irving | WaitingForNextYear

Box Score: Hornets 100, Cavaliers 105

February 20, 2013 by Andrew 20 Comments

The Cleveland Cavaliers made their ESPN debut with Kyrie Irving tonight, and Kyrie did not fail to deliver a performance worthy of the event.

The New Orleans Hornets (who I will refer to as Pelicans from here on out because I can’t wait for it to be official) aren’t a good basketball team, but for most of the evening, the game was a back and forth affair. It started out sloppy and the teams played evenly through the first half.

In the 3rd quarter, the Cavaliers built a 10 point lead before their typical late quarter collapse allowed the Pelicans to tie the game before taking the lead after 3. After some sloppy back and forth play in the 4th quarter and with the Pelicans defense stiffing the Cavaliers offense, Kyrie came back in with 7 minutes left.

The rest of the game belonged to Kyrie. Irving did a little bit of everything, distributing to teammates, grabbing rebounds, taking charges, and yeah, scoring. A lot. And in often spectacular fashion. Irving scored 20 points in the 4th quarter en route to finishing with 35 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals.

Dion Waiters picked up where he left off toward the end of the first half of the season with 16 points on 60% shooting from the floor and Tristan Thompson came 1 point short of another double double. But this evening belonged to Kyrie Irving. The night began with Bill Simmons saying he thinks Kyrie has a chance to be the best pure PG of all time, and it ended with Irving putting on a show for everyone in the country who hasn’t seen him play a Cavaliers game yet. The hype keeps growing and growing for Kyrie, and so far he’s lived up to it. This was just a really fun night for Cavs fans.

New Orleans

Starters	Pos	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Greivis Vasquez	G	38:49	5-13	1-5	2-2	-7	0	4	8	4	0	1	1	2	13
Austin Rivers	G	30:55	5-11	1-1	0-0	-6	1	4	2	0	0	0	1	5	11
Robin Lopez	C	15:33	5-9	0-0	5-6	-18	3	3	0	3	0	0	1	6	15
Al-Farouq Aminu	F	35:37	1-2	0-0	2-2	-1	2	10	3	0	1	2	0	0	4
Anthony Davis	F	29:13	2-7	0-0	8-8	-4	2	4	1	1	0	2	0	4	12

Bench	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Totals		37-76	7-15	19-22		11	39	16	13	2	6	3	28	100
Percentages		.487	.467	.864		Team Rebounds: 6
Ryan Anderson	28:10	3-11	1-4	0-0	+9	0	3	1	3	0	0	0	1	7
Jason Smith	23:04	5-9	0-0	2-4	+3	1	6	0	1	1	0	0	4	12
Roger Mason	20:46	4-5	1-1	0-0	+5	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	9
Brian Roberts	10:56	7-8	3-4	0-0	-2	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	3	17
Xavier Henry	6:57	0-1	0-0	0-0	-4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Eric Gordon	DNP – Coach’s Decision
Darius Miller	DNP – Coach’s Decision
Lance Thomas	DNP – Coach’s Decision

Cleveland

Starters	Pos	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Kyrie Irving	G	36:40	13-22	2-5	7-7	+2	0	5	7	4	2	0	2	1	35
Dion Waiters	G	28:54	6-10	0-1	4-4	+10	0	0	3	0	1	1	1	1	16
Tyler Zeller	C	22:06	5-7	0-0	0-0	+6	2	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	10
Tristan Thompson	F	32:54	2-8	0-0	5-12	+2	5	13	1	2	1	1	0	3	9
Alonzo Gee	F	28:01	3-7	3-4	1-2	-2	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	1	10

Bench	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Totals		38-77	5-14	24-34		12	34	20	8	6	3	6	18	105
Percentages		.494	.357	.706		Team Rebounds: 12
Wayne Ellington	23:52	1-3	0-2	6-6	-1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	8
Marreese Speights	18:26	2-7	0-0	0-2	-10	3	6	1	0	0	0	1	2	4
C.J. Miles	18:10	5-7	0-2	1-1	+1	1	2	0	0	1	1	0	2	11
Luke Walton	17:39	0-2	0-0	0-0	+11	0	2	6	0	0	0	0	2	0
Shaun Livingston	13:18	1-4	0-0	0-0	+6	1	2	2	0	0	0	1	3	2
Omri Casspi	DNP – Coach’s Decision
Daniel Gibson	DNP – Coach’s Decision
Kevin Jones	DNP – Coach’s Decision

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: basketball, Box Score, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, Hornets, irving, kyrie, NBA, New Orleans, pelicans

Box Score: Timberwolves 100, Cavaliers 92

February 11, 2013 by Andrew 19 Comments

Another frustrating defensive evening for the Cavaliers.

After having their 3 game winning streak snapped Saturday night, the Cavaliers were hoping to hop back on the winning train facing an injury depleted Minnesota Timberwolves team. Instead, the Cavaliers were left scratching their heads, more questions than answers as to how to get stops on defense particularly in the 4th quarter.

The Cavaliers made a nice 1st quarter run and lead for much of the 2nd quarter before Minnesota came back and stole the lead at the half. In the 3rd quarter the Cavaliers looked out of sync and Minnesota appeared on their way to victory. But the Cavaliers bench unit came back and tied the game in the 4th quarter before the Wolves finally pulled away for good. The Cavaliers tried to make one last run, cutting the deficit to 3, before their inability to stop the Wolves came back to haunt them.

