Recap: Cavaliers 113, Pacers 104 (Or, Bill Walton and Dickie V Hail the King)

The Cleveland Cavaliers won their final game before the All-Star break much in the way they have won most of their February games. By being completely and utterly unguardable. The legends, Dick Vitale and Bill Walton, announced the game in what must be considered a gift from the Basketball Gods. The game was entertaining in its own right, as the Cavs drilled 18 more threes against a Pacers squad looking to end a four game losing streak. LeBron James wasn’t going to let that happen. The King toyed with Indiana, dropping 31 points on 17 shots in a cool 33 minutes. Let’s get to it.

1st Half:

Paul George and the Pacers got off to a quick start against a cold Cavs squad. The Wine and Gold missed some wide open looks before LeBron James decided to remedy the shooting woes. LeBron hit his left wing special to gain confidence. A couple more left corner threes put the Pacers in a defensive bind. Nate McMillan’s squad did its best to survive the Cavaliers’ screen game, but Kevin Seraphin, filling in for injured PFs Thaddeus Young and LaVoy Allen, was helpless against Channing Frye’s PnPop game. LeBron was thoroughly enjoying his Magic Johnson gene, whipping wicked wraparound bounce passes and smooth look-aways that completely left defenders frozen. Had Channing and Kyrie Irving hit their early shots, this one would have been over quickly. Instead, the Pacers were able to hang in on the offensive side of the ball with good weakside flashes to the paint and some lucky bounces of their own. George attacked on the offensive end while Myles Turner was able to roll for some uncontested buckets. Jeff Teague wasn’t in scoring mode, but did notch eight (sometimes generously credited) first half assists.

Lue trotted out the new second quarter unit of LeBron, Kyle Korver, Derrick Williams, Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye. The lineup immediately chomped into the 32-28 first quarter deficit. The Pacers had no way to guard the intricate Korver/Frye screen dance. When Korver or Frye would seamlessly emerge from their off-ball screen work into a PnR with LeBron, the Pacers were completely confused, often leaving LeBron alone in their attempt to stick with shooters. At one point, LeBron noticed every defender had left him, made an uncontested layup and looked incredulous that a defense could forget their number one priority: stopping LeBron frickin James. The Pacers could not adjust. In the half-court, they got too high guarding PnRs with Tristan Thompson allowing LeBron to easily crossover the Pacers’ Big. There was no weakside help from a combination of laziness and rational terror of the Korver/Frye machine. Frye even had a driving dunk off a sad Pacers closeout. On another beautiful occasion, LeBron did a spin move to drive the left lane, collapsed (okay, the Pacers may have been just standing there watching) the defense before firing an outlet to Frye on the weakside wing. Frye made the extra pass to the right corner and a wide open Kyle Korver made it rain. Indiana looked like 10 year-olds trying to pass an AP Chemistry exam. LeBron further took advantage of their confusion to backdoor a sleeping PG-13.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmwsOC2W4uE&t=0m39s

Notice how Myles Turner barely even budges from No Man’s Land as the last line of defense. He is scared to leave Frye in the left corner, and probably more frightened to get killed via dunk.

Dickie V: There’s no defense. that’s called matador defense!! 

Bill: That’s called spread the floor, Dick.

DV: Whaaa. Spread the floor?

Bill: Spread the floor, get out of the way, attack the rim!

It was one of my favorite exchanges in a night full of them. Dickie V’s excitement versus Bill Walton’s stoner pragmatism never gets old. I sometimes wonder how much Walton has affected an entire generation of hoopers with his approach to the game. His respect for superstar talent mixed with his respect for a team approach must have sunk into our collective basketball consciousness. I know he isn’t the only guy out there with that kind of perspective. Jeff Van Gundy also quickly comes to mind as a guy who at once recognizes the power of talent and the strength in team. Even the Cavs’ own Ty Lue makes that a point of emphasis. But Walton’s ability to convey that reality as someone who was both superstar player as a Blazer and ultimate sixth man on the Celtics is singular. Then there’s this Wooden/Walton nugget:

Bill: When everybody thinks alike, nobody thinks. It’s okay to disagree, just don’t be disagreeable.

Wow, do we need that sentiment more often. Okay, back to the game.

