Live Thread: Cavs @ New York Knicks (or, the long awaited LeBron – Kanter feud (JK))
2018-04-09
Cleveland heads to the Big Apple with a chance to clinch the divisional title tonight. Likely the No. 4 seed regardless of what happens, the Cavs look to beat the Knicks team that fell off the playoff contending map once Kristaps Porzingis went out with the knee injury. In a continuing theme, despite George Hill coming back into the starting lineup, the Cavs will not be fully healthy as Rodney Hood has been ruled out for the contest.
George Hill, Kyle Korver to start for Cavaliers against Knicks. Hood, who was listed as probable, is out. Calderon plays too https://t.co/zi78RhMueS
— Joe Vardon (@joevardon) April 9, 2018
Interesting enough, Kyle Korver will get the start instead of J.R. Smith meaning it’ll be a new lineup/rotation in the 81st game of the season. Hood will be the only player out for the contest as the Cavs will have everyone else back, including Jose Calderon who was nursing a hamstring injury.
Just a thought/prediction for the next two games against the Knicks.
LeBron will be motivated to beat the crap out of the Knicks twice by overblowing his mini-scuffle with Enes Kanter back in January after praising Dennis Smith Jr. The Cavs will likely come back in at least one of the games and for the first time in his career, LeBron will play all 82 games (a weird knock that people have against him).
Vardon saying Lue said Jeff Green going to cover primary scorer in playoffs. Really? Don’t we need Hill on Dipo? I guess Green can take DeRozan while Hill takes Lowry. Man sixers are rough. I don’t like Green on Simmons or Love on Embiid. Feel like Nance and Zizic would be best on him. And Green on is not comforting.
Recaps up.
good with the “angry smurf ‘ signing maybe he can take some minutes away from T.T. –WHO SUCKS !—-TAKE AWAYS FROM LAST NIGHT’S GAME –hill doesn’t give me a lot of confidence going into playoffs -our defense –this late in the season still sucks —can’t stop dribble penetration—– close outs are lazy —- STILL CAN’T defend PNR —– no true rim protector / defender against a BIG ——especially against good teams ——knicks pretty much played their reserves last night in a ‘ meaningless game –they should actually be in tank mode “–still gave us a game up until about 3… Read more »
Perk is back! That is our 15. Question: should we try to win the last game? Pros 1) If we do, and Philly loses their b2b in Milwaukee, we nab the third spot. 2) If Hood can play, it might be a good idea to play at least 1 game with our current roster fully healthy. 3)Or that our starting lineup (Hill, Hood, James, Green, Love) has played only 10 possessions together the whole year. Cons: 1) Injury risk 2) If we lose, the Knicks are guaranteed to finish at least tied on wins with Brooklyn. ———- Nets update: pick… Read more »
Injury risk every game including the first round of the playoffs. Drafting 8th is better than drafting 9th. Pretty sure we aren’t going to finish 7th worst.
Angry Smurf Alert!!!
http://www.nba.com/article/2018/04/09/report-cleveland-cavaliers-sign-kendrick-perkins-playoffs
Zz play like 1 minute and scored 2 points in the first PnR they ran with him. It’s just unbelievable how Lue doesn’t give him PT.
That was a smooth shot he made.
Clarkson is a solid spot up shooter
Clarkson, JR, Korver, LeBron, Love lineup if we wanna go ultra-offensive
When did Chris Rock get fat?
Ugh. He’s wearing a Draymond T-shirt.
Big Ziggy!!!!
Jr seems to be one of the worst both individual and team defenders In the league !
We’ll see come playoff time.
Ty lue says he’s been really good defensively , He’s not gonna look as bad in the po because everybody else will be playing better so his mistakes won’t get exposed as much , but he’s horrendous period !
Man. The NBA should just cut it to 60 games. The last month of the season has been garbage.
OMG! The Cavs backdoored somebody instead of somebody backdooring us! Truly a sign!
Nets up 8 with the ball, 2 minutes left
I’d bet my life savings on the nets in these two games.
That was a brutal BD by the Knicks. I had them +12.5 and they only down 6 with 3 minutes left. SMH.
Really like LeBron on the low block…
Man. Ty Lue is absolute garbage. I don’t know wtf he’s doing here tonight.