Luke Ridnour killed the Cavaliers all night and the Wolves, the NBA’s worst 3 point shooting team, caught fire going 8 of 14 from distance to put away the Cavaliers. Ridnour finished with 21 points and Nikola Pekovic added 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Dion Waiters was aggressive early and finished with 12 points on 6-6 shooting from the field despite surprisingly not playing down the stretch. Tristan Thompson had a nice game with 16 points and 9 rebounds and Wayne Ellington scored 10 off the bench against his old team. Kyrie Irving, who gave the Cavaliers a scare late in the 2nd quarter when he rolled his ankle coming down on an opponent’s foot after hitting a three, lead the team with 20 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds. Irving didn’t look physically hobbled by the ankle in the 2nd half, but he was noticeably less aggressive in the 2nd half.

This was by no means the worst game the Cavaliers played this season, but it was frustrating none the less falling at home to a team missing Kevin Love, Andrei Kirilenko, and Chase Budinger. The Wolves had lost 4 in a row, 10 of 11, and 8 straight on the road coming into this game. Circle this one as a winable game that the Cavaliers let slip away by poor 4th quarter defense. It’s a recurring theme for this season, but until the Cavaliers can force defensive stops in crunch time, these results will continue to repeat themselves.

1	2	3	4	T
MIN	25	24	23	28	100
CLE	27	19	19	27	92

Minnesota

Starters	Pos	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Luke Ridnour	G	37:25	9-14	1-2	2-2	+6	1	4	3	3	1	0	0	2	21
Ricky Rubio	G	33:14	5-9	1-1	2-2	+3	0	3	10	7	5	0	1	5	13
Nikola Pekovic	C	40:28	6-14	0-0	4-6	+12	5	10	2	2	2	0	4	0	16
Mickael Gelabale	F	28:24	3-4	3-3	2-2	+16	2	6	2	1	0	0	0	2	11
Derrick Williams	F	16:13	4-9	1-2	3-4	+1	0	5	1	1	0	1	0	4	12

Bench	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Totals		39-75	8-14	14-17		10	36	25	20	10	6	7	17	100
Percentages		.520	.571	.824		Team Rebounds: 5
Dante Cunningham	31:47	4-9	0-0	0-0	+7	1	4	1	1	1	2	0	2	8
Alexey Shved	30:13	5-9	1-3	1-1	+5	0	0	3	2	0	2	1	2	12
J.J. Barea	14:53	2-4	1-3	0-0	-6	0	0	3	3	1	0	0	0	5
Greg Stiemsma	7:23	1-3	0-0	0-0	-4	1	4	0	0	0	1	1	0	2
Chase Budinger	DNP – Inactive
Chris Johnson	DNP – Coach’s Decision
Andrei Kirilenko	DNP – Strained Right Quadriceps
Malcolm Lee	DNP – Inactive
Kevin Love	DNP – Right Hand Injury
Brandon Roy	DNP – Inactive

Cleveland

Starters	Pos	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Kyrie Irving	G	35:49	9-20	1-3	1-2	-14	2	4	7	3	1	0	2	3	20
Dion Waiters	G	21:09	6-6	0-0	0-0	-6	0	1	1	6	1	0	0	2	12
Tyler Zeller	C	25:00	0-2	0-1	0-0	-13	0	8	0	2	0	1	0	2	0
Tristan Thompson	F	33:51	5-12	0-0	6-7	-14	5	9	1	1	4	2	1	2	16
Alonzo Gee	F	27:26	5-10	1-5	0-2	-11	0	4	2	2	2	0	1	1	11

Bench	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Totals		40-79	5-18	7-11		10	32	24	20	12	7	6	15	92
Percentages		.506	.278	.636		Team Rebounds: 9
Wayne Ellington	24:49	4-7	2-3	0-0	-3	1	3	2	0	0	0	0	1	10
C.J. Miles	21:10	4-9	1-5	0-0	-2	0	0	2	1	2	1	1	3	9
Marreese Speights	20:12	5-9	0-0	0-0	+6	2	3	1	3	0	1	1	0	10
Shaun Livingston	16:25	2-2	0-0	0-0	+11	0	0	4	1	1	2	0	1	4
Luke Walton	14:09	0-2	0-1	0-0	+6	0	0	4	1	1	0	0	0	0
Omri Casspi	DNP – Coach’s Decision
Daniel Gibson	DNP – Coach’s Decision
Kevin Jones	DNP – Coach’s Decision
Josh Selby	DNP – Inactive
Anderson Varejao	DNP – Inactive

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: basketball, Box Score, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, irving, kyrie, Minnesota, NBA, Timberwolves, TWolves, Wolves

Box Score: Celtics 90, Cavaliers 95

January 22, 2013 by Andrew 27 Comments

Boston came into this game hurting. Losers of 3 straight, the Celtics surely looked at this game in Cleveland as a prime opportunity to get things back on track. Kyrie Irving had other ideas.

“Mr 4th Quarter” disguised himself as “Mr 1st Quarter” in this one as he came out looking to make a statement against the East’s All-Star starting PG Rajon Rondo. Irving was aggressive from the beginning and had 19 first quarter points to get the Cavaliers off to a great start and a 1st quarter lead.

After an offensive battle in the first half, the game turned into a defensive battle in the 2nd half, and the Cavaliers rose to the Celtics challenge hanging around with the Celtics. With Boston unable to separate themselves from the Cavaliers, they saw Cleveland take a late 4th quarter lead and down the stretch the Cavaliers made huge plays on both ends of the court to secure the win.

