Video: LeBron James silences Chicago
May 10, 2015Video: LeBron nails it, Cavs fans lose it at The Q
May 10, 2015Cleveland Cavaliers – 86
Chicago Bulls – 84
I assure you that two weeks before Sunday afternoon’s Cavs-Bulls game was April 26, though it feels much longer ago. The Cleveland Cavaliers were up 3-0 against the Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, and were playing their best basketball of the year. Kevin Love had exploded for six made three-point field goals in Game 3, the offense was moving fluidly, and every man in the Cavs’ top eight seemed comfortable with his role in the rotation.
Then came the Jerk, the Tug, the Yank-ening, whatever it’s to be called: an episode in which Kelly Olynyk pulled Kevin Love’s arm out of its socket, leaving the star forward’s arm hanging limply at his left side as he sprinted away from his team and its 19-10 lead. Overcoming the loss of their versatile forward and third best player would have been a daunting challenge on its own, but that was only the beginning. Since the start of April 26, the Cavs have lost Kevin Love, had JR Smith suspended, had Iman Shumpert serve as a competent replacement before straining his groin, and had Kyrie Irving aggravate a foot injury that he’s apparently been fighting for some time. Beyond that, the Cavs have weathered the ordinary wear-and-tear of playoff basketball against one of the hardest working teams in the NBA; wear-and-tear that has been disproportionately borne by its few capable players on a team ill-equipped to sustain the loss of one of its top three.
By the third quarter of Sunday’s game, it seemed like the entire Cavaliers roster was limping from end to end. LeBron James turned his ankle on a charge that occurred on a fast break, JR Smith appeared to injure himself away from the action on a random second half possession, and Kyrie Irving might as well have been playing on crutches. On Sunday, the Cavs were your friend in Goldeneye for Nintendo 64 who had run out of ammunition and was running around aimlessly, trying to slap people to death, as shown in the .gif below. The Bulls weren’t at full strength themselves, missing Pau Gasol, but in the third quarter of Sunday’s game it seemed inconceivable that the Cavs could land enough desperate karate chops on the well-armed Bulls to bring the series back to Cleveland at a 2-2 tie.
The Cavs had more points than the Bulls when the clock hit 0.0 in the fourth quarter, but it was a little more dramatic than that. Let’s take a peek behind the box score.
3-of-3 – The Cavs shot an abysmal 5-of-25 (20.0 percent) on the three-point field goals on Sunday, their lowest percentage in the playoffs and only the fifth time they’ve shot 20 percent or worse on three-pointers this season (they were 1-3 in the previous four games). The Cavaliers were the fifth best three-point shooting team in the NBA in the regular season, and they can’t handicap themselves by shooting poorly when they’re attempting 29.1 three-pointers per game (tied with the Golden State Warriors for the second most in the playoffs). LeBron James had made only five of his 32 three-point field goal attempts (a grimace-worthy 15.6 percent) entering Sunday’s game, yet insisted on shooting seven more of them (making one). Iman Shumpert went 1-of-6 on threes, and Kyrie Irving missed his only two as he looks for ways to positively influence the outcome of games in his present condition. A lot of the Cavs’ threes were contested in the first three quarters, but many others were open looks that the Cavs desperately needed to compensate for all of the other things that were going wrong. But JR Smith answered the call in the fourth quarter on Sunday, making all three of his long-range field goals, saving the game and probably the Cavs season in the process.
24 – The Cavs attempted 24 free throws on Sunday, earning 23 much-needed points in the process. When you’re only shooting 38.7 percent from the field and faring poorly on threes (see above), you need to find other ways to score. The Cavs willed their way to the free throw line, cobbling points together when the traditional take-shot/make-shot approach was failing them. The Bulls attempted only 12 free throws, and credit goes to the Cavs players for putting themselves in positions where the Bulls had little choice but to whack them and send them to the line. Despite having zero agility and subzero lift, Irving found his way to the line eight times, making all of eight attempts. The Cavs made it clear that they were going to score, even if it had to be from a wheelchair at the foul line.
3 – This week I wrote about how the Cavaliers need to “go big or go home,” because their best chance to succeed in Love’s absence is to play Mozgov and Thompson as much as they possibly can — preferably together. Gov-zilla was the King of the Monsters on Sunday, adding three blocks that don’t accurately reflect how amazing he was. Though Mozgov may have only dislodged three balls from Bulls players’ intended trajectory, he altered the trajectory of many more before they were even launched toward the hoop. Mozgov and Thompson contested nearly every single layup the Bulls attempted on Sunday, forcing them to shoot only 35.1 percent in the restricted area on 37 such field goal attempts (as shown in the short chart from NBA.com below). It’s impossible to express how the effort of the Cavs’ two big men has kept the Cavaliers in this series and prevented the Bulls from dealing a decisive blow, but Mozgov’s exuberant reaction to a late-game basket comes pretty close.
