis-Jefferson stole a pass and Smith made him earn his points at the charity line. Delly canned a trey with time running out to give the Cavs the lead heading into the fourth quarter, 69-68.

Fourth Quarter: The beginning of this quarter was fairly sloppy too. In the first three minutes, the Cavs had three turnovers (including a Delly palming violation), missed a tip-in, and were blocked once. The Nets had terrible luck too, turning the ball over once and missing six of seven shots.

Brooklyn then lived off a diet of high pick and rolls with Jarrett Jack and Lopez, scoring steadily against a hapless Mo Williams to tie the game at 76 with 6:30 left.

Crazy but true: Cavs just playing Mo to buy minutes for Delly at this point. Mo is worthless on D.

— HoopsDogg (@oldseaminer) November 29, 2015

Thad Young then scored a layup, which TT goaltended, and a transition layup off a J.R. ISO miss. Joe Johnson hit a three with just under five minutes to go to put the Nets up by seven after an 11-0 run.

The Cavs then went on an 8-0 sprint. LeBron sparked it. A frustrated King dribbled up the floor and hit a triple. Around that time, he also started to cover Jarrett Jack to curb his success in the pick and roll. Two possessions later, the King took a high screen from TT to get into the paint for a bucket and easy free throw. That put the Cavs down by just one. Johnson couldn’t handle the pressure and coughed the ball up. Delly then got deep into the paint the next possession and handed the ball to TT for a layup, which gave Cleveland the lead.

In the final two minutes, LeBron switched onto Lopez twice. He drew a hooking foul once and ripped the ball away from him the other time. The King also threw an And-1 oop to Tristan, who missed his free throw, and he sank two freebies of his own to put the Cavs ahead by three with 16 seconds left to go. James also weathered some poor J.R. decisions, mentioned above, to go on and make the game winning shot for the Cavs.

Gripes

1.TT and Timo just need to get better around the rim. Between the two, they missed six gimme tip-ins. It was just sad to see. They need to grab offensive boards and just dunk the dang ball sometimes. And, their post defense tonight was awful. Whatever Lopez wanted to do, he did. I would bet money that TT and Timo are both quicker than Lopez, but Lopez continually dribbled right past them for baskets. Timo also needs to figure out what’s going on with his hands. He was 1 of 7 from the field and turned the ball over three times. He’s either doing something awesome like blocking a shot, or the ball is bouncing of his hands. It’s Timo the Terrible or Timo the Terrific. I just want Timo the Tolerable for long stretches of time.

2.The Cavs turned the ball over 20 times tonight. The Nets managed to score just 15 points off of those mistakes, which was partly due to the Cavs hustling in Transition.

3. Mo Williams isn’t helping the team right now. Whatever he scores on offense, he just gives right back on defense. In the second quarter, Mo scored six points, but Shane Larkin back cut him twice and drew a shooting foul on him to get five easy points. Mo had 14 points on 7-13 shooting.

4.The ball moved tonight, but the Cavs didn’t make shots. They had 20 assists on 35 baskets. However, when the Cavs really struggled to shoot the ball, they just settled for open shots, not excellent ones or ones right at the basket.

5. The Cavs were awful from the free throw line again hitting just 11 of 17.

Hypes

1.LeBron had a great night, scoring 26 points and getting nine boards. He had ten of the final 14 points in the fourth quarter, and made that beautiful game winning shot. With that in mind, he only ran the ball in semi-transition three times tonight if my count is correct. He was fouled once, and scored the other two times. He only ran the 1-3 pick and roll with Delly twice, and both times it resulted in an easy basket. When the Cavs seemed to need him most, he just kind of looked frustrated. He sometimes made scoring harder for himself than it needed to be.

2. Love scored 26 points on 57% shooting. He hit 6 of his 11 threes and still managed to get seven boards. His defense on Thad Young was very good most of the game, and he didn’t get torched by him once.

Kevin Love had a near perfect night from deep.

3. The Cavs had 11 blocks, which is always fun to see. James Jones had two in the second quarter! J.R.’s “I messed up and have to now chase someone down for redemption from behind” blocks are almost as fun as LeBron’s chase down blocks were five years ago. The Cavs held the Nets to just 40% from the field.

4. The Cavs host the Wizards Tuesday.