Game 40: Cleveland Cavaliers (12-27) @ Los Angeles Lakers (32-7) - 10:30 PM ET

[ducler]

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[JonFromVA]

Well, we beat the Nuggets, and the Nuggets beat the Lakers, so by the transitive property of "who cares about January basketball against a bottom dweller", this should be an easy win for the Cavs!

[gflem]

Well, we beat the Nuggets, and the Nuggets beat the Lakers, so by the transitive property of "who cares about January basketball against a bottom dweller", this should be an easy win for the Cavs!

Is Lebron playing? He probably cares.

[JonFromVA]

Well, we beat the Nuggets, and the Nuggets beat the Lakers, so by the transitive property of "who cares about January basketball against a bottom dweller", this should be an easy win for the Cavs!

Is Lebron playing? He probably cares.

Depends ... did he get a sufficient break in December? Maybe he'll decide to see what happens when someone else on the team has to run the offense. Maybe he'll load manage himself?

[nurseryc]

Dante is playing today. First game back since his huge scoring outburst.

[nurseryc]

Far out, Sexton and Garland are massive ball hogs that don't pass the ball.

[Mauro Pedrosa]

What the hell happened to Brandon Knight's free throw shooting?

[tleikheen]

17 minutes , 0 shots attempted by Exum who was banished to the corners with no ball movement finding him in the offense. It looked like Cavs were playing 4 against 5 freezing out Exum after showing what he can do if he's involved in the offense.

[gflem]

17 minutes , 0 shots attempted by Exum who was banished to the corners with no ball movement finding him in the offense. It looked like Cavs were playing 4 against 5 freezing out Exum after showing what he can do if he's involved in the offense.

That's what happens when there is no threat of being benched. Not that I think Exum is ever going to be a consistently good player but that Beilein has a set of parameters to work within and sitting Garland and/or Sexton isn't included in those parameters.

[jbk1234]

What the hell happened to Brandon Knight's free throw shooting?

Very, very small sample size. I'm not suggesting Knight is good, but he's serviceable. We had Clarkson and KPJ ahead of him so he was getting no run.

[jbk1234]

17 minutes , 0 shots attempted by Exum who was banished to the corners with no ball movement finding him in the offense. It looked like Cavs were playing 4 against 5 freezing out Exum after showing what he can do if he's involved in the offense.

I mean Garland had 4 assists and was 7 of 13 so it's not like he was just out there chucking away. Also, Exum was 0 for 2 according the stat sheet. The Lakers really turned up the defensive intensity after the Cavs jumped on them early. It seemed liked they were in the penalty for three quarters straight and it didn't stop them from being physical at all. That physicality was intended to disrupt the ball movement and it definitely had that affect.

The Lakers have two legit big seven footers in Howard and McGee. They negated our usual rebounding advantage and were really tough to defend when on the floor with LBJ. The Cavs were without both Nance and Zizic so we tried to go small with Henson as the only big in the second unit. The results were sub optimal. At a certain point in the third quarter, LBJ just put his foot on the gas and that was that.

[toshiro_mifune]

17 minutes , 0 shots attempted by Exum who was banished to the corners with no ball movement finding him in the offense. It looked like Cavs were playing 4 against 5 freezing out Exum after showing what he can do if he's involved in the offense.

I mean Garland had 4 assists and was 7 of 13 so it's not like he was just out there chucking away. Also, Exum was 0 for 2 according the stat sheet.

Exum finished with just under 20 minutes of playing time. His attempts were all in the last three minutes of play , when both garland and sexton were off the court, and the Cavs were down by 30. I followed the box score as the game was happening and while the lakers certainly did turn the screws it is difficult not to conclude that exum isn't being included in the offense. I've no idea how many touches he got in those first 17 minutes of play though. Hopefully the clippers game shows something different.

[jbk1234]

17 minutes , 0 shots attempted by Exum who was banished to the corners with no ball movement finding him in the offense. It looked like Cavs were playing 4 against 5 freezing out Exum after showing what he can do if he's involved in the offense.

I mean Garland had 4 assists and was 7 of 13 so it's not like he was just out there chucking away. Also, Exum was 0 for 2 according the stat sheet.

Exum finished with just under 20 minutes of playing time. His attempts were all in the last three minutes of play , when both garland and sexton were off the court, and the Cavs were down by 30. I followed the box score as the game was happening and while the lakers certainly did turn the screws it is difficult not to conclude that exum isn't being included in the offense. I've no idea how many touches he got in those first 17 minutes of play though. Hopefully the clippers game shows something different.

I mean he got sick and didn't travel with the team during the Detroit game. You've got to be around to be incorporated into the offense. I'm a fan of Exum. But if you're asking me whether the Cavs owe it to him move him up the depth chart this early, the answer is no. He just got here. I'm not saying he couldn't work his way into the starting line up, but we're not there.

[tleikheen]

When your near the bottom of the standings and the newcomer comes in and drops 28 pts in 24 minutes it should open some eyes and the next game he's available to play not get phased out of the offense ….. zero attempts in 17 minutes is not inclusive especially in a blow out game

[toshiro_mifune]

I mean Garland had 4 assists and was 7 of 13 so it's not like he was just out there chucking away. Also, Exum was 0 for 2 according the stat sheet.

Exum finished with just under 20 minutes of playing time. His attempts were all in the last three minutes of play , when both garland and sexton were off the court, and the Cavs were down by 30. I followed the box score as the game was happening and while the lakers certainly did turn the screws it is difficult not to conclude that exum isn't being included in the offense. I've no idea how many touches he got in those first 17 minutes of play though. Hopefully the clippers game shows something different.

I mean he got sick and didn't travel with the team during the Detroit game. You've got to be around to be incorporated into the offense. I'm a fan of Exum. But if you're asking me whether the Cavs owe it to him move him up the depth chart this early, the answer is no. He just got here. I'm not saying he couldn't work his way into the starting line up, but we're not there.

fair point. While I'm unashamedly a fan and aware of his shortcomings, I really just want him to have a somewhat fair chance after all the injuries. Hopefully his play will force the issue.

[Mauro Pedrosa]

What the hell happened to Brandon Knight's free throw shooting?

Very, very small sample size. I'm not suggesting Knight is good, but he's serviceable. We had Clarkson and KPJ ahead of him so he was getting no run.

Thanks. I figured it had to be due to rust