Kyrie was able to switch into Mr 4th Quarter mode as well as he made some enormous plays in the final stanza. He made a hustle steal off a Rondo attempt to save the ball and turned it into an uncontested layup, and he added two huge layups in the final minute to seal the victory.

Don’t overlook the night Tristan Thompson had either. The Celtics frontcourt may not be the feared defensive machine it once was, but Thompson was still active and able to chip in 21 points and 9 rebounds. But the night belonged to Irving who finished with 40 points and 5 assists. It’s really hard to use words to describe just how good Kyrie was in this game. He just continues to get better and to amaze and to give Cavaliers fans a glimpse of a brighter future.

Rondo paced the Celtics with his typical stat stuffing effort with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists and Kevin Garnett added 16 points. Paul Pierce continued his shooting woes and despite hitting his first two shots finished 3-15 from the field for 12 points.

	1	2	3	4	T
BOS	27	26	20	17	90
CLE	31	23	16	25	95

Boston

Starters	Pos	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Rajon Rondo	G	37:39	7-17	0-2	3-4	-10	3	13	8	5	0	0	0	2	17
Avery Bradley	G	25:39	2-4	2-2	1-2	-5	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	3	7
Kevin Garnett	C	30:40	5-13	0-0	6-6	-3	0	5	3	2	1	5	0	3	16
Paul Pierce	F	36:49	3-15	1-4	5-6	-8	4	7	7	4	2	0	3	0	12
Brandon Bass	F	27:33	4-7	0-0	0-0	-7	2	6	1	2	0	0	2	2	8

Bench	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Totals		32-84	7-17	19-22		16	48	24	16	5	8	7	18	90
Percentages		.381	.412	.864		Team Rebounds: 7
Jared Sullinger	26:17	5-11	0-0	2-2	-4	5	10	0	0	0	1	1	6	12
Jeff Green	21:21	1-3	1-2	2-2	+7	0	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	5
Jason Terry	19:46	2-5	0-2	0-0	+4	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	4
Courtney Lee	14:16	3-9	3-5	0-0	+1	1	3	2	0	1	0	1	2	9
Leandro Barbosa	DNP – Coach’s Decision
Jason Collins	DNP – Coach’s Decision
Chris Wilcox	DNP – Coach’s Decision

Cleveland

Starters	Pos	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Kyrie Irving	G	37:55	16-24	1-3	7-7	+11	0	3	5	5	2	0	1	5	40
Dion Waiters	G	33:19	3-12	1-4	0-0	+8	1	2	3	0	1	0	1	1	7
Tyler Zeller	C	37:45	2-10	0-0	2-2	+5	3	10	4	2	0	3	2	6	6
Tristan Thompson	F	39:39	9-18	0-0	3-3	+9	2	9	5	1	1	1	3	3	21
Alonzo Gee	F	30:56	3-7	0-1	4-6	+8	1	6	2	0	1	0	0	2	10

Bench	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Totals		37-82	2-12	19-22		8	39	28	13	7	7	8	22	95
Percentages		.451	.167	.864		Team Rebounds: 9
Luke Walton	18:00	3-3	0-0	1-2	+2	1	3	7	2	1	0	0	0	7
Shaun Livingston	17:39	0-2	0-0	2-2	-6	0	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	2
Daniel Gibson	14:59	0-3	0-3	0-0	-6	0	2	1	1	1	1	0	3	0
Omri Casspi	9:48	1-3	0-1	0-0	-6	0	3	0	1	0	1	1	2	2
Kevin Jones	DNP – Coach’s Decision
C.J. Miles	DNP – Coach’s Decision

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: basketball, boston, Box Score, cavaliers, cavs, Celtics, cleveland, irving, kyrie, NBA

On the Cavaliers and the Prospects of a Failed Rebuilding Process

January 8, 2013 by Andrew 104 Comments

Sometimes you think you know something. And then someone really smart says something that challenges what you think you know, and it makes you look at the subject from an entirely different point of view. And when the context changes, you can sometimes be surprised at what you learn.

I love the WFNY Podcasts that Craig is doing, and by far my two favorite episodes have been the two Brian Spaeth conversations. I don’t know Brian, save for a few Twitter interactions and one email interaction in which he sent me a promotional copy of his movie “Who Shot Mamba?” (which is genuinely funny and really stupid at the same time…it’s great). But I follow him on Twitter and read his website. He has a lot of interesting things to say and generally looks at things from a perspective different from my own.

But what I really remember the most about Brian is his old sports blog, Yay Sports!. Yes, a long time ago (in internet time) Brian wrote this really great basketball blog and I vividly remember reading it, laughing a lot, thinking about basketball from a different perspective, and just being happy that this guy was a fellow Cavs fan. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: basketball, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, dion, irving, kyrie, NBA, rebuild, thompson, tristan, waiters

The Fine Line Between Losing with a Purpose and Just Plain Losing

January 4, 2013 by Andrew 11 Comments

Kyrie Irving is seeing plenty of extra defensive attention this season

It’s no secret that what happens in the 4th quarter often defines a basketball game.

One of the more common criticism of basketball, particularly in the NBA, is that the first 3 quarters are irrelevant and all that matters is the 4th quarter. If someone doesn’t enjoy just watching the game of basketball itself, I can see how they would feel that way. In the NBA, it seems like everyone goes on a run and no lead is safe. Winning and losing frequently comes down to late game execution.

Last season, the Cavaliers were often an exception to the rule. It seemed that the 4th quarters rarely mattered and the most important quarter was the first. Indeed, how the Cavaliers played in the 1st quarter was often the defining quality of the game. It was hard for that team to come back from early deficits and 4th quarters usually involved opponents giving the tail end of their bench some quality playing time.

