It has been a tough week for the Cleveland Cavaliers. After a horrid showing against the Memphis Grizzlies, the squad was able to fight back and secure a hard fought victory over the Kings.
Like most of the Cavs’ games this week, this one didn’t go all to plan either. Early in the third quarter, the Cavs found themselves down by double digits, and it looked like they were about to drop yet another game in Sacramento. However, Cleveland was able to fight back in the second half on the back of an all-round great team effort.
Here’s three things we learned in the Cavs 120-111 win over Sacramento:
1. The Cavs Have Fun Again
While the Cavaliers have comfortably led the Eastern Conference for most of this season, one thing has been lacking: their joy for the game. Often, the Cavs have appeared to be stressed out about the game rather than actually enjoying each other’s company out on the court. However, today we saw glimpses of the fun Cavs of last year.
With the Cavs clinging onto a slender 111-108 lead, Kyrie Irving drove into the paint and drew three Kings towards him, leaving Kevin Love wide open in the right corner. Love has been mired in a woeful shooting slump of late, and had only made just one of his seven three-point shots in the game. Despite this, Love stepped into the shot with confidence, knocking it down while being fouled by Darren Collison. What followed was an epic celebration from all five Cavs players in the game. Even Love, who has an incredibly stoic demeanour on the court pumped his fist and yelled.
Kevin Love converts 4 point play gets love from his Cavs teammates pic.twitter.com/kNpg9dMo76
— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) March 10, 2016
A few plays later, JR Smith effectively sealed the game hitting another long-range bomb. The basket caused the Kings to call a timeout and in-turn brought out JR Smith’s vintage air guitar celebration, with a twist. This time Kyrie Irving joined Smith in strumming the air strings. While this may seem pretty trivial, the simple fact is that the Cavs haven’t looked like they have enjoyed each other’s company for a long, long time. It’s been a really difficult week for the Cavaliers both on and off the court. From LeBron #DVC tweets to all of the rumours that have surrounded this team, it’s great to see the guys genuinely amped up about a comeback road victory.
2. Kyrie Carries the Load
One staple of Tyronn Lue‘s rotations so far has been the tendency to play Kyrie Irving with four reserves while LeBron James gets his customary breaks at the beginning of the second and fourth quarters. Irving has been excellent in these periods, aggressively looking for his shot or creating for his team-mates.
With 1.49 remaining in the third quarter and the Cavs leading 81-80, LeBron exited the game and was replaced by Iman Shumpert. With LeBron out of the game, Kyrie simply took over, driving to the basket for a layup before hitting two consecutive threes to give the Cavs a five point cushion heading into the fourth quarter.
By the time LeBron re-entered the game with 8.56 left in the fourth quarter, Kyrie had scored 14 points and more crucially, the Cavaliers had managed to extend their lead to a margin of four points with LeBron on the bench.
It’s no secret that the Cavaliers’ bench lacks a scoring punch, especially with the absence of Mo Williams. Therefore, playing Irving with this unit makes a lot of sense and ensures that the Cavs can at least break even with opposing benches while James sits.
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3. Tristan Thompson‘s Huge Game
With Timofey Mozgov a late scratch, a large part of the Cavs’ fortunes lay on the ability of Tristan Thompson to control Kings’ behemoth, DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins has been a dominant force on the offensive end and Thompson was more than up to the challenge. While Cousins did finish with 29 points and 11 rebounds, he made just eight of his 22 field-goal attempts with Thompson bothering many of his shots.
Thompson was terrific on the boards, grabbing 15 rebounds, seven of them on the offensive end. The Cavs were able to gain control of the game largely through their ability to get second chances, especially in the second half, and Thompson was vital in that. Thompson also added 18 points and shot an impressive 6-8 from the free-throw line.
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Much fuss was made about Thompson’s $82 million contract in the off-season, but it’s fair to say that the Cavaliers would be in dire straits without their big man.
The win over the Kings gives the Cavaliers a record of 45-18 as they head to Los Angeles to play the suddenly surging Lakers. Assuming both of them play, this will be the final time Kobe Bryant and LeBron James ever step on a basketball court together. The Cavs will be hoping kick start a long winning streak with a victory at the Staples Center.