InstaCap: Raptors 105, Cavs 99 (Gutwrenching Loss)
2016-05-23Despite scoring on 14 straight possessions, largely out of the same offensive set featuring LeBron James, Richard Jefferson, Matthew Dellavedova, and Channing Frye, the Cavs were unable to stop Kyle Lowry (70% shooting) or DeMar DeRozan (60% shooting) at any time. Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson were completely and utterly a net negative on the team, and Kyrie Irving phased in and out of impressive shot-making Kyrie / want to gouge out eyeballs Kyrie.
LeBron played an efficient game but was kinda owned by DeRozan all night. He had to carry a heavier-than-2016playoffsusual load and played 46 minutes so I understand the need to conserve energy, but he went under almost every screen on DeRozan or just lazily switched. J.R. Smith the defense wonder was short lived. Iman Shumpert has been useless. If not for some spirited play by Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye this would have been a blowout as well. Cavs have three games to win two.
Cols, consider this the first of 99 posts. Be a man of your word.
The biggest issue I saw last night was the lack of intensity in the defensive end. That plus, LeBron’s unwillingness to attack the basket due to Biyombo’s presence in the paint.
You can’t let Biyombo dictate your offense. What LeBron and Ky should had done was attack and go straight at him on repeated occasions and gotten him into foul trouble.
This fear and the fact that they were unable to let DeRozan waltz his way into the 15-18 footer area was what cost then the game. This is unacceptable…
*to stop DeRozan from waltzing
DeRozan hit 12 of 19 contested shots. The Cavs are contesting. It’s the screens and forced switches that are killing us. The kid is unconcious mid-range. We need to stop cutting under screens and play with force. Maybe look at a scheme that anticipates those switches. DeRozan vs Love or Smith or Dellavedova… lights out.
They’ve really allowed this in all 4 games. At some point you just have to respect his jumper.
Oh DeRozan is a rightfully deserved all-star but to see repeated plays where he literally gets to his spot without any form of resistance is beyond belief.
I get he can make those but at least contest them, is all I’m asking for.
At the end of the day…..
Biyombo played like the second coming of Mutombo and Rodman
Lowry and DeRozan shot a combined 65% while scoring 60 plus points
And the Cavs had the lead with less than 5 minutes to play in an arena where they don’t ever play well and the home crowd is experiencing a historical game.
Now Lowry and DeRozan may continue to shoot 65% combined and thats fine. We still need to win.
This series shows the importance of home court. Both teams have not lost on their home court in the regular season or playoffs. I expect that holds true for the remainder of this series as well.
Tough loss but I will give the Cavs a tiny bit of credit from coming back from 18 down to take the lead. Just didn’t have enough left at the end plus DeRozen and Lowry shooting 21-30 on contested shots doesn’t help.
Their trust is being tested right now. If the Cavs go away from what worked simply because they don’t trust each other’s shot making, this series is over.
Defense, rebounding, and attacking the paint is what will get the Cavs six more wins.
Cavs need to be much more physical in order to knock Lowry and Derozan out of their rhythm. Need to go back to dominating the paint.
You’re right, that’s what Indy did and it worked for awhile (before they started with the smart curl screen sets)… especially when Paul was on DeRozan. The trouble is JV took over in the paint.. and now he’s coming back. I’m worried. He is a beast and TT ain’t playing at the level we need right now. Biyombo and JV in the paint? Damn. We got to pull together as a team. Stop yapping and get it DONE!
After RJ scored to give the Cavs a 2-point lead with just under 5 minutes left, they shot 1 for 10 with a turnover (the Lowry non-call) in their last 11 possessions.
Seriously, how do you allow Lowry & Derozan to dance in the paint all damn night long. It was like watching a Jr High Basketball game. It’s come to this? This is how Cavs lose? You mean to tell me Lue cannot find 1 damn answer to this absurdity. C’mon FIND someone!!
Only good thing about this game is Tom winning his bet. These two games have looked like the regular season Raptors-Cavs matchups. Cavs are in a dogfight now. Derozan has been killing them every game, and if Lowry is back to being good, every game is going to be a slog. Can’t say I’m much impressed with Lue these two games.
10 straight wins and two quick losses and the winds are out of our sales… Raptors back to being confident and thinking they can win. Very frustrating to watch. Cavs hurt my feelings tonight.
