Recap: Cavs 123, Hawks 107 (Or, Sometimes You Gotta Trade Six Guys)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3LRp_OQRyQ

Sometimes you just have to shake things up. The Cavs  showed that tonight. After what seemed like two months of pure aggravation, the team looked galvanized. LeBron James didn’t glare at anyone on the floor or throw the ball just three inches out of reach of a sub-six footer’s hands. It helps there were no sub-six feet guys on the floor, but he didn’t throw a heated pass to prove a point to anyone this game.

In fact, he threw some beautiful passes as he recorded a very special triple-double getting 22 points, 12 rebounds, and 17 assists. It’s almost routine for James to have a triple-double from time to time, but tonight’s was different in the sense that it was actually happy. He didn’t do because he had to for the team to be in the game.

The Hawks showed up to play too. This wasn’t a walkover game. They hit nine 3s in the first half and were within five at half-time. Dennis Schroder went 10-18 from the floor to put up 25 points and had five rebounds and four assists. Taurenan Prince put up 15 points while going 0-9 from deep. He was 5-7 from the floor though and seemed to have an uncanny ability to blast by Cavalier defenders. Still, the Cavs held the Hawks to 43.5% shooting. Offensively Cleveland looked crisp. They had 31 assists, just nine turnovers, and 26 fast break points.

They were playing for each other all night, whether it was finding the open man or sprinting down the floor for easy buckets. Early on, the Cavs were taking jumpers. They were open ones, but they weren’t dropping. Then James found Miles Plumee on him and went to town scoring two easy layups. Cleveland didn’t pull away though and the Hawks drained a variety of contested 3s and some tough shots at the rim to stay close the first 24 minutes.

Even if Atlanta would have led, it wouldn’t have mattered. The Cavs were unified. They made each other look good and trusted one another. It’s crazy how much of a difference that makes.

With 7:26 in the first, Tristan Thompson helped out Jose Calderon after Jose and LeBron switched assignments off a pick and roll. LeBron ended up on Schroder and Jose ended up on Ersan Ilyasova. TT came over and swatted Ersan after Jose did his very best to keep the rangy big from just bull dozing to the rim.

TT was active all night on his way to 11 boards and ten points. He had a great sequence late in the first where he swatted Malcolm Delaney and made it down the floor instantly to hammer it down off a Jeff Green pass.

LeBron got in on the help fest too. After Cedi missed a wide open 3 to start the game from one of his passes, the King didn’t hold it against him. Later in the quarter, James penetrated off a J.R. Smith screen and morphed into a black hole on his way to the rack sucking five Hawks to within a foot of him. Cedi then got the kick out and delivered. When John Holland came in the game in the fourth, LBJ didn’t hold misses against him. He missed his first two 3s and the King still let him hang from deep.

Cedi delivered all night too in his first game starting. He went 6-9 for 16 points (2-5 from deep). He also had five assists, three steals, and six boards. And, he ran some beautiful one man fast breaks after securing a rebound and just going coast-to-coast to get fouled. Again, LeBron trusted him. He didn’t demand the ball after every rebound; he let the young Turk run. Cedi gives non-stop hustle, and he was the catalsyt for Jeff Green picking up a case at one point. Early in the fourth Cedi jumped out of bounds and bounced the ball back into play. The rock then found Green who went the length of the floor for a rim assault.

Kyle Korver also had a wondeful evening, and was the biggest reason the Cavs were able to take this game by such a hefty margin. He was 7-13 from deep and had 30 points. His 3s came at crucial times. With 25 seconds left in the first quarter, Korver hit a 3. In the next 74 seconds going into the second he hit two more 3s. Midway through the second with the Hawks up five, he scored seven straight points to get the Cavs back. He even completed a four free throw play to do it. He was fouled on a 3 and then the Hawks got a tech.

By the time the third quarter rolled around, Korver was officially ready to destroy. He checked into the game with 4:10 left and the Cavs up nine. During the final three minutes of the quarter the Cavs went on a 14-2 run. Korver hit 4-4 from deep to put the Cavs up 97-82 heading into the fourth. The Hawks never got the game close in the final minutes as the King whipped four dimes and Cedi the Jedi added another three.

Gripes

1. The Cavs could have done a little bit better closing out on shooters, but the Hawks hit some lucky shots and the Cavs weren’t going to die with the wide open ones they allowed tonight. Kent Bazemore went 4-4 from deep. That doesn’t happen everynight. Dennis Schroder hit two straight on 25 foot plus 3s. That never happens.
2. J.R. Smith might be done on the defensive end. He just lets guys blow by him now. Prince shouldn’t do this to you:
4. J.R. just opens his hips up when guys try to drive on him these days. He lacks lateral speed. He put up just seven points tonight.
5. Jeff Green got a little dribble happy a few times, but ultimately he figured it out. He went 3-4 from deep, had some nasty dunks, and was tied for a team high +21.
6. Tyronn Lue played guys a ton of minutes, but gets a pass considering he was missing players due to the massive trade.

Hypes

1. Cedi Osman is the man. He is a perfect compliment to LeBron. He’s a corner to corner guy. He will cover guys in the corner with the same speed he gets to the corner to take a 3-pointer. He’s not playing for points. He’s playing to win. And, who knew he had coast to coast dribbling ability off of rebounds?
2. Near the end of the third quarter, LeBron James was fouled and taking free throws. You could audibly hear him directing John Holland and Cedi. He instructed them to spread to the corners their next offensive possession.
3. That’s the type of talking that is contagious. The team communicated all night, whether it was on switches or just on where to head when someone was trying to set a play up. That contributes a lot to a teams’ success. If you’ve watched the Cavs even a little this year, you know that that communication just hasn’t been there.
4. And, that’s why this team has a really good chance to prove the analytics guys wrong who don’t think the team will be much better with the new players. Analytics can’t quantify how much just liking each other matters on a basketball court. It’s a lot easier to sacrifice your own semi-open layup to get a teammate a wide open 3-pointer when you are going cheer just as loud no matter how the bucket drops.
5. The meshing isn’t going to be an issue either for this team. Everything they run is simple. They switch on the defensive end with screens from any non 5 and trap and recover if a 5 is screening. Offensively, it’s just the spread pick and roll. Look how fast Cedi acclimated to playing with the King. Prior to tonight he had only shared the floor with him 132 minutes. It’s not hard to generate chemistry when all you’re doing is getting the ball up the court, running to the corners, and setting solid screens.

The Cavs take on Boston Sunday. All of the new guys should be available. The game will be a great test to see what the team needs to work on during the All-Star break and final weeks of the season.