Just matching the effort (or lack thereof) of the players..
+1
Duh, he doesn’t want to tip his hand for the last game of the regular season against the Knicks on Wednesday!
Lue is still rusty apparently. WTF with his rotations again
I hope he gets fired as soon the Cavs get eliminated.
Love must be on a minutes restriction imposed but Lue, but he plays TT and Nance together again. Just stupid
Signing Perkins ??
Yes.
May dray think twice about thugging it up.
Good luck, Cavs need Perkins.
No reason LeBron should be in this game
Cavs need to win games. Lose both and Indy can leapfrog them. Bron wants to play.
The game was in hand at the end of the 3rd when LeBron sat and then Lue played an idiotic lineup with TT that struggled to score
Exactly
He is headed for 40 mins. Lue excels at keeping James minutes #1
Where the eff is Cedi? Man. Ty jerks guys around like nobody’s business.
Maybe that’s why they won’t fire him? They like his handy work.
We had an opportunity to go up 20 late 3rd. Back to single digits.
I have next to no confidence in this team or the coach. Indy gonna go 6 or 7.
TT is so bad, can’t play defense and can’t score. He is only a decent rebounder now.
I would even say fair rebounder
Agreed.
playing nance and TT in the same lineup is just absurd…I thought Lue had nixed that idea because it obviously doesn’t work…but here it is again…Did he forget already that he decided not to put them out together?
its absurd!!!!!!!!
Nance not finishing like he was a few weeks ago , any thoughts ?
Bulls down only 3 after 3 in Brooklyn.
Man. This knicks team is awful.
They are missing Porzingas + two other starters (Hardaway & Mudiay) + a couple other guys.
But you are not wrong.
Looks like Lue is going to bench Cedi from now on. Stupid.
I am also bothered by it but who who’s place should he take?
Just siphon some minutes off of Green, JR and Korver or even LeBron. We are just better when he plays. I don’t know why Lue can’t understand that.
Ya I hear that , but lue is prob thinking that ultimately he’s gonna go with a smaller rotation in po
TT in the Nance+TT lineups.
Anyone who plays lazy perimeter/wing defense at any point.
Beasley will get consideration for the all NBA team with how the Cavs are playing him
Late to join. Where is Enes??
Not saying much on the bench
Though I note Hardaway scored a tech from there, are they taking turns?
Man, Kev playing some crappy d ever since that uncalled charge in the second.
Cavs coasting hard here.
Could we call that the North Coast?
Ntilikina is going to be a player. Dude reminds me of the point guard version of Kawhi. Lotta people bagged the knicks for taking him over Smith Jr., but long term, I’m betting Frankie is a better player.
Cavs awfully sloppy in this stretch.
Cavs making an effort to involve Love to start the 2nd half
Just caught up. Sorry I missed the first half on the LT. Fun half with lackluster D and hot shooting.
Sweet finish KEv.
HAHAHAHA. Forgot about Kurt Rambis, professional coattail rider.
Like the Perkins signing. Cavs need a thug to get refs to tighten up the officiating when teams try to punk them. Had a feeling this was happening in February, but Cavs didn’t want to incur the luxury tax hit of carrying him on the roster till the playoffs started.
Thoughts on adding Perkins as our final roster spot?
He’ll be liked, I guess…I’d be shocked if he played…
He is fight insurance… though the new NBA is short on tough guy issues, playoffs or otherwise…
Valenciunas, Lance Stephenson, Baynes, Morris twins – lot of fake tough guys in the East
Yup–the worst these guys’ll do is blow in your ear or fall on you like a big, dumb tree…
Of course if this is JR Cavs get in the playoffs it would be huge. TT just solidifying a decision to not be in the rotation
I JUST DON’T SEE WHERE T.T. HELPS US ANYMORE THAN ANTE COULD —EVEN WITH PLAYOFF ESPERIENCE —AT LEAST ANTE IS A THREAT TO SCORE ON OFFENSE —-BIG BODY ON DEFENSE —-SORRY I KNOW I HAVE BEEN ON MY “FREE ANTE SOAP OPERA ‘ FOR A LONG TIME —BUT STILL AM PISSED WHAT THIS COACHING STAFF HAS DONE TO HIM ( PLAYING T.T. OVER HIM )–TOTAL B.S !!
