May 22, 2013

Box Score: Cavaliers 89, Clippers 105

“I think we saw one of the most underrated, unsung teams in the NBA tonight.”

That was the comment from FOX Sports Ohio’s Jeff Phelps after the Cavaliers’ tough 105-89 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers tonight. Head coach Byron Scott certainly was not as eloquent or long-winded after the contest, which snapped an 10-game losing streak by the Clippers (43-18) at Quicken Loans Arena.

After a hot burst from Dion Waiters in the mid-third quarter brought the Cavs (20-39) within three at 62-59, it was all Clippers from there. And, there even were some decent moments from former Clevelander Ryan Hollins (while it was mostly the Jamal Crawford show). But it was a tough final 17:48 for Cavs fans.

Overall, like the ckise Heat game last week but certainly not as dramatic, it’s hard to take away too many negatives from this loss. This was the 5th game in 7 days for an improving yet still very young Cavaliers team. This is a tough stretch in the schedule — even if they’re lucky to at least have five straight at home, through next Friday, March 8.

All one can hope is that the late-game collapse doesn’t become a typical trend and that the team can remain competitive against closer opponents. The Clippers, although still maybe underrated on the national radar despite ironically being in LA, remain one of the five best teams in the league. The Cavs, on a good day, on leaning toward mediocrity. They’re just going to lose these games, for now, more often than not — especially with Kyrie Irving still being out.

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS — 43-18 (won last 4)
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS — 20-39 (lost last 1)
Team 1 2 3 4 Total
LAC 31 23 17 34 105
CLE 23 22 17 27 89

LA Clippers

Starters Pos Min FG 3Pt FT +/- Off Reb Ast TO Stl BS BA PF Pts
Chris Paul
G 32:47 4-11 1-4 2-2 +19 1 3 15 0 1 0 0 1 11
Chauncey Billups
G 16:30 2-5 1-4 0-0 -5 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 5
DeAndre Jordan
C 19:53 5-6 0-0 0-4 +3 0 5 0 1 0 1 0 3 10
Blake Griffin
F 29:18 7-12 0-0 2-5 +13 5 11 3 0 3 3 0 2 16
Caron Butler
F 21:10 5-10 1-4 2-2 -1 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 2 13
Bench Min FG 3Pt FT +/- Off Reb Ast TO Stl BS BA PF Pts
Totals 43-83 7-25 12-20 11 39 26 10 10 9 2 20 105
Percentages .518 .280 .600 Team Rebounds: 13
Matt Barnes
28:07 2-7 1-5 1-2 +13 1 2 2 1 1 1 0 5 6
Jamal Crawford
27:11 8-14 3-5 5-5 +26 0 3 1 2 2 0 0 0 24
Lamar Odom
22:57 5-8 0-1 0-0 +22 2 7 1 0 1 1 1 2 10
Ronny Turiaf
18:16 1-1 0-0 0-0 +3 2 4 2 0 0 2 0 2 2
Eric Bledsoe
15:13 2-5 0-1 0-0 -3 0 1 0 3 1 1 0 2 4
Ryan Hollins
4:19 2-2 0-0 0-0 -5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 4
Willie Green
4:19 0-2 0-1 0-0 -5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Grant Hill
DNP – Coach’s Decision
Trey Thompkins
DNP – Inactive

 

