Cleveland Browns 2015 schedule released
April 21, 2015Brad Stevens, good coaching, and Wonderful vs. Alright: While We’re Waiting…
April 22, 2015Boston Celtics – 91
Cleveland Cavaliers – 99
Cavaliers lead series 2-0
Does it feel like the playoffs yet? The Cavaliers had their first playoff game in nearly five years on Sunday afternoon, but it was a fairly pleasant affair after the Cavs went on 33-to-17 run in the second quarter. The Boston Celtics made Cavs fans a little uncomfortable in the second half, but the game was never imperiled after Kyrie Irving’s buzzer-beating three-pointer before halftime. The Cavs ultimately won (and covered!) 113-100.
Despite the outcome, the Celtics showed a penchant for feistiness for which they hadn’t received much credit entering the series. Things were even more difficult for the Cavaliers on Tuesday night. They started slowly yet again, letting the Celtics build a nine-point lead in the first half. The Cavaliers used a fantastic eight-minute stretch in the third quarter to catapult them ahead, but the Celtics had the lead within three points with less than five minutes remaining.
Now that the Celtics have made fans at the Q and at home sweat for the first time in the postseason, it should definitely feel like the playoffs. Remember it? The sweaty palms, the uncontrollable cursing at officials, the hair grabbing, the heartburn, the sphincter-tightening, the anxiety, the exhilaration, the fear, the loathing. Isn’t it awful? Isn’t it great?
We know the Cavaliers will take a 2-0 series lead into Boston on Thursday night, but let’s take a gander behind the box score first. And after reading, remember to do your breathing exercises, take a chill pill, pop a few antacid tablets, do some Kegels, and prepare yourselves for what will hopefully be a spring full of nerve-racking evenings and afternoons like Tuesday’s win.
24 – The Cavaliers scored 24 points in the fourth quarter on Tuesday night, a number that — without any further information — is unexceptional. However, all 24 points came from either LeBron James or Kyrie Irving, the team’s bravest knights and most decorated noble leaders. LeBron James was a dominant 6-of-9 on field goals in what was another bizzarely uneven game from the team’s version of King Theoden. Sir Kyrie Irving was valiant as well, adding nine points despite one of his less efficient quarters (only 2-of-5 shooting). Most importantly, the duo combined for 7-of-8 from the free throw line, icing a game when a loss would have forfeited their cherished home-realm advantage.
11 – Although King James was his ordinary, domineering self in the fourth quarter on Tuesday, he’s been uncharacteristically off in both games. This is best typified by his five turnovers in Game 1 and six turnovers in Game 2 — for a total of 11 turnovers so far in the series — that I only saw the need to combine because James himself mentioned it to Rachel Nichols in his postgame interview. James felt compelled to criticize himself for the 11 turnovers he had in the first two games, a total he was aware of even immediately after the game, when the confetti still should have been falling from the ceiling. James felt that five-and-a-half turnovers per game was too many, and the average was something he needs to rectify. James has been coughing the ball up more than he’s accustomed to this season, and it’s unclear what’s causing it. Is it his cold hands that he always seems to be trying to warm up under his jersey? Does he have a circulation problem of which we’re unaware? Has he simply been a careless ball-handler? Is his connection with The Force weakening? Certainly the Celtics deserve some credit with their aggressive trapping on the pick-and-roll, their defenders’ ability to switch onto James, and their pesky swiping at the ball as James tries to attack. But James is also losing it for no apparent reason at times, and even made a no-look pass to Marv Albert and Chris Webber late in Tuesday’s game, expecting Kyrie Irving to be hanging out in front of the sideline when Irving had yet to make it past half court. In any event, the Cavaliers had 18 turnovers as a team on Tuesday, a number that must come down in Boston or else they’ll be returning to Cleveland with a flesh wound or two.
25.4 percent – This might be a contributing factor to James and the Cavs’ turnovers: The Cavs have taken 25.4 percent of their field goal attempts in the series either late or very late in the shot clock.1 Contrast this with the Celtics, who are only taking 15.2 percent of their field goal attempts that late in the shot clock. The Cavs are taking their sweet sweet time walking the ball up the floor and starting their offensive sets. They are also allowing Celtic perimeter defenders Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley to dictate where the offensive sets begin by retreating from the Celtics’ attacking ball pressure. Accordingly, the offensive plays start late and they start near mid-court. Meanwhile, the Celtics are running the ball up the floor, jumping straight into their offense, and shooting with confidence. Hastening the offense is mostly the responsibility of Irving and James, who do nearly all of the Cavs ball-handling, but also of the other players to set screens early in the shot clock, be bold enough to dribble after rebounds, and look for fast break opportunities immediately. I’ve been pressing upon the Cavs to press the ball all season. They’re too good in transition to play slow all game, and good things happen when they do look to score early in the shot clock, such as the Irving-to-James alley-oop in the third frame, and Kevin Love’s surprise “white men can jump” reverse alley-oop.
