Game 48: Kings @ Cavs 2/5/2024

[ijspeelman]

[ijspeelman]

idk why but this game has playoff vibes

[ijspeelman]

good game for Strus to get hot

edit: tho apparently everyone is hot this game

[afarmenian]

The ball movement this half has been insane. Cavs clicking on every single cylinder

[ijspeelman]

Watch on YouTube

i just want to show show off this gorgeous play

[JujitsuFlip]

Watch on YouTube

i just want to show show off this gorgeous play

Sheeeeeesh. Merrill gotta be a mainstay in the rotation.

[jbk1234]

I would like to see the bench unit slow the tempo down when we're up by 20.

[jbk1234]

LeVert is such a Jekyll and Hyde player. Watching him overdibble and drive into traffic so Garland can play off ball ain't it.

[ijspeelman]

Watch on YouTube

[afarmenian]

Perfect game. Not one thing I could even try to nitpick

[ijspeelman]

I love the confidence from the guys this game. Since coming back from injury, Mobley has been aggressive getting his shots. Okoro has been letting the threes fly and they've been hitting.

Despite the score, this felt close the whole way lmao. Kings are scary

[JujitsuFlip]

Watch on YouTube

And he's in the 3 point contest, we shoulda put him in the dunk contest lol

[Iwasawitness]

I can remember when people were saying ten games in that the season was a lost cause. Now we're second in the East and have won the last 13 of 14 games (after literally pointing out the games we’ve won I’ve come to realize that my math is underselling this, we’ve actually won the last 14 of 15 games). We've beaten the Bucks, Clippers and Kings all by double digits in this current winning streak.

I will admit that I did not expect them to turn things around like this, but it's pretty crazy how great we're playing right now. 6 games in a row after we just got done winning 8 in a row. What a time to be a Cavaliers fan.

[JonFromVA]

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And he's in the 3 point contest, we shoulda put him in the dunk contest lol

Didn't he win the dunk contest already?

Anyway, a very impressive win where we didn't wilt just because Sacramento can score. I often watch the other teams broadcast because I'm pretty tired of ours, but the Kings group is pretty awful with lots of whining about the foul disparity and some pretty bad examples of why they thought they were being shafted. They didn't even say a thing when Sabonis was too busy complaining to the ref to go contest Strus who stole the ball from him and buried an uncontested 3pter because of it. Strus's swipe looked clean on the replay too.

[JujitsuFlip]

Watch on YouTube

And he's in the 3 point contest, we shoulda put him in the dunk contest lol

Didn't he win the dunk contest already?

Anyway, a very impressive win where we didn't wilt just because Sacramento can score. I often watch the other teams broadcast because I'm pretty tired of ours, but the Kings group is pretty awful with lots of whining about the foul disparity and some pretty bad examples of why they thought they were being shafted. They didn't even say a thing when Sabonis was too busy complaining to the ref to go contest Strus who stole the ball from him. Looked clean on the replay too.

Oh dang, you're right, in 2018!

[Iwasawitness]

Watch on YouTube

And he's in the 3 point contest, we shoulda put him in the dunk contest lol

Didn't he win the dunk contest already?

Anyway, a very impressive win where we didn't wilt just because Sacramento can score. I often watch the other teams broadcast because I'm pretty tired of ours, but the Kings group is pretty awful with lots of whining about the foul disparity and some pretty bad examples of why they thought they were being shafted. They didn't even say a thing when Sabonis was too busy complaining to the ref to go contest Strus who stole the ball from him and buried an uncontested 3pter because of it. Strus's swipe looked clean on the replay too.

I think this in of itself is a big difference from the cavaliers of last year to what we have now. As someone mentioned in another thread, Okoro’s shooting has improved and Wade is healthy so he’s been able to hit his shots at a much better rate. But on top of that, adding Strus and Niang gave us more offensive weapons, and Merrill has broken out as an off ball three point specialist. The Cavaliers are much more deep, and have a variety of options as far as rotations are concerned. Mobley and Allen have both improved. And this is arguably Mitchell’s best season when you consider his improved defense.

With that said, Garland needs to continue to remain healthy and he needs to keep doing what he’s doing now, which is be more of a role playing PG who plays without the ball and is smart with his shot selection. I don’t think he’s going to be a 20/8 guy for the rest of the season and that’s honestly fine with me. Just continue to make smart basketball plays, flow with the offense. He’s got his contact already, so don’t worry about stats for right now. I’m ready to admit that I was wrong and Garland/Mitchell can in fact work, but I need to see it more first.

Also, I can’t wait for Thompson to come back. I don’t know if he’ll be as good as before but just having his rebounding and defense will still help.