But in those few games where the Cavaliers came out playing good basketball in the 1st quarter, they would often find themselves in the game in the 4th with a chance to win. These became Kyrie Irving’s moments. It was where Mr. 4th Quarter was born. As fans, we had ultimate confidence that if the bench could somehow just keep it close, within 5 points or so, that when Kyrie Irving checked back in he would find a way to win the game for Cleveland. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: basketball, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, clutch, irving, kyrie, losing, NBA

Box Score: Kings 97, Cavaliers 94

January 2, 2013 by Andrew 6 Comments

This game brought some big changes for the Cavaliers. First of all, Tristan Thompson was playing without his mask. This game also saw Shaun Livingston make his Wine and Gold debut. But the big change was Coach Scott’s decision to start CJ Miles and bring Dion Waiters off the bench. In the first half, the move paid off as CJ Miles had a big first quarter and then Dion Waiters followed with a 14 point 2nd quarter to lead the Cavaliers to a halftime lead.

In the 3rd quarter, though, the Cavaliers’ offense went missing and a slew of bad fouls early in the quarter allowed the Kings to use the free throw line to build a 10 point lead.

The Kings were playing their 2nd road game in two nights, and generally when that happens teams struggle to hang on to leads and keep up the intensity for a full game. It looked that might be happening as the Cavaliers went on a run toward the end of the 3rd quarter and regained the lead early in the 4th.

Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, though, the Kings weren’t going to just roll over and hand the game to Cleveland. The Cavaliers seemed to be lacking energy for much of this game despite having 2 days off, and it was Cleveland who made bad plays and unfortunate turnovers down the stretch.

Tristan Thompson fell 1 point short of yet another double double, and he struggled with foul trouble, forcing him to sit for much of the game. This opened the door for big minutes for Luke Walton, who, to his credit, made some really nice defensive plays including a big blocked shot and a couple charges drawn. Kyrie Irving lead the Cavaliers with 22 points and Dion Waiters had 20.

Without Anderson Varejao, though, the Kings’ frontcourt was just too much as DeMarcus Cousins had 18 points and 16 rebounds while Jason Thompson had 19 points and 10 rebounds. While there were some things to like from Cleveland in this one, particularly some nice scoring distribution, it was not a great start to the New Year for the Cavaliers, as things looked pretty 2012 in this game.

	1	2	3	4	T
SAC	28	24	22	23	97
CLE	25	28	18	23	94

Sacramento

Starters	Pos	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
J. Salmons	G	31:58	3-6	1-4	0-0	+10	1	3	3	3	1	0	0	5	7
I. Thomas	G	19:29	3-8	0-2	2-3	+4	0	1	4	1	1	0	0	1	8
D. Cousins	C	34:22	7-17	0-0	4-4	+13	7	16	6	1	2	1	0	3	18
J. Thompson	F	36:23	8-16	0-0	3-4	+4	3	10	2	1	0	3	2	3	19
F. Garcia	F	33:35	6-13	2-6	0-0	+11	1	6	2	0	2	2	0	2	14

Bench	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Totals		38-88	3-16	18-23		15	46	22	10	8	6	4	19	97
Percentages		.432	.188	.783		Team Rebounds: 5
A. Brooks	28:34	6-10	0-2	1-2	+1	1	2	3	0	1	0	1	1	13
C. Hayes	16:48	1-5	0-0	0-0	-9	1	2	2	0	1	0	1	0	2
J. Johnson	16:08	2-6	0-0	4-5	-9	1	4	0	1	0	0	0	3	8
J. Fredette	14:54	1-5	0-2	4-5	-7	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	6
T. Robinson	7:49	1-2	0-0	0-0	-3	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	2
T. Honeycutt	DNP – Coach’s Decision
T. Outlaw	DNP – Coach’s Decision
M. Thornton	DNP – Coach’s Decision

Cleveland

Starters	Pos	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	BS	BA	PF	Pts
K. Irving	G	35:03	8-18	1-4	5-6	-7	2	5	6	3	0	1	2	22
C.J. Miles	G	28:44	4-13	1-7	3-3	-5	0	2	0	2	0	1	2	12
T. Zeller	C	35:55	3-7	0-0	2-2	-5	3	8	0	3	2	2	2	8
A. Gee	F	38:33	5-10	1-3	5-6	-3	2	10	6	1	0	1	2	16
T. Thompson	F	35:22	4-12	0-0	1-2	+4	5	13	0	2	0	1	4	9

Bench	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Totals		34-87	5-21	21-24		15	50	19	13	2	4	6	20	94
Percentages		.391	.238	.875		Team Rebounds: 10
D. Waiters	29:21	8-19	1-4	3-3	+1	1	2	3	0	1	0	0	5	20
L. Walton	17:58	2-7	1-3	0-0	-7	1	7	3	2	1	1	0	3	5
S. Livingston	12:57	0-1	0-0	2-2	+4	1	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	2
K. Jones	6:07	0-0	0-0	0-0	+3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
O. Casspi	DNP – Coach’s Decision
J. Leuer	DNP – Coach’s Decision
J. Pargo	DNP – Coach’s Decision
S. Samuels	DNP – Coach’s Decision

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: basketball, Box Score, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, cousins, irving, kings, miles, NBA, sacramento, waiters

Box Score: Cavaliers 91, Celtics 103

December 19, 2012 by Andrew 5 Comments

Anderson Varejao missed this game due to a knee injury and without his services the Celtics were simply too much for the Cavaliers to contend with.

