LeBron, Kyrie, and Joe Harris steal one: Cavs vs. Celtics Behind the Box Score
November 15, 2014Titans and Texans would be interested in free agent Brian Hoyer
November 16, 2014Wow. I certainly didn’t expect to see the Cavaliers bring this type of effort against the Hawks at home on the second night of a back-to-back where they looked atrocious on defense. The Cavaliers put up one of the most impressive offensive displays these two eyes have ever seen. The Cavaliers end-to-end fricasseed the Hawks 127-94, leading by as many as 43 at one point, as the team was setting franchise marks all over the place and pushing the boundaries of what we understand dominant NBA offense to be. It’s going to be incredibly difficult for me to jam so much good into one BTBS, but I’m going to try.
Atlanta Hawks 94
Cleveland Cavaliers 127
39 – Your Cavaliers had 39 assists on their 49 field goals tonight. It was shy of the franchise mark of 45 in 1993 against Denver, but it was enough that I had to look it up because I couldn’t imagine a Cavaliers squad having more than they did tonight. In the first half, only three made field goals did not have an assist tied to them, and they fell just three dimes short of the franchise record for a half, set multiple times. Six guys had four or more assists, and they were led by… Dion Waiters with 8 dimes. Dion went from being forgotten in the second half last night to a +45 line to go with his 8 assists, 9 points, and 4 steals. Waiters came in the game late in the first quarter and the Cavaliers only exploded for more points. He made several unselfish plays in transition and while driving to the hoop tonight. And while he did just hit 4-of-11 shots, Dion’s all-around game was great tonight. That’s what we need out of Dion Waiters, and it’s why the Cavs have to continue to work to get Waiters involved and keep him engaged throughout the game.
11 and 19 – The Cavs set a NBA record by connecting on a perfect 9-for-9 in three point attempts in the first quarter. They carried that into the second quarter where they kept the streak going all the way to 11. The wine and gold set the franchise mark by making 19 three-pointers tonight in 31 attempts (61%). Four players had three or more threes: Irving, Harris, and James (4) and Love (3). As you can see from the first stat above with assists, the ball didn’t stick and the Cavs got a lot of open looks from behind the arc. To complicate matters for the poor Hawks, they were just 3-for-22 themselves from behind the arc.
0 – Speaking of threes, Kyle Korver scored 0 points for the first time in 132 games (h/t @WFNYJacob aka Jakey Stats). Shawn Marion deserves a lot of credit for that, and Korver has had five games of 17 or more points already this season for the Hawks, who had been on a roll before walking into The Q tonight.
18 – LeBron was super aggressive, carrying over from last night, in the first half. He got to take the fourth quarter off tonight (so did Love and Varejao) as the Cavaliers led by more than 30 points. James had 18 in the first half, shooting 6-of-10 with 4 assists. He had his season low in minutes with 29, and Kevin Love was the high minute man with 30. James hit four threes, but more impressively, he converted multiple and-ones inside and soared above the rim to send a Ken Bazemore shot out of bounds. The Hawks were painfully ill-equipped to cover LeBron, and it showed. James put up 14 in the third quarter just for good measure.
92.9% – That would be Kyrie Irving’s true shooting percentage on the evening. Kyrie played a mega-efficient game, taking just 9 shots and scoring 20 points, grabbing 3 boards, dishing out 5 assists, and not turning the ball over in 27 minutes. In his last six games, Kyrie Irving has 30 assists and 4 turnovers. That is simply awesome work from your point guard.
8 – Mike Miller did not play until very late into the game, and it was only due to Joe Harris fouling out. Blatt tightened up the rotation by one as Dion and Joe Harris claimed all of the reserve perimeter player minutes when it mattered. It’s no surprise really as I’ve been hammering on Miller being a complete non-factor so far this campaign. On the end of the bench, we saw James Jones hit his first three of the year, Brendan Haywood grabbed 4 points and 4 rebounds, and Will Cherry added 4 points and 2 assists.
