Recap: Cavs 107, Pelicans 102 (or, The Best Player On The Planet Proves It Again)

The New Orleans Pelicans came to town last night to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in a game that featured two of the true superstars in the NBA. LeBron James and Anthony Davis will likely finish second and third in this year’s MVP voting, in some order. Both men have carried their teams through injury-plagued seasons to remain in the thick of the playoff hunt, but only one of them is the King, and that was proven again last night.

First Quarter

With Kevin Love passing the NBA’s concussion protocol, the Cavaliers began the game with a new starting lineup of George Hill, Rodney Hood, LeBron James, Love, and Larry Nance Jr.. Many had been hoping the Cavaliers would go with this group as their starting lineup as it appeared to have a nice balance of shooting, passing and rebounding, along with some defensive potential. The Pelicans countered with a starting lineup of Rajon Rondo, Jrue Holiday, E’Twaun Moore, Emeka Okafor, and Anthony Davis.

The Cavaliers missed some good looks early, but still scored first on a dunk by LeBron James. The Pelicans came in playing the league’s fastest place since they lost DeMarcus Cousin to a torn Achilles, but also are among the league leaders in turnovers per game. Both traits were evident early on, as those turnovers helped the Cavaliers take control of the game. Rodney Hood continued his newfound aggressiveness with a couple of early baskets as both teams attacked the rim against the opposing defense. The Pelicans had no answer for James as he repeatedly attacked the rim in transition for a series of rim-rattling dunks. Whether it was the new starting lineup, his passing Michael Jordan to set a new record for most consecutive games with scoring in double figures, or playing another MVP candidate in Anthony Davis, the King was on absolute fire. Appropriately, he set the record with another dunk that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

The historic bucket!

📺 @FOXSportsOH https://t.co/ugGXdkXkub

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 31, 2018

After James was honored during a timeout, the Cavs began settling for jumpers, but weren’t able to connect, and stopped playing defense in the open floor. Meanwhile, the Pelicans stopped turning the ball over and went on a 14-3 run to take the lead. New Orleans began to do a better job of keeping James from finishing at the rim, but  Jordan Clarkson used the attention paid to James to get to the basket, and a three by JR Smith tied the game at 29 at the end of the first quarter.

Second Quarter

The Cavs began the second quarter with a lineup of Love, Clarkson, Smith, Jeff Green, and Tristan Thompson. Love was ice cold to start the game, missing his first eight shots, and this unit failed to rotate on several plays as the Pelicans retook the lead. They also failed to keep the Pelicans off the offensive glass—somewhat surprising considering both Thompson and Love were on the court—and the Pelicans pushed the lead to seven before acting head coach Larry Drew called time. Love’s jumper looked extremely flat, and the adjustment he made while recovering from his broken thumb looked long gone. As the Cavs’ offensive struggles continued, they let it affect their defense more and more, and the Pelicans took control of the game as they pushed the lead to thirteen. To make matters worse, this was with Anthony Davis being absolutely ice cold from the field.

At this point, I switched from the Fox Sports Ohio Broadcast to ESPN because I need a little less emotional attachment from the people calling the game. That, and Doris Burke is awesome. Davis’s surprising struggles kept the Pelicans from running away with the game, but the Cavs just couldn’t get going offensively, and trailed 57-47 at the half.

Third Quarter

After a quiet first half, George Hill came out with three quick buckets, and Larry Nance hit a three the Pelicans dared him to take at the Cavs cut the lead to five. Unfortunately, noted Cavs killer Nikola Mirotic continued to scorch the nets as the Cavaliers’ lack of defense allowed the Pelicans to quickly push the lead back to double digits. Anthony Davis also began to wake up, hitting a jumper over Kevin Love, and blocking Jeff Green on a drive to the rim. To make matters worse, the injury bug continued to bite the Cavs as George Hill hurt his left ankle while landing after a layup attempt. Hill was unable to walk back to the locker room on his own, and it could be a while before we see him again. The Cavs began to cut into the Pelicans’ lead, but just as he was beginning to heat up, Kevin Love left the game with hamstring tightness. Jordan Clarkson continued a hot night with his third three-pointer in three tries, and the Cavs re-took the lead after an and-one by Jeff Green. The Cavs finished the quarter on a 22-8 run to take an 80-79 lead going into the final frame.