We will win this series. The Raps were confident and thinking they could win in games 1 and 2. The only difference is that in game 3 our shots weren’t falling and the raps had the home crowd to get them feeling good. As long as they don’t panic, they’ll be okay. J.R., Frye, Kryie, hell, even Love and Delly, didn’t forget how to shoot. They can recover if they stay confident. This is the mental part of the game they have to overcome. Its been the same issue since game one of the regular season – either they have… Read more »
I appreciate your optimism. I hope I can get there in games 5 and 6.
Look, is it possible we’ll lose this series? Of course, that was always possible. Toronto didn’t win 56 games by accident and we have legitimate weaknesses. I just don’t see anything that has fundamentally changed in the last 72 hours. We’re more talented. If we lose, its because we lack the championship caliber guts. And if that’s the case, no adjustment Lue can make will save us and we were never going to win the Finals anyway. Barring injury, if this team doesn’t win the Finals this year, its likely they never will unless we dump some very big pieces… Read more »
I tend to agree. A whole lot broke right for Toronto and the Cavs still had a chance to win on the road. Lowry and Derozan won’t (probably) shoot 60%+ on contested shots again. Cavs won’t (probably) miss more than 15 wide open shots. I think they can get it done in six, especially if they put in a concerted effort on defense. The future of the Cavs is a thornier issue. Even when winning ten in a row I thought the Cavs would be underdogs in the Finals. Assuming the Cavs make the finals and lose, I think K.… Read more »
The biggest injury we had in the finals last year was that Love and Irving didn’t get to experience failure. They came into this year believing that health was the only thing that kept them from a title. That wasn’t entirely true. They also lacked heart – they haven’t shown it in their respective careers yet. Now is their time to step up. I hope they don’t have to lose this year to learn, but its possible.
This series is really highlighting our two big weaknesses – poor defense on elite guards and lack of a rim protector (RIP Mozgov). We lack a guy who can neutralize Biyombo. And KI, J.R., and Delly can not stay with elite guards. They can handle Kyle Korver, but not elite guys. Shump is the only guard elite defender. Delly can tread water. KI is useless. and J.R. lacks the quickness to keep up at this point in his career. Which means if they are not on fire from Three, they are net negatives. In the Finals, when we make it… Read more »
Sadly, it’s not just elite guards that give the Cavs fits. Even slightly better than average guards create problems for the Cavs on penetration.
Deep down in my heart of hearts I knew this would happen & from the Raptors. This isn’t anything new we are seeing. All regular season against Raps, we have not defended well in the paint or had decent rim protection. Raps have always been TT’s Achilles heel. He has hit the proverbial wall , ladies and gentlemen against them no matter what energy he can foster. Lue has to get him help and stat! I don’t think we make it out of the ECF if he doesn’t dust off Mozzy to clog the paint & steal some rebounds from… Read more »
Reality check is this. We are 2 losses away from Win or Go Home.
We are only 1 loss away from Win or Go Home…
So are they.
We haven’t played Game 5 yet
The surest way to two more losses is to panic and go away from who we are. We have assembled the best three point shooting team in history. Its better than GS, even if Curry is individual the best. Under Blatt, this team was a slow them down defensive team. Lue changed that. its too late to go back.
Having a reality check & make the needed adjustments from these losses is hardly panicking . Cavs Must Win this next Game!
J.R. and Frye alone can destroy the Raps with open threes. If we’re trading layups on the other end, or Derozan’s 15 footers, you live with it if you can get an extra point on the other side. Make a point to get Love going inside early by switching Biyombo and drawing him out of the paint. If he stays at home, hit the open guy for three. We’re not going to win a straight post battle because Biyombo is a better rim defender than Thompson or anyone else we have. We have to live or die by the Three.… Read more »
“Can” but have not in these 2 losses. Cavs need more.
But we didn’t get here as a 3 point shooting team! What worked in Detroit and Atlanta has lead us away from our identity. We need more variation. 41 3-attempts? What the what? We’ve drank the Kool Aid and now we’ve got a stomach ache. Time for the medicine that got us here in the first place.
Actually one loss away from win or go home. Two losses away from going home…
There isn’t much he can do about the Bigs problem. Mozgov has become unplayable, whether its injury or confidence or personal whatever, its too late to count on him now. Frye can at least draw Biyombo from the hoop on offense, but he is just as likely to bleed it back on defense. Lue’s rotations were solid, as was his gameplan. I really believe he overcompensated for a crappy shooting night on Saturday. We’re getting open looks. They’ll fall. Don’t panic.
