Yikes. That week…did not go as planned. The Cavaliers came back down to earth in a disappointing week that saw them go 0-3 and look nothing like the Championship caliber team that they did in the first few weeks of the season. Going into the week, at 13-2, Cleveland was on pace to win 71 games. While a 70 win season doesn’t seem likely, due to its historic nature, watching the Cavs drop three in a row the way that they did didn’t seem likely, either. Let’s take a look at what happened.
The Games
The Cavs took on a young Milwaukee Bucks team in their building on Tuesday, and Giannis and company essentially beat the Cavs into submission. Defense was the major problem. There were many lapses in communication, and failures to rotate appropriately that allowed Milwaukee to punish Cavalier bigs along the baseline all night long to the tune of 68 (!) points in the paint. Couple that with a 20 turnover night that allowed the Bucks to score 20 fast break points (!) and roughly 75% of their points came from either fast breaks, or buckets in the paint. Giannis Antetokounmpo put in a virtuoso performance, scorching the Cavs with 34/12/5, and threw in five steals for good measure. He was a menace as the ball handler on pick and rolls, and took advantage of a careless defensive attitude to make plays for his guys, and be the best player on the floor. I’m not going to get into JR hugging Jason Terry, or the post game interview, aside to say that they were symptomatic of a lazy disposition that permeated all four quarters of play.
The Cavs started the game against the Clippers on Thursday looking much more engaged, taking advantage of the Clippers “Always Switch” philosophy on the defensive end. Kevin Love got some good looks early, knocked them down, and things appeared under control. And then…the second unit came in, everything fell apart, and things started to feel a lot like the Bucks game. LA bigs demolished the Cavaliers on the glass, out-rebounding them by a +10 margin, and snagging 14 offensive rebounds. Kyrie Irving looked fantastic, putting up 28 points on 8/19 from the floor, but contributed little else in the way of play-making, or defensive pressure. Cleveland assisted on merely 12 of their 28 field goals. DeAndre Jordan had 15 rebounds, and looked like the DPOY candidate that he is. Simply, the ball didn’t move, JR and Shumpert were awful, and once things started going wrong, it seemed like the white flag went up.
Friday’s tilt against a feisty, if inconsistent, Bulls team was a bit better. The ball appeared to move better, and when things went wrong, nobody simply stopped playing. They shot well (54.2%, and 38.5% from deep) and the perimeter defense was much better. However, all of that was overshadowed, once again, by a turnover spree (20 on the night) and a lack of interior defensive presence. The Bulls abused the Cavs underneath, to the tune of 78 points in the paint, or 70% of their total point output. Rajon Rondo hopped in the time machine and posted a triple double, and Jimmy Butler, despite going 8/20 from the floor continued to show that he is, without a doubt, one of the top five two way players we have in the league.
This Week
The week starts off with a Toronto team that is playing really great basketball, and is doing so a bit under the radar. That will happen when two of the top three teams hit a slide that gets publicity, and the Warriors continue to drub almost everyone, every time they take the floor. Winners of six in a row by an average of 23 points per game in during the streak, DeRozan and Lowry walk into Monday’s game just a half game back of the Cavs for the number one spot in the East. DeRozan is still averaging 27.9 PPG, and Kyle Lowry is getting over seven assists a night. They run their offense efficiently, quickly, and execute meticulously. A terror on transition, Cleveland will look to lock them down by hitting the offensive glass harder with one or two guys, while dropping back the other three players whenever they can. If they can continue to great scheme against DeRozan from last time, and take care of the ball, things will be fine.
On Wednesday, the Cavs get another look at a New York team that is playing much better than I expected. I had anticipated a ball-centric guard like Rose, and a mostly strange roster, to inhibit and stunt the development of Kristaps Porzingis. Well…it has not. He continues to be the most watchable thing about the Knicks, a ton of fun to root for, and a menace on both ends. Carmelo is still Carmelo, but it appears that he genuinely likes his teammates, and seems to be more willing to share the ball. The key here is keeping Rose out of the paint, and not sagging off on pick and rolls. They’ll have to switch most of the time, and show hard from the block out onto shooters in pin down situations in order to keep things under control. Helping the helper will be huge. Once that show occurs, someone has to watch the weak side baseline, or they’ll pick apart the Wine And Gold like Milwaukee did.
