Recap: Cavs 83, Raptors 98 (or, Stumbling Blocks and Stepping Stones)

“There will always be rocks in the road ahead of us. They will be stumbling blocks or stepping stones; it all depends on how you use them.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

Despite his famous nihilistic leanings, even Nietzsche was able to occasionally come up with some mildly optimistic words of wisdom like the above reference. And, at the end of a long, tedious and sometimes downright treacherous regular season journey, the Cleveland Cavaliers could probably stand to use something similar as a mantra heading into the games that really matter.

In the grand scheme of things, this final game on the schedule had very little meaning. Sure, if you want to be technical about it… a Cavs victory coupled with a Celtic loss would have salvaged the top seed in the East for the wine & gold… yet the chances of either outcome were remote. Cleveland had mostly abandoned the quest for the best record following the double barreled gut punch of consecutive embarrassing losses to the Atlanta Hawks over the weekend. So, Ty Lue chose to rest his big three of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love… then further hoisted the white flag with some lineup experimentation in the second half. Though LeBron usually sits out these final games of the season, there really wasn’t a whole lot for the fans to appreciate on Fan Appreciation Night. Still, there were at least a few positives to take away from the experience.

The Game

With the big three out of the lineup, the Cavs once again pieced together a starting five. Deron Williams filled in for Kyrie, Iman Shumpert manned the two guard, J.R. Smith put the “small” in small forward, Channing Frye took Kevin’s place and Tristan Thompson made his return after four games off with a strained thumb ligament. Meanwhile, Toronto was missing DeMar DeRozan (flu) and Serge Ibaka (rest), so it didn’t initially seem to be destined for a lopsided affair.

The Cavs made a game of it for about a quarter and a half, keeping the margin around four points on the strength of TT’s activity on the glass and around the basket (10 points and four boards in 18 minutes), along with some timely three point shooting from Frye, Kyle Korver and the DWills (a combined 7-13 from deep for the game). Unfortunately, the Raptors went on an 18-3 binge to finish off the first half with a 53-34 advantage. Kyle Lowry (13 points and four assists in 17 minutes) and Jonas Valanciunas (13 points and seven boards in 15 minutes) did most of the damage, with JV even knocking down the first three pointer of his career.

All bets were off in the second half, as Ty Lue doled out significant minutes to both newcomers, Walter “Edy” Tavares and Dahntay Jones, as well as James Jones, Richard Jefferson, Derrick Williams and Iman Shumpert. This group actually outscored Toronto’s bench bunch 49-45 over the final 24 minutes, and showed some fight… even getting the lead down to 11 halfway through the fourth quarter. Tavares in particular made an immediate impact (six points, 10 boards and six blocks in 24 minutes), as his tremendous length provided a presence in the paint the Cavs have been lacking for some time. Jones also looked fairly spry for a guy who just signed up for a day, scoring nine points in 12 minutes. In the end, though, it wasn’t enough to overcome a strong finish by Norman Powell (a game high 25 points) and Bruno Cabloco (11 points in 17 minutes), as the Raptors pulled away for the win.

The Stumbling Blocks

The big three didn’t play, and the Cavs clearly weren’t prioritizing this final game of the regular season as a must win, so that colors the performances of those who did to some degree. Still, Toronto didn’t have anything to play for either (other than the pride of not getting swept in the season series), and were also missing two key starters in DeRozan and Ibaka.

There’s no getting around it… J.R. Smith is struggling mightily. It certainly hasn’t been the easiest year for the mercurial shooting guard. Not only was he catching up from the beginning with his protracted contract situation, but he also missed almost two and a half months of the season with a broken thumb. On top of that, he has had to deal with an ongoing serious family crisis with the premature birth of his daughter. Yet, he looked like he had turned the corner just last week with five straight strong performances… only to regress over the past four games. J.R. shot just 1-9 (1-6 from three) for three points in 25 minutes against the Raps, and is an ice cold 6-27 from beyond the arc since the Boston game. He even looked fairly tentative at times when he should have probably taken a shot. To his credit, he did dish out four assists upon recognizing that his shot was off… and, therein lies the potential stepping stone for him. Passing is an underrated aspect of J.R.’s game, and if he can contribute more on that end, he can still provide value. On the flip side, his defense is still nowhere near where it was last season.

Iman Shumpert is an enigma. There’s no rational explanation for his defensive decline this season. Last year, he struggled with injuries and external distractions. Neither seems to be the issue this year. He was having a terrific year shooting the ball, especially from downtown early on, but has dropped off considerably since the end of January. He’s shooting just 27% from three over the last three months, and has made just five of his last 31 from beyond the arc. It was 0-3 from range tonight (3-8 overall from the field), although he did manage to get to the line a few times (5-6). Part of the problem has been that Shump is trying to do too much (or is being asked to do to much) from a ball-handling standpoint… and it’s painfully obvious that he shouldn’t be counted on (or allowed to) dribble the ball that much. Yes, he had three assists on the night, but it was overshadowed by his four turnovers. Also, despite his two steals, he had trouble staying in front of the Toronto guards (Lowry and Powell), and frequently failed to either stop penetration or force his opponent to their off hand. If Shump can’t take steps to improve the skill that’s supposed to be his hallmark, he may have a hard time cracking the rotation in the playoffs.

