Recap: Cavs 112, Hornets 105 (or, Buzz isn’t just missing from cereal boxes)

The Cavs are approaching a fulcrum point in a pick your own adventure end of their season. Behind each choice is a rational reward, and potential downfall. LeBron is due for some rest before a deep playoff run, when rotations are reduced, and minutes are extended. Tristan Thompson is straight up running on fumes. The downside to resting both, or either is that Boston is just a game back of the Cavs in the standings. Can the Cavs afford to tinker with days off for core players as Kevin Love and J.R. find their footing after returning from lengthy injury absences?  How can they fully integrate Korver,  and the D-Wills into where they will fit into a playoff rotation if LeBron isn’t on the floor? Finding a balance of rest, and player integration over the final 11 games is going to be one of the bigger regular season tests coach Tyrone Lue has faced.

The Cavs could always opt for rest now and use the first couple rounds of the playoffs as their fine tuning time. They already have playoff mettle, and Deron Williams and Kyle Korver are well versed in deep playoff runs. On the other end of the arena, this incarnation of the Hornets appears to be running out of time. They blew up the franchise a year after the Cavs own implosion following The Decision. The Hornets self-destruction wasn’t because a transcendent player left, but because they were thoroughly trapped in NBA purgatory, and their only salvaging was rebuilding through the lottery. After five years of rebuilding, they seem to be stuck in the same place again. Kemba Walker has surpassed expectations, but Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Cody Zeller have largely underperformed their draft positions. After their loss to the Cavs last night, they are a full three games back of the Heat for the final playoff seed in the East, and nothing about their core leads me to believe that there will be a remarkable turn around for the them in the near future. Perhaps they are one of those Island of Misfit Toy teams, where their core would all look better in lesser roles on better teams.

First Quarter

Defense led to offense early in the game for the Cavs. Kevin Love contested a Marvin Williams long two, which Love then manufactured a trip to the line off of a Williams foul in the paint. Love went on to split the pair. On the following Hornets possession, Kyrie Irving played the passing lane for a steal on a Kemba Walker and Cody Zeller pick and role, which led to a J.R. Smith long two five seconds later. The Cavs were aggressively fighting   over screens, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was called for a 24-second clock violation on a desperation drive that Love and Irving defended.

While the Cavs have given up an average of 118 points during their road trip, I’m not really that worried about it. They’ve formed defensive Cavoltron the past two postseasons. What gives me the most optimism about the playoffs is how dangerous the Cavs offense can be when they share the ball. After the MKG 24-second call, the Cavs put on a passing clinic. The ball went around the world as LeBron found Love in the right corner, Love passed to Smith on the wing, Smith found Irving on the opposite wing, then Irving completed the rotation to a wide open LeBron on the left corner. LeBron talks about the ball having energy when it’s shared, and perhaps there was just a little too much energy as he overshot it. Love then collected the board, and fed a driving LeBron on the baseline for an and-one soft slam drawing contact off of MKG. James converted on the free throw and the Cavs were up six to zip a minute and a half in the game.

The Hornets quickly retorted, scoring on back-to-back-to possessions, the last of which being a pick and roll as Tristan Thompson failed to close out on Kemba Walker for an uncontested three.

Kemba Walker then hit a pair of threes on consecutive possessions to make it a one score game. The Hornets took the lead for the first time after a Cody Zeller split a pair at the line, then beat the Cavs on the boards for a  dunk. The next Hornets possession was a montage in how burned out Thompson must be. Zeller grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds off of long misfires, and was never boxed out by Canadian Bacon. In all, the Hornets received four shots on the possession, ending with Batum concerting an and-one driving layup and freebie off of a Smith foul.

With three minutes remaining in the quarter, the Cavs shook off the rust of four days in LA, and a late night mile-high layover  game with a Kyrie three from the top of the arch, followed by a Shump triple from the left corner to take the lead back. Marco Belinelli then answered with a pair of triples of his own.

With the game tangled at 29 a piece Kyrie blew past former Warrior Briante Weber for a bobbling left-handed finger roll. Kyrie then hit a near buzzer beater from the right wing through uncalled contact from Weber to give the Cavs a 33-31 lead after one.

