Buckeyes Roundball Roundup: Survived at Illinois, came up short against Maryland
February 1, 2016What does 5-1 really mean to the Cavaliers? While We’re Waiting…
February 2, 2016Cleveland Cavaliers (35-12) 111
Indiana Pacers (25-23) 106
Box Score
Even though our televisions and computers have been saturated in presidential politics since early 2013, the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign began in earnest on Monday night with the Iowa caucuses. Hopefully you weren’t paying attention and were watching the Cavs face the Indiana Pacers instead, because: A. it ended up being an entertaining game; and B. unlike sports, democracy is silly!
Also unlike Martin O’Malley or Mike Huckabee, the Cavs actually have a chance at winning it all this year! So buy a bumper sticker that’ll be relevant for longer than six months, fasten your Cleveland Cavaliers pin to your lapel, and park yourself in front of your computer to argue about the issues (with the Cavs half-court offense, that is!). The Cavs won with a majority of the points on Monday, and luckily it didn’t require a recount (but it was close). Let’s elect some favorite excerpts from the box score. Irving-James 2016! (Kevin Love can be Secretary of State or something — we know that Secretary of Defense is out of the question, though.) Four more years! Four more years!
33 – The Cavaliers came speeding out of the gates like a pack of greyhounds chasing a pork chop, scoring 33 points in the first quarter and playing some of their best basketball of the season for a few minutes. They led by as many as 14 points in the quarter and shot a blistering 15-of-22 (68.2 percent) from the field. They actually played a quick pace (107.5 possessions per 48 minutes) instead of just pretending like they were — they ran the ball down the floor and made quick decisions with authority. It was the sixth time the Cavs scored 33 or more in the first quarter, but also the third game in a row. The offense looked so good in the first quarter that LeBron James didn’t even need to touch the ball to pass it, and Kyrie Irving DUNKED (see below).
https://vine.co/v/iJW5LanMeLg
The fast starts are encouraging, and indicative of an offense that knows what it wants and will continue to flourish once they settle into the new Coach Lue rotations. However, the first quarter was also a missed opportunity. The Cavs were leading 33-19 with only 1:19 remaining in the quarter, when they allowed the Pacers to go on a 7-0 run to bring the game back within arm’s length. The first 10 minutes and 41 seconds contained some of the most devastating basketball they had played all year — the last 1:19 was some of the worst.
101 to 88 – There’s more than one way to skin a cat (actually, I’m told there’s only four), but there are dozens of ways to lose a basketball game. One way? Allowing the other team to shoot 13 more times than your team. The Cavs did that on Monday, giving the Indiana Pacers plenty of extra shot opportunities via offensive rebounds (17 that resulted in 25 second chance points for the Pacers) and turnovers (16 that resulted in 21 Indiana points). The outcome from these Pacer freebies was 101 field goal attempts to the Cavs’ 88 — allowing Indiana to remain in the game despite shooting only 42.6 percent contrasted with the Cavs’ 50.0 percent.
It’s realistic to expect the Cavs to win every game in which they shoot 50 percent or greater (now 15-0 when doing so with a blowout-worthy 14.8 average margin of victory). But some sloppy play and a bevvy of offensive of rebounds for Myles Turner (6), Lavoy Allen (4), and Jordan Hill (3) forestalled the Cavs’ victory much longer than necessary and about as long as my DVR could bear.
15 – After an odious third quarter (the Cavs were outscored 30 to 15), the Cavs needed someone to Febreze the stink out of the team before they blew the game. Kyrie Irving scored seven points in the fourth quarter, and when that wasn’t enough added eight in overtime to prevent Monday’s game from being a most regrettable loss. Irving’s 15 in the fourth quarter and overtime were eight more than any other player (Indiana’s Jordan Hill scored seven points, LeBron James six). Despite his three-point stroke continuing to ignore his calls and texts (1-of-4, now 25.3 percent on the season), it was an overall impressive performance from Irving (10-of-20 shooting, game-high 25 points, seven assists). Irving’s handles were devilish as ever on Monday, but if his three-game returns and he becomes more discerning about whether to use his midranger or go to the hoop, opposing point guards will have to start calling in sick when they play the Cavs.
1 – LeBron James finished with one made field goal in the second half (1-of-7 total), a rarity. He added an important, difficult layup in overtime, but Monday’s game against the Pacers was the epitome of the disparity of Good James (17, 3, and 4 in the first half on 7-of-11 shooting) and Bad James (way too much dribbling on 2-of-11 shooting after halftime, 6-of-10 from the line, highlight of the night when rejected by Myles Turner). But if you’re a Cavs fan, you have to be pleasantly surprised that the Cavs winning a game in which James was ineffectual in the second half.