[JonFromVA]

And he's in the 3 point contest, we shoulda put him in the dunk contest lol

Didn't he win the dunk contest already?

Anyway, a very impressive win where we didn't wilt just because Sacramento can score. I often watch the other teams broadcast because I'm pretty tired of ours, but the Kings group is pretty awful with lots of whining about the foul disparity and some pretty bad examples of why they thought they were being shafted. They didn't even say a thing when Sabonis was too busy complaining to the ref to go contest Strus who stole the ball from him and buried an uncontested 3pter because of it. Strus's swipe looked clean on the replay too.

I think this in of itself is a big difference from the cavaliers of last year to what we have now. As someone mentioned in another thread, Okoro’s shooting has improved and Wade is healthy so he’s been able to hit his shots at a much better rate. But on top of that, adding Strus and Niang gave us more offensive weapons, and Merrill has broken out as an off ball three point specialist. The Cavaliers are much more deep, and have a variety of options as far as rotations are concerned. Mobley and Allen have both improved. And this is arguably Mitchell’s best season when you consider his improved defense.

With that said, Garland needs to continue to remain healthy and he needs to keep doing what he’s doing now, which is be more of a role playing PG who plays without the ball and is smart with his shot selection. I don’t think he’s going to be a 20/8 guy for the rest of the season and that’s honestly fine with me. Just continue to make smart basketball plays, flow with the offense. He’s got his contact already, so don’t worry about stats for right now. I’m ready to admit that I was wrong and Garland/Mitchell can in fact work, but I need to see it more first.

Also, I can’t wait for Thompson to come back. I don’t know if he’ll be as good as before but just having his rebounding and defense will still help.

Be patient with Garland, he's a smart guy and he'll get it. As his strength comes back and he starts feeling confident in his shot, he's going to do some damage way beyond what you're imaging. We dished out 36 assists .vs. the Kings and Garland and Mitchell only contributed 5 each. Move the ball, don't turn it over, and the ball will find someone who can put it in the basket.

... if he can stay healthy ...

[JujitsuFlip]

And he's in the 3 point contest, we shoulda put him in the dunk contest lol

Didn't he win the dunk contest already?

Anyway, a very impressive win where we didn't wilt just because Sacramento can score. I often watch the other teams broadcast because I'm pretty tired of ours, but the Kings group is pretty awful with lots of whining about the foul disparity and some pretty bad examples of why they thought they were being shafted. They didn't even say a thing when Sabonis was too busy complaining to the ref to go contest Strus who stole the ball from him and buried an uncontested 3pter because of it. Strus's swipe looked clean on the replay too.

I think this in of itself is a big difference from the cavaliers of last year to what we have now. As someone mentioned in another thread, Okoro’s shooting has improved and Wade is healthy so he’s been able to hit his shots at a much better rate. But on top of that, adding Strus and Niang gave us more offensive weapons, and Merrill has broken out as an off ball three point specialist. The Cavaliers are much more deep, and have a variety of options as far as rotations are concerned. Mobley and Allen have both improved. And this is arguably Mitchell’s best season when you consider his improved defense.

With that said, Garland needs to continue to remain healthy and he needs to keep doing what he’s doing now, which is be more of a role playing PG who plays without the ball and is smart with his shot selection. I don’t think he’s going to be a 20/8 guy for the rest of the season and that’s honestly fine with me. Just continue to make smart basketball plays, flow with the offense. He’s got his contact already, so don’t worry about stats for right now. I’m ready to admit that I was wrong and Garland/Mitchell can in fact work, but I need to see it more first.

Also, I can’t wait for Thompson to come back. I don’t know if he’ll be as good as before but just having his rebounding and defense will still help.

That "more first" has to be in the post season. They've reached the #2 seed at points in the previous 2 regular seasons, it didn't make much of a difference come April.

[Iwasawitness]

Didn't he win the dunk contest already?

Anyway, a very impressive win where we didn't wilt just because Sacramento can score. I often watch the other teams broadcast because I'm pretty tired of ours, but the Kings group is pretty awful with lots of whining about the foul disparity and some pretty bad examples of why they thought they were being shafted. They didn't even say a thing when Sabonis was too busy complaining to the ref to go contest Strus who stole the ball from him and buried an uncontested 3pter because of it. Strus's swipe looked clean on the replay too.