‘There isn’t much he can do about the Bigs problem’ That kind of mentality will guarantee this series to be lost. You can’t just throw the white towel on that glaring & Nthe biggest reason the Cavs are losing. Something can be done! And you get any body you can to get production. If Lue’s rotations were solid we would have a win Sugarcoating a loss does no one anyone favors at this point.
For what its worth, I think I’ve jinxed the Cavs. I’ve been so busy I haven’t watched or listened to a game live all playoffs. Saturday I finally took in the game and tonight I listened on the radio. I need to go back to only catching up after the fact.
I was unconcerned on Saturday because we were due. Tonight, I’m a little worried. Mostly for two reasons: 1. Lue is showing his rookie colors. Completely scrapping rotations when shots aren’t falling and riding James for 46 minutes shows a guy who got overwhelmed and was hoping the best player in the world would just bail him out. The problem the last two games was defense. The shots will eventually fall. Letting Derozan and Lowry go off like that, and the O Boards, is a much bigger problem than three point percentage, and Lue hasn’t figured it out. 2. The… Read more »
+1 on your 2nd point.
Richard Jefferson’s (long & hilarious) media session yesterday was interesting – he regularly drops interesting observations on his teamates. He mentioned that all of the big 3 are emotional players, and that Lue’s even-keeled approach calms them. Well, Lue’s got his work cut out – from time to time you see both Irving & Love drop their heads and chastise themselves when a shot doesn’t drop. When they do this, they aren’t immediately focussed on getting back & finding their man, and when they do get to their man, their D generally sucks.
mo can play, so can Moz
Those two should not play unless we’re up by 500. Lue seems to be overthinking things. The shots weren’t falling in Game 3 and he panicked. Let it regress to the mean. Keep playing your game, box out, and let the game come you.
what is the answer to easy baskets in the paint (their bread & butter of the majority of points) and the losing battle on rebounds when TT & Love haven’t done it in the last 2 games? Hope against hope & then you lose? . Lue Has to do something. We are 2 losses away from win or go home.
TT and Love need to step up a bit, but other than just boxing out, you have to live with their midrange game. We’re getting good looks on offense that weren’t falling. Don’t panic. By trying to fix one problem you spring a leak somewhere else. We have better three point shooter than they do and we have better post players than they do. You can’t kill yourself to try to stop what they do best if it kills what you do best. Just stay focused, solid rotations, hustle, boxing out – we’ll be fine. Double Lowry and DeRozan, no… Read more »
Get a room, you two.
The door’s open.
That’s the most disturbing thing I’ve ever read on the internet. (that might be hyperbole).
I’m out. Good luck discussing this game. Make some shots people!!!!!
Alright Cols. See ya tomorrow. If the Cavs were going to face adversity, I’d rather it now than in the Finals.
Big picture though Cavs still wil win this series. Just sucks that they let Toeonto get two games.
If freaking Delly could hit a shot this game is different.
Delly hasn’t been shooting well for a while. I wonder if the ankle is affecting him. He looked pretty tentative on offense for much of the last 2 games and man I wish he could play iso D better. He gets down in that low stance and guys just shoot over him too easily. That Cory Joseph shot was a killer
Yep. He got killed on both ends. He had some nice passes to James though.
Irving bounced back nicely.
There is 100% chance Tom is awesome.
Everything is not awesome.
Kyrie and James and RJ and Frye were awesome. Everyone else sucked.
Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye have just astounded me these playoffs. I mean I never in a million years would have predicted they would be this good.
Yep. But Love and Smith have gone missing. And Delly sucks. Big problem.
Melting down.
I hate everything.
Ugh.
There is a 100% chance Cavs: the Blog is the best Cavs coverage around
Cols is a man of his word!
This sucks so bad.
So what is the bet anyway?
Oh, Cols said there was a 99% chance the Cavs win in 4 or 5. So I wagered that I would wear a T-Shirt saying Cols was Right or whatever message he wanted ONCE if the Cavs do win in 4 or 5 and he had to post 99 times that “100% Cavs: The Blog is the best Cavs coverage around” if it went 6 or 7.
Fun with Probability Distribution.