Cleveland

Starters Pos Min FG 3Pt FT +/- Off Reb Ast TO Stl BS BA PF Pts
Shaun Livingston
G 33:18 4-9 0-0 2-4 -17 0 1 1 1 1 0 2 4 10
Dion Waiters
G 27:49 6-11 1-3 4-4 -5 0 0 6 2 0 1 2 3 17
Tyler Zeller
C 30:09 4-10 0-0 1-2 -7 4 5 1 0 0 0 1 2 9
Tristan Thompson
F 30:36 6-13 0-0 3-4 -11 4 12 2 2 0 0 2 3 15
Alonzo Gee
F 19:25 1-4 0-2 0-0 -6 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 4 2
Bench Min FG 3Pt FT +/- Off Reb Ast TO Stl BS BA PF Pts
Totals 33-74 5-16 18-28 11 32 18 16 5 2 9 23 89
Percentages .446 .312 .643 Team Rebounds: 15
Wayne Ellington
30:34 3-7 1-3 2-2 -15 0 1 3 2 1 0 0 3 9
C.J. Miles
27:02 5-10 3-7 3-6 -13 1 6 0 1 3 0 0 1 16
Marreese Speights
17:51 4-8 0-0 2-4 -9 2 3 1 3 0 1 2 2 10
Luke Walton
15:13 0-1 0-1 0-0 -8 0 3 2 4 0 0 0 1 0
Daniel Gibson
5:52 0-0 0-0 0-0 +8 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kevin Jones
2:11 0-1 0-0 1-2 +3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Omri Casspi
DNP – Appendectomy
Kyrie Irving
DNP – Sore/hyperextended Right Knee
Josh Selby
DNP – Inactive
Anderson Varejao
DNP – Inactive

Instead of Fixing Tanking, NBA Should Remove the Lottery

Tanking has been quite the topical conversation starter in the NBA this season. Maybe it was because there was a shortened 66-game season that ESPN, TrueHoop and several websites hammered on the topic ad nauseaum over the past few months (even on this site, quite eloquently by Ben). But, realistically, in order to solve the issue of tanking, one thing should be fixed instead: the draft lottery.

Obviously, basketball is unique because it has a perfect schedule length and draft setup for tanking to be a possibly effective strategy for teams. With only 82 games (usually), as opposed to the NFL’s 16 and MLB’s 162, there’s a possibility that a 6-10 game stretch or more could significantly alter a team’s drafting position. The same is then true in the National Hockey League, but, for some odd reason, despite that league’s similar use of a draft lottery, not as big of a media deal is made of tanking. [Read more...]

Cohesive Cavs Stun Complacent Clippers

Upon emerging from the trainer’s room, Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul spent approximately 15 minutes having a heated yet professional exchange with two of his assistant coaches, Robert Pack and Dean Demopoulos. Verging on animated, Paul appeared to be discussing specific plays, potentially mixing in some team philosophies, both contributing to their seven-point loss to the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers.

Paul was forced to debate with assistant coaches, and later teammate Randy Foye, because their head coach Vinny Del Negro was long gone. The Clippers’ main man chastised his team for a complete lack of aggression, stating that they were out-manned by a team that happened to be on the second night of a back-to-back. Del Negro wouldn’t categorize the team’s effort as complacency — something that could have easily set in following the announcement of Kyrie Irving’s absence — but his team, on this night, was clearly the less physical. [Read more...]

Anderson Varejao: The Fans Make me Feel Like I’m From Cleveland

Since I got to Cleveland, the fans have taken to me. I didn’t speak any English, but every time I would get in a game, I felt like I had somebody behind me, helping and motivating me. The fans did that for me when I got here. And now that they know me, I just want to thank them for everything they’ve done for me. [...] I feel like my football team is the Browns, my basketball team is the Cavs, and my baseball team is the Indians. That’s all I know. I feel like I’m from here.

- Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao following the team’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Varejao finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

[Related: Revisiting the Anderson Varejao Trade Discussion]

Tired and Short-Handed Cavaliers Try to Bounce Back vs Chris Paul and the Clippers

Chris Paul has made a huge impact on the Clippers

***UPDATE: Daniel Gibson will play and will start tonight against the Clippers. So kindly disregard comments below about Gibson likely not playing.

***UPDATE #2: Kyrie Irving has concussion like symptoms and will not play tonight. Great. Just great.  

The Cleveland Cavaliers (9-14, 10th in the East) begin their longest home stand of the season Wednesday night as the new Los Angeles Clippers (15-7, 2nd in the West) visit The Q.