I suppose I should mention that LeBron rolled his ankle. People who haven’t watched King James for 15 years might have been worried. The rest of us waited for the King to give the viewers a few more closeups of his awesome signature shoe as he retied his laces. I knock on wood when I write things like that, but really, the dude is an android.

An entertaining second quarter continued. Kyrie’s shot got wetter. Tristan Thompson rolled with great timing to open spots both in and out of transition. The spacing was marvelous. The only thing preventing a 65 point first half was the early missed threes. Defensively, LeBron was in chill mode, not crashing down on the Pacers roll man, and generally playing without force. And that’s fine. Really. Ty Lue dusted off poor DeAndre Liggins for the last possession of the first half. Liggins promptly stripped a driving Paul George to end the period. Good work, young man. At the half, 57-54 Cavs.

2nd Half:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fkKB_iMbXk

Welcome to the second half, Indiana! LeBron was an absolute beast, hitting fallaway jumpers, drilling his left wing three ball, controlling pace and helping to make George miss his 12th straight shot. Again, if it weren’t for some open misses from Ky, Channing, and Derrick the game would have quickly gotten completely out of hand. LeBron was just on another planet. Fortunately for the announcing team, there was no blowout as the Pacers hit some threes to to keep it interesting. When James checked out with two minutes remaining in the third, it was only 78-73 Cleveland. It felt like it should have been 88-73. Kyrie couldn’t get anything going from the field, but was able to make an assault from the stripe. Richard Jefferson defended Al Jefferson on the right block to force a miss. Kyle Korver worked hard on the glass to secure an old man defensive stop. It’s plays like that that show just how valuable smart, hardworking vets can be. Still, the Pacers rode a 10-0 run and a 14-5 end of the quarter to keep the game close at 83-80 heading to the final frame.

Kyrie, Kyle, Derrick, RJ, and Tristan started the fourth. Glenn Robinson’s three to start the period brought the Pacers all the way back for the tie, but a couple threes by Kyle and Kyrie quickly put an end to Pacers’ fun. Indiana again became hyper aware of the three point shot, which allowed Tristan to slip a pin down screen for Korver. TT rolled and Kyle fed him for the easy dunk. Thompson followed that with spectacular block on Robinson’s dunk attempt that somehow was called a foul. Kyle and Kyrie seemed to be personally insulted by the call, quickly drilling a couple more threes to push the lead to double digits. The lineup of Kyrie, Kyle, Bron, RJ, and Channing really cranked up the ball movement and the defensive intensity. Korver, locked in a one-on-one defensive situation against the speedy Jeff Teague, straight turned off Teague’s water and even kept the ball in bounds. After he couldn’t haul in a great pass from The King on the subsequent possession, Korver made up for it by drilling three from my living room. I live in Germany. Korver defended the following PnR by clinging to Myles Turner on the roll and then scored a layup in transition shortly after. It was a dominant stretch for an old guy who is supposed to be limited to shooting jumpers. A high flying rebound from Derrick Williams gave Kyle the exclamation point he deserved. 106-92 in a hurry. With 2:38 remaining, it was scrub time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GdG-KZxhes&t=1m42s

Thoughts: 

Is everyone on board with RJ’s dubbing of Korver, “La Flama Blanca”?

Tristan grabbed seven offensive rebounds on his way to another double double. His offensive play, both rebounding and rolling, has been fantastic in February.

Derrick Williams again led the team in plus/minus. His offensive rating since joining the Cavs is 137. I’m amused. Had he made just one more of his threes, I could have gotten super excited. Instead, I am generally pleased. Oh the fickle nature of a “make or miss” league.

Speaking of which, Channing missed all six of his threes and went only 1-8 from the field. Like I said, this game would have been over early had Frye hit even a couple of those wide open shots.

Enough of my thoughts.

Bill: But this guy, what’s this guy’s name?..

Poor Dave Pasch: Monte Ellis

Bill: no, what’s YOUR name again, you ask me these questions and when I give you an answer that you don’t like, you’re like all over my case! You, er, don’t want the kind of answer I’ll give you, don’t ask the question. 

Dickie V: Lady Gaga is the only one who outplayed Tom Brady.