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October 20, 2015For the first time in 132 days, the Cleveland Cavaliers won a competitive basketball game. I suppose semi-competitive would be a more accurate description, as Monday’s was a preseason contest between teams that entered with zero wins and ten losses between them. Still, it’s always nice to win, especially at home.
The Cavs’ last win came on June 9, 2015 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. The Cavs led the game wire to wire. LeBron James set the pace with 40 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists, and 4 steals. It was among the folk heroiest of all Matthew Dellavedova’s folk hero playoff performances, as he scored 20 points two days after hassling Stephen Curry into a 5-of-23 shooting effort. Tristan Thompson notched a double-double in a whopping 44 minutes. (Don’t think Rich Paul isn’t mentioning those numbers.)
The Cavs went on to lose their next three games, dropping the series, four games to two. Curry and Co. are now defending NBA Champions. The Cavs’ goal for the 2015-16 season has been clear since the moment the 2014-15 season ended.
Monday’s 103-97 win over the Dallas Mavericks was the Cavs’ final preseason tilt of the year. From here on out, the games matter — if to varying degrees; I’d bet November 7 against the Sixers and Christmas Day at Golden State will be slightly different affairs. The Cavs open the regular season on the basketball equivalent of a black diamond slope, going to Chicago and Memphis and then hosting the Miami Heat in the course of four days.
But first, a few notes on the lone win of the preseason. Nota bene that LeBron James, Mo Williams, and Anderson Varejao sat this one out.
The Cavs came alive in the third quarter. The Cavs were very preseason-y in the first half, as the Mavericks tossed alley-oops and generally looked the more athletic side. Dallas led by seven at the half, thanks to 30 points between Dirk Nowitzki, Dwight Powell, and John Jenkins. After halftime, however, the Cavs came alive. They scored 40 points in the third period, knocking down six three-balls — three of which came from J.R. Smith, who finished the game with 19 points. Delly added seven points and an impressive three fouls committed in the third as the Cavs took control of the game.
Kevin Love looked good again. Comfortable may be the better word. As in his preseason debut against Toronto, he didn’t shy away from contact. He whipped passes around confidently, including another behind-the-back job (this one resulted in a Jared Cunningham miss, as I recall). He drew a foul on Dirk with a patient up-and-under move on the right block. He knocked down a couple threes. Overall, a fine 10 points and 4 rebounds in 22 minutes. I’m still not sure, however, what’s going on with his whole hair/headband situation. It’s a downgrade, but based on informal surveys of women in the audience, Kevin can do whatever he damn pleases.1
We got some looks at a Mozgov-centric offense; it was something other than beautiful. Mozgov led the Cavs with 27 minutes and got a handful of post-up chances on the left block. He did fairly well using his size to establish position against smaller Dallas defenders, but he couldn’t do a ton with it. His go-to move on the night was a jump hook, and he favored turning baseline to his left hand. The Cavs hopefully won’t rely on Mozzie in the post too often this season, but it’s not a bad idea to get him some preseason looks and build a little confidence. The big fella finished with 10 points and 9 rebounds.
The Cavs shot well — sort of. They made 14-of-34 threes for a healthy 41 percent and made 19 of their 22 free throws. Yet they somehow shot just 39 percent from the field on the night. There were more than a couple wild drives into the lane that ended with hopeful flings toward the rim, which surely weighed down the shooting numbers a bit.
To that end, Jared Cunningham may have been forcing things a bit. The combo guard has impressed the most out of the Cavs roster hopefuls, primarily with his athleticism and ability to get to the free throw line. He played 27 minutes against Dallas (fewer than only Mozgov), shooting just 2-of-11 from the floor. He did some good things — 6 more free throw attempts, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, a game-high plus-18 rating — but he looked like he was trying a bit too hard to make a good last impression.
JACK COOLEY IS AN ANIMAL. The recent signee and begrudging Luke Harangody look-alike led all players with 15 rebounds, 7 of which came on the offensive end. At least one or two of those offensive boards came on his own misses at the basket, but still. He finished the game with six points, and I was a little bit offended that the Cavs didn’t abandon the gameplan to get him a double-double. He was the most animated Cavalier running into the tunnel postgame, and why not? He just led LeBron James’ team in rebounding (insert size-72 asterisk here).
It was a nice night at The Q. It was a genial, relaxed atmosphere, as only it should be on the last night of the preseason. There were several timeout segments promoting breast cancer awareness, including a nice video message from Iman Shumpert. Shump has been selling t-shirts to raise money for the cause, and tossed a couple into the crowd Monday.
No one got hurt. As ever, that’s the most important thing. Just over a week until the real thing, gang. Start counting the days.
- I had the pleasure of sitting near the Cavs’ tunnel. After the game, Love touched the hand of a young lady in my party as he ran toward the locker room. I now know what it looks like to see someone turn into a puddle. [↩]
5 Comments
Hmmm, Jack Cooley, eh?
6-9, 245, good rebounder.
I think we may have a spot for you.
https://media.giphy.com/media/lLo0ze2Ojc4c3v3WM/giphy.gif
As I was watching The Cooler work I wondered if you would comment. Sadly the Cavaliers only have 1 spot left and I think it belongs to Cunningham. The good news however is the Cavs can put 4 guys on the D-League roster and Cooley could very well be one of the guys.
I wonder if Tristina was watching?
http://38.media.tumblr.com/0c9334716ee4f8fd70928ab1b56f1e48/tumblr_n7n5irsK5j1ql5yr7o1_500.gif
Cunningham also went 2-12 from the floor against the Bucks. For the preseason he’s shooting 36.2%, but when you subtract his 15-30 at <5ft from the basket he's a combined 6-28 from anywhere else on the floor. Dude can't shoot. Like, at all.
I'm not saying he's not the guy who should make the roster, because he probably is, but I would take all the scoring he did with a healthy sized grain of salt. If anything, I would say the reason he should make the roster is because he can play decent defense. You can put him and Delly and Varejao out there and slow the game down while the scorers are resting.
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arrrg I told dish network where to go and havent been able to see any Cavs game. Local phone company said they would have fiber optic with a tv service this fall. they have hit a slow down ( I call weekly lol). guess Im gonna have to dish out for nba package. I need my Cavs fix!!! I was hoping I could just pay for fox sports OH but it seems that is not an option. I wish networks would get on board with the non cable/dish world