Second Quarter

The second quarter began with an offensive assault by the Cavs as they went on to score a dozen uncontested points. Richard Jefferson’s strong recent play continued as he beat Frank Kaminsky off of a backdoor cut, then caught a high handoff from a LeBron, and posterized Frank the Tank. RJ and Korver each added a three from the right corner, and the rally was capped off by a stellar give and go between LeBron and Deron Williams, as LeBron beat Weber on the backdoor cut for the layup.

😎 #DefendTheLand https://t.co/Te79ZWo2u5

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 24, 2017

The Cavs run led to a Steve Clifford timeout to regroup. Out of the intermission, the Hornets offensive continued to lack execution, as LeBron deflected a Walker fadeaway as the shot clock expired. Charlotte’s scoring drought was finally ended on their next possession as Batum converted on a fadeaway of his own. The Cavs answered back as Korver lost Belinelli on a backdoor cut for a layup.

Kevin Love returned to the action, and promptly hit a pair of midrange jumpers off of pick and pops. Love showed how good his hands are a moment later as a defensive board bobbled to the floor and he bounced it to himself through a pair of Hornets.

As the end of the half neared, Kyrie and Kemba had a one on one stanza as Kyrie posted up Walker for a turnaround jumper from the paint. Irving then snared an errant Walker pass and took it the other way for a layup without a white jersey in his area code. Walker then beat Kyrie off the dribble for a layup of his own.

Batum cooked Tristan with a layup shot fake that got Tristan off his feet and then bounced a pair in off the backboard. He and Walker combined for 30 during the first half and they chipped away at the Cavs lead. On the final play of the half, Belinelli hit a cutting Cody Zeller for a layup to trim the Cavs lead to 59 to 53.

Third Quarter

The Hornets run continued as Tristan overplayed the passing lane and lost his balance, and Marvin Williams drove to the rim for an uncontested jam. On the next Hornets possession, Zeller hit a hook through contact from Tristan Thompson, but he missed the free throw.  Zeller had a really impressive game overall, especially on the offensive glass. He went on to collect a Kidd-Gilchrist misfire, than extended the possession and ultimately led to a Walker jumper.

Walker and Irving went for another offensive tango as Walker beat Irving off the dribble for a layup.  On the other end, Irving took a three-foot step back, and turned a midrange two into a three.

KYRIE. IRVING. #DefendTheLand https://t.co/Y6qKkCgTN0

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 25, 2017

In the final minutes of the quarter the Cavs received a series of scares. The first coming from Kevin Love as he tumbled to the floor, and clutched his shoulder after his arm got caught by Williams during a loose ball collision. Love returned to his feet, but promptly headed to the bench. With 30-seconds remaining in the quarter, LeBron beat Williams off of the dribble and converted on an and-one layup as Jeremy Lamb raked his eyes on the attempt. After a timeout to gather himself, James went on to hit the freebie.

Jeremy Lamb closed out the quarter with a floater in the paint after beating James off the dribble to make it a 90-85 game with one quarter to go.

Fourth Quarter

The final framed started like a lamb as both teams struggled to find their shot. The one exception was Jeremy Lamb blowing past Korver for an unchallenged slam. LeBron drew Lamb on the block and quickly spun to the hole for a dunk of his own.

Nearing the midway point of the quarter, LeBron tumbled to the floor one again after a Kidd-Gilchrist foul in the paint. LeBron went on to split the pair.

Deron Williams hustle play alert! Deron crashed to floor like an ice cream scoop of mashed potatoes as he hit the deck to save a loose ball from tumbling out of bounds, naturally his effort led to a Belinelli layup. The Hornets then turned a Kyrie misfire into fast break points as Belinelli beat Korver down the floor in transition for slam, cutting it to a one possession game with five minutes remaining. The Cavs appeared frazzled as they turned the ball over on back to back plays. Kemba Walker then drew contact from Kyrie, and split the pair to cut it to a one.

On the following possession, the Cavs composed themselves, and LeBron hit Smith in the corner, and J.R. converted over Batum’s outstretched arm for a triple. LeBron rejected a Belinelli layup attempt, and his defense led to a Love midrange jumper to stretch the lead back to six. Clifford called a timeout to regroup before the next possession, but the result was same as LeBron rejected a Marvin Williams attempt at the rim.

