In Defense of Kevin Garnett
December 9, 2014Santa Claus Came to Town: Phil Taylor provides a Christmas for local children
December 10, 2014
Cleveland Cavaliers (13-7) 105
Toronto Raptors (16-6) 101
[Box Score]
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I was planning to write this recap about the Toronto Raptors. For 36 minutes of basketball, that’s what was in my head. I was going to write about how the Raptors are the best team in the Eastern Conference. I was going to write about the Raptors don’t have the star power or sex appeal of the other top teams in the NBA, but they just are feisty and scrappy enough to be really frickin good.
Well, that’s not the story of Tuesday’s game. The story of Tuesday’s game is about how the Cleveland Cavaliers – yes, those Cavs that started 1-3 and all hope was lost in early November – have now won eight straight games. They erased a 14-point deficit and some horrendous first-half defense to win yet again. LeBron James made the basket that mattered most. Matthew Dellavedova and Tristan Thompson made some impossible hustle plays off the bench.
Let’s get down to the numbers, since y’all know that’s what I like to do:
39-1 record – Toronto’s record in its last 40 games when leading entering the fourth quarter. Have I told you that I was planning to rave about Toronto in this recap yet? The Raptors are a really fun, really versatile squad. From Kyle Lowry (more on him later) to Jonas Valanciunas (more on him later) to Ross, Amir, Patterson, James Johnson, Vasquez, Lou Williams (who must love playing Cleveland) and even some Chuck Hayes and surprise starter Landry Fields. Toronto is now 58-28 in its last 86 regular season games. This team remains so criminally underappreciated.
35 points – LeBron’s most points at home this season. He missed a ton of open looks in the half-court offense and had one of his oddly characteristic fast-break turnover dribbles off his own foot. He only had four assists, only had two rebounds and still, this was the game that led to the first “MVP” chants at The Q this year. You just cannot leave him open for this long.
Why u don't help 1 pass away (off of LeBron James) #Cavs https://t.co/TAp0SPaNxh
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) December 10, 2014
50 v. 4 – Toronto’s points in the paint in the first three quarters vs. the fourth quarter. Jonas Valanciunas was a pest on the interior. The Cavs just didn’t have the size or intensity necessary to keep them off the offensive glass and from making every open look inside for three quarters. As our friend Demetri pointed out, it’s difficult to ever mention the name “Jonas Valanciunas” in connection to the Cavs ever. That infamous 2011 draft seems to hang over every matchup between these two teams.
You can't mention Val vs. TT to Cavs Twitter without being made fun of for beating a dead horse.
— Temporary Bucks Fan™ (@demeatloaf) December 10, 2014
Of course, the flip then was switched in the fourth quarter. Inspired by Delly’s usual hustle and Tristan’s rebounding, the Cavs were as skilled defensively as they’ve been all year. And boy, was it necessary.
23-for-32 (71.9%) – The Raptors couldn’t miss in the first half and the Cavaliers were just not good at all defensively. They were horrendous. Over the course of a 19-minute span (from about 7:05 in the first to 0:05 in the second), the Raptors actually shot 71.9% from the field. They scored 57 points that quickly. This comes after a 12-game stretch where, yes, this has been a top-five defensive team.
In 12 games since Nov. 15, #Cavs rankings via @nbastats:
ORTG: 107.3, 8th
DRTG: 98.7, 5th
NET: +8.7, 5th— Jacob L. Rosen (@JacobLRosen) December 9, 2014
You should be following Seth Partnow too so he can point out every night how inconsistent this team is defensively.
https://twitter.com/SethPartnow/status/542498266550501377
32 pts – The stats struggle to show it. That’s what Fred McLeod and Austin Carr said after the game. But goodness gracious, Dion Waiters, Matthew Dellavedova and Tristan Thompson were gigantic in this contest. Waiters scored 18 points and was 7-for-10 from the field. Tristan (+13) and Delly (+12) both had great plus-minus stats. Thompson had eight rebounds, another four on the offensive side. Delly had five assists and came up with a whole bunch of loose balls. They’re such pests and so good.
16 and 14 – A final note on Kyle Lowry, as promised. He needs to be an All-Star. He had 16 and 14 and made a few bad plays down the stretch. He was only 6-for-18 from the field. But without DeRozan, he’s the best player on a fantastic team. And he needs to be named to the 2015 All-Star Game in Brooklyn tomorrow. Please. For the love of God. It would save the rest of the Eastern Conference for the next two months.