This is certainly a matchup that is not lacking for storylines. Chris Paul playing his old coach and mentor, Byron Scott. Kyrie Irving vs one of the players he seems to be compared to a lot in Chris Paul. Mo Williams making his return to Cleveland.

Beyond the storylines, though, I expect a rough night for the Cavaliers. The Clippers, though on the 3rd game of a road trip, are well rested having had the previous night off. The Cavaliers played shorthanded in Miami last night, ran up and down the court at a frantic pace for much of the game, and then had to fly back home. [Read more...]

WFNY Photo Contest: Winner Gets Tickets to Cavs-Clippers

We have the fortune of having come across a pair of tickets to the Cavaliers’ upcoming contest against Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and the rest of the Los Angeles Clippers set to go down on February 8, and we want you to have them.

In a bit of a twist, however, we won’t be asking for haikus or answers to sports-related questions.  This one will take a bit of extra effort.  Gather ’round… [Read more...]

The Boots: Cavs Future, 2011 NBA Draft, Basketball Parity, Carmelo’s Knicks

The Boots are my method of applauding or criticizing various newsworthy events in the world of sports. The word “Boot” refers to a torturous childhood nickname, and thus, now serves as my own personal sports writing payback. More of these features can be found with the University of Dayton’s Flyer News, and topics for future articles can be sent to tips@waitingfornextyear.com.

Boot Up: Building Blocks – There’s no question in my mind that last week’s trade with the Los Angeles Clippers assured the Cleveland Cavaliers of a more straight-forward rebuild process. Yes, you can go ahead and read Kelly Dwyer’s drivel all you want, but you really can’t afford to contradict yourself so many times.

Dwyer makes the point that Mo Williams should have been traded months ago, but then he’s overweight anyway. He says Baron Davis is a team cancer, but that he will actually be a major aspect of the Cavs’ future. That’s my criticism for Dwyer because it’s simply obvious that Davis is not a long-term solution to anything here in Cleveland. [Read more...]

Developing News: Clippers Trade Not Yet Official… More Picks Coming?

(The LA Times later reported this morning that Baron Davis did indeed pass his physical. He is expected to play for Cleveland tonight.)

The recent trade between the Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers still has not been declared official as of Sunday at 9 a.m., according to multiple news sources.

Reports, including those from ESPNLA.com, indicate that the MRI knee results from new Cavs point guard Baron Davis are potentially taking a little longer to process than normal. While the Clippers are currently not worried about the trade passing completely by today’s 5 p.m. deadline, rumors are circulating that Cleveland could be in position to request more pieces in the deal.

Ben Maller was one of many outlets to cite from sources saying that the Cavs still might ask for additional draft picks in the final workings of this deal. Stay tuned for any more updates as the day continues here at WFNY. Mo Williams and Jamario Moon supposedly passed their physicals Friday, but had not played in the past two L.A. games because of this final complication with the trade.

(Photo above via AP File)

Per Byron Scott, Baron Davis is Saying All the Right Things

Though those close to Baron Davis have told many members of the media that the veteran point guard is unhappy with his trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the two-time All-Star (!) is saying all of the right things to his new head coach.

During Friday morning’s shootaround, Byron Scott said that his reunion with Davis appears to be getting off on the correct foot despite the Cavaliers sitting at 10-47 on the season. 

[Read more...]

Cavaliers Take Major Step In Rebuilding Process With Mo Williams Trade

Not many teams have had much sympathy for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season. After a couple seasons of racking up the NBA’s best record and players dancing on the bench as the team executed blow out after blow out, teams were licking their chops this year to exact some revenge on the LeBron-less Cavaliers.

When it comes to the Los Angeles Clippers, though, they seemed to be feeling quite charitable towards our beloved Cavaliers. First, they were kind enough to give the Cavaliers the win to snap the infamous losing streak. Now, it appears they have decided to give the Cavaliers a 2011 top-10 draft pick.

The move comes as somewhat of a surprise, as many of us were bracing ourselves for the Cavaliers to stand pat and not make any moves. As is often the case with the Cavaliers, though, moves come out of nowhere when you least expect them. [Read more...]

