Cavs 114, Clippers 90 (or, L.A. Winnin’)

Today was an exciting day for Cavs: The Blog. With the rollout of a new design for the site, and the addition of @CavsTheTweets on twitter, there were already two big reasons for our family of Cavalier fans to celebrate. The Cavaliers also had reason to celebrate as today is Tristan Thompson’s birthday. The question was, would they celebrate with a win? With the Toronto Raptors coming after the Cavs for the top seed in the Eastern Conference, every game seems like a must win right now. The same could be said for the Clippers who came into the game tied in the loss column with the Oklahoma City Thunder. For those reasons, this game seemed like a fairly important one for both teams.

First Quarter

The Cavaliers were back to their traditional starting lineup of Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Timofey Mozgov. The Clippers got out to an early lead as the Cavaliers looked lethargic on both ends. Love and Smith were both cold from beyond the arc, but at least in Love’s case he was taking open shots. As whole, the Cavaliers missed their first six threes, plus a pair of bunnies by James and Mozgov, and the Clippers led 14-4 when the Cavaliers called timeout with 7:52 left in the first quarter.

The Cavs came out of the timeout and scored off a nice dunk by Mozgov, but the struggles continued. LeBron and Mozgov had a pair of turnovers as the Clippers’ lead swelled back to ten. J.R. Smith didn’t seem interested in guarding J.J. Redick, but after a good start, Redick went cold from the field. To be honest, the game probably would’ve gotten a bit out of hand at this point if the Clippers weren’t missing open looks and turning the ball over a bit. Channing Frye came in and hit a quick three, and LeBron converted an and-one and a three of his own to tie the game at nineteen. Iman Shumpert also came in during this stretch and provided some terrific energy with his defense and rebounding, particularly on the final play of the quarter when he forced Jamal Crawford into a travel. After Frye saved a terrible pass by Matthew Dellavedova, Tristan Thompson scored to give the Cavaliers a 21-19 lead after one.

Second Quarter

The Cavs started the second quarter with Irving, Shumpert, Richard Jefferson, Frye, and Thompson. Frye hit a pair of threes as part of a 12-4 run that gave the Cavaliers a ten-point lead. Curiously, the Clippers were going with a lineup of five bench players, which may have been part of the reason for the run. The highlight of this spurt may have been Kyrie Irving drawing a charge for an offensive foul on the Clippers. The bleeding continued after the timeout until a Jamal Crawford three, which ended a 30-6 Cavalier run. Chris Paul then hit one of hit patented mid-range jumpers to pull the Clippers to within nine, and Ty Lue quickly called time out to stop a the Clippers’ momentum.

After the timeout, Kevin Love scored a pair of baskets in the post, but Chris Paul began to take over. He hit a pair of threes as part of a run by the Clippers to get to within five. LeBron answered back with five points of his own, and the Cavaliers continued to get Love the ball so he could set the up the offense from down low. Love was obviously much more comfortable with this plan, and got to the line twice as the Cavaliers pushed the lead back up to ten. James then shut down Chris Paul which allowed a steal by Kyrie Irving and a rim-rocking dunk from James. Doc Rivers earned a technical for arguing about a timeout he didn’t get, and a three from Smith and another layup by James gave the Cavaliers a 58-41 lead at the half

Third Quarter

Somewhat surprisingly, the Cavaliers went back to their starting lineup—Mozgov included—to start the second half. Both teams were a bit cold early, until Chris Paul used an uncalled offensive foul to get himself to the line. Paul then hit another jumper to pull the Clippers to within 13, but James responded with a three to push the lead back out. Jeff Green continued to kill the Clippers by attempting to score every time out, but missed seven of his first eight shots. The Cavaliers also let Luc Richard Mbah a Moute fire away and miss. Timofey Mozgov then got into the (circus) act with a missed dunk, and a jumper from Redick and a pair of made(!) free throws from DeAndre Jordan seemed to slow the bleeding a bit. Smith promptly responded with yet another three to push the lead back out to seventeen. Smith was absolutely on fire this quarter after starting the game cold, and carried the offense at times.

After a timeout Redick hit a jumper and then was fouled by Smith on a three-point attempt. He hit all three to bring the Clippers to within twelve. Smith quickly atoned for that with a three of his own, continuing his monster quarter. After a Wes Johnson three, LeBron went into attack mode, converting another and-one and putting the Cavaliers in the bonus by drawing a foul on Jeff Green. Green matched LeBron’s free throws with a pair of his own, but a pair of threes by Smith and Frye—who else?—pushed the Cavaliers’ lead over 20 for the first time. Delly then got in on the three-point action, giving the Cavs a 25 point lead. Jamal Crawford responded with a three of his own, but James then hit an off-balance three to make him a perfect three-for-three from three. Try saying that ten times fast. At the end of the quarter, the Cavaliers were 14-for-27 from three and led 91-68.

Fourth Quarter

The Cavaliers started the final frame with Irving, Dellavedova, Shumpert, Thompson and Frye. The Clippers went with their all-bench lineup again, but the Cavaliers—particularly Kyrie Irving—were a bit cold to start the quarter, and the Clippers cut the lead to 19 before Frye and Wesley Johnson traded a pair of threes. Then Kyrie Irving, who had been struggling with hit shot all day, went crazy, hitting a pair of jumpers and a loooong three to push the lead to 26 and send LeBron and the rest of the bench into a frenzy. The most shocking sequence might have been Frye missing a pair of threes, which was beginning to seem like an impossibility. It was garbage time the rest of the way, but the bench kept the big lead for once, and the Cavaliers were victorious 114-90.

Things I Noticed

The L.A. party scene isn’t a reason to lose, it’s an excuse. Glad to see the Cavs didn’t use it. They looked like the elite team they are and dominated on both sides of the ball.

Are we sure Timofey Mozgov should be playing over Channing Frye? I’ve been a pretty big Mozgov defender, but it’s clear at this point he’s not one of the three best big men on this team. I understand the concerns defensively that go with playing Frye and Love together, but it’s hard to believe that the Cavaliers wouldn’t be better overall with Frye getting Mozgov’s minutes. Starting Thompson and Love with Frye as the first big off the bench seems to be the way to go as this team readies itself for the playoffs. The Cavs can get away with playing four big men for now, but that will become much more difficult in the playoffs.

Kevin Love is obviously struggling from beyond the arc right now, and it is a bit of a concern. That being said, it’s also obvious how much more confident he is when getting the ball in the post versus waiting out on the perimeter. Love is a good outside shooter, especially for a big man, but he’s so much more than that, and his ability as a stretch four may not even be one of the best parts of his game. He has said that he is more comfortable starting the game inside and working his way out towards the three point line, and by now it’s obvious that the Cavaliers’ offense is deadly with Love in the post. Hopefully they will continue to work on making this one of the featured aspects of their offense.

Jalen Rose said that he thinks Kevin Love is gone from Cleveland after this season. Maybe, maybe not, but Jalen Rose said the same thing last season too. For all the talk of the Cavaliers having too many power forwards, they’ve been lethal when LeBron, Love and Thompson share the court.

This was a really nice win against a good team. So far the Cavs are 3-0 on this road trip. Let’s see if they can make it a perfect 4-0 tomorrow night against the Utah Jazz.