****************************************************************
This was a really impressive win. Perhaps up there with the early Chicago game for the most impressive all-around performances of the young season. Next up is at Oklahoma City on Thursday and at New Orleans on Friday. This season is about to get a whole lot more exciting.
16 Comments
Reading this “game recap” you’d barely know they won, seeing how fun Toronto is too watch, how Lebron didn’t do much but score, how the Cavs should’ve drafted Jonas, how the Cavs are defensive on defense? Oh, they just beat Toronto twice and now 8 games overall. Guess I should just embrace their future demise and sulk after close wins.
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LBJ, see what happens when you start playing like the best player on the planet, instead of trying to be Mr. Miyagi?
Most impressive win of the season, imo, because they had no energy, the Raptors came out stoked for revenge, but the Cavs found a way. These type of wins show young ones like Kyrie and Tristan and Dion what wins games as opposed to what fills stat sheets.
Delly seems to be the type of guy whose style of play rubs off on his teammates. If he can develop his outside shooting maybe he can be our Bruce Bowen. Tristan started playing like a defensive maniac after Delly was throwing his body around for defensive stops, loose balls, and rebounds. That one-on-one defensive stop by Tristan on Lowry in space at the end was just classic.
The Cavs have so much varied types of talent and it feels like it’s just starting to work, like they’re at about 65% of the capacity within which they’ll be operating after another year of playing together. Right now, way too many minutes for LeBron, especially given that his playmakiing duties make them hard minutes, and for Kyrie as well. Hopefully Blatt will correct this as he figures out how to better exploit the bench talent. But generally they’re right on schedule or maybe even a little ahead of it: running Blatt’s offense the great majority of the time, improving defensively, and each important spinning gear – Kyrie, Love, and maybe now even Dion – starting to mesh into the bigger machine.
OMG what a perfect deal! I need exactly $6474 in 4 weeks.
Beat Toronto twice w/o Raptors 2nd best player on the floor (DeRozan) and they are still 3.5games up in the standings. It’s okay to understand where the real threats in the East are going to be. Toronto is a good team that can adjust to it’s opponent when necessary or make it’s opponent adjust to them. They likely will not win the top seed, but they are also likely the best threat in the East to the Cavs and also the team that is easiest for people who dislike LeBron to get behind (as they are the no-star elite team foil to the star-laden Cavs).
My favorite play from last night was Kyle Lowry’s last shot of the half. Lowry had the ball in his hands and there was basically a clear-out for him at the top of the key. He was going to take Irving 1-on-1. LeBron was guarding Landry Fields, who was stashed away in the corner. LeBron came all the way out to the elbow of the painted area, just begging for Lowry to hit Fields for that crucial shot. Of course, Lowry wouldn’t do it and he tried to create on his own, going right into a double-team with Kyrie and LeBron. Very smart play.
How much is it a week though
Hey, I’m no math therapist. Solve your own problems.
Ask one of your kids, make them do it common core 50 step style
They did 50 steps of this and said it really works your core.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/mooserevenge/mchammer2.gif
I was nodding my approval until the LBJ comments. He’s averaging the same number of minutes he averaged in Miami. It’d be nice to get those minutes down a little bit since he’s getting older, but he’s still very much in the meat of his prime. He also isn’t running the offense nearly as much as he did in Miami. Kyrie runs the show on a lot of possessions where they are both on the court.
Reducing his minutes – which were really inflated last year so Miami could sit Wade like once a week and save his knees for the playoffs – was an issue he reportedly discussed with staff and FO before the season started. He’s played more minutes than anyone in the league the last 4 years and he’s been playing almost 9 months/year with 4 straight Finals trips. I’m guessing he’s played about as many minutes the last 4 years that Andy’s played the last 6 or 7. If they want to go deep in the playoffs they have to start tapering him. I get that they want the guys to get used to each other first but it must be done.
I’m not a fan of Lowry and sure as hell hope he doesn’t make the ASG.
LeBron’s averaging 38.0 minutes per game. Durant has average 38.5 the past three years. Melo’s minutes are down this year, but he put up 38.5 minutes per game last year. So there are other guys who play more than LeBron, but not that many. My guess is that this has more to do with him. He says he wants to keep his minutes down, but I think he gets too antsy sitting on the bench, chewing off his fingernails, and watching others do less than he can do.
Please Hammer, don’t hurt ’em!