2010-11 NBA Blogger Previews – Pacific Division

Yep, it’s that time of year again already. Once again, CleticsBlog are hosting the annual Blogger Previews for every team in the NBA. How this works is simple, every day a certain NBA team is up and bloggers who write about said team will offer their previews for that team in the upcoming season. Then, once a division is completed, all the bloggers throughout the NBA who are participating will post links for all the previews for that division.

Next up is the Pacific Division. All the previews are linked below, and I encourage everyone to take a few minutes, click on the links, and check out what writers from across the nation are saying about their own teams. We will be posting the Cavaliers preview later today, so stay tuned. [Read more...]

The Financial Impact of LeBron James

Behind the scenes we get barraged with emails from a variety of strange sources.  The strangest of all of them is when we get an email from someone who has interests directly opposite of ours as Cleveland sports fans.  People create things and in an attempt to promote them, they not only send them to sympathetic sites, but also to sites that are likely to be ticked off about it.  The thinking in this internet age is that all hits are good hits when looking to make something go “viral.”  That isn’t really how we operate here.  Even during the football season when we look for takes from opposing teams’ blogs, it is about the analysis more than trash talk or getting in each others’ faces.  To the point, yesterday we got a video and a campaign from New York’s Mayor Bloomberg looking for attention.  I am mentioning it only because one of the pieces of information caught my attention.  Part of Bloomberg’s campaign indicates that NYC estimates the financial impact of LeBron going to New York would be about $3.6 million per year and as much as $57.8 million if he helped deliver a championship.  That had me thinking. [Read more...]

While We’re Waiting… The Clippers Plan, Immortal Omar and Fighting Irish-Big Ten Rumors

While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com

LeBron James Mo Williams_med

Clippers can Dunleavy, do not name replacement: “It’s one reason the Clippers are likely to leave both their head-coaching position and the general manager position open until after the start of free agency July 1. Neil Olshey, presently the assistant general manager, will run basketball operations, until a replacement is named.

The Clippers, according to another source within the organization, are hoping to persuade [LeBron] James to come if he also can pick his coach, and possibly his general manager.” [Tim Potvak/NBA FanHouse]

[Read more...]

Summer Free Agents 2010: Are NBA Teams Relying Upon This Too Much?

95705409JM187_2010_NBA_All_This Web site has yet to directly address the impending doom that is the salary cap space of the several teams in the Summer of 2010 until right now. Analyzing how recent NBA finalists have reached the promised land however, it shows how planning through and relying upon the free agency period is not common at all.

What I did for this study was to look at the past 10 franchises that made the journey to the NBA Finals. Franchises that did not make the Finals are not worthy of this discussion since that is certainly the goal of the Cleveland Cavaliers currently as well as the teams aiming to spend big in the summer of 2010. From these 10 teams, I analyzed all of the various players on their playoff roster as well as the number of minutes each one of these individuals played. What this does is to get an introductory look into how successful playoff teams are built over the course of time. The results give us a hint about how successful teams in the NBA generally treat free agency.
[Read more...]

NBA Trade Deadline Day: Cavs Trade for Antawn Jamison – Timeline

Antawn JamisonThe Cavaliers have dominated nearly every minute of the Cleveland headlines for the past week without playing a game.  The week was one of the more hectic and tense weeks of the LeBron James era as the Cavs sought a trade to improve for their championship run this spring while also considering the underlying specter of LeBron’s impending free agency.  At 6PM Wednesday, the week came to a climax when the Cavs completed a trade for Antawn Jamison.  Let’s take a look at how the trade for Jamison developed and materialized over the course of Wednesday.

By Tuesday night, things had seemingly reached a plateau of serenity relative to the rest of this past week.  The Cavs had allegedly put their cards on the table and were waiting for a call back from Steve Kerr and the Phoenix Suns.  The Cavs were believed to have offered Z, JJ Hickson, one other peripheral player, and a draft pick for Amar’e Stoudemire. 

