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Cavs

Cavs Rewind + The Week Ahead

December 16, 2014 Mike Leave a comment

By Will

Cavs Rewind + Preview (12.8-12.21)

The Cavs split their four game last week winning the first two against Brooklyn and Toronto then losing in Oklahoma City and New Orleans. It was a promising start when we blew out Brooklyn in the 2^nd half Monday night in front of the Royal couple and followed it up with a huge come from behind win over the Raptors. All good things come to an end though and the Cavs winning streak was snapped at 8 when they fell to OKC on the road. LeBron did not play in the game due to a sore knee, and while the team played tough, Durant and Westbrook were too much and we couldn’t get over the hump in another comeback bid. LeBron came back against the Pelicans AND Anthony Davis left the game in the 1^st quarter. Easy win right? Nope, Ryan Anderson went for 30 and we played no defense and lost.

Brooklyn Nets:

The Nets hung tough in the first half before the Cavs went off in the second. It’s fun seeing this team click on all cylinders and destroy people. Jay-Z still can’t believe LeBron made that fadeaway.

LeBron nearly caused an international incident by violating “royal protocol” and putting his arm around Duchess Kate.

Toronto Raptors:

The Cavs looked bad early in this game and it seemed like the winning streak was going to end at 7 games but the team fought back from 14 down in the 2^nd half to pull off an impressive comeback capped off by LeBron’s record tying 3 from the top of the key (tied Mark Price for Cavs all time 3-pointers made with 802). The Cavs got a big defensive contribution from Delly as they held the Raptors to 13 points in the 4^th quarter. LeBron had 35. Dion stayed hot with 18 on 7-10 shooting.

Oklahoma City Thunder:

LeBron missed his first game of the season after being ruled out on gametime decision due to a sore knee. We still have Kyrie and Love, yes, but it doesn’t make it easy when your competition is Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Big time scare at the end of the first half in this game when Kyrie landed awkwardly on his left leg and his knee buckled. At first look most people thought ACL which would have been a disaster but Kyrie must have gotten some Lance Harbor halftime treatment because he came out and played the second half as if nothing had happened. I’m glad our season didn’t end. The Cavs played the Thunder tough and were only down 4 with just over a minute left but Durant scored the final 8 points for the Thunder and put the game away in crunch time. This was the Cavs first loss since November 22^nd. I’m kind of scratching my head as to why we tried to put Kyrie on Durant in the final possessions. I appreciate that Kyrie wants to step up and guard the other team’s best player but when that player is 6’10” maybe it’s not the best idea. Durant just shot right over Irving for 4 of the final 8 points.

New Orleans Pelicans:

I’m going to chalk this loss up to being the team’s fourth game in five nights. LeBron sure appeared to be fresh having sat against OKC as he went for 41-5-5 but not much else went right for the Cavs. The defense looked awful and even without Anthony Davis the Pelicans were able to put up 119 points. Tyreke Evans played like it was 2009, back when he was winning the rookie of the year, going for 31 points and 10 assists.

The week ahead:

Charlotte Hornets:

We play our first of four games this week at home against the generally disappointing Charlotte Bobca…I mean Hornets. This will be LeBron’s first time on the court against Lance Stephenson since Lance decided it would be a good idea to blow in his ear. Lance was supposed to be a big signing for the Hornets this offseason but so far he’s been a big disappointment and there have even been rumblings they might try and trade him. Cavs should get back on the winning track and handle the Hornets by 7.

Editor’s note: This game happened last night and the Cavs won by 9.

Atlanta Hawks:

The Hawks have been one of the surprise teams in the league this year, off to a 16-7 start. Looking at their roster I’m still not sure how. I guess having a healthy Al Horford this year to go with Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, and Paul Milsap gives them a good core but there is no superstar late game finisher there. I won’t guarantee a victory but we should win this game against the overachievers from Atlanta. Cavs by 3.