Fourth Quarter

Love returned to the game to start the fourth quarter and was immediately hit with a terrible offensive foul call after being tied up by Chieck Diallo. That paid off for the Pelicans as Mirotic hit yet another three to give the lead back to the Pelicans. It was also Love’s fifth foul, sending him to the bench and forcing the Cavs to play a lineup of Jose Calderon, Clarkson, Smith, Green, and Tristan Thompson (aka a lineup with none of their six best players). This lineup lasted all of thirty seconds before James returned to the court in place of Green. Tristan Thompson began to show some vintage form as he finished a dunk on the roll to the rim, and followed it up with a block at the other end as the Cavaliers regained the lead. A three by Jose Calderon pushed the lead to seven as the Q was rocking with six minutes left.

There was plenty of time left in this game, and the Pelicans weren’t done. Jrue Holiday continued to work as their closer, hitting a jumper over some solid defense by Smith to pull the Pelicans to within three. Luckily for the Cavaliers, a foul on James by Solomon Hill put the Cavaliers in the bonus, and the James hit a pair of free throws as he put the Cavaliers on his back once again. James scored eight straight points for the Cavs as he pushed their lead to seven with two minutes left. James missed his next shot off the side of the backboard, and another bucket by Holiday pulled the Pelicans to within three with thirty seconds left. Holiday missed a three to tie, and a foul by Anthony Davis sent Smith to the line with 17.1 seconds left. Smith split the pair, and Thompson grabbed a miss by Holiday for his fourteenth rebound of the night. Clarkson was fouled, and split his own free throws to push the lead to five, and the Cavaliers held on to win by a final score of 107-102. LeBron finished with 27 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds, while Jordan Clarkson finished with 23 and 16 points, respectively.

Another milestone, another W. #AllForOne https://t.co/8J0VVQGNOw

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 31, 2018

Things I Noticed

George Hill has a sprained left ankle and will not return. Confirmed: This team cannot make it through one game healthy

— Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) March 31, 2018

These injuries are maddening. The Cavaliers were finally playing the starting lineup we’d all been hoping for. They had Kevin Love playing with the bench to start the second quarter with LeBron out. Even if they weren’t winning the game at the time of Hill’s injury, the process was looking better. Jose Calderon has been great for the Cavs this year, and I agree with Ben that he should be in the playoff rotation, but Hill’s size and shooting at the starting point guard spot is a huge asset for the Cavs. Hopefully the ankle isn’t as bad as it looked, but the Cavaliers seem cursed by the injury bug at this point.

Tristan Thompson had a great night, collecting 14 rebounds in 21 minutes and doing a great job defensively. He also had two nice finishes on rolls the the basket. When Thompson finishes rolls like that, he’s a useful, if extremely limited, offensive player. One thing I would like to see him do away with, are the short jumpers he has been taking lately. He doesn’t finish these shots, and teams don’t even guard them. In previous seasons, Thompson has shown that he can use a few dribbles to get to the rim. If he can’t pass the ball, I’d rather seem him use that short dribble drive than taking those short jumpers.

If JR Smith isn’t scoring, then he’s essentially unplayable at this point. Smith did hit a big three and free throw at the end of this game, but that doesn’t offset how horrible he was until them. Smith’s defense has dipped dramatically, and after having success attacking the basket against the Hornets, there were several instances last night where he was seemingly dribbling the ball around aimlessly. At this point, it’s hard to justify giving Smith real minutes in the playoffs if everyone is healthy.

I’m squarely in the middle of the Jordan Clarkson debate. When he’s hot, he’s a plus player who can prop up a bench with James and Love out. When he’s missing shots, he doesn’t do enough in terms of passing and defense to be out on the floor. Luckily, you can usually tell which Clarkson you have that night fairly early in the game. That should allow the coaching staff to adjust his minutes accordingly during each game of the playoffs.

Jrue Holiday is one of the most underrated players in this league. He’s a terrific scorer, excellent defender, and one of the best two-way guards in the NBA.

Emeka Okafor only played about three minutes for the Pelicans, but the fact that he has made it back to the NBA after a five year hiatus due to a serious neck injury is one of the best stories in the league this season.

The Cavs are back in action this Sunday as they take on a Mavericks team looking to tank the rest of this season. Until then, have a safe and happy Easter weekend.