This one looked like a blowout with the Celtics opening up a 20 point lead in the 3rd quarter. However, the Cavaliers went on a nice 20-2 run to close out the quarter and the start of the 4th to pull within 2 points of the Celtics. The Cavaliers had no answer for Paul Pierce down the stretch though. Pierce scored 25 of his game high 40 points in the 2nd half and the Celtics walked away with the relatively easy win.

Kyrie Irving lead the Cavaliers with 22 points but had just 2 assists to 3 turnovers. Tyler Zeller started in Varejao’s place and scored a career high 20 points. In fact all 5 Cavalier starters scored in the double digits. Dion Waiters had 8 first quarter points but finished the game with just 13 total. Just another frustrating evening for the wine and gold who are continuing to search for answers to this funk they find themselves in.

	1	2	3	4	T
CLE	25	21	26	19	91
BOS	27	27	28	21	103

Cleveland

Starters	Pos	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
K. Irving	G	37:27	9-17	2-5	2-4	-12	1	4	2	3	2	0	1	4	22
D. Waiters	G	35:12	6-15	0-4	1-2	-15	2	4	4	3	1	0	1	2	13
T. Zeller	C	36:15	9-15	0-0	2-3	-17	2	3	2	0	1	0	0	3	20
T. Thompson	F	38:29	2-10	0-0	7-9	-16	6	12	2	1	2	2	3	2	11
A. Gee	F	34:00	5-12	1-3	0-0	-21	0	3	2	2	1	0	1	2	11

Bench	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Totals		36-88	5-18	14-21		13	35	16	9	7	2	7	22	91
Percentages		.409	.278	.667		Team Rebounds: 13
C.J. Miles	16:52	1-5	1-4	0-0	+7	1	4	2	0	0	0	0	3	3
L. Walton	14:00	1-2	1-2	0-0	+9	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	3
K. Jones	11:09	1-5	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	2
S. Samuels	10:07	1-5	0-0	1-2	+9	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	3
D. Sloan	6:29	1-2	0-0	1-1	-4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	3
O. Casspi	DNP – Coach’s Decision
D. Gibson	DNP – Right Ankle Sprain
J. Leuer	DNP – Inactive
J. Pargo	DNP – Coach’s Decision
A. Varejao	DNP – Inactive

Boston

Starters	Pos	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	PF	Pts
R. Rondo	G	37:28	7-11	0-1	6-10	+22	4	8	4	2	1	5	20
J. Terry	G	34:54	6-9	3-5	0-0	+18	3	4	2	1	0	1	15
K. Garnett	C	30:50	5-9	0-1	2-3	+1	6	3	2	1	3	3	12
P. Pierce	F	33:36	13-16	6-7	8-8	+29	8	5	1	3	1	2	40
J. Collins	F	23:16	0-0	0-0	1-2	+23	2	0	0	1	1	6	1

Bench	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Totals		37-62	9-17	20-27		2	35	23	14	9	7	2	24	103
Percentages		.597	.529	.741		Team Rebounds: 8
B. Bass	26:48	2-7	0-1	0-0	+3	0	3	1	0	0	0	1	2	4
C. Lee	20:20	2-3	0-0	2-2	-9	0	3	1	3	0	0	0	0	6
J. Sullinger	15:06	1-2	0-0	0-0	-3	2	5	1	1	1	0	1	4	2
J. Green	14:24	1-4	0-2	1-2	-17	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	1	3
L. Barbosa	3:18	0-1	0-0	0-0	-7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A. Bradley	DNP – Coach’s Decision
K. Joseph	DNP – Inactive
F. Melo	DNP – Inactive
C. Wilcox	DNP – Coach’s Decision

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: basketball, boston, Box Score, cavaliers, cavs, Celtics, cleveland, irving, NBA, pierce, zeller

Is There Any Hope Beneath the Frustration for the Cavaliers?

December 19, 2012 by Andrew 24 Comments

I keep trying to tell myself to remember that it’s still early in the season. And then I quickly try to forget that fact.

It’s far too early in the season to be this frustrated. Particularly when none of us expected the Cavaliers to be any good this season anyway. I predicted before the season that this Cavaliers team would be absolutely atrocious on the defensive end. So why am I so frustrated and angry when my watching it come to fruition on the court? I don’t know.

Here’s what we do know, though. The Cavaliers are 5-21 on the season. In his 2+ years at the helm, Byron Scott now has a record of 45-129. That’s a win percentage of 25.86%. The Cavaliers’ win percentage this season is 19.2%. Only one team in the NBA has a worse record than Cleveland. The Cavaliers are 23rd in scoring, and 23rd in opponents’ scoring. 26th in offensive efficiency and 27th in defensive efficiency. 27th in eFG% and dead last in opponents eFG%. They have exactly two players with an Efficiency Rating about 13 (where 15.0 is average). [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: Anderson, basketball, byron, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, irving, kyrie, NBA, scott, varejao

Box Score: Lakers 94, Cavaliers 100

December 11, 2012 by Andrew 12 Comments

What a night for Cleveland sports.

First, Kyrie Irving came back for the Cavaliers.

Then, while the game was going on, the Indians made what appears to be a stellar trade.

And then, just for good measure, the Cavaliers beat the Lakers.