0 – As well as I can remember, Joakim Noah has yet to be called for a moving screen in this series, despite his entire offensive contribution being predicated on the illegal maneuver. Noah’s constantly moving his body to shield Bulls players from Cavs defenders trying to navigate around screens, frequently grabbing them and molesting them at every opportunity. Even Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins must be in awe at how many moving screens Noah initiates. If Noah ever receives a whistle for one of his blatant moving screens for the remainder of the series, I’m popping a bottle of champagne, throwing a mortar board in the air, and firing off bottle rockets in celebration.
12-of-40 – Kyrie Irving and LeBron James shot an inconceivably low 30.0 percent on Sunday after shooting 28.9 percent in Game 3 on Friday. The blueprint for the Cavs to win without Kevin Love was basically this: “1. LeBron James and/or Kyrie Irving do spectacular basketball things. 2. Win basketball games.” But that hasn’t happened. Irving is playing like a man in shackles due to his foot injury, and LeBron’s jumper has betrayed him and he’s bowed under the burden of carrying the offense. It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the Cavaliers could win with their two best and normally efficient players firing blanks. And it’s only because of the following that the Cavs aren’t down 3-1 and bracing for the end of what was supposed to be a magical season.
1 – It only takes one shot to save a season. The Cavs were on the receiving end of a Derrick Rose bank shot that was so lucky (coming from a career 30 percent three-point shooter) that you could do little other than tip your cap and mutter some curse words. After the Cavs overcame an eleven-point deficit with 40 seconds remaining in the third quarter of Game 4, the Bulls refused to go quietly, tying the game on an incredible Rose layup with nine seconds remaining. After having the ball knocked out of bounds with barely over a second remaining, the Cavs had one last chance to end it in regulation. LeBron James juked Jimmy Butler on the inbounds play, making for the left corner when Matthew Dellavedova found him on the pass. Then, after slapping at the Bulls all afternoon in vain, LeBron James wound up and delivered a knockout punch that will be on his highlight reel for the rest of his career. Visibly emotional after the game, LeBron James brought the series back to Cleveland with a chance to take the lead in a series that had looked hopeless only thirty minutes earlier. And he didn’t even need to bank it.
34 Comments
That’s why an LBJ team is never out of it even with as many players beat up including LBJ himself who, if any other mortal, would have been limping at the least!
It’s also karma not only for the previous game and how it ended but for the lack of a foul call on Noah against LBJ the play previous to the game winning shot.
Win or lose this team continues to show some tremendous heart. The worst part however is the winner of this series still has the ECF before ever getting to the finals.
Finally JR Smith should be put back in the starting lineup with Shump coming off the bench.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncvBBjb3iU4
Kyrie kept asking: is this what the playoffs are like? No, THIS is what the playoffs are like. Love is out, Shump is dinged. You’re soldiering through a bad foot that takes away your first step and jumper but keep slithering to the hole to get clobbered and take your free throws. Perkins comes in for just a minute to let somebody breathe and in that single minute somehow gets a rebound, a bucket and a bad turnover that gave our momentum away. J.R. goes off again like a scud to save the offense but the scud then redirects to his impulse control idiocy, a technical foul shot at game’s end when every point was precious. LeBron turns his ankle and is exhausted and stops running the offense to make sure we seal it and in the process almost blows it all, before doing his usual hero thing, on the road, hostile crowd, season on the line.
Best game in years. Sweat, blood and limping on both sides. Cavs may not win it all this year, may not even escape this series, but the team in general and the young guys in particular needed to pass this challenge together. Find a way, no matter what, that’s what the playoffs are about. Now let’s see if they can use this experience, seal the deal and move on to an even more intense series.
It could wind up being the shot that changed the series.
Stop me if you’ve heard me say this before but I can’t stand these broadcasters from the pre-game on it’s horrible. Doug Collins and Jalen Rose both of whom have Chicago connections ABC should just include Obama and Jordan too. If that’s not bad enough Van Gundy, Green and Jackson make me want to watch the game muted. Make it easy just hire Chicago’s broadcast team.
“The Cavs had more points than the Bulls when the clock hit 0.0 in the fourth quarter…”
Well, technically, it was tied then.
Regarding the non-call on the obvious Noah foul, was it just me, or was anyone else irritated that all the announcers kept talking about was how unfair it was that the Cavs basically got a free time out while the refs reviewed the play and nothing about the obvious foul?
AS much as Mcleod and Carr drive me nuts at times, I would much rather listen to them. These national broadcasters all hate us. Where is the neutral objectivity? Pathetic…not quite as pathetic as the “0” moving screens called on Noah, but pretty close.
☁☁☁☁it’s Easy Make With waitingfornextyear < i started working online, completing some basic jobs that only requires from you a computer and internet access and I am happier than ever… It's been 6 months since i started this and i got paid so far total of 36,000 bucks… Basicly i profit close to 80 bucks/h and work for 3-4 hrs most of the days.Best part to whole this thing is that you can decide when to work yourself and for how long and you get a paycheck
at the end of each week. Click Here for More Detail
The announcers suck.
I watched the Friday game muted. 😉
So excited at the end that I wanted to chew my own arm off.
