The LeBron-less Cleveland Cavaliers needed to play tough defense down the stretch to escape with a 99-98 win against the Dallas Mavericks at the Quicken Loans Arena. Coach Tyronn Lue had decided beforehand that he would rest some of his starters this week with a three-games-in-four-nights stretch that included two road games.
The first of the three games was a narrow escape from the eighth-seeded Mavs who have lost six of their last seven games. The team had a very good rhythm going in the second and third quarters when the Cavs led by as much as 20 in each of those quarters.
Without LeBron the past two seasons, Cleveland is 4-12 which wasn’t lost in the minds of the rest of the Cavs.t
The Cavs also led 84-68 heading into the fourth quarter before a furious rally made the final score very close. If not for Kyrie Irving’s late steal and two missed open threes by the Mavs, it would have been another example of the Cavs’ lack of maturity in closing out games.
Without LeBron the past two seasons, Cleveland is 4-12 which wasn’t lost in the minds of the rest of the Cavs.
Here are three things we learned from the game:
Kyrie can win ball games but…
For much of the first three quarters, Kyrie was getting his way with the Mavs defense. The shooting which was lost in the last game versus the Utah Jazz returned as Irving shredded the Mavs D with slashing drives to the hoop and impeccable shooting from the perimeter and beyond. He finished the game with 33 points which included two clutch free throws to stave off the Mavs’ comeback attempt at the end.
At the same time, Irving made two key defensive plays that prevented Dallas from scoring easily on their end down the stretch with a huge block and then an enormous steal against Dirk Nowitzki.
Game over and Irving was the Cavs hero.
However, inasmuch as Kyrie led the team to a win, he very nearly cost the Cavs a victory as well.
He missed seven shots in the fourth and committed two costly turnovers. Many of those missed shots were from contested shots as he went one-on-one several times. And even during times when he didn’t turn the ball over he would lose the handle only to recover it after his opponent nearly stole it from him.
He finished with a single assist in a game where he had complete control of the offense with James out of the way. Kyrie has a lot of learning to do if he wants to move up to the level of franchise player.
Too many times when the ball is in his hands, he makes the poor decision to attack when he should have passed and moved without the ball. When he did it once in the fourth, it resulted in a basket to his benefit.
Kevin Love needs more touches down low
If they didn’t know by now, the Cavs discovered how valuable Love is in the post. Last night was an example of what happens when K-Love gets the touches that he used to get in Minnesota with the Timberwolves—he scores with the best of them.
Finishing the game with 23 points and 18 monster rebounds, Love showed fans and his critics how powerful he still is offensively when given the right amount of opportunities to shoot the ball.
He took 19 shots, the most he has taken since he also shot 19, ironically against this same Mavericks team, back in January 12. Without LeBron, he had plenty of quality shots as he got the position he wanted on the floor closer to the basket instead of simply staying out on the perimeter for a catch-and-shoot.
Let’s hope that Coach Lue has finally discovered how to fully utilize Love’s talents from here on.
Cavs ball movement leads to points/assists
From the first to the third quarters, Cleveland was passing the ball around well which led to most of their shots resulting in a basket after a beautiful assist from a teammate. Scoring was easier to come by as the ball moved effortlessly from one Cavalier to another.
The Cavs finished with 21 assists on 39 made field goals, which meant that more than 50% of their baskets were off of a pass from one of their teammates.
That all changed in the fourth as the Cavs’ offense became either stagnant or too predictable as the Mavs capitalized on the miscues from the home team. Even without James, they are resorting to isolations and one-on-one plays to get them a basket with the game on the line.
That has to change with or without James.
The Cavs finished with 21 assists on 39 made field goals, which meant that more than 50% of their baskets were off of a pass from one of their teammates. 19 of those came from the work they put in during the first three quarters. That was nearly non-existent in the fourth as they only accumulated two in the deciding quarter.
This game is just another example for the team that when the ball moves around, good things happen.
NOTES:
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Broadcasting Blunder
Now for the lighter side of the game, there was a hilarious moment at the broadcasting booth during the game last night.
Late in the third quarter, after a pick-and-roll between Matthew Dellavedova and Channing Frye resulted in a basket, long-time Cavaliers color commentator and former player Austin Carr was so happy that he couldn’t put the right words in.
He said, “He (Delly) loves that move! You let him turn that corner he looks for the lob or the…or the pass…uh…to the…double team.”