Recap: Cavs 120, Lakers 111 (or, An Early All-Star Game)

2016-02-11 Off By David Wood

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Tonight, the Cavs and Lakers exerted the least amount of effort required in a pro basketball game to not anger fans. Through four quarters, the Cavs had complete control of the game going up by as many as 22 points. They ultimately won because they had more talent on the floor.

Kyrie Irving led the Cavs with a season high 35 points on 62.5% shooting to go with seven assists. LeBron James had 29 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds. The Cavs shot 51% from the floor, while holding the Lakers to 44.2%.

However, the Cavs’ defense could only stop the Lakers’ big guys, and the game was closer than it should have been. Lou Williams was 9-15 for 28 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. Kobe Bryant had 17 points (nine in the fourth) to help the Lakers pull within eight before their eventual loss. He also had the above displayed spin move on LeBron for a layup. He joked with LeBron, “I can’t believe you fell for that.” Kobe even gave Jordan Clarkson a pat on the head after he had a turnover. He was was in a great mood all evening.

The Cavs started the first quarter off in unusual fashion. Kobe hugged them all, smiled, and seemed to hope they actually had good games. Kyrie opened the night up hitting two straight mid-range jumpers with no one covering him. Both teams seemed to play hands down defense, letting each other get whatever shots they wanted, All-Star game style.

Love even passed the entire length of the floor to LeBron for a layup. The King had ten points in the quarter, eight of which were at the rim.

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Fortunately for the Cavs, talent usually wins out in a zero defense type setting. After just six minutes of play, Cleveland was up 18-6, forcing a Lakers’ timeout. The Cavs continued their stellar offensive play the rest of the quarter, finding whoever was cutting to the basket for eights assists on 15 buckets.

Lou Williams made sure the Lakers weren’t completely out of the game after the first period. In the final six minutes of the quarter, he hit a three, got fouled behind the 3-line, and got an And-1 one on a jump shot for nine points. Julius Randle also had a nice coast-to-coast layup where nothing stopped him until he dunked.

The Laker guards abused Kyrie by getting deep into the paint, and forcing the Cavs to rotate haphazardly. Kyrie gave it back to them though. After Kyrie missed a three, Tristan got an offensive board and gave Kyrie the ball again. Kyrie drove in for an easy layup. A play later the Lakers tried to force him to go baseline on the right side. They even trapped him. He found TT rolling to the hoop for two free throws. After one the Cavs led, 35-25.

Jordan Clarkson scored first in the second quarter driving to the rim around Mo Williams. The Lakers would actually have little trouble scoring early on in the quarter. D’Angelo Russell hit three 3-pointers. All of them were open and in semi-transition. However, the closest his 3s brought the Lakers was within five points.

The Cavs had little trouble putting up numbers. They hit 52.4% of their shots. Irving had 11 points, dropping five of his seven shots. He was draining his mid-rangers with ease.

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The Cavs extended their lead ending the quarter on a 14-7 run. Love found the King with another touchdown pass, and hit a 3-pointer of his own. However, after posting up and missing his shot against Kobe with 46 seconds left until halftime, he ran to the locker room holding his shoulder. LeBron nailed a shot from downtown at the end of the action to put the Cavs ahead, 47-62.

The Lakers didn’t want to give up completely in the third quarter, so they smartly went at Kyrie whenever they could. Kyrie was incapable of stopping Clarkson from getting to the rim. Early on, Clarkson scored a layup, got an and-1 dunk, and dished the ball to Hibbert for a hook shot over Varejao. His seven point barrage brought the Lakers within 11 points. Clarkson would go on to have nine points in the quarter.

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Kyrie’s 3rd quarter shot chart.

The Cavs responded to the Lakers’ run by letting Kyrie rip off ten points, including two 3s. Kyrie also a had a great steal right in front of Clarkson when he anticipated a pass to him. He ran it down for a layup. And, he finished another  layup straight down the lane when TT found him cutting without guys near him.

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The Cavs were getting decent shots out of pick and roll play in the quarter, but the ball just wasn’t falling. TT and Andy both had tip-ins to help LeBron out with shots he normally makes.

LeBron ran a beautiful play with Tristan with 3:01 left. He hit TT cutting to the hoop, then TT dribbled under the basket and found him running in for a layup. LeBron finished the quarter throwing TT a lob pass to the put the Cavs ahead 74-93.

The Cavs rested LeBron to start the fourth quarter and let Kyrie and the bench play. Mozgov went off. He hit two jumpers, missed a pair of free throws, and threw down a dunk so hard it made Austin Carr squeal. The Lakers made the Cavs sweat a little though. With about six minutes to go, Jordan Clarkson hit two free throws, and nailed a 3-pointer.

The Cavs then missed on the other end and Kobe drained a 3-pointer while Iman Shumpert ran into him. After completing the four point play, Kobe brought the Lakers within nine points with 5:36 left. Kobe then got fouled a few minutes later on another 3-point play and hit all three to bring the Lakers within eight. He tried to play full court defense on LeBron while LeBron brought the  ball up, but Irving screened the Mamba, and LeBron found J.R. Smith for a 3-ball to quell the comeback attempt. Cavs won easily, 120-111.

Gripes

-Kyrie may have had 35 points, but he played some of the worst defense I have ever seen in my entire life. Jordan Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell, and Lou Williams had their way with him. He was constantly behind on plays or just taking too long to recover after being screened. The above mentioned Lakers had 65 combined points. Clarkson even had seven assists. It makes sense Kyrie was just +7 tonight and the other starters were all above +14.

-The Cavs’ defense as a whole was pretty below average. They are trying to trap ball handlers again, and it’s happening randomly. They’re doing it in the middle of the floor, at the corners, and whenever someone doesn’t want to return to their original defensive assignment right away. They don’t move in unison to prevent some super wide open shot.

-Kevin Love went down with a shoulder injury in the second quarter. If Twitter and the rest of the internet are to be trusted, it is just a shoulder contusion and he will be fine.

-The Cavs got killed in transition by the Lakers’ 3-pointers. The Lakers were 13-28 from deep, and many of them came very early in the shot clock as Cavs rushed to find who they were supposed to match up with.

-I’m playing basketball tomorrow, so I have no jokes to make about this Vine where LeBron nails D’Angelo Russell in the groin. If I make fun of it, I’m sure I’ll face the same fate.

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-Andy couldn’t finish anything in the pick and roll tonight and was 3-8 from the floor. He also had two turnovers.

-It was another poor free throw shooting night. The Cavs were 11-18. At one point, LeBron and Kyrie both missed two free throws in a row on back-to-back trips down the floor.

Hypes

-The Cavs are actually cutting off the ball. The ball wasn’t zooming around the perimeter tonight, but guys made sure to move and there were lots of easy baskets. Cleveland had 26 assists on 48 made baskets.

-The Wine & Gold had 13 offensive boards and 25 second chance points. Holy efficiency Hollinger. TT had 13 boards (7 offensive), four assists, and 15 points. He was 6-6 from the floor, and his play making made him look like there might be another facet to his game no one knew about.

-Happy All-Star break. Don’t ask to watch the All-Star game on Valentine’s day if you’re spending it with someone. It’s a bad idea.

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