It was evident from the beginning just how much Irving was missed. Kyrie wasted no time in making his impact felt and the Cavaliers opened up a huge 54-39 lead at the half. The Lakers would fight and claw their way back into this game, and they set up an awesome 4th quarter showdown between Kyrie Irving and Kobe Bryant. In the end, the Cavaliers made just enough plays down the stretch to hang on and get the win.

Anderson Varejao fell 1 rebound short of yet another double-double but finished with 20 points. CJ Miles, starting for the still injured Dion Waiters, had by far the best game of his career with 28 points. And Kyrie tied Miles for the team high with 28 of his own to go with his 11 assists and 6 rebounds.

Kobe Bryant was incredible as always with 42 points, but it really did feel like Kobe was playing by himself against the Cavaliers. Credit to Tristan Thompson for some good defense on Dwight Howard, and Tyler Zeller was especially impressive on defense in this game as the Cavaliers were content to force Kobe to do everything himself.

Huge win for the Cavaliers and a huge morale boost to do it with Kyrie Irving back in the lineup.

1	2	3	4	T
LAL	23	16	23	32	94
CLE	29	25	14	32	100

LA Lakers

Starters	Pos	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
K. Bryant	G	40:43	16-28	3-9	7-10	-7	1	5	2	5	1	1	0	1	42
C. Duhon	G	33:02	1-2	0-1	0-0	-2	0	3	2	2	1	0	0	1	2
D. Howard	C	41:06	3-9	0-0	13-22	-10	6	20	3	4	0	0	1	5	19
M. World Peace	F	35:37	5-12	2-6	1-4	-9	3	9	0	3	1	1	2	3	13
J. Hill	F	25:33	1-6	0-0	0-0	-9	5	10	1	2	1	1	1	5	2

Bench	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Totals		31-75	7-27	25-40		15	54	11	18	7	3	4	22	94
Percentages		.413	.259	.625		Team Rebounds: 9
A. Jamison	29:21	3-10	1-6	2-2	+7	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	4	9
J. Meeks	21:17	2-6	1-4	2-2	-5	0	4	0	0	1	0	0	2	7
D. Morris	6:52	0-1	0-0	0-0	-2	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	0
D. Ebanks	6:29	0-1	0-1	0-0	+7	0	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
E. Clark	DNP – Coach’s Decision
P. Gasol	DNP – Coach’s Decision
R. Sacre	DNP – Coach’s Decision

Cleveland

Starters	Pos	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
K. Irving	G	38:14	11-21	4-6	2-3	+12	2	6	11	4	1	0	1	3	28
C.J. Miles	G	37:11	10-18	5-10	3-4	+7	0	5	0	1	1	1	0	5	28
A. Varejao	C	34:51	8-13	0-1	4-7	+9	2	9	5	1	3	1	1	4	20
A. Gee	F	39:59	6-14	2-5	3-4	+5	1	5	3	3	1	1	0	4	17
T. Thompson	F	33:36	0-3	0-0	1-4	+1	2	10	0	1	0	0	1	4	1

Bench	Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Totals		37-84	11-27	15-26		8	43	24	12	8	4	3	26	100
Percentages		.440	.407	.577		Team Rebounds: 11
T. Zeller	27:08	2-6	0-0	2-2	+2	1	6	3	0	2	0	0	3	6
O. Casspi	11:50	0-3	0-1	0-2	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	0
J. Pargo	9:46	0-3	0-2	0-0	-6	0	1	1	2	0	1	0	1	0
D. Gibson	7:00	0-3	0-2	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
S. Samuels	0:25	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
K. Jones	DNP – Coach’s Decision
D. Sloan	DNP – Coach’s Decision
L. Walton	DNP – Coach’s Decision

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: basketball, Box Score, bryant, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, irving, kobe, kyrie, lakers, Los Angeles, NBA

Cavaliers Welcome Kyrie Irving Back as they Host the Los Angeles Lakers

December 11, 2012 by Andrew 2 Comments

Life without Kyrie Irving has not been fun. It was hard. How hard? The Cleveland Cavaliers (4-17, 13th in the East) went 2-9 without him. Sure, the Cavaliers are 2-8 with him, so there’s no evidence of the team being worse without him. But if you watched the 11 games he missed, you know the truth.

The Cavaliers score 108.3 points per 100 possessions with Kyrie on the floor. They score just 98.4 without him. It has been painfully obvious over the course of the past few weeks that without Kyrie Irving the Cavaliers just do not have the offensive firepower to win games.

There is a flipside, though. The Cavaliers’ defense has unquestionably been better since Kyrie has been out. Indeed, in the 10 games Kyrie played, the Cavaliers gave up 100+ points 8 times. They’ve given up that many just 5 times in the 11 games without him. With Kyrie, the Cavaliers allowed opponents to average 50.32% from the field and score 102.70 points per game. Without him, opponents shot 46.15% from the field and scored 98.55 points per game. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: basketball, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, irving, kyrie, lakers, Los Angeles, NBA

Cavaliers Road Trip Takes Them to Golden State

November 7, 2012 by Andrew 6 Comments

The Cleveland Cavaliers have played 4 games this season, and sit at 2-2. In 3 of the 4 games, the Cavaliers were able to feel good about the way they played. Only in the Chicago game last week could their effort and desire really be challenged. This is a good sign for the early season.

Tonight, as they continue their road trip by playing against the Golden State Warriors (2-2), the Cavaliers will try to keep the momentum going. One of the biggest positive for the Cavaliers is that 3 of their 4 opponents have been very good defensive teams this season. In terms of defensive efficiency, the Bulls are 1st, the Bucks are 3rd, and the Wizards are 12th. Only the Clippers (19th) fall in the bottom half of the league.

