RealGM

When: 6:30 PM MT, Jan 21st 2017
Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland OH

This is going to be a big test for us. Cav's are the top team in the east but they have been slipping a bit as of late, 6-4 in their last 10 with those losses coming against the Bulls, Trailblazers, Jazz and Warriors. The defending champs are beatable and we can win this one, it's going to require a focused 48 minutes of us playing together as a team to win this one. Everyone needs to show up for this one.

Go Spurs!!

Just like every year in games like this on national TV we will get blown out and everyone will forget about us until April.

And just like every time I doomsay like that (like opening night this year), we will probably win by 30 so I hope this works....

BTW:Key to beating the Caviliers IMO is to not let Tristan Thompson go crazy on the offensive boards. You know the main guys are going to get theirs but usually those 2nd and 3rd chances Thompson gives them turns the tables against us. Also cannot let one of the big three go crazy a-la Kyrie Irving style.

Biggest game of the year so far, and a nice opportunity to make a statement, though as imagump noted, a January road loss to the champs is both somewhat probable and somewhat acceptable. If we only have it in us to beat the Cavs on the road one time, I'd like to save that game for early summer, if y'all don't mind.

Parker won't be playing apparently.

Big test for Murray on Iriving. We'll see if his long arms can bother him on defense.

And if Aldridge doesn't go off against their weak interior D he should pack his bags.

Interior D just garbage so far

Yeah everyone getting lost on screens and switches.

Offensively, Lee and Kawhi are all that have shown up. Aldridge useless again, hesitating, faking on open looks, just annoying.

Murray looked good.

We fell apart on offense as soon as Manu and Mills came in tbh.

Kawhi should have just shot that ball, instead he throws a silly behind the back pass out of bounds for his third turnover.

Kyle Anderson negating his positive play by leaving Korver open for threes.

Good matchup overall, 1 point game at the half, some good runs by both teams.

Man, we look deadly with small ball lineups. Who would've thought.

Anderson is playing really good one on one defense too.

Can't say enough how much I like David Lee. Aldridge actually playing with some purpose in the 4th.

Yeah credit where credit is due, working hard down low and making good passes is Aldridge.

And Lee is just superb, I ripped him his entire career, I couldn't have been more wrong and wish we could find some anti-age breakthrough and keep him at this age/level for years to come.

2 wide open threes that Green bricks or it would be game over......

Soo lucky a wide open Love is shooting like Green....

Kawhi just going cold at the worst time

Yeah he doesn't quite have that killer ability just yet. I think it's just mental though, he isn't sure which move to go to in the death. But he should just play the same under control game he always does. He overthinks it.

Milenkovic wrote:Kawhi just going cold at the worst time

Yeah, it was pretty good defense though.

We really miss Parker in these situations.

There's just an out of control, bite your fingernails, lack of confidence with Mills running the point under pressure.

Kaw41 Leonard!

I'll take a gut-it-out win in January against the champs in their building. Crazy game, though.

Kawhi was great on the whole, of course-- 41, plus six boards and five dimes--, but I didn't like the way he was forcing at the end of regulation. I said in the GB thread that Pop was trying to create a moment for him, but I wonder whether it's more important to do that or to hone the team's ability to run plays effectively at the end of close games.

A win's a win, though. I liked what I saw from LMA in terms of being engaged and hustling, missed FTs aside.

Great game, no complaints.

General observations:

Hope Manu isn't seriously hurt. Pop really wanted it. Dejounte played very well, hope he paid attention to the late game situations. Danny Green, Kyle and Simmons all missed wide open baseline 3's that could have ended this in regulation.

They battled hard without Tony and Pau, but you can see where they are still needed, especially in situations where we have five bench players on the floor.

34-9. This makes up for the two L's to Phoenix and Milwaukee.