Speaking of playing large and rotating underneath, Hassan Whiteside and Miami could pose an issue in that regard. Whiteside is putting up an astronomical 18 PPG, 15 RPG, and a shade under three blocks per contest, and appears to have matured into the player that Pat Riley wanted him to be when they maxed him out over the summer. That said, Goran Dragic makes Miami go. When he is healthy, zipping passes all over, darting through seams, and embarrassing fools in transition, this team looks playoff worthy. When Kyrie’s defense has been good, its been great. When it hasn’t been good, its been…really not good. He will need the former to be the case against this team. Miami doesn’t do anything exotic on offense, and they don’t always execute really well, or really quickly. They panic, go into isolation mode, and simply don’t have the personnel to sustain that as a winning model. Hard man to man defense, not being too quick to be switchy, and being defensively patient can put them in tough spots.
Charlotte comes to town on Saturday for their second tilt against Cleveland. They walk into The Q as division leaders, though that is as much a function of the Atlanta collapse as it is their own play. Kemba Walker leads the charge with 23.8 PPG on 47% shooting. It is the best season of his career, and he appears to be turning into a legitimate All-Star candidate for years to come. His commitment to making the right play, trusting his teammates, and being more complete offensively have vaulted him into the discussion of top five PGs in the league. Michael Kidd-Gilcrist is healthy, and when he’s driving to the rim, be it in transition, or a slash in the halfcourt set, he looks like a tornado made of chainsaws. Keep an eye on how the Cavaliers pack the part of the floor near the elbows and below to mitigate some of that slashing. It will be a lot of fun to see how the LeBron/MKG matchup looks in half court scenarios.
Trends
There’s always a lot of talk about how good defense ignites good offense. I don’t think that’s the case here with the Cavs. They play their best offense when they start hot, get out and run, execute, and fly around the floor with fervor and purpose. At that point, the defense follows suit. When they play well in transition offense, primarily the secondary and tertiary breaks, their half court offense is more fluid, the ball pops around with an energy of its own, and we wind up seeing wide open shooters. Defense is important, and I hammer it home a lot, particularly in transition. However, this team is built to score, and when they do so efficiently, the defense is better because guys feel better about themselves. This may not be conventional, or even preferred, but the team, including head coach Tyron Lue, must embrace this as part of their identity.
I disagree with LeBron saying that the “honeymoon is over”. Why? This is December, and things are going to be fine. The things that caused the 0-3 week are correctable, and don’t point towards any sort of dysfunctionality in terms of roster composition. Yes, they need a backup PG, and that’s a (glaring) flaw. But that deficiency can be masked a bit by simply showing up, and caring once you’re there. Look, it had been 52 years. The honeymoon is going to last until all of these guys are well out of the league, and we’re worrying about which one-and-done to draft a decade from now. For now, remember that at one point two years ago, the Cavs were 19-20, and with a few adjustments, a needed addition to bolster a weakness, and some good old fashioned effort, they went to the Finals. Things will be fine, and there’s no cause to overreact. Close Twitter, breathe deeply, and settle in for a big week.
I’ve talked about Iman Shumpert before, but a few things need mentioned. He needs to stop talking quite so much, and start getting back to the nitty-gritty defender that he has been. I don’t want to assume anything, but it feels like a little recognition for the team winning a title, and a nice payday have gotten to him a bit. His focus appears to be less on hoops, competing, and being a productive member of a title caliber club, and more on the worlds of fashion, art, and music. Look, I’m not going to be the “STICK TO BASKETBALL” guy, and I think that those arts and other interests he has are incredibly socially and culturally important. I also think that its important for professional athletes to have other interests so that they don’t burn out. But the key word there is “interests”. If you want to win titles, earn your 10 million per year, and stick around on a roster like this where you should be able to succeed, you need to make sure that ball is your passion. Anything else needs to be an interest. Because, as you know, ball is life.
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