7 & 5 – Kevin Love received seven elbow touches and five post touches on Monday. Those are good numbers — but the Cavs still could have involved him more in the second half. The offense seems to move so much easier when the ball swirls around Love instead of hanging out in the hands of one of the Cavs’ dribblers. Love also had a great block on Paul George at the end of overtime with the Pacers down only one, and and made the team Instagram picture after the game. #HELLYEAHHHHimadethepic
10 – The Cavs had 10 total points from their bench on Monday, which is 10 more than was scored by the actual bench they were sitting on. For what it’s worth, Mozgov had six points in only 12 minutes. Lue may need to open up the rotations a bit for Mo Williams and Anderson Varejao, so all the starters don’t need to play 40 minutes and score all the points. It may be a nice boost to have the next topic of discussion come off the bench, too.
14 & 12 – Tristan Thompson had 14 points on 7-of-7 shooting and 12 rebounds (seven offensive). Thompson has looked like he actually wants to shoot the ball on offense recently (instead of just dunking it off a lob). It’s weird. But he’s been great over the last five games, and with the energy of ten rabid hyenas.
8-1 – The Cavs are 8-1 over their last 9 road games after starting the season 8-8. That’s a great road surge. Beating teams like the Indiana Pacers on the road is no small feat — the Pacers makes opponents work for wins. George Hill (23 points, 4-of-8 from three) is a gamer who kicks the Cavs’ butt every time they play, and Myles Turner (14 and 10) is one of the most impressive rookies in the league outside of Kristapssssss and Karl Anthony-Towns. Tonight was the first Cavs win in Indiana since two-thousand-freaking-ten, when Shaquille O’Neal scored 22 points for the Wine and Gold. Remember that? Hopefully Monday’s win will exorcise some of the remaining demons that have been hanging around since the Byron Scott Era.
10 Comments
Just commenting because this piece was well done, published in the wee hours of the morning, and because more people should be talking about a team that went 5-1 as opposed to that garbage football franchise that had 100-plus comments a day earlier.
Good stuff, Kyle.
I was prepared to verbally assault this team for 3/4 of the game but fortunately for me I watched the post-game as well as NBA TV. For the first 8 minutes of the game the Cavs looked like a new team the one who played with a faster pace and moved the ball with Harlem Globetrotter precision then BANG, it all stopped. The old Cavs reappeared and for the next 3 quarters created another painful, close, frustrating victory that only happened because of the abilities of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. But Kyrie Irving as dynamic and amazing as he is still can’t pass the ball like a true a PG and create for others. He’s a 1 on 1 scorer, period. Seven assists in a game like last night Irving should have had 10+ easy.
As frustrating as the game was to watch the fact that the Cavs broke a ten game losing streak in Indiana can’t be overlooked. But back to the post-game. I loved what the Cavs said after the game. They sounded like they knew what they hadn’t done right in the game but had to do what was necessary for the win. Like LeBron said baby steps.
This is my first post on WFNY, but a fan for many years.
I also agree with Scott. I love all Cleveland sports (even working for the Browns for a year) but question why little talk about a team who has a chance to bring title to Cleveland.
Only Cleveland I guess…….
Kyle, thank you for your write ups, I always look forward to reading them!
Take care,
Justin C.
Thanks for being a loyal reader. The Browns dominance conundrum is just part of the local fabric I believe. Maybe the next generation will adjust?
Thanks, Scott.
To be fair…it was on West Coast time. So don’t give me TOO much credit for staying up past my bedtime.
Thank you. These comments mean a lot, sincerely.
Please keep reading-that’s why we love doing this!
Maybe WFNY should go #JFF? 🙂
Two months to go.
Btw I read on Twitter that the Nets could be going to full rebuild mode. If true and I’m David Griffin I’m calling them about Thaddeus Young!
Nice piece, Kyle.
If the Pacers hadn’t brain-farted the game away we’d have quite a different narrative today: LeBron and Kyrie abandoning the game plan as they got gassed and defaulting to tight game hero ball. There was no good reason for it other than not yet being mentally and emotionally invested in using more of this loaded team’s assets. It takes a certain kind of jock bravery to not bet only on yourself under pressure, but they’ll never beat a team in the Finals unless they learn to do it now. Almost wish they would have lost before the schedule has them playing lesser teams that they can beat any which way.