Cavs Lose: 3 Things We Learned Plus 1
The Cleveland Cavaliers got handled last night by the Washington Wizards. 3 Things, plus 1, We Learned.
The Cavs just didn’t have it last night and struggled with the Wizards. Before the season, this result wouldn’t be a huge surprise. The Wizards were expected to compete for a high seed in the Eastern Conference with their talented core of John Wall and Bradley Beal joined by a group of solid players around them.
Instead, after their win last night, the Wizards are still under .500 at 7 – 8 and in 11th place in the East. They have a negative 4.7 point differential, compared to the Cavs at positive 5.5. Their offense isn’t consistent and their defense has been the worst in the East.
Here are 3 Things We Learned, plus 1 interesting question:
1. Timofey Mozgov Isn’t the Same
Timo was a huge part of what the Cavs became last year. His huge size was perfect on both ends of the floor. He had enough quickness to move across the lane to be a good weakside defender as well as to attack the rim on offense. LeBron James talked about how Mozgov’s size gave him a lot of hope when the Cavs acquired him.
This season, due to injury and being out of shape, Timo’s quickness has been sapped, his hands continue to be a problem on offense and his shooting has gotten worse as well.
Last night he only played 9 minutes with 2 rebounds, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls. While the Wizards went small often, like the Golden State Warriors did to Timo, Mozgov’s play was poor. If/when healthy, Mozgov should be used to punish smaller teams on offense, to guard the rim on drives and to match-up with big teams.
Last night it was clear he isn’t there at this point. Hopefully he can get there.
2. Speed Kills
Something that can’t be seen in a box score is just how much faster the Wiz were than the Cavs. Wall, Beal and the rest of the Wizards small ball lineup were able to get up and down the court on the Cavs, rotate quickly on defense while still having time to recover and keep the Cavs off balance. The Cavs turned the ball over 18 times, many due to Washington’s speed.
Besides LeBron, the Cavs have no other elite speed guys in their regular rotation. J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson have good speed for their positions and Jared Cunningham, who played 1 minute last night, has exceptional speed but doesn’t play much.
The return of Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert will help in this aspect for the Cavs but speed was one of the problems against the Warriors.
Cavs, and their fans, also can’t assume Irving and Shumpert will fix all of their problems.
3. Live and Die by the Jumper
The Cavs shot horribly last night. They missed 21 of their 30 shots from deep, a measly 30%. While that is bad, they also only shot 34% from the floor overall. Many of those shots came on jumpers, runners or off balance turnarounds.
The Cavs should have tried to pound the small ball Wizards down low but were not able to take advantage. Shooting percentage is a key mark for how the Cavs offense is doing. The Cavs vacillated between isolation and frantic, pointless ball and player movement.
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The Cavs, especially LeBron, have been playing some heavy minutes. Maybe that is taking its toll on the team’s legs and in turn their shooting. Irving’s return should help but the Cavs need to be able to adjust their plans when their jump shots are not falling.
Plus 1 Question
How will the Cavs, specifically LeBron James, respond to this loss?
The Cavs are 13 – 5 and are still the #1 seed in the East. Yet the team has reacted, or overreacted, to every loss. Team meetings, changing up pre-game rituals and calling out the team’s effort have been some of the reactions to losses so far this season.
So how will they (over)react to this loss?
What are your thoughts on the Cavs loss last night?