I think this in of itself is a big difference from the cavaliers of last year to what we have now. As someone mentioned in another thread, Okoro’s shooting has improved and Wade is healthy so he’s been able to hit his shots at a much better rate. But on top of that, adding Strus and Niang gave us more offensive weapons, and Merrill has broken out as an off ball three point specialist. The Cavaliers are much more deep, and have a variety of options as far as rotations are concerned. Mobley and Allen have both improved. And this is arguably Mitchell’s best season when you consider his improved defense.

With that said, Garland needs to continue to remain healthy and he needs to keep doing what he’s doing now, which is be more of a role playing PG who plays without the ball and is smart with his shot selection. I don’t think he’s going to be a 20/8 guy for the rest of the season and that’s honestly fine with me. Just continue to make smart basketball plays, flow with the offense. He’s got his contact already, so don’t worry about stats for right now. I’m ready to admit that I was wrong and Garland/Mitchell can in fact work, but I need to see it more first.

Also, I can’t wait for Thompson to come back. I don’t know if he’ll be as good as before but just having his rebounding and defense will still help.

That "more first" has to be in the post season. They've reached the #2 seed at points in the previous 2 regular seasons, it didn't make much of a difference come April.

I agree, but I'm not too worried about that right now. I had major concerns going into the postseason last year due to the way the roster was constructed and how we were winning our games and the fact that we just couldn't beat the top teams in the league. We also didn't have much depth. That isn't the case this year. We've beaten Milwaukee, Clippers, Philly, Denver (I don't care that they were missing Murray... we were missing Mitchell and we were on the end of a three game road trip), New York (with Garland and Allen missing), and now we just beat Sacramento, who has won the last four meetings against us. I see a team this year with much more depth. I see a coach in Bickerstaff who has at least improved on adjustments. We have an easier schedule for the rest of the year, if we stay healthy then we shouldn't have any problem maintaining top four status, thus giving up homecourt advantage in the playoffs. Last year I thought we were a first round exit. This year I wouldn't be surprised if we made it to the conference finals.

With that said, if we face the Knicks again, we're royally ****.

[toooskies]

I think this in of itself is a big difference from the cavaliers of last year to what we have now. As someone mentioned in another thread, Okoro’s shooting has improved and Wade is healthy so he’s been able to hit his shots at a much better rate. But on top of that, adding Strus and Niang gave us more offensive weapons, and Merrill has broken out as an off ball three point specialist. The Cavaliers are much more deep, and have a variety of options as far as rotations are concerned. Mobley and Allen have both improved. And this is arguably Mitchell’s best season when you consider his improved defense.

With that said, Garland needs to continue to remain healthy and he needs to keep doing what he’s doing now, which is be more of a role playing PG who plays without the ball and is smart with his shot selection. I don’t think he’s going to be a 20/8 guy for the rest of the season and that’s honestly fine with me. Just continue to make smart basketball plays, flow with the offense. He’s got his contact already, so don’t worry about stats for right now. I’m ready to admit that I was wrong and Garland/Mitchell can in fact work, but I need to see it more first.

Also, I can’t wait for Thompson to come back. I don’t know if he’ll be as good as before but just having his rebounding and defense will still help.

That "more first" has to be in the post season. They've reached the #2 seed at points in the previous 2 regular seasons, it didn't make much of a difference come April.

I agree, but I'm not too worried about that right now. I had major concerns going into the postseason last year due to the way the roster was constructed and how we were winning our games and the fact that we just couldn't beat the top teams in the league. We also didn't have much depth. That isn't the case this year. We've beaten Milwaukee, Clippers, Philly, Denver (I don't care that they were missing Murray... we were missing Mitchell and we were on the end of a three game road trip), New York (with Garland and Allen missing), and now we just beat Sacramento, who has won the last four meetings against us. I see a team this year with much more depth. I see a coach in Bickerstaff who has at least improved on adjustments. We have an easier schedule for the rest of the year, if we stay healthy then we shouldn't have any problem maintaining top four status, thus giving up homecourt advantage in the playoffs. Last year I thought we were a first round exit. This year I wouldn't be surprised if we made it to the conference finals.

With that said, if we face the Knicks again, we're royally ****.

I'm most worried, in the first round at least, of facing the Sixers if they fall in the standings while Embiid is out but get him back in time for the playoffs. They're only 3 games ahead of the 6th seed and 3.5 ahead of the 7th seed. (Imagine them losing the first play-in game, winning the second, and facing the #1 seed in the first round?)

The Knicks missing Mitchell Robinson and swapping out so much of their roster means I'm not worried about a series against them playing out like last year. They might still beat us, but the matchup is just going to be different.

Our schedule is actually two halves from here-- easy matchups for the next month (but with lots of back-to-backs), then a big stretch against mostly pretty good teams that are on the road or a lone home game until our last three games in April.