Brooklyn Nets:

Cavs get their second look at the Nets in as many weeks. After trouncing them by 22 in Brooklyn the Nets will come out and play hard but with rumors about D-Will, Brook Lopez, and Joe Johnson all on the trade block I doubt these guys will really play that well this season. Cavs by 8.

Memphis Grizzlies:

It seems like we have at least one really tough game every week and this game is it. Memphis is off to a great start this season with a record of 19-4 at the beginning of the week. They are monsters on the defensive end of the floor and behind Marc Gasol can still score enough to pull out some tough victories at the end of games. Tony Allen has always given LeBron trouble and Randolph and Gasol’s length could bother Love. If we do manage to take down the hot Grizzlies we will need Kyrie to break out of the slump he has been in and take it to Mike Conley. Grizzlies by 6.

Cavs

Cavs Rewind + The Week Ahead

December 9, 2014 Mike Leave a comment

Cavs Rewind + The Week Ahead (12/2-12/12)

Is it Monday again already? Where do the days go? Well I have to say, time really flies when the Cavs are hot. They began the week with a three game win streak and now have it up to it to six straight after knocking off the Bucks, Knicks, and Raptors. “We’re going streaking! Up through the quad to the gymnasium! Everybody’s doing it!”

Bucks:

Milwaukee gave us a better game than I thought they would. If I told you I wasn’t nervous with the game tied and less than five minutes less I’d be lying. Letting a young, hungry team like the Bucks hang around is dangerous. Another thing that’s dangerous is not having a 20 point lead in the 4^th when you play against LeBron and Kyrie. The Cavs scored 22 in the final 4:43 to hold on for a three point win. Cavs 111-108

Knicks:

LeBron v. Melo is always a good show. Although this edition Melo was a no show. He shot 4-17 for NINE points. If he plays anything like he normally does the Knicks win by 10. LeBron was in full point guard mode finishing with 12 assists. Kyrie was in F YOU mode and went off for 37. A friendly reminder of my prediction last week for Knicks-Cavs: “Both LeBron and Kyrie play their best basketball in the Mecca so look for at least 30 points from one of them.”

You can count on it that if I make a correct prediction I will remind you. Cavs 90-87.

Raptors:

I didn’t think we were going to win this game. We did. Happy to be wrong. It helps that the Raptors were without Demar DeRozan, maybe their best player, but they are still solid regardless. The Cavs got payback for a loss to Toronto at the Q a week earlier. I like to see the Cavs winning these “revenge” games, first against the Wizards and now against the Raptors. It’s another sign of the team continuing to gel after our slow start. Tristan Thompson had himself a game playing in from of his hometown crowd going for 21 & 14 and having a couple huge offensive rebounds in the 4^th quarter. Cavs 105-91.

UPCOMING:

Brooklyn Nets:

This isn’t fair because I’m typing this with 4:24 left in the 4^th quarter, (editor’s note: oops) but like I said these weeks fly by. Cavs started slow but we’re currently up 102-84 so I think we might pull this one off. Both Royal families in the building. William & Kate and Jay & Bey.

Toronto Raptors:

This is like my third Raptors game in two weeks, what the hell. We get them back at the Q and the winning streak is going to be at 7 going for 8. Going to be a dog fight. Let’s hope we continue to play like everyone expected us to when the Big CLE got formed.

Oklahoma City Thunder:

I was really hoping Durant and Westbrook would still be out when this game came up on the schedule. Not the case. They are both back and playing as well as ever. Actually the game will be WAY more fun considering there are probably five future hall of famers playing in it (too early to call Kyrie and Love future hall of famers?). I think if we beat Toronto Tuesday, we lose this game. Lose to Toronto, we’ll bounce back and beat the Thunder on the road.

New Orleans Pelicans:

Cavs get their second look at Anthony Davis and company after winning a shootout against them early in the season. Ryan Anderson isn’t going to score 21 in the first half again so I think we should be able to take care of business.