10 – While James and Irving clinched it in the fourth quarter, the MVP of the game was probably Timofey Mozgov. The Cavaliers defense had 10 blocks total, but five were courtesy of Mozgov. When I released WFNY’s exam prep — a fan’s study guide for the Cavs 2014-15 Playoffs — I informed readers that “Timofey Mozgov is your favorite player on the Cavs, even if you don’t know it yet.”2 Mozgov was great on Tuesday night, giving the Cavaliers 16 points, seven rebounds, and five blocks. He was the only offensive bright spot for the Cavs in the first half, shooting 5-of-8. He only needs to have a few successful post attempts per game to open up the Cavalier offense, which he did against the flimsier Tyler Zeller. He also did the panoply of other tasks that he’s burdened with, such as shutting down the Celtics pick-and-roll offense, and running on the fast break. Gov-zilla was the King of the Monsters on Tuesday, and the Cavaliers will need him to continue to be a monster going forward if they want to finish this series in less than six games.
Credit the Celtics for playing disciplined for 48 minutes in both games, as Brad Stevens pointed out in his postgame press conference that they did a better job of slowing the Cavs attack in Game 2. Kyrie Irving didn’t have as easy a time finding open looks as he did in Game 1. The Cavs are fortunate to go to Boston 2-0, but hopefully without the pressure of being at home, they’ll have a breakout offensive performance in Game 3, and finally get this train a-rolling.
28 Comments
Much respect for the young C’s after these two games. We may well sweep, but they are refusing to back down.
Man, how I have missed the tension of a playoff series over the last 5 years. Got a nice burst of it with the Buckeyes beating Alabama and Oregon in the football playoffs, but the 7-game series is a unique form of competition with its own sustained intensity level.
These first two games have also reminded me how quickly the narratives shift game-by-game, and how it helps to be impervious to the media’s constant attempt to frame each series day-to-day.
One key stat you left off the list: Bench points
Celtics 51 – Cavs 7
That, I hope, is a playoff anomaly, but it is a little troubling for a deep (deepest, hopefully) playoff run.
Celtics are always going to have bench advantage with Thomas as their leading scorer coming off the bench.
True. So take Thomas’, what, 22 points out of it and it’s 29-7 Celtics advantage? In fact, ignore the Celtics bench point altogether, and 7 bench points against a bottom seed in game 2 is still something they need to improve on to have a shot at the finals.
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Last night, I was lamenting the 3pt %. 7-28, 24% including Irving’s 3 for 8. Average shooting from 3 would make the bench look a lot better, and would have made last night’s game less tense. As was stated, the free throw % was huge.
Also loved that when Mozzie fouled, he fouled hard. He doesn’t let anyone have anything easy. And you could hear the Celtics players pleading for a flagrant. Thankfully the refs remembered that this is the playoffs, and the fouls get harder.
100%. Not one Celtic has the deer-in-headlights look, not even Tyler Zeller while he’s getting abused by Timo. Isiah Thomas is the anti-Mo Williams who aches to take the shot, and Brad Stevens is the anti-Randy Wittman who exudes control of the situation even while discussing a bad call with a ref. Actually wish the Celts had one elite player to toughen the Cavs up for the next round. Even without that guy, won’t be the least bit shocked if Boston takes game 3 while riding their home crowd.
Personally, I find the bench points stat to be completely useless. We basically have an 8-man rotation for the playoffs. Our five starters (LeBron, Kyrie, Love, JR, and Mozgov) are easily our best offensive players. There’s almost always three of those guys on the floor at one time, if not more. So what would the alternative be… do we really want Iman Shumpert, Matthew Dellavedova, and Tristan Thompson taking a ton of shots? I see bench points as being more of an indication that the Celtics do not have any stars, so they are forced to share the offensive load between starters and bench players.
a few things:
– Don’t understand the widely felt anst going around today about LeBron and Kyrie scoring the last 24. Blatt had to put Shumpert in to control Thomas, and Shump is hardly the guy you want shooting in crunch time. Tristan was in to control the late rebounds, and he’s the last guy you want doing anything other than a put back or alley oop. Mozgov had 5 fouls and then fouled out with just under 3 minutes to go. You have two big guns? Shoot them.
– Tristan has gone so lunch pail that he barely flinched when LeBron whipped a crosscourt pass off his face from point blank range. Talk about embracing the dirty work.