Clutch rejection. #DefendTheLand https://t.co/H90H6WvTDJ

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 25, 2017

LeBron scored on a layup of his own at the other end as Love found him for a reverse layup. On the following Cavs possession, LeBron went one for two from the line to push the lead to three possessions. Irving and Korver tag teamed a steal off of Walker to give the ball back to the good guys, and LeBron went to line off of a Belinelli foul. He hit the pair. LeBron earned one final trip to the line in the closing seconds off of a Belinelli stop the clock desperation foul. He converted on both and the Cavs end their road trip with a 112-105 winner in Charlotte.

Boo!

Cody Zeller mauled the Cavs on the glass for five offensive rebounds, and the Hornets had 14-3 advantage in that arena. I get that Tristan is the NBA’s iron man, but he looks gassed. Due to the Cavs injured big flavor of the month club, Tristan has played more pivot than during any other moment in his career. Even Canadians get tired eventually.

I’m not really too upset by the game, or them splitting the road trip. They took a schedule loss to the Clippers, and after deciding to stay in LA for an extra day rather than assimilating to the high altitude of Denver, dropped one there as well. If anything this trip was a firm reminder that this team doesn’t value the regular season, and in a way, they are right.

Yay!

2014-15 ✔️
2015-16 ✔️
2016-17 ✔️#DefendTheLand pic.twitter.com/cSU6SsPkcw

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 25, 2017

As we argue over the teams lack of defensive effort, LeBron’s minutes, and Ty Lue abandoning efficient rotations, we should take a moment to reflect on how fortunate we really are. There’s never been a better time to be a Cavs fan. The team has only won six division titles in their 46 years of existence. Three of those crowns have come in the past three years. For LeBron this marks his ninth consecutive division title, five of which were with the Cavs.

Had fun at the @hornets @cavs game tonight – stopped by @cavs locker room and ran into @KingJames pic.twitter.com/N9aYQ0dK5F

— Mark Price (@Mark25Price) March 25, 2017

LeBron might not have time to take a picture with The Undertaker, but he made time for former Cavs great Mark Price after the game.

The Celtics held on for a 130-120 victory over the Suns and Devin Bookers’s 70 fricken point explosion to remain a game behind the Cavs in the standings for the top record in the East.. The Cavs are currently up 2-1 in the season series, and the teams play their final contest at Boston on April 5th. If the Celtics win that game, can win their division (currently up 3.5 games on Toronto),and tie the Cavs season record, the next applicable tie breaker for the top seed is in conference record, which the Cavs hold a slim lead 31-11 to 30-13 advantage. If the teams are tied in their conference record, the next tie breaker is winning percentage versus playoff teams in their own conference. If that is amazingly knotted up, whichever team had a better record against playoff teams in the Western Conference takes the top seed. If somehow, that duel is a draw also, the team with more net points takes the crown, which greatly favors the Cavs. Or….If the Cavs bring the thunder on April 5th, and beat the Celtics, they’ll probably wrap up home court and get the core a few games of rest.

Kevin Love’s 29 minutes last night were the most he’s played since his return from arthroscopic knee surgery in February. He posted his his 34th double-double of the season with 15 points, and 12 rebounds. Before the game it was announced that Love has been cleared to play in back to backs, which probably limits Derrick Williams’ minutes going forward.

LeBron iffy for Saturday with scratched cornea https://t.co/O3FSmW508H #Cavaliers pic.twitter.com/GJ4YPEynZP

— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) March 25, 2017

LeBron was a single rebound shy of posting his 11th triple-double of the season. He was about as efficient as he has been all season posting 32 points on just 14 attempts from the field to go with 11 dimes, and nine boards. LeBron made it count from the line, going an impressive 14 of 16 from the ACA stripe. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of LeBron’s night was that he suffered a corneal abrasion late in the third quarter from Jeremy Lamb on an and-one layup conversion, and that he didn’t miss a minute of the fourth, scoring 10 of his game-high 32 points.