Cleveland Cavaliers must make a trade is all rematch with Dubs proved
As the Cleveland Cavaliers got their yearly home match against the Golden State Warriors on Monday night, the only meaningful takeaway is that the Cavs must make a trade.
The Cleveland Cavaliers put their best foot forward against the Golden State Warriors, and it still wasn’t enough. Following a seven-point halftime lead, the Cavs were outscored by nine and then seven in the third and fourth respectively, taking a ten-point home loss to the defending champs.
After taking a quick glance at the box scores, there is a handful of telling stats that can sufficiently define the Cavs problem.
For starters, they shot 7-for-28 from deep. Shooting 25% from deep will not cut it against a dynamic offense and defense like Golden State’s.
Secondly, the Warriors recorded seven more assists. If you watched the game, it was obvious on several occasions that the Warriors offense was much more selfless than the Cavs. Five Warriors shot the ball over ten times. Compare that to Cleveland’s three, and it’s clear that the Warriors were able to space out and distribute the ball more frequently.
Thirdly, Kevin Love was not used adequately while Isaiah Thomas led the team in shots. Thomas was playing just his fifth game in the wine & gold uniforms and is already leading the team in shots.
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On top of that, Thomas was the only starter to shoot under 40% from the field. He shot more, missed more, and struggles to defend. Even if he’s still shaking the dust off, it’s time Thomas found his spot on the team, and it’s certainly not shooting the rock 20+ times.
Fourthly, LeBron James put up 32 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Although he had 8 turnovers, it’s hard to ask for a better game from the King. The King can’t do much better, and he knew that which explains why he is frustrated, and that leads us to the title of our article.
After this loss, a trade will happen. When? Not even Altman may know that quite yet, but to stay in contention it’s inevitable. And, according to Jordan Zirm, a reporter that covers the Cavs for ESPN Cleveland, LBJ was not happy following their ten point loss.
An unhappy LeBron will quickly translate to the front office.
But, what will the front office do? The better question is: What can the front office do?
DeAndre Jordan is obviously on the table, but would that even be enough? That could certainly help the Cavs interior defense, but against Golden State, that might not fix much. In this recent matchup, they actually outscored the Warriors by 16 in the paint, and Tristan Thompson was actually one of the team’s most effective players, securing four offensive rebounds in 15 minutes.
From a personal observation, it seems the Warriors ended up playing their death lineup fewer minutes against the Cavs. As a matter of fact, Looney, Bell, and West combined for 42 minutes.
At the end of the night, the lineups of Green, Curry, Durant, Iguodala, and Young/Thompson did not combine for more than five minutes of play. If the Warriors continue this type of play, Jordan could come in and be a huge factor, but it would cost them at least Thompson and a pick.
Would that be worth it?
On the opposite end, there are players like Kent Bazemore and Evan Fournier that could be replacements for JR Smith that might actually contribute.
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Either way, the Cavaliers struggle against Golden State with a fully healthy team proved one thing: This team has several holes needing to be filled.
That said, if I were you, I’d watch out for the next several days as the trade deadline continues to inch closer.