I think the Cavs win 3 out of 4 this week to make it to 14-8.

Cavs

Cavs Rewind + The week ahead

December 2, 2014 Mike Leave a comment

Cavs Rewind + The Week Ahead (11/17 – 12/5)

By Will

In my last post I expressed some concern about the four games the Cavs had on the schedule coming off of a three game win streak. Well wouldn’t you know it, I was right to be scared. Cavs expert, right? We finished the week off 0-4 against the Nuggets, Spurs, Wizards, and Raptors.

The sky was falling, Kevin Love was going to leave for the Lakers, and we were heading right back to the lottery again!!! Let’s be honest with ourselves for a second though, if you’re looking for easy wins to check off the schedule the Nuggets are the only obvious one of the four. Let’s chalk it up to the early season growing pains of a new superteam and leave it at that.

Luckily for the sanity of Cleveland fans, the schedule has eased up some since that stretch and we’re back on the fast track to the finals. We have slapped the shit out of Orlando (which I was in attendance for), Washington (great rebound win after losing to them the week before), and Indiana (yeah we better win against them this year). LeBron won Eastern Conference Player of the week for the second time this season and at the moment, all seems right with the Wine and Gold.

Magic:

The prelude to this game was LeBron saying he “stinks” and needs to do his job better and Kevin Love calling it a must win. Both of those things are hilarious in retrospect considering it was a game in November against a lottery team. The mindset apparently worked though. We came out and set the tone early taking a 56-38 halftime lead and cruising to a 32 point win. LeBron led the way with 29-4-11 and 3 steals.

Wizards:

The Cavs had lost by 13 points in Washington just five nights prior to this game. LeBron didn’t like that. He put on his cape, messed around, and (almost) got a triple double netting 29 for the 2nd night in a row to go with 10 boards and 8 dimes. Combine that with 21 from Love, 18 from Kyrie, and 15 from everyone’s favorite Muslim –Dion Waiters– and the Cavs rolled the Wiz by 26 points on Thanksgiving Eve. The most surprising part of this game for me was Kyrie locking up John Wall to the tune of just 6 points on 2-6 shooting.

Pacers:

This game was a blowout, then close, then a blowout again. The Cavs started fast and jumped out to a 16-4 lead before the Pacers knew what happened. Then they made their run and nearly tied the game up at the half, only trailing 52-49. The Cavs came out hot again in the third and opened up a 16 point lead and coasted to a 109-97 W. Kevin Love played his best game as a Cavalier dropping 28 and 10.

To sum it up, the past week had me feeling like:

UPCOMING:

Milwaukee Bucks:

Cleveland opens this week up Tuesday night with the surprising Bucks. They are led by Jason Kidd who has really coached up the Greek Freak (whose real name I’m not going to bother with) and Jabari Parker. People expected them to be one of the worst teams in the league but they’re currently 10-8 and ahead of the Cavs in the standings. My prediction is that we continue our hot streak and the Bucks start to fall back to earth. Cavs by at least 9.

New York Knicks:

A rematch of one of the most exciting, and then disappointing nights in Cleveland sports history. (Editor’s note: “Cleveland sports history” seems a tad harsh) The Cavs head to MSG to take on Melo and the Knicks. Both LeBron and Kyrie play their best basketball in the Mecca so look for at least 30 points from one of them. We get revenge for the opening night loss and handle the Knicks by 6.

Toronto Raptors:

Drake is soft. The Raptors are not. I don’t like this game. If things go according to plan we’ll be riding a 5-game winning streak but going into Toronto on the second night of a back to back is going to be tough. If that’s not a recipe for a loss I don’t know what is. Only hope is we still have the bad taste in our mouth from getting stomped by them on our home court. PS – the Raptors have to have gotten a boost from the Jurassic World trailer coming out. Raptors clearly have the most swag of any dinosaur right now.