– Breathe, J.R., and keep shooting. Take a few crazy ones just for giggles, but if you start thinking and hesitating you won’t be able to help when you’re really needed in the next round.
– Here’s a question: with the season on the line and the clock winding down, which Cav do you want to take the last shot? Much to my own surprise, I want Kyrie, not LeBron. He’s so chill under pressure that even his misses are soft and almost go in. My man has that assassin look. And like height, that’s something you cannot teach.
I kept waiting for that wave of initial confidence to die down in the first half and it never seemed to happen. Even as the Cavs went on a big run to get back into the game, the C’s were pushing themselves HARD. They are playing far over their heads right now, and it’s impressive.
I completely agree about Kyrie taking the last shot over LeBron. He absolutely lives for those moments and it seems like he has that clutch gene.
I love the flexibility of this Cavs roster in the 4th quarter. Offensively, if you put Tristan Thompson in at the 5 with Love at the 4, LeBron at the 3, J.R. Smith at the 2, and Kyrie Irving at the 1, you have a team who can beat you inside and out. There are 4 players who can stretch out the defense and create driving lanes. Love pulls one of the opposing big men away from the basket and Tristan Thompson owns every offensive rebound before the shot even goes up. It feels like the Cavs get infinite possessions until they make a shot.
Defensively, you swap Thompson out for Mozgov, you swap Love out for Iman Shumpert, and the Cavs can match up against any small ball lineup in the league. The Cavs can even handle bigger teams with that lineup because LeBron is the size of a power forward. If the opposing 5 is perimeter-oriented, you keep Thompson in at the 5. When Shumpert comes in, he locks down the opposing team’s best ball-handler and you have Kyrie, JR, and LeBron scouring the passing lanes for chances to pick one off.
The possibilities are almost endless and they’re devastating.
The odd thing about the Cavs’ late shots and slow walk up the floor is that that’s the opposite of Blatt’s philosophies. He mentioned in one of the first interviews that he prefers to run the ball into the frontcourt to give the team 20 seconds to get a good shot off, while he likes to press further up to give the opposing teams like 15.
That’s what I’ve been thinking as well. The Cavs go to their bench for defense more than offense. Even with some subs on the floor, at least two of LeBron/Kyrie/Love should be able to generate plenty of good looks.
Very hard play and very impressive. Maybe it’s me rationalizing, but I get the sense that the Cavs are only doing as much as needed in terms of energy output. They seem like a calm champ while the contender is swinging with all his might, going 100% the whole time. That said, I hope the Cavs could kick in into Celts mode when it’s needed down the line. And it will be.
This season Kyrie has won me over. This year I love his game development–his ability to create a shot at will = get to the rim now more than ever ala Wade like slithering through the lane instead of relying on his jumper when he has space. And I agree on the last shot. All day.
I view it a little differently. Seems LeBron is trying to keep everyone even-keeled, to control their nervous energy. And the Cavs still aren’t making two adjustments that might create a blow out: 1) Getting back quickly after a made basket as the Celts tear back down the floor; 2) Getting the ball up and into their own offense more quickly. Often they don’t start swinging the ball until there’s 10 seconds left in the shot clock.
But even as is, if J.R. starts hitting those wide, wide open shots those 14 point leads will be 20 and some easy buckets will follow.
didn’t see this comment before I just wrote the same. There’s no time left for them to swing the ball and then hit a cutter in the lane, which is maybe why Tristan had no shot attempts. Maybe LeBron is conserving energy because he’s playing 40 minutes, but it’s also preventing the chance of blow out where he could sit more.
Unless they simply figure they don’t need it against Boston and will bring it out against Chicago.
“which Cav do you want to take the last shot?”
If we need a 3, definitely Irving (41.5% from deep), with the backup option being J.R. Smith if he’s having a good day. Delly has also been extremely accurate from outside in the regular season, over 40%.
If we only need 2, then I want an alley-oop to Mozzy or TT, since the Cavs have really mastered that.
Maybe. Maybe the correct strategy is to conserve energy at this stage.
Ummm… THIS:
https://youtu.be/XrV5MojF3qg
It’s not an anomaly that’s pretty much been the case all season for both teams. It’s what will concern me in the next series especially if the opponent is Chicago.
The Celtics play at a high tempo and thrive in it. The Cavs will be content to have some possessions where they work the clock a bit. There is a cost to doing that, but it’s not wise to get into a high volume possession game vs. a team that thrives in that scenario.
and Olynek
You misunderstood my point. Yes, they have correctly tried to work the clock in certain situations. The question is when you start working it. If you let yourself be pressed all the way up the floor you lose valuable time setting up the offense, getting it to the right guy with an open shot, which can be taken with 4-7 secs left. Rather than a pound-pound-pound contested off-balance heave.