The Point Four-ward: Bench Marks

Four points I’m thinking about the Cleveland Cavaliers…

1.) Cleveland’s bench has received its fair share of ink over the last two years. And, yes, while reserves such as Matthew Dellavedova and Tristan Thompson (now starting) have played a huge part to Cleveland’s success during the LeBron 2.0 run, it seemed like, too often, what the starters would give, the bench would let fritter away with contributions ranging from erratic (Iman Shumpert) to frustrating (Timofey Mozgov) to non-existent (Shawn Marion and Kendrick Perkins).

In Tuesday’s 115-84 Game 1 trouncing of the Toronto Raptors, the bench once again stepped forward as a major story. Only this time, in a shocking reversal of how most of us have become accustomed to talking about the team’s reserves, it was for a good reason. In the second quarter, Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye, Dellavedova and Shumpert took the court to run with LeBron James and proceeded to push the Cavs’ lead up to 18.

So far in these playoffs, that five man unit has appeared in seven games together and are shooting a staggering 56.7% from the field and 51.2% from three.

Head coach Tyronn Lue experimented early in the playoffs with playing Mozgov over Frye (likely in an attempt to put a wider body on Pistons center Andre Drummond) and, prior to that, he tried to get Kyrie Irving to take the reins with the second unit. But, since installing James in the saddle over Irving and opting for Frye over Mozgov, the bench has turned into a real force for the Cavs. James has the group playing together, defending well and oozing with confidence.

2.) Speaking of confidence, Shumpert is finally playing with a healthy dose of it… and rightfully so. The Cavs defensive stopper — who as recently as a month ago routinely failed to draw iron on his three-point shots — looks quick and feisty on D. More importantly, though, he’s actually seeing some shots go through the hoop. Shumpert’s defense is going to be there, but he seems to be running with a little extra moxie, some of which, I’m sure, comes from feeling like he can now contribute on the offensive end, as well.

On Monday, Shumpert was 3-4 — 1-1 from deep — for eight points and two monster slams on the way to a team best +23 in 22 minutes.

Shumpert even looked pretty good handling the ball for stretches, which was surprising, considering how poor his handle has been this season.

But, if you really want a sense for how good Shumpert — who has battled injuries, both nagging and freak, throughout his career — was feeling on Monday, it was not the slam featured above. It was the fact that he got up and continued playing after an awkward landing.

If Shump — given his track record with injuries — actually wasn’t hurt from that landing… best “team of destiny” argument so far. #Cavs

— Robert Attenweiler (@Cadavalier) May 18, 2016

3.) The Raptors bench, already stretched thin due to the injury to center Jonas Valenciunas, was no match for the Cavs. Their key reserve, Cory Joseph, had a particularly rough night. Joseph went 1-6 from the field and air-balled a three on his way to a team-worst -24. Joseph, who plays a similar role to the Raptors’ success as Dellavedova does to the Cavs’, will be looking for a bounce-back Game 2.

Further down the bench, Dwane Casey may have to look to rookie Norman Powell for a spark. The 6-4 guard from UCLA had a strong series against the Indiana Pacers, reaching double figure scoring in three of the seven games, before falling almost entirely out of the rotation against the Heat.

4.) After a string of very impressive games, Kevin Love had a quiet Game 1 against the Raptors. He finished with 14 points on 4-8 from the field (2-4 on three pointers) with four rebounds and three assists in just under 28 minutes of action.

While his stat line was perfectly fine, Love seemed the least comfortable of Cleveland’s three main players. While James and Kyrie Irving were exploiting the Raptors’ attempts to take away the three by driving into the lane for easy buckets, Love seemed to lack the aggressiveness he’d rediscovered in the first two rounds. On defense, he seemed like the only player in a white jersey that the Raptors could score against, while, on offense, he seemed a bit like the forgotten man, deferring to James and residing in the very large blind spot Irving can develop when he gets going.

Unlike during the regular season, though, when he could let a game like this fade him so completely as to make him invisible on the court, Love stayed engaged and looked for ways to help.

One sequence in the third quarter stood out:

Love, fresh off a less than stellar defensive sequence on the other end, stood beyond the three point line on the right side and watched Irving dominate the ball on the other side. [Note: in all fairness, this was one of Irving’s better games in not letting the ball stick with him… but James had himself a few ISO possessions and so did Irving.] When a shot went up, without the ball ever swinging to Love’s side, Love sprinted in and snagged the rebound from a smaller Raptors player, who, in turn, fouled Love.

It was a relatively small play. It wasn’t a shooting foul. It just gave the Cavs another possession in a game where one possession certainly wasn’t going to determine the outcome. But it was encouraging to see Love make sure his fingerprints were on this impressive win, as well.