Deron Williams was probably still pretty exhausted from logging 46 minutes in the overtime loss to the Heat on Monday, so it’s excusable that he didn’t have a particularly stellar game against Kyle Lowry. His numbers were respectable (10 points, 3-4 from three with four assists in 25 minutes) if not as superlative as his previous effort. Still, he committed four turnovers (giving him 14 in the last two games), and had a tougher time getting the offense moving against the Raptors. DWill is never going to be a stout defender, and he did for the most part allow Lowry easy access to the paint… although he did show a positive sign with a Delly-esque foul to stop a Toronto transition. Granted, it did follow one of his own turnovers… but still, progress. He also had probably the highlight of the game with this four point play…

.@DeronWilliams completes a routine 4-point play for the @cavs in the 3rd.

STREAM #CavsRaptors: https://t.co/i8q39eaX9O pic.twitter.com/VJL7Gei0j5

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) April 13, 2017

I don’t want to spend a lot of time bagging on James Jones… mainly because he’ll never be called on to play this amount of minutes (or likely at all) in the post-season barring some catastrophic turn of events. However, it’s worth noting that JFJ might really want to consider a career in coaching sooner rather than later. With all of the players either out for rest (LBJ, Ky, Kev), on minutes restrictions (TT, KK), nursing injury (Kay Felder) or just plain gone (DeAndre Liggins), JFJ wound up having to log 36 minutes… and it seemed so much longer given his awful shooting night. The Champ shot just 3-16, and a rim wrecking 1-12 from downtown. He lowered his season three point average from 56% to 47% by the time his night was done. He did manage six boards, but was a sizable liability on both ends of the floor.

Neither Channing Frye (seven minutes) nor Kyle Korver (10 minutes) played enough to make a huge impact on this game. They each hit and missed a three in their limited time. With Korver’s recent foot issues, the time restriction was understandable. Why Channing only played a few minutes is less clear. Hard to get a true sense of how much Ty Lue will count on them come playoff time.

The Stepping Stones

As stated, the big three didn’t play… so, it’s a win that Lue got some rest for his stars after a fairly grueling week. LeBron will have had almost a full week off before the first playoff game on Saturday, and Kyrie and Kevin should also be well rested.

The Cavs got a big boost, both on the court and to overall morale, with the return of Tristan Thompson. Even though he played just 18 minutes, TT seemed to be his old active self again. He hit a nifty jump-push shot to start the game, and three of his four rebounds were of the offensive variety. The big man also did a decent job on Valanciunas defensively. The Cavs will need TT as close as possible to full strength if they’re going to navigate deep into the post-season.

Good to have you back, Double-T! #DefendTheLand https://t.co/bjw57hH3Gz

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 13, 2017

It’s tempting to overreact to the performance of the other big man (emphasis on “big”) for the Cavs in this game, Edy Tavares… mainly because he brought a presence that we haven’t really seen since the peak Mozgov era. You can’t really miss the dude… and not just because he’s 7’3 with the wingspan of a pterodactyl. All the fourth edition of the Cavs fourth big man did on the night was pull down 10 rebounds, block six shots and score six points (on 3-4 shooting) in 24 minutes of play (which by the way were all consecutive in the second half), on his way to being the only Cav in the plus/minus positive (+2). Oh, and it was his first game in a Cavs uniform after spending most of the season in the D-League. While I feel bad for Larry Sanders, the raw talent of this kid is tantalizing. Yes, it’s only one game, and against backups in mostly meaningless minutes… but if he can even give the Cavs 5-10 minutes of extra paint protection, he’ll have contributed more than the L8Show would have.

3 blocks so far for @waltertavares22! #DefendTheLand https://t.co/4VuEIjCrI0

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 13, 2017

Being a fan of the defense that DeAndre Liggins brought (when Lue would actually play him), I was quick to scoff at the Dahntay Jones 2.0 era. Well, after this game, color me surprised. The 36 year old showed little of the rust I’d expect from a dude who hasn’t played a meaningful minute of NBA basketball since last year’s Finals, and actually looked pretty spry in his 12 minutes of play. He was 3-8 for nine points, and showed some tenacity on defense. I don’t expect to see much of him in the playoffs, but perhaps he’ll bring that same veteran presence he did last year.

Welcome back, @dahntay1! #CavsRaptors https://t.co/EQ7SZktTrS

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 13, 2017

Both Derrick Williams and Richard Jefferson made solid contributions against the Raptors. Given that they are both key contributors to the long ago forsaken Jumbo Lineup, it was great to see them get some run together in the second half. The Enchilada even knocked down a couple of threes, and they pulled down 10 boards between them.

Parting Shot

Was that really only 82 games? It seemed like 182. I have to say, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be to watch this team struggle and slog its way through this post-championship campaign. I can understand the malaise the players must have felt at various times during the year. It couldn’t have been easy to get any sort of rhythm going with the rash of injuries, slew of new additions, plague of back-to-backs and minimal practices in between. But it’s all over now. The time for excuses has officially come to a close. All of the rocks that fell in the way of this team’s progress on the road through the regular season caused them to stumble to a 51-31 record, and cost them the top seed in the East. Ultimately, that may not matter, as LeBron has frequently won as a two-seed, and the Cavs have proven they can win in Boston (the only team that would have home court over them until the Finals). The true test of whether or not they can flip the switch will begin in the first round against the Indiana Pacers, and could very well continue against these same Raptors in round two. Only time will tell if the flaws of the regular season will be stumbling blocks… or stepping stones for the Cavs to defend their title.