Cavs News: Intensity lacking, Bickerstaff concerns, Tatum’s big shot

It’s safe to say the Cleveland Cavaliers need to rebound after Friday night’s blowout loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta had 81 first half points in that outing, and the Cavs looked out of sorts for much of the game, en route to a 136-119 defeat.

It’s evident this Cavaliers team still has some things they have to work through, and as still a mostly young group, one can’t necessarily be shocked by that.

The Wine and Gold has to get it going again, though, and there’s at least plenty of reason to expect them to.

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The Cavaliers are in good stead here, but it’s not been a great start to post-All-Star play. That Hawks game was probably their worst game of the season, and multiple players, such as Jarrett Allen and Donovan Mitchell, postgame discussed how the team had a lack of intensity; that was not the kind of game they need right now.

The Cavaliers have to get back to their winning ways here, and with the talent they have, and meaningful vet leaders, they should be able to. But it’s got to happen quickly, as there’s 19 games left in the regular season, and the postseason essentially starts now for the Wine and Gold in an East with so many teams jockeying for position.

J.B. Bickerstaff has helped this Cavaliers squad progress through an extensive rebuild in recent years, and he’s part of the reason why players such as Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen have developed into being pillars for the team. Bickerstaff deserves credit for bringing still a very young team along over the course of his tenure, and for the team’s defensive transformation.

Nonetheless, it’s fair to say that he can improve in some areas, and there’s learning experiences he himself needs to go through still, too.

That said, he’ll always have his detractors among the Cavs fan base, and some will continually question whether he can bring this team to contender status. One of those fans is KJG’s own John Suchan, who recently expressed two key reasons to be concerned about the Cavs’ guidance looking onward with Bickerstaff at head coach.

Bickerstaff and the team need to iron some stuff out here, and soon. But objectively, the Cavaliers still have the talent and foundation to be just fine in the closing stretch.

NBA news

Last night, two of the East’s best in the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers squared off in Philly, and it was a back-and-forth contest that featured some big shots down the stretch.

Jaylen Brown did his part with 26 points, and despite some uneven offense for Boston down the stretch, role pieces did step up for them at some key times. Derrick White had 18 points off the bench, and was a plus-25, for instance, and the Celtics hit 16 triples.

Meanwhile, the Sixers got another incredible performance from Joel Embiid, who finished with 41 points, to go with 12 rebounds and five assists. Ultimately, though, Jayson Tatum’s big shot with 1.3 seconds left would decide this highly-contested game.

However, while that would decide the contest, Embiid canned a 70-footer, but it was just after the buzzer. It was still a heck of an ending, and the big fella is truly something else.

As for other notable outcomes from Saturday, the Milwaukee Bucks won their whopping 13th straight game, and Toronto Raptors snagged their fourth straight win.

Next Up: The Cavs will face the Raptors at home on Sunday evening in what’s the second leg of a back-to-back for Toronto.