[Read more...]

Clippers at Cavs: Open Thread #49

LeBron ClippersThe Clippers head to Cleveland tonight for a 6:00 pm contest. It will be a rematch of a hotly contested game from a few weeks ago as the Cavaliers look for a season-best eight-game winning streak. Share your thoughts on tonight’s unfolding events here on the blog. With a win tonight, the Cavs would improve their lead in the Eastern Conference to as many as 6.5 games. Boston takes on the Lakers today, so hopefully the team can keep up their impressive play at the Q and dominate the lowly Clips tonight.
[Read more...]

While We’re Waiting… Bill Simmons on the Cavs, Pedro Rumors, and LBJ’s Playing Time

While We’re Waiting aims to be the round-up of the recent WFNY-esque information for your morning viewing. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email in the sidebar.

mo-williams-clippers

The Sports Guy speaks about watching LeBron and Mo’s fourth quarter against the Clippers: “I can’t even describe how bummed out my section was, but let’s try: Ever been sitting on the airport runway for a few minutes and have the pilot blindside you with, “Hey folks, some bad news, the weather got worse, we’re gonna have to go back to the gate and wait this out for a couple of hours before we take off …” and everyone collectively groans in disbelief and agony? That’s what the Clippers fans were like. And let the record show that Pilot Mike Dunleavy was making the announcement.” [Bill Simmons/Page2]

[Read more...]

While We’re Waiting… More on Shaun Rogers, Celtics Lose to Clippers, and a Delonte West Injury Update

While We’re Waiting aims to be the round-up of the recent WFNY-esque information for your morning viewing. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email in the sidebar.

Another thought on the Shaun Rogers/Eric Mangini issue: “The NFL collective bargaining agreement ends at the end of the 2010 season. This brings some uncertainty to free agency and the dollars teams will be able to spend. The threat of Lockout by the Owners is making agents and players approaching their peak earning years very, very nervous. Players are looking to cash in now under the current agreement. Rogers may just be the first in line of players looking to opt out and sign a short term, high guaranteed dollar contract, vs. a long term, high total dollar contract. (notice the Nnamde Asomugha contract. Biggest contract in the NFL. HUGE dollars in the first two years, all guaranteed, with a club option for the third year. If the CBA changes the salary cap structure, the Raiders can opt out of the top contract in the league in year 3).” [Shaver Sports]

[Read more...]

The Cleveland Cavaliers Trade Options

Cleveland Cavaliers
The NBA trade deadline is tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 pm EST. As we get closer and closer to that deadline, we are going to be hearing more and more rumors swirling around. It’s obviously going to be the dominant topic of the next couple days, so we figured it would be beneficial for us to take an updated look at what the Cavaliers’ salary situation for the next couple years might look like, to give us a better understanding of what the Cavaliers’ options truly are.    [Read more...]

Cavaliers Flip the Script: Strong Second Half Leads to Win Over the Clippers

Who has two thumbs and is on fire?  This Guy! (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)

Who has two thumbs and is on fire? This Guy! (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)

Cavaliers 112, Clippers 95 [box]

After being shot out of the building in Orlando, the Cavaliers took a trip back to The Q to take on the Los Angeles Clippers.  While this was supposed to be Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ welcome back party, the Clips were also improving in terms of health with Baron Davis and Marcus Camby feeling better than they were a few days ago.  I’m never a big fan of back-to-back games with traveling involved (who is?), but on paper this one looked like it was going to be alright.

At least until about half way through the first quarter.

The Cavaliers came out firing on all cylinders, converting on their first seven possessions.  Cruising out to a lead of 20-4, it looked like this one was going to be in the bag before the halftime show took center stage.  However, it took a quick turn once LeBron James was whistled for his second foul in the first period.  King James took the bench (along with Ilgauskas, whom I assume the team did not want to give too man consecutive minutes) and the Clippers started to mount a comeback thanks to Eric Gordon and Steve Novak.

[Read more...]