Breen and Mark Jackson like the Cavs. Jackson shares the same agent as LeBron, so he’s always defending the King. I actually like the ESPN broadcast team of Breen, Jackson, and Van Gundy. I think they’re pretty fair, although I completely agree about the studio show. Jalen Rose is garbage regardless of who is playing and Doug Collins has red-tinted contacts (apparently).
TNT’s broadcast teams have been really rough to stomach. I like Kevin Harlan, but when you put him with Reggie Miller my soul dies. Marv Albert’s age is starting to show because he’s messing up names and missing plays commonly now. My favorite thing is when he says that a player had his “foot on the line” for a shot taken several feet inside the 3-point line. He does that a lot now. Pairing him with Chris Webber is brutal because Webber seems to have some weird bias against the Cavs. He’s also got a very entertaining bias in favor of big men… they can hardly do wrong in a game.
I’ve said for years how terrible the announcers are for ABC/ESPN. Now I just turn the sound down.
I’m not sure anyone could have said it any better. LeBron can’t shoot, Kyrie & Shump have been made mortal, and Love is wearing a suit instead of a jersey. How in the world did the Cavs win that game in a hostile environment?
The role players have stepped it up. Swish, Mozzy, and Tigger Thompson. All three guys were fantastic when they needed to be. I can’t get enough of Thompson’s offensive rebounding… the Bulls were putting two and three bodies on Thompson every time they put a shot up. They are terrified of him. Thompson only had one official offensive rebound yesterday, but like always he caused 3 or 4 more as Bulls players touched the ball while standing out of bounds or tried to throw the ball to a teammate and found a Cavalier instead.
Yes, it was so unfair that
the Bulls got an extra timeout to draw up the best defense for the last secondthe Cavs got an extra timeout to draw up an offensive play.which LeBron vetoed anyway… he basically just told Delly to pass it to him and he would shoot it.
I know I’m going to get hammered for this… but……
I’d like to have seen Blatt’s grease board because I’m not sure a “LeBron fall-away three pointer” when only 1 point is needed to win is the play to veto anything for.
As coaches love to say… it wasn’t a good play, but it worked so you have to congratulate him.
I agree with you on most of the talking heads but with Van Gundy he is speaking from a coaches perspective. He’s also said that the refs are letting the players play and not calling a lot of things (even though Noah is practically mugging players each time down the court). I’m not a fan of Van Gundy but his points about the coaches being able to have a free timeout are valid..even though he didn’t say anything about Thibs being able to do the same.
The only thing that would make this series better in my opinion (aside from a healthy K Love) would be Joe Tait calling the broadcast.
Loved it when I saw it last night, but love watching it over and over on that gif: Moz’s exuberance is great, but then right before the loop, you see LeB with the exact emotion. THAT is wanting to win, no matter who does it.
Loved your comment on Noah. I lose my mind everytime he throws a screen.
*slow clap buildup*
As somebody said on my Twitter feed, we’ve seen James die on the court about 137 times by now. The man is not human.
I never listen to the announcers, as it just adds to my stress levels. I either listen to music (Beethoven is nice and soothing) or a podcast.
Based on reports, the thing I didn’t like about Blatt’s play is that he had Lebron inbounding the ball. That to me is like all the times the Browns go with an empty backfield on 3rd and goal at the 1. Whether Lebron shoots or not, you have to make Chicago believe he could.
Van Donkey has been railing against that scenario all year when I’ve actually watched games he’s covered.
AC is a Cavalier through and through he’s not objective but who cares every team has a guy like that especially the Celtics with Tommy. I’m still a Michael Reghi fan but McLeod is growing on me.
The counter-argument is that with 1.5 seconds left I want something going directly to the basket for either the lay in or the foul.
The reports stated it was a give and go with has Bron crashing towards basket after the pass in; I would have lived with that as well.
Love would have made such a diff in this series, not just the points and rebounds but the way he continually made the right basketball decision in the half court, seeing the whole court. But I’ve got to stop thinking such thoughts or I’ll make myself nuts.
Ok, that makes sense from a personnel standpoint and a shot odds perspective, but I wonder if they could have pulled it off in 1.5 seconds.
Totally true, there’s a lot of moving parts on that play and Bron Bron must have disliked the time constraint they would have been under to execute.
0 – As well as I can remember, Joakim Noah has yet to be called for a moving screen in this series, despite his entire offensive contribution being predicated on the illegal maneuver. Noah’s constantly moving his body to shield Bulls players from Cavs defenders trying to navigate around screens, frequently grabbing them and molesting them at every opportunity. Even Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins must be in awe at how many moving screens Noah initiates. If Noah ever receives a whistle for one of his blatant moving screens for the remainder of the series, I’m popping a bottle of champagne, throwing a mortar board in the air, and firing off bottle rockets in celebration
best part of the article. I lol’d at 5:36 am and almost woke up my wife. As a side note, my granddaughter is now afraid of the TV when basketball is on because I’m always jumping up and screaming at the refs!!