Boston-born, Cleveland-raised: Jim Donovan receives 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award
January 29, 2016Johnny Manziel adds another off-field incident to his Cleveland Browns résumé
January 30, 2016Cleveland Cavaliers (33-12) 114
Detroit Pistons (25-22) 106
Box Score
The NBA announced its All-Star reserves on Thursday night, meaning we now know everyone that will be at the NBA All-Star Game on Valentine’s Day in Toronto (except for the celebrities awkwardly trying to not talk to Drake). Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James will be there. Cavs coach Tyronn Lue will be there. Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving [drumroll please] … will not be there.
Being in the service of a web-place that writes about Cleveland sports, this is the type of thing I’m supposed to be upset about. I don’t think I can summon the requisite outrage without feeling like an old man yelling at clouds, but I am of the opinion that Kevin Love should have been an All-Star. Kyle Lowry’s a great player, but he’s obviously keeping the starting spot warm for John Wall or “Kyrie Irving when he plays more than 18 games.”
Love, on the other hand, played a vital role in a team that has the best record in the Eastern Conference despite missing one of the best guards in the league for nearly 60 percent of its games. He’s been a workhorse for the Cavs, playing over 32 minutes per game and averaging over a double-double (one of ten players in the league to do so). Plus, what spectacular hair!
If the Cavaliers had any idea how to use him any better, his numbers would be even better. Even though the Cavs have misused him — like trying to drag race with a tow truck — Love’s still been asked to do more on offense for his team than many of the other All-Stars.
Is it a travesty that Kevin Love isn’t an All-Star? No. It’s not a crime against humanity. Without singling out anyone in particular, tough (cough Dwyane Wade cough), I think Kevin Love or Pau Gasol could have reasonably been an All-Star reserve over Paul Millsap, Chris Bosh, or Isaiah Thomas. Add the fact that Love’s team is in first place despite a tornado of distractions and that his head coach was confirmed to be there after coaching all of three games, I think it’s fair for Love to be a little annoyed.
Whether Love’s performance on Friday was him summoning his inner Liam Neeson after European terrorists kidnapped his All-Star spot is unclear — but he played well. The Cavaliers won on Friday in Detroit against the Pistons. Let’s debrief the box score and see how.
29, 6 & 3 – Love erupted for 29 points on Friday, including five made threes on only seven attempts. Friday’s 29-point performance was his second highest scoring game of the year, and the closest he’s come to 30 since November. Even better than his final output was how he — well, the Cavs as a team — did it. Love had a nice, even distribution of shots from all over the court, as shown below. He didn’t light the paint on fire, missing some of the turnarounds and jump-hooks he normally makes. But in a dramatic shift from what we’ve come to expect for Love as a Cavalier, Love received nine elbow touches and six post touches on Friday, and my ex-girlfriends tell me it’s the thought that counts.
Love looked every bit the offensive MacGyver he should be on Friday — acting decisively, shooting with confidence, pump faking when his shots were contested, and showing some nifty interior passing as well (three assists). He didn’t just fit in — he fit in, out, around, between, beside and atop the Cavs offense on Friday. Each three-pointer he made was a punch to the gut of the Pistons, especially his two in the third quarter. He finished with only six rebounds, but we’ll forgive that because he was busy chasing Ersan Ilyasova around the perimeter all night.
https://vine.co/v/i51YEFb0Ixg
28 on 11-of-19 – Love wasn’t the only Cav to have a return to form on Friday, as Kyrie Irving scored 28 points on 11-of-19 (57.9 percent) shooting. But it was the lack of fear and hesitance that made Irving’s game so refreshing. Irving tied a season high with seven free throw attempts, and seemed less afraid to attack the hoop than he has of late. After a few trips to the line, defenders allowed him a chasm of space for him to rev up his midrange jumper. Though his three stroke is still lost in the wilderness (0-of-3), it was a vintage Kyrie game, and his first 25 point/7 assist/50.0 percent shooting game since last April. As he so often does, Irving had a few instances of footwork and ball-handling that made the girls and boys ooh! and ahh!, such as the crazy spin-fadeaway below.
Irving also played some of his best defense of the year against Reggie Jackson. He had the play of game in the fourth quarter. After bricking an long three, Irving filched an errant pass on a fast break, then outran a grabby Andre Drumond for a sprinting layup that yoinked the game away from the charging Pistons.
26k – With his 15th point of the night on a free throw in the second half, LeBron James became only the 17th player in NBA history to score 26 thousand points. I don’t know how many zeroes that has, but my guess is somewhere between five and eleven. He also passed Derek Harper to enter the top 20 in assists. James (20 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists) had a routinely good Friday; but also looked slightly askew all night — probably because Marcus Morris was latched onto his arm like a toddler all night. The lowlights of the night were LeBron allowing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (on the NBA’s first All-Name team) to destroy what should have been an open three, and James losing his grip on the ball while going for a dunk, much to the delight of the Detroit fans who still have to live in Michigan.
https://vine.co/v/i5npmgg5KOB
14 – Tristan Thompson out-rebounded All-Star Andre Drummond (8) with 14 rebounds. He was as hyperactive as usual, and is looking unusually confident on offense the last three games, too (11 points on Friday).
12 & 8 – Timofey Mozgov pitched in a big way on Friday, with 12 points (5-of-6 shooting) and eight rebounds in only 18 minutes. He moved his feet adeptly as well, providing some valuable D against Drummond and in the pick-and-roll. The Cavs need his comfort level to keep rising. S/O to J.R. Smith for the behind-the-back pass below.
https://vine.co/v/i5nuzqvPZHn
15 & 6 – The biggest difference between Friday night and November’s loss to the Pistons was how the Cavaliers slowed Reggie Jackson, particularly in the pick-and-roll with Drummond. Even though Jackson finished with 15 points and six assists, that a substantial upgrade (or downgrade, depending on your perspective) over the 23 and 12 he dropped on the Cavs last time. The Cavs didn’t do anything spectacular — just allowed Jackson smaller openings to drive or hit Drummond with a lob pass, making him convert fewer opportunities. That’s a credit to the group defense of Irving, Mozgov, Love, and Thompson. (But also a little from luck, as Jackson missed some open shots.) Making Jackson chase Irving on defense had to help matters, as did not having Mo Williams out there to act as a punching bag in the pick-and-roll.
Now the Cavs have a huge test on Saturday against the Spurs, and preferably it will go better than last Saturday’s yuck-fest against the Chicago Bulls.
4 Comments
This is the team that can make it to the finals. I think getting Love going should be the key to most every game.
Kevin Love is looking more like the player we thought we’d see from Minnesota. All it took was for the head coach to be fired. That’s all-star caliber right there!
“LeBron James became only the 17th player in NBA history to score 26 thousand points. I don’t know how many zeroes that has, but my guess is somewhere between five and eleven.”
26,000
Three. There are 3 zeros, you mathematical savant 🙂
When I saw the draft of 5958 dollars, I accept that my friend’s brother was like really generating cash in his free time with his PC. . His aunt’s neighbor has done this for only 11 months and by now repaid the loan on their home and bought a new Car .
Look here for details
re…