Mama said there’d be days like this. The Cavs lost handedly to the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre on the back end of their first back-to-back of the season, shooting a paltry 29.6% from the floor and mustering just 12 points in the third quarter, when the Raps opened up a double digit lead and never looked back.
– Well, Kyrie Irving came back to Earth with a vengeance. The rook put up 12 points on 13 shots and mustered only four assists. This game was reminiscent of his debut: Irving was outplayed by Jose Calderon, stopped at the rim by Toronto’s bigs, and took a handful of ill-advised shots. I’m not concerned—he just completed his sixth NBA game, after all—but this game serves as a reminder of how inconsistent the Cavs offense will be this season. With a young man not yet of legal drinking age playing the role of floor general for 25 to 35 minutes a game, there will be some nights when the Cavaliers don’t break 85.
– Watching Contract Year Jamison this season is going to be like standing at the peripheries of a dice game after ingesting a bag of hallucinogens. One dude stands in the middle, chucking dice against a wall ad infinitum. Some people are cheering. Some people are groaning. The cigarette smoke forms anthropomorphic bananas that whisper John Keats poems. You check to make sure you’re still wearing pants. (You are.) The whole time, you feel black-green dread ballooning in your throat. You’d rather the whole thing end as soon as possible. (Or you think Jamison’s fine. Whatever.)
– TT was a non-factor. He only played 16 minutes after a negligibly impactful first half appearance and took a couple of shots—whirling into defenders, tossing the ball at the rim—that had absolutely no chance of going in. I’m sure Byron Scott will remind Thompson he needs to play to his strengths on the offensive end and look for higher-percentage buckets.
– Andrea Bargnani isn’t this good, except when he is. He was unstoppable tonight: hitting threes, going hard to the basket, and playing something resembling defense. It’s near-impossible to defend a seven-footer when he’s on fire like Bargs was.
– Luke “The Decatur Decapitator” Harangody straight killed it in garbage time. 5 points on 2-2 shooting. You cannot stop him, you can only hope that it’s a close game because he will certainly not be playing in that scenario.
– I can’t pull up the stat right now, but did the Cavs score a single second-chance point? They had 13 offensive rebounds, but squandered most, if not all, of those additional opportunities, which is emblematic of what a miserable offensive performance they turned in tonight.
The Cavs got whooped because they couldn’t score while their opponents did so with alacrity. It’s going to happen from time-to-time this season. The boys travel to Minnesota for a game against Catalan heartthrob Ricky Rubio and the T-Wolves on Friday. In the meantime, it’s time for TT and Kyrie Irving to do what rookies do best: get yelled at, get better.
Harangody KILLED it tonight!
I didn’t think I could laugh off this game and forget about it until I read the paragraph about Jamison.
I hated this game but I loved the recap.
I laughed at your Harangody bit.
Other than that, it’s hard to find a lot positive to say about this game. Casspi wasn’t horrible like in the Bobcats game…? Jamison probably kept the score from being 92 – 67…? the Cavs hit their free throws…? Like you said, there are going to be games like this.
Maybe the Raptors are decent this year. Their losses have been to the Pacers, Mavericks and Magic. They beat the Knicks in New York. Not a bad start to the season for them. Their personnel is pretty much the same; can a new coach with a really good defensive system / emphasis on defense turn a horrible defensive team into an average defensive team?
Is it me or have we not beat the Raptors in like 2 years?
Where are my pants? And how do the Cavs keep losing to the Raptors? Byron should yell at the whole team after that snoozefest, not just the rookies.
Can’t blame the loss on Tristan but I’m sure the fact that he probably spent all day entertaining family he hasn’t seen for awhile probably had something to do with his unfocused (at best) performance. It looks like the Raptors are becoming to the post-LeBron Cavs what the Bobcats were to the LeBron-era Cavs (said hopeful that we’re a lot better than advertised this year)
Zack,
I watched the game on NBA League Pass, so I got the Toronto announcers. They said that Tristan spent much of yesterday getting rest. The Cavs were staying overnight in Toronto, so TT was going to visit family today.
It was probably just a bad game from a rookie on the road on the second night of a back-to-back. Their will definitely be some of those this year.
Seems like the Raps just have the Cavs’ number. Sometimes that happens, look at the Cavs vs. the Knicks last year. First line of the recap summed up my thoughts exactly. On to the next one we go.
P.S. Anyone else flash to the casino scene in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” when reading the paragraph about Jamison? And if that was the point, Colin, then well done haha!
That’s good to hear…Jeff Phelps shared last night that coach Scott gave him that advice…during the game, I wasn’t so sure he actually took it.
The description of a dice game on hallucinogens was brilliantly portrayed. I won’t even have to mark that one off my bucket list now, I feel like i’ve already done it. Thank you.
Great recap. I have to disagree with your assessment of Bargs. The Cavs defense on him was AWFUL. It was like shooting practice out there for him. The Cavs rotations were atrocious all night, and when 5 guys run to the middle of the floor every time someone penetrates, people are going to be open. If you have a guy who’s hitting every open jump shot, then you DON’T LEAVE HIM! (Antawn)
Also, does anyone coach that defensive players need to be aware of the shot clock? When the shot clock or game clock is down to less than two seconds in the first three quarters, the mantra should always be: close out hard to the shooting hand past the three point line!
Anyone worrying that the Cavs might win too many games this year should watch this game. A.P. shouldn’t even be playing on the second night of back to backs. He was abysmal. The Cavs lack of depth at the wing will hurt them in back to backs all year.
I’m glad TT got the homecoming game out of his system. Hope he takes the 3 point line drive against a set defense out of his repertoire for the next few months.
3 triples for Casspi, but the guy needs to start flashing. He sits on the perimeter too much waiting to take jump shots. Also would like to see Byron put him at point forward some pick and rolls and see what he can do, because he seems to like to have the ball in his hands. He still seems lost on offense.
Anyone catch Carr babbling about how the Raptors weren’t in a matchup zone when they’d been in one half the game?
Infuriating game, but I think they had to get it out of their system. Hardly any back to backs on the road trip, so that’s good.
Please either play Eyenga or send him to the D-League.
Also, why aren’t we going after the Xavier Henrys and Maurice Speightses of the world?
Colin,
Looked over the play-by-play and the Cavs got 7 second-chance points on five FT’s and a Hollins putback slam in garbage time. I gotta admit those are pitiful numbers, but you can’t deny the Cavs early energy in the first few possessions with the offensive tip drill…even if none of them were going in.
The Jamison comment was the funniest anything I have seen in some time now, and it was positively dead-on. Antawn Jamison is absolute garbage, he should not be allowed on a basketball court ever again. Watching him play defense is like watching in-car views of a 37 vehicle accident happening off the side of a cliff. I have trouble breathing at times while watching him suck the life out of the Cavalier defense. I tend to feel helpless when I see him continue to receive minutes that Hellen Kellar would make better use of. I scream non-stop at the television asking it why Jamison is still in the game, and how much longer coach really plans on shooting himself in the foot by allowing the “Jumpshooter” to run around the floor and be worthless. The sheer mind numbing, vomit inducing, atrociousness that is supposed to be some type of defense he displays makes anything he does on offense actually more harmful for the Cavs cause then good. Our team is so exciting this year and I believe that we are without a doubt going to be very good in the near future. The pieces we have in place have been a joy to watch so far, and they’re only going to get better. As for Jamison although, he needs to be shown the door, now. Anyways, great work on the article as usual. I can honestly say that you are one of very few writers who I find to be better than I am, a rare occurrence that my ego has conceded to very little in my 21 years, so congratulations. Keep up the good work.