Cavaliers Look to Shake Off Rough Weekend with First West Coast Game of the Season

November 5, 2012 by Andrew 17 Comments

(Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

It was a rough weekend for the Cleveland Cavaliers, as they dropped both of their games Friday and Saturday night.

The Cavaliers showed us two very different types of losses, though. Friday night against Chicago was a reprise of the song we heard so many times last season. The Cavaliers fell behind by 16 in the first quarter and never really appeared too interested in playing and fighting back.

Here’s an example of how bad things were Friday night. With 4:41 left in the 1st, Kyrie Irving hit a 10 foot jumper to pull the Cavaliers to a 19-15 deficit. Here’s how the remaining first quarter possessions for the Cavaliers went:

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: basketball, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, Clippers, CP3, griffin, irving, kyrie, la, Los Angeles, NBA, paul, varejao

ESPN Future Power Rankings: Cavaliers’ Future Is Looking Better

August 15, 2012 by Andrew 24 Comments

Back in February, ESPN’s Chad Ford and John Hollinger released the latest (at that time) Future Power Rankings. For those unfamiliar, the FPR examines every team’s roster strength, cap situation, front office prowess, market desirability, and future draft picks to decide which teams have the brightest future.

In that installment, the Cavaliers jumped all the way from 29th in the previous version to 18th. Obviously that jump was mostly¹ thanks to Kyrie Irving. Now that Irving has taken home Rookie of the Year honors and the Cavaliers added a couple more first round draft picks, the future in Cleveland should look even brighter.

Hollinger and Ford agree with that sentiment and they have moved the Cavaliers all the way up to 12th in today’s update to the Future Power Rankings:

It’s getting better, Cavs fans. After spending a season in the FPR basement following the loss of LeBron James, Cleveland suddenly sports one of the brightest futures of any team in the league.

Much of that has to do with the addition of Kyrie Irving. The top overall selection in the 2011 draft showed enough potential in his rookie season to make us believe the Cavs may have a future All-Star on their hands. The long-term futures of fellow second-year player Tristan Thompson and rookie Dion Waiters also look promising, and we believe Anderson Varejao still has enough juice to man the middle for the Cavs the next few seasons.

The team also has plenty of draft picks coming its way. The Cavs will likely have another lottery pick in 2013, and possibly again in 2014, and they own future picks from both the Kings and Heat.

They also have such a good cap situation going forward that we’ve ranked them second in money heading into the summer of 2013. Cleveland isn’t a top destination for free agents, but there’s no question the team has the flexibility to continue to add to its roster.

For the record, the Cavaliers rank 21st in players, 14th in management, 2nd in money, 20th in market, and 5th in future draft.

In many ways, the speed with which Dion Waiters gets in shape and acclimates to the NBA game will largely determine when the Cavaliers return to contention. Based on Hollinger’s schedule, the Cavaliers are sill 2 years away from being in the playoffs, which likely places them 4-5 years away from Championship contending.

No matter how far away the Cavaliers are, the good news for Cavs fans is that the rebuilding plan is in place, is being followed with patience by the front office, and according to ESPN, the future is looking good for our Cavaliers.

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entirely [back]

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: basketball, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, future power rankings, hollinger, irving, kyrie, NBA, waiters

Random Cavaliers Off-Season Thoughts

July 31, 2012 by Andrew 94 Comments

Now that Summer League has come and gone, things are probably going to be mostly quiet on the Cleveland Cavaliers homefront until training camp starts in late September/early October. Sure, the Cavaliers will likely sing restricted free agent Alonzo Gee at some point, they still have to decide whether or not to pick up Daniel Gibson’s team option (they probably will), and there’s always the chance of the Cavaliers being involved in some kind of trade. But for the most part, this is the quiet period for the team.

So in the meantime, while football is getting ready to start and baseball is going through all their trade deadline hoopla, here’s some random basketball thoughts to pass the time. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: basketball, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, irving, kyrie, NBA, offseason, varejao, waiters, zeller

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to Cleveland Far From a Sure Thing

June 21, 2012 by Andrew 34 Comments

Is the sequel to this photo getting closer to reality? Perhaps.

On Wednesday, as word broke of the New Orleans Hornets and Washington Wizards trade, there was a lot of instant analysis being done in the media and in social media outlets as well.

One of the main assumptions everyone seemed to jump to was that this trade signaled Washington’s intent to draft Bradley Beal at #3. On Twitter in particular, Cavalier fans erupted in celebration. With so many whispers out of Charlotte indicating that Thomas Robinson was the direction they are leaning, this meant Michael Kidd-Gilchrist appeared to be falling into Cleveland’s lap at #4.

Could this really be happening? Could the player so many Cavs fans¹ coveted all along really be sliding down to Cleveland? A cause for celebration indeed! [Read more...]

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as well as Cavs writers on this site [back]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: barnes, basketball, beal, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, draft, drummond, Hornets, irving, kidd-gilchrist, mkg, NBA, New Orleans, robinson, trade, wall, Washington, Wizards

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist on the Cavaliers Is the Stuff of Dreams

May 24, 2012 by Andrew 120 Comments

MKG and Kyrie have been teammates before

Next Wednesday, in New York City, 14 ping pong balls are going to be placed into a lottery style hopper. A series of 4 number combinations are going to be drawn, and those numbers will determine the selection order of the 2012 NBA Draft. With nothing else of substance going on with the Cavaliers right now, most fans are left with just their dreams of how the lottery might play out for our beloved wine and gold.