LOL that fast break
We lose so many people in back cuts. That isn’t going to change I don’t think. This group collectively displays the worst team defensive fundamentals I have ever seen from a cavs team.
Cavs running a three point shooting practice for Kev tonight. Going pretty well so far.
Klove on ?
That was one of the easiest buckets korver has ever had. Red Sea parted
The Good: JRs explosion, Love’s jumper, Hill is back, Clarkson uses the backboard on a runner.
The bad: passive/sloppy LeBron, Nance & TT together, no Cedi, no shots for Korver.
TT just can’t jump or finish. Playing in slow motion
T.T. SUCKS !!!—FREE ANTE !!
Nomad you must know by now Ante is never playing this year anymore until garbage time
am sure LeBron will play some more to keep his “double digit ” streak alive– right ??
JR with a couple of nice assists…
T.T. SUCKS !!!!!!!!!!!!
That was a pretty sorry excuse for an attempt at a layup.
JR throws a lob to Nance that he can handle for a change…
as expected nets starting to pull away from the bulls
a.c. making a good / valid pt about cavs defense —-right now knicks are “carving ‘ it up—can you imagine what pacers will do —-understand this is NOT playoff game / doesn’t mean much —just hope by sunday we tighten it up —– HEY WHERE IS EVERYONE –FEEL LIKE I AM TALKING TO MYSELF !!—– I do that too much as it is !!
Not sure it is fixable at this point. Half their problem comes down to not knowing where to be, confusion on switches, confusion on defensive position on p and r, and confusion after more than one rotation. All of that requires more than effort. It requires good habits and knowing your scheme inside and out. That requires lots of practice time. Not sure they can fix all those things in a week.
hope klove can stay healthy —jumper is “wet “—–get your shots now kevin we all know that they forget about you come the 2nd half– ( hoping tonight you and the other starters aren’t in there the 2nd half )
would Beasley be a player worth pursuing —-seems to have matured somewhat –has always had the skills ???
Miami thought so too when they brought him the second time around. He was with Lebron on his last year with Miami. Beasley is what he is..
ESPN’S RECENT MOCK DRAFT HAS M PORTER GOING TO THE CAVS —I WOULD BE ESTATIC IF THAT HAPPENED —DON’T SEE IT THOUGH
I have reservations…not sure what kind of fit he is, and the back scares the crap out of me…
Same concerns from me with health.
He will probably struggle mightily next year having missed basically his enitre year of college. That being said if he happens to fall to eighth or ninth, I am fine with taking him if Ayton, Doncic, Bagley, Jackson, both Bridges, and Bamba are gone. For me, Porter is a crapshoot. Potential, but who knows about his durability or his actual ceiling since he didn’t play. Young is on the same level for me. I could see young being great or being a complete bust.
I think Bamba may have the biggest bust potential. So raw. Going to take a long time. But he is freakishly long.
I think we have a great chance to get to the finals and even win them this year, but I’d love to see this team stay together (mostly) and stay healthy next year and win a lot of games and coast into the playoffs. I think they can be really good. Need a new coach of course.
I think we have a great chance to get to the finals and even win them this year, but I’d love to see this team stay together (mostly) and stay healthy next year and win a lot of games and coast into the playoffs. I think they can be really good. Need a new coach of course.
I also read that our projected starting 5 (Hill, Hood, James, Green, Love) has played 10 POSSESSIONS together all year.
So, starters:
Hill, Korver, James, Green, Love.
Bench: Jose, Clarkson, JR, Cedi, Nance.
Deep bench: TT, Zizic, White.
Out: Hood.
Cavs have not:
1) Played a single game this year with their current roster fully healthy.
2) Have not lost a single game when leading after 3 quarters.
1st sign of physicality ‘beyond the rules ” I sit the starters —-play the ‘bench bunch”—FREE ANTE / OKRA
Agreed!!!
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Knicks try to play a very physical game tonight against the Cavs. Let’s hope the Cavs finish this game with no players injured.
man if I was into gambling — I would put some “money ” on the bulls to lose / “tank ” tonight against the nets —pretty much a SURE bet !!
hope we are smart about this and don’t risk injury / health / etc.—-but I can see ty running LeBron for about 40 + hard minutes