LeBron James once again took over in the fourth quarter scoring 23 of his game high 37 points in those 12 minutes of play. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers it wasn’t enough, as the Pelicans took the game in overtime 114-108.
The Cavaliers took a 105-102 lead after two James’ free throws with 15 seconds left in the ball game. With how dominant the Cavs were in the fourth quarter along with the Pelicans going cold on offense, it was almost certain that James and company would escape New Orleans with a win.
Jrue Holiday of the Pelicans had other plans. With eight ticks left on the game clock Holiday, who was guarded by Matthew Dellavedova, got the ball off of a Tyreke Evans pass. Holiday took a dribble to his left while Dellavedova stumbled trying to steal the ball, pulled up and sunk the game tying shot. James had a decent look over Dante Cunningham but his step back jumper didn’t fall.
In overtime, the Cavalier offense went cold while Anthony Davis took over for New Orleans. Davis alone outscored the Cavs 6-3 and led the Pelicans to their fifth win of the season.
Losing two straight to teams under .500 most definitely isn’t a good look, especially for a team that has expectations from almost everyone to win a championship this year, but the Pelicans aren’t a walk in the park. They were a playoff team last year in the competitive Western Conference and have battled injuries throughout the start of this young NBA season. Tonight against the Cavs was one of the few times this season they were a healthy team and we saw what the Pelicans can do.
Here’s 4 takeaways from the game:
David Blatt may be planning for Kyrie Irving‘s return:
Earlier in the week Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reported that Irving was a full participant in practice. There’s still no specific return date for Uncle Drew but David Blatt might already be planning for it. Tonight, Mo Williams was moved to the second unit and Dellavedova was called up to the starting five.
When Irving comes back into the scheme of things, Williams will move to the bench for good and Dellavedova will most likely turn into a rotation player. This is all just speculation but it makes sense that Blatt will allow Williams to get some playing time with the second unit with Irving’s return potentially happening soon.
Williams finished his first game off the bench scoring 8 points on 4/10 shooting and 3 assists in 23 minutes. Dellavedova scored 8 points on 3/5 shooting (2/3 3p) and 4 assists in 42 minutes.
JR Smith is still very inconsistent:
JR Smith looked like he was going to have himself a game to remember. He shot 5/8 from the field but three point land was where all his points came from. Smith caught fire from deep on 5/7 shooting and scored a career high 15 points. Smith was the main ingredient of the Cavaliers’ early lead of the Pelicans.
After his sensational first quarter Smith came back down to Earth. He would go on to shoot 1/6 from the field (1/5 3p) in the next three quarters and overtime. In a close game like this you need all the help you can get and Smith did his part for one quarter but couldn’t come through later in the game.
He’s known as being a very streaker shooter and can go off for 15 points in a blink of an eye like he did against the Pelicans or draining eight 3 pointers like he did against the Atlanta Hawks in the playoffs last year. He’s also known to have very bad shooting nights like he did from the second quarter on.
Smith finished the game with 18 points on 6/14 shooting (6/13 from 3p) in 37 minutes.
Kevin Love disappeared in the second half:
James told the reporters that Kevin Love would be the focal point of the Cavaliers offense earlier in the year. Throughout the season James’ statement hasn’t been false. It’s been clear to anyone watching that Love has been getting more plays run for him and more opportunities to score the ball.
Tonight in the first half that trend continued.
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Love took a team high 11 shots and converted on 5 of them. He went into the locker room at halftime with 12 points and five boards. Another solid first half from the second year Cav. When he went into the locker room at the end of the game, his point tally only climbed four more spots while attempting five more shots. Love finished the game with 16 points on 6/16 shooting (0/5 3p) and 10 rebounds.
James taking over in the fourth had something to do with this drop off in shots, but there’s still no reason why a player of Love’s caliber is only taking five shots in the second half and overtime. He should be getting at least five shots a quarter. Love did struggle with his jump shot, including missing back to back wide open three’s, but that’s still no excuse to only give him five shots in 29 minutes.
This hasn’t been an issue for the Cavaliers too much this season but a trend like this can’t stick around.
Anthony Davis scared everyone:
With 4:07 left in the second quarter, Davis rolled his ankle on Timofey Mozgov and went down instantly. Davis immediately grabbed his ankle on the ground in severe pain. The injury looked much worse than what actually happened. He’d walk off on his on power and go out back in the locker room to test it out. With 2:29 left in the second Davis returned to the lineup and continued on like nothing happened.
Pelicans’ fans have witnessed Davis go down with injuries throughout his young four year career. Most recently was a knee injury he suffered against the Los Angeles Clippers on November 27th. Thankfully for Pelicans and NBA fans across the world Davis just suffered a sprained ankle against the Cavaliers and nothing more serious.
Stat lines of the night:
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LeBron James: 37 points on 13/29 (10-11 FT), 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 45 minutes
Kevin Love: 15 points on 6/16, 10 rebounds, 37 minutes
JR Smith: 18 points on 6/14 (6/13 3p), 37 minutes
Anthony Davis: 31 points on 13/22, 12 rebounds, 46 minutes
Eric Gordon: 19 points on 7/9 (4/5 3p), 31 minutes
Ryan Anderson: 18 points on 5/12 (2/6 3p) (6/7 FT), 32 minutes
Next Opponent:
The Cavaliers travel to Miami to take face off agains the Heat on December 6th at 8:00pm ET