12, 4 , and 4 – Joe Harris had his third straight incredibly meaningful game. In 21 minutes, Harris connected on 4-of-5 three pointers as he did a nice job keeping the floor spaced and spotting up in the corner for a career high 12 points. Harris simply belongs, showing a court presence well beyond his level of pro experience.
47-37 – The Cleveland Cavaliers finally dominated somebody on the boards, winning the rebounding margin by ten. Anderson Varejao posted 10 of his own after starting a bit slow once again on the defensive end and glass.
40 to 8 – That’s the run the Cavs went on from the middle of the first quarter to the middle of the second quarter to create a 35-point first half lead. The Cavaliers actually showed some nice rotation on defense for most of the evening as they got out and ran off of misses and made Atlanta pay. The only Hawk who got his before it was a blowout was Paul Millsap with 14 first half points before hardly playing in the second half. Mike Muscala was probably the best of the bench bunch for the Hawks with 13 points, 4 boards, and 4 blocks.
4 – The Hawks were coming in riding a four game win streak. They lost to the Spurs by just two and the Raptors by just seven, both on the road. This is not a bad team, but the Cavaliers would’ve beaten any team in the league with this ultra-efficient and lightning-quick movement on offense. Now, the Cavaliers have their own four-game win streak to boast heading into Monday night against Denver.
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– Kyrie seems like he’s looking to share the ball first, and confident he’ll still get his shots. Has the light just turned on?
– Kyrie gave full defensive effort for at least second game in a row. What a change when the opposing point can’t just waltz in without any interference. What I’m also becoming certain about is Kyrie doesn’t know various defensive techniques. If he’s finally open to learn he should be much better next year, especially when he experiences how crucial lockdown defense is to winning tight playoff games.
– You could really see Good Dion winning the internal fight of Good Dion v. Bad Dion. Only a few times did he just chuck it because it had been a while since he last chucked it. He was an enthusiastic participant in that offense. And he too played hard defense; by the end he was in a full-effort sweaty lather, which isn’t so common when he comes off the bench.
– Really like the pace and intelligence of Joe Harris’s offensive game. Knows what he’s supposed to do and increasingly confident doing it, doesn’t rush like a typical rookie. Has Coach’s Son written all over him. In that one way reminds me of Mark Price his rookie year. Looks a little overwhelmed defensively, like he’s still trying to comprehend the size/speed/strength/moves of NBA players. But practicing against the starters and learning from experienced coaches might sufficiently close that gap and make him a functional, scrappy defender.
If this Dion Waiters shows up for the rest of the season, I’ll take back everything bad I’ve said about him (which has been a lot).
This is what can happen when the players both know what the coach wants them to do, and buys into the system.
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When shots are falling like last night everything is rosey. I’m not sold on Waiters but it was nice seeing him lead the team in assists. Lets see what happens next game.
Watched the game on the local station here in Atlanta. It is great to hear the opposing team announcers when the Cavs are playing well.
My favorite quote from Bob Rathbun to Dominique Wilikins at halftime was “‘Nique, make it stop!”
Once again we relied on jump shots around the arc. The result? Shots fell, so obviously we won! Great win, saw the whole thing. HOWEVER, we seem to take countless, long jumpers, win or lose. We’d better figure out a plan or put players on the court who are not afraid to drive it into the lane. Will Cherry was in there 5 seconds and took it right to the hoop. It’s obvious that Cleveland is hankering for a good trade or two still. There are some parts that don’t fit this team, (i.e. Bendan Haywood). ALEX KIRK was sent down to the Charge for a second, but until a trade happens that brings in a legit, starting “5”, this kid needs to playing up here, even starting! EVERY time I’ve watched this kid play, he does what a “5” should do on offense – he sets up picks and/or hangs out by the rim where he should be!!! A physical big with a jumpshot that can D-up! – 1st team: Kirk, Love, James, Harris & Irving 2nd team Andy V, T. Thompson, Marion, Waiters & Cherry.