Recap: Cavs 121, Lakers 112 (Or, Old Guy Moves)

The Lakers came into the Q and put up some fight, at least according to the scoreboard and some aspects of the box score. But the Cavs never seemed in danger judging by their attitude. Cleveland wasn’t getting calls for much of the evening, and the complaining was minimal. The Lakers vacuumed up sixteen offensive boards to the Cavs’ eight, and Cleveland didn’t start pointing fingers at each other for not boxing out, despite the fact that it led to 20 second chance points.

The Lakers even finished the night taking nine more shots than the Cavs, but it didn’t matter. Cleveland went 15-36 from 3-land while the Lakers went 9-31. And, despite having 15 fast break points compared to the Cavs’ 19, the Lakers ran more. Cleveland didn’t let it get to them though; they ran a little more than they should have at times keeping the game closer than it should have been with 17 turnovers. The Lakers even outscored the Cavs in the paint 62-46.It was smiles all around though for the Wine & Gold because they just have that vet savvy that allows some games to work out for them.

That savvy came out late in the fourth with 2:32 to go and the Cavs up 113–108 when the Lakers dared launch a trap on Kevin Love.Love was posted up on the lower left block. With Kyle Korver standing out by the 3-point line, Julius Randle had no choice but to leave the King open for a cut up the lane when Korver’s man had to drop down to stop Dwyane Wade from just having an automatic layup.Two points is better than three. Of course, Love found the King diving down the lane. He’s no rookie. That dunk  sealed the game. Cleveland finished the final minutes outscoring the Lakers 8-4.

Can't lose sight of @KingJames 💪 pic.twitter.com/bEs1y1JS2t

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 15, 2017

That score above off the Lakers trying to double wasn’t the only one of the evening.  Any time the Lakers tried to double, the Cavs just found the open man. Late in the third, with  1:40 left, the Lakers tried to trap Jeff Green at the lower left block. Green just kicked it out and the ball found Love, who had an open 3-pointer with a defender closing out from five feet further than he should have been.

Throughout the night, the Cavs pulled off little feats that were all mental, while the Lakers continually poured a serious amount of effort onto the floor to just contend for roughly 46 minutes.

Dwyane Wade got some easy free throws early in the game making Kyle Kuzma see some birds when he fell for an old man slo-mo pump fake. Wade pulled that move twice tonight.

Jose Calderon even got in on the old man tricks. Midway through the third, Lonzo Ball took a screen that Jose went under. Knowing that Ball wasn’t going to pull up for a jumper, Jose just set up camp in the paint, puffed his body up so Lonzo couldn’t slide by, and took the charge.

Those types of plays don’t necessarily seem like a huge deal during a game like this, but those are the types of plays that can help an older team pull out a win against a young group without killing themselves. Several Cavs had great individual performances, but it didn’t feel like they were necessary, they just happened.

LeBron James messed around and put up another triple-double getting 25 points to go with 12 rebounds and 12 assists. It was the 59th of his career; he’s tied with Larry Bird for sixth most triple doubles ever now. Kevin Love had a strong night with 28 points (4-6 from deep) and 12 rebounds. He had 13 points in the third. Even Jose Calderon showed out putting 17 on the board after going 5-8 from downtown. He also had six assists.

It’d be remiss though to not mention Cavalier rookie Cedi Osman. He played just ten minutes and went 2-2 from the floor with one steal and three fouls, but he was  big in the beginning of the fourth. With the Lakers going on a quick six point run capped off by Corey Brewer blowing by Korver for a huge dunk and Jae Crowder then getting called for an offensive foul, the Cavs led 102–98 with 8:17 to go. The Lakers were looking to cut the game to two, but Cedi said no way when Jordan Clarkson sprinted the lane for what would have been a layup. Cedi jumped up and did his best Aqib Talib impression to intercept the pass from Randle. It led to Wade getting a layup in transition.

A play later Kyle Korver showed the soundest of defense to compliment his ten point night. Kyle Kuzma tried to drive on him and Korver wouldn’t back down. He kept his hands up the entire time Kuzma tried to get to the hoop and netted a steal. As soon as Cedi saw that LeBron was going to secure the loose ball, he took off down court like the next coming of Josh Gordan. He caught the hail mary and hit the gimme layup putting the Cavs back up eight. The Lakers never got closer than five the rest of the game.

Gripes

1. Sometimes the Cavs forget to do simple stuff, such as boxing out, which was evident by the Lakers’ 21 second chance points and 49 rebounds (the Cavs had just 39). The score would have been a lot closer had the Cavs boxed out. The Lakers’ had 11 second chance points in the first quarter and led by just two. It didn’t help that Kevin Love was the only legit big the Cavs played tonight.
2. All those second chances led to the Lakers taking nine more shots than the Cavs, but that didn’t matter because they couldn’t hit their 3s. They went 9-31 from deep and the Cavs went 15-36. Cleveland was giving the Lakers any outside shot they wanted.
3. It was odd that all the 3s for L.A. were wide open because Cleveland wasn’t crashing down low. The Lakers demolished them in the paint all evening.
4. Brandon Ingram had a big part in that. No Cavalier could stay in front of his lanky frame as he utilized plenty of quick moves to get to the rim for assisted buckets. His movement messed with some Cleveland big rotations down low. He put up 26 points going 10-15 from the floor. He also had six rebounds and six assists.
5. Kyle Kuzma and Julius Randle had decent showings from the bench going a combined 14-25 for 33 points. They did have six turnovers though.
6. Lonzo Ball had 11 assists and hit three of his eight 3-point attempts. However, he was left as wide open as could be, and it’s apparent that he can’t get a shot off in traffic. That’s a huge reason he had six turnovers. NBA players will wait and hunt the passing lanes against Lonzo until he figures out how to finish shots.
7. The Cavalier offense was too simple. It was a lot of one pass and shoot possessions. If they were a bit more patient and worked through their sets, the Lakers wouldn’t have been able to keep up at all. They’re a one to two defensive rotation team because of their age.

Hypes

1. Most of what I enjoyed from the Cavs tonight is mentioned above. However, I need to give credit to J.R. Smith. Smith has been showing some flashes of dribbling and play making competence. He can get into the lane and make the pass to the weak side corner these days. Smith went 2-2 from deep, had three assists, and ended the evening with eight points. He was second on the team in  +/- at  +13.
3. Jose Calderon has been a perfect fit on the first unit. He gets the Cavs into their sets, handles the ball so it doesn’t turn into a LeBron fest, and plays sound defense. He isn’t going to change a possession on the defensive end, but he won’t sink it either.
4. Jae Crowder had 11 points, and the Cavs won. This is a coincidence. Crowder getting double figures in each of the Cavs’ wins means nothing. He’s struggling right now and cannot hit any long shots. His form looks awful. He’s staggering his legs on his 3-point release, and his body is unbalanced. He went 1-7 from deep.
5. Cleveland stopped Brook Lopez who put up eight points, air-balled two free throws, got stuffed by the rim, and had one rebound in 22 minutes.
6. The Cavs got this win because of talent and experience. Some nights that will win out and letting it win out is something any good team needs to do.