Cavs’ Moondog trolls Robin Lopez with gift to his brother
March 18, 2015March Madness, the NCAA, and Do Other Fans Hate Cleveland?: While We’re Waiting…
March 19, 2015Brooklyn Nets 92
Cleveland Cavaliers 117
Box Score
Well that’s better, eh?
Two nights after being blown out by the Heat in Miami, the Cavs throttled the Brooklyn Nets at Quicken Loans Arena. LeBron and the gang took a little while to get going, as Brooklyn jumped on them early, but the final three quarters were sheer dominance. They owned the paint, they took care of the ball,1 and seven Cavaliers scored in double figures.
No need for a lengthy recap for this one. Let’s dive into the numbers.
13 – Brooklyn’s biggest lead, which came in the first quarter. The Cavs were sloppy and only mildly interested in the game early on, and trailed by three at the end of the opening frame. They turned the ball over six times, which resulted in nine Nets points. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love got off to decent starts, combining for 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists on 6-of-10 shooting in the quarter, but the rest of the team shot 3-of-9, and the Cavs allowed Brooklyn to define the action early.
The quarter-ending buzzer, however, marked the end of the Nets’ fun time.
36 to 21 – The Cavs won the second quarter by that margin as they recovered from the opening period. They made 7-of-9 three-pointers in the second, with six coming from former Knicks J.R. Smith (4-of-6) and Iman Shumpert (2-of-2). The Cavs shot 50 percent from the field overall and assisted on 12 of their 13 field goals as they turned a 3-point deficit into a 12-point lead in 12 minutes. LeBron James was at his distributing best, dishing out seven assists and scoring on a big wham with the right hand as the Cavs grabbed the reins.
Their strong play began late in the first quarter and kept going well after the second. To wit:
First 8:30: Brooklyn 22, Cleveland 10.
Next 24:50: Brooklyn 42, Cleveland 77.
Cavs were 29-for-44 overall, 10-for-15 from three.— Jacob L. Rosen (@JacobLRosen) March 19, 2015
+11 – The Cavaliers’ rebounding advantage. This is particularly noteworthy because the Cavs had an average rebounding differential of minus-11.5 the past two games, both of which, if you’ll recall, one Kevin Wesley Love sat out. Love hauled in 11 rebounds against Brooklyn, and seven other Cavs had at least 3. Love’s defense and shooting and back and facial expressions and everything else get much of the attention, but let us not forget that this guy has averaged nearly 12 rebounds per game in his career, and that he’s still averaging double digits this season.
17, 17 – Timofey Mozgov’s points scored and minutes played. He shot 7-of-8 from the floor and was particularly monstrous in the third quarter, when he made all five of his shots en route to 12 points. It seemed like every Cavs bucket came within arm’s reach of the rim in the third, with Mozzie doing the bulk of the damage. The guards drove and dished to set up dozens of easy points, and no one benefited more than the big Russian, who scored exclusively on layups and dunks.
The Nets bigs all but waved the white flag, and they might have been better off doing so. The Cavs might have at least gotten tangled in said flag. We’ve seen something like that before.
12 – Twelve Cavaliers played in this game. All twelve scored. It was perhaps the Cavs’ most balanced offensive game of the year. Smith and Mozgov scored 17 apiece. LeBron notched 16, and Kyrie had a dozen. Love, Tristan Thompson, and Iman Shumpert each put up 10. The rest of the gang―Matthew Dellavedova, James Jones, Shawn Marion, Kendrick Perkins, and Mike Miller―scored at least three points each.
No word as to how Brendan Haywood feels about this.
71 percent – The Cavs assisted on 71 percent (32 of 45) of their field goals, led by Irving’s 10 helpers. Kyrie did a terrific job facilitating, especially during the third quarter when he handed out five dimes. He was as slippery as ever driving into the lane, and he was happy to drop the ball off to Mozgov and the other bigs for bunnies. He played the point with the responsibility of a designated driver, and turned it over just once. Irving (12 points, 10 assists) and Love (10 points, 11 rebounds) both recorded very quiet double-doubles.
Let’s end with a few quick hitters:
+25 – Tristan Thompson’s plus-minus number, tops among all players. He shot 4-of-4 en route to 10 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and played fine defense against Thaddeus Young, who hurt the Cavs early to the tune of 9 first-quarter points.
51.7 percent – The clip at which the Cavs hit their threes. J.R. Smith led the way with 5-of-10, continuing his assault on the Cavalier record books.
49 – Days between field goals for Mike Miller. The veteran swingman played four minutes and knocked down a three-ball against Brooklyn. That was his first make from the field since he hit a three against Portland on January 28. His last score of any kind before tonight was a single free throw against the Clippers on February 5.
14 – The Cavs’ current home win streak, which improves their record to 25-9 at the Q. Their last home loss came on January 7 against Houston.
1 – Superb picture of J.R. Smith and Quicken Loans Arena MC Ahmaad Crump.
Current mood: pic.twitter.com/MoNFtmJjVV
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 19, 2015
- After the first quarter. [↩]
6 Comments
Not surprisingly, the Cavs’ comeback coincided directly with Jarret Jack’s insertion into the game for the Nets.
Just got me thinking…could a GM have had a worse offseason than Chris Grant 2 summers ago? His free agency acquisitions were Jarret Jack, Earl Clark, and Andrew Bynum!! He re-hired Mike Brown!!! GM’s who were openly tanking have made better moves. He really did deserve to be fired.
…
To me Kyrie, with his paltry 12 points, was the primary game story. Timofey needs to slide all those dunks onto Kyrie’s stat sheet.
Shumpert has this idiosyncratic swooping style that’s just great. Not sure how many guys will expend the energy to run figure 8s up and down the court, over and over, until a ball gets poked loose.
Also, spotted KLove wide smiling (really) with J.R. Smith on the bench. Maybe it was his evil twin, Devin. Because that’s an odd couple.
That Jarrett Jack contract also cost us Tyler Zeller – who would have been a solid backup center – when we needed to make room for LeBron’s max. Give Grant credit for a decent draft pick though, I guess.
awesome, awesome game. They maintained an uptempo pace while still taking good shots by moving on and off the ball well and moving on offense. Rebounded the ball well. And most importantly, played better defense than they have all month long.
They need to work on getting the right offensive balance and keep improving their defense before the playoffs. I loved the number of assists (especially the drives to the basket by Kyrie/Delly where they oop it to one of two big men for a slam) on the night but you don’t want Kyrie/LBJ to lose their attacking mentality.
“Maybe it was his evil twin”
Love’s new MENACE hat begs to differ.