Recap: Cavs 115, Hornets 107 (Or, The Bench Helps Out)

Once again, Cleveland’s inability to play 48 minutes of complete basketball made a game look shakier than it should have at times. The Cavs looked dominant for several stretches of the game though and hinted at what they can be. And, unsurprisingly, a lot of the good stuff came directly as a result of LeBron James.

James helped the Cavs open in fantastic fashion racing out to a 19-6 lead. Whenever James got the ball early on, he pushed it. His first basket of the night came when he grabbed a board and dribbled the length of the floor before spinning into the lane for an all too easy 3-point play. The next points came after James grabbed a steal and then passed it to Jae Crowder before getting it back for another basket. Eight of the Cavs’ first ten came in transition. James would go on to finish the quarter with 14 points, and three assists. He finished the night with 31 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. He hit four of his seven 3s.

Charlotte didn’t give up after their rough start. Their first six points were by Nicolas Batum, who was playing his first game of the season and that didn’t even rattle their confidence. After calling a timeout with the Cavs up 16, they ripped off eight straight. Dwight Howard started to establish himself down low very deep, which caused a little bit of trouble for Cleveland’s defense as they worried about his rebounding, ultimately creating space for their shooters. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist contributed six points including two mid-rangers that looked as if he were whipping the ball at the rim and hoping for the best. The Cavs finished the first with LeBron draining a step-back 3 to be up 36-30. Cleveland hit five 3s in the quarter too, which helped to keep their lead despite some questionable defense.

The second quarter is where things fell apart for Cleveland. Charlotte racked up 37 points. Cleveland lost track of Jeremy Lamb immediately and he scored seven quick ones. Then Malik Monk scored five more. Still, Cleveland’s back ups were holding up. Dwyane Wade dished out three early assists and kept the Cavs offense floating. Wade finished the night with five assists, and seven boards to go with seven points.

It wasn’t Charlotte’s big name guys that sank the Cavs. It was all the little names on the team contributing in the quarter that hurt. MKG chipped in four more and Batum added another seven on 3-4 shooting. Charlotte ended the half up by six after starting down by six in the quarter and shooting 56% from the floor.

However, the Cavs came to play in the third. Kevin Love, who had 22 points and ten rebounds on the night, scored two easy baskets after catching the ball and driving to the hoop from the mid-post early on. More importantly though, he caused Dwight Howard to pick up his third and fourth fouls of the evening in the first two minutes of the action. Love kept Howard struggling and out of the game due to fouls. Dwight scored just eight points, and had four turnovers. He had only five boards.

The Cavs didn’t immediately take advantage of Howard’s absence though. There were a lot of ill-advised shots. The ball was sticking and there were heaves. Some went down. James hit two step-back 3s he probably shouldn’t be taking. The real magic happened when LeBron was called for his second charge of the quarter, and second in less than one minute, which put him on the bench with four fouls. The Cavs were down 82-79 when he sat.

The true stars of the game got to come through, the bench, which finished the night with 40 points. Channing Frye and Kyle Korver both got hot. With 1:44 left Frye, got an offensive board and went right back up to score. The Cavs then trapped Charlotte on the baseline and got the ball back again. Frye found Korver for a 3-pointer; and then blocked Cody Zeller at the rim, which led to Wade finishing the quarter with two freebies because the Cavs managed to snag an offensive board generating some hacking chaos. This 6-0 bench run put the Cavs up four headed into the fourth; they managed to hold on fairly easily while LeBron stayed on the bench.

They played defense getting two steals in the first few minutes of the final frame. They didn’t capitalize on them, but the effort was there from the bench group. Korver contributed with a 3-pointer and Jeff Green ran the floor to get fouled. Green even grabbed an offensive board that led to Frye dropping a 3-pointer with 10:01 left to put the Cavs up nine.

Charlotte couldn’t get back in it with James out and when LeBron checked in it seemed over. They got within four after Frank Kaminksy completed a 3-point play, but LeBron followed that by slamming down a Wade oop to show he wasn’t going to lose . Cleveland scored 27 in the fourth, but allowed Charlotte to put up only 23 points. Charlotte shot 50%, but they turned it over five times and got off just four 3s, as the Cavs cruised to a 115-107 victory.

Gripes

1. 1. Iman Shumpert continues to confound me. He was 2-8 for seven points and had four assists. He passed up so many great open shots tonight to just dribble and disrupt the offense. Why he starts at “point guard” is still a question to me. Just because he likes to dribble doesn’t make him a point guard.
   2. J.R. Smith is still struggling. He hit two of his six 3s and finished with ten points, but his defense was severely lacking. He was abused by Nicolas Batum who back cut him and just broke free too often. Batum finished the night with 16 points and six assists.
   3. MKG was able to have his best game of the season against the Cavs. He had 22 points on 10-14 shooting and six rebounds. He took zero 3s. I understand why the Cavs left him alone sometimes. He just isn’t supposed to make shots. He got lucky, but he was very open several times when James left him.
   4. The Cavs defense is still too haphazard for my liking. Look at poor Frank Kaminsky here. The Cavs leave him so open he’s almost confused he’s gonna get that easy of a basket.

Hypes

1. 1. A win is a win. The Cavs held Charlotte to just 40 points in the second half tonight. They also held Kemba Walker, who had 12 points and six assists in the first half, to just eight points and one assist in the final 24.
   2. And, their 3-point shot seems like it’s falling a little bit better. They had five in the first quarter, which was a welcome sight. They had 13 for the evening.
   3. Effort wise, the team still isn’t there, but they’re starting to show just a little more. Tonight, the bench really came through. Channing Frye had nine points on 4-8 shooting to go with a block and eight boards. Korver had 11 points and was 3-10 from deep. 3-10 from deep isn’t good, but he’s getting great looks and teams are worried about where he is at all times.
   4. And, Jeff Green chipped in 13 points on 5-8 shooting. Green is impressing me with his ability to cut off the ball consistently and to run the floor coast to coast. His game is really efficient right now. All three of these guys played great defense tonight.
   5. Watch that play. Now, watch it again. The Cavs need to do more stuff like this. Having a 3-point shooter like Korver screen for LeBron creates so many tough decisions for a defense. Having a 3-point shooter like Frye screen for Korver creates beautiful buckets like this all day. Screen for the screener. It’s not hard to get open looks like this. This action needs to be incorporated into Cleveland’s offense more often.

   6. The Cavs play again Friday against the Clippers. Let’s hope this win is a sign of what’s to come.