The lottery isn’t quite as important this year for the Cavaliers as it was last year. Last year, with 2 lottery picks and a complete lack of talent on the roster, the lottery felt like a do or die scenario. Now, the Cavaliers already have their franchise player, which alleviates much pressure.

Never the less, the lottery will be important in determining how quickly Cleveland can get this thing turned around. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: basketball, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, draft, gilchrist, irving, Kidd, kidd-gilchrist, kyrie, Lottery, michael, mkg, NBA

Kyrie Irving Makes 1st Team NBA All-Rookie, Tristan Thompson 2nd Team

May 22, 2012 by Andrew 4 Comments

Not exactly breaking news here, but the NBA announced it’s All-Rookie teams today with Kyrie Irving leading the way in votes. The teams are selected by votes from NBA coaches and Kyrie Irving earned 58 points, most among all rookies. That total placed him on the 1st-team list where he was joined by Ricky Rubio, Kenneth Faried, Klay Thompson, Iman Shumpert, Kawhi Leond, and Brandon Knight. Yes, that’s 7 players, but the last 3 all tied for 5th place, so they all get 1st-team nods.

Fellow top 5 pick Tristan Thompson earned enough points to make the 2nd-team. He is joined there by Chandler Parsons, Isaiah Thomas, MarShon Brooks, and Derrick Williams. Thompson was tied for last on the All-Rookie teams with Derrick Williams, the player many pegged as the best player in the draft prior to selection night. Interestingly enough, though, were it not for the 3 way tie on the 1st-team, neither player would have made 1st or 2nd team selections.

Irving’s 1st team selection is hardly a surprise, but a nice cherry on the top of a rookie campaign that was everything fans in Cleveland hoped it could be. Having Tristan Thompson also making All-Rookie designation only adds to the hope Cleveland has for its future.

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: 1st team, all-rookie, basketball, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, First-Team, irving, kyrie, NBA, thompson, tristan

Kyrie Irving’s Rookie of the Year Award Hopefully Just the Beginning for the Cavaliers

May 14, 2012 by Andrew 20 Comments

People talk about the worst kept secrets all the time. I’m not sure if this counts as a secret necessarily, but in what should be a surprise to absolutely no one, news leaked Sunday that the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving is going to be named NBA Rookie of the Year.

The official announcement isn’t going to come until Tuesday, and we can talk about Kyrie and what this award means to him at that time. Meanwhile, rather than waiting for the inevitable, now is a good time to talk about what this award means to the Cavaliers.

When LeBron James left Cleveland, we knew it was an end of an era. More than that, it was the end of the winning. No more playoffs, no more championship aspirations. Instead of playing with the trade machine trying to figure out who the Cavs could acquire to put them over the top, it was on to adapt and survive mode. The rebuilding process began almost as fast as the winning came to a stop. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: award, basketball, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, irving, kyrie, NBA, rookie of the year

Stein: Kyrie Irving Could Make Team USA Roster

May 3, 2012 by Andrew 15 Comments

With the summer Olympics drawing nearer, things are heating up for Team USA’s men’s basketball team. Last week Team USA received their Olympic draw (oh joy, they drew Argentina). Now they are in the process of finalizing their roster.

The current roster includes Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Kobe Bryant, Tyson Chandler, Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay, Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin, Andre Iguodala, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Lamar Odom, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams. However, with injuries to Derrick Rose, LaMarcus Aldridge, Chauncey Billups, and Dwight Howard, the roster may need some tweaking before it needs to be finalized on June 18th.

With Rose’s torn ACL, he certainly will miss the Olypmics, opening the need for a PG. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, via Twitter, while the Wizards are lobbying hard for John Wall, he believes Irving may get the nod:

Some Team USA scuttle: Hearing Wiz lobbying hard to get John Wall added to roster, but have to believe Kyrie Irving is the guy IF a PG added

There is a bit of a twist here as Irving has previously said he would consider playing for Australia. Irving, whose father was playing professionally in Australia when Kyrie was born there, holds dual citizenship. After previously hinting at playing for Australia, Kyrie did say later in the season that he would focus instead on playing for Team USA. Originally aiming for the 2016 team, Irving’s Olympic dreams just might be realized sooner than he thought. It will be interesting to see what Team USA GM Jerry Colangelo decides to do with the roster over the next 5 weeks.

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: basketball, cavaliers, cavs, cleveland, derrick, irving, john, kyrie, NBA, Olympics, rose, Team USA, wall

Tonight We Say Farewell to the 2011-12 Cleveland Cavaliers

April 26, 2012 by Andrew 4 Comments

Media Day seems like just last week

The last time the Cleveland Cavaliers played on a Thursday was January 12th, the 3rd week of the season. You see, Thursday nights are typically the big matchup nights. It’s the night TNT has TV rights and other than their premiere games, there’s usually only one or two overflow games.

So it’s fitting, then, that the Cavaliers finish the season on a Thursday night in Chicago, buried underneath the hype and excitement of the NFL Draft. While Browns fans are anxiously greeting the newest members of their team, Cavaliers fans are saying goodbye to their players.

In a season in which the Cavaliers were mostly ignored outside of Cleveland, save for a handful of people who occasionally flipped over on League Pass to see what that Kyrie Irving guy was doing, the season comes to an end much in the same way it started…quiet, unassuming, and with more questions than answers.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: basketball, Bulls, cavaliers, cavs, Chicago, cleveland, farewell, irving, kyrie, NBA, preview, thompson, tristan

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