DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Cavs: The Playoffs

It's also hard to flop driving to the basket, flopping is usually a defensive trait

I never heard that name either.

I will say that LeBron gets away w/murder w/the refs. He travels more than anyone. He pushes off more than anyone. Van Gundy was correct w/his take on the situation. Of course, the NBA fines him for it.

Lebron also gets hacked a ton and doesn't always get those calls. It's always been a two-way road with him.

Yeah, he's such a physical, strong player that the officials sometimes ignore the less blatant, but still illegal hacks, especially when he finishes.

TT is getting abused by drummond. 2 fouls already, TT has to sit

Sorry...........I disagree. He gets away w/murder.

Irving is already on fire so fire.

This game seems a lot more slower paced than the last game.

Saw this movie before. Lue is garbage. We 100% would have been better with blatt. Mosgov and TT can't defend or score at all. Why not put love or frye at the five and make Drummond chase them around. They can't defend worse than mosgov or TT. No adjustments made from game one, SVG made adjustments and it shows

we don't have a 5 on the team that can defend the 5

Smith has to get going

yes JR! back to back 3's we need you to show up!!

lol Hack-a-Drummond

We're doing a horrible job boxing out

i dunno why Lou didn't put love on drummond out the gate.

haha delly gets on the floor and we tie it up

game over

omg that dunk

Lebron is in playoff monster mode

Lebron.smash.

and JR is hot

looks like TT and mosgov are completely useless this series

And for the playoffs. The Cavs best lineup (Love, LeBron, Smith, Delly, Irving) does not include either of them.

Talk about the demise of the big man in the NBA.

snipers on the roof!!!

Porzingis and KAT should change that.

Or you have to be super athletic, an elite defender, and be able to play off the pick and roll (Jordan, Whiteside, Drummond, etc.).

JR Swish!

Welcome back Jr Ye was missed

yep, there wasn't any way detroit was gonna keep their shooting up from game 1.

we however, can.

We play a slow pace, but I love when teams try to get into a 3 point shooting contest with us.

They are, they just need to start frye and just go

Cavs rockin' it for the win!

20 3pointers crazy

Stanley Johnson says that he's "in Lebrons head"

Lebron went 12/18 for 27 points....

hahaha!! i LOVE the drama!! this is what makes the NBA so fun to watch. they stay going at each other!


LeBron wins, then gets ripped by Pistons rookie: 'That was fugazi'

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/lebron...-073019257.html

CLEVELAND – LeBron James took an elbow to the back from Andre Drummond and then an elbow to the armpit from Marcus Morris before he backpedaled, stumbling, fuming. James held his right hand near his left rib cage and began shouting at officials, angrily arguing for a foul call that never came. And as he ran back on defense, James was caught on camera shouting that he might have to handle the situation of his own terms.

"I'm going to [expletive] that [expletive] up then," James said. "I'm going to [expletive] that [expletive] up!"

Foul language fully expunged, James eventually calmed down and told himself, "I'm not tripping. I'm not tripping."

The Detroit Pistons haven't been able to get James tripping or slipping in their first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. But they certainly have ignited plenty of emotion in him thus far, turning what should be a ho-hum series for the Eastern Conference favorites into an opportunity for the 31-year-old to taunt the Pistons' bench after hitting a wide-open 3-pointer, wobble joyously after an emphatic dunk and talk smack to Morris after he dared to leave him open from long range.


James Over Johnson

LeBron James nails the jumper over Stanley Johnson.
The youngest of the Pistons' lot of newcomers – 19-year-old rookie swingman in Stanley Johnson – brought out James's best bit of edgy gamesmanship on Wednesday in the first quarter of Cleveland's 107-90 victory at Quicken Loans Arena. After Johnson hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to give the Pistons a seven-point lead, James strolled right into him and knocked him off stride. Johnson turned and glared at James but had an even feistier reaction to the exchange in the locker room after the game.

"That was fugazi," Johnson said, using a slang term for fake. "He didn't bump me. I just didn't move out of his direction. I don't know what y'all take from that. I don't take anything from it. But a cheap-ass shot, a cheap-ass bump."

Only a year after he was preparing for the draft out of Arizona, Johnson has shown no fear in matching up physically with James – the self-described "tank" of Cleveland's offense. In Game 1, James got so flustered by Johnson's defense, that he slung him around like a rag doll to break free. Johnson was adamant that he wouldn't back down from the four-time MVP. His comments on Wednesday supported that confidence as he blasted James for being a front-runner.

"I wish he would just talk when [the game] is 0-0, not when he's up 16. I think that's more – that means something. That means you're confident in yourself. You believe what you're about to do. Don't talk after you made a couple shots. Anybody can do that," Johnson said. "He jabbers. He moves his mouth sometimes. Their whole team does, kind of like their little cheerleaders on the bench. Every time you walk in the right corner. They're always saying something like they're playing basketball, like they're actually in the game. There's only seven or eight players who play, I don't see why the other players are talking. They might as well just be in the stands, in my opinion."

James has had his share of ancillary agitators throughout his playoff careers, relatively unknown sorts who look to crawl under his skin or dig into his head to disrupt his focus.

In his early days in Cleveland – before he owned any Most Valuable Player awards – James had DeShawn Stevenson, a journeyman then with the Washington Wizards, who called him "overrated" and enlisted rapper Soulja Boy to dance in the stands on his behalf. In his Miami days – after his status as a champion and the game's best player had been established – James had Lance Stephenson, a nuisance then with the Indiana Pacers who blew softly into in his ear to inspire a headshake, a laugh and countless memes.


Play of the Day: LeBron James

LeBron James cuts through the lane and throws down the monster two-hand slam.
James didn't encounter any sideshows in his first season back with the Cavaliers – when either out of deference or respect for his quest to end Northeast Ohio's championship misery – no one dared to challenge him with their words. But in an otherwise bland first-round series against the overmatched Pistons, Johnson has decided to take his turn as James's annoying foil.

"I'm definitely in his head, that's for sure," Johnson said. "That's for sure."

Johnson was asked if he was afraid of how James would respond to his words and was even more defiant.

"Why would I be?" Johnson responded, incredulously. "He laces his shoes up the same way I lace my shoes up. He has to come out there and compete and make his shots. He doesn't come prepared, that's the NBA – anybody and everybody can get busted any night. From the last guy on the bench to the first guy out. He's going to have to strap his shoes in every night tight because I'm going to strap my shoes in every night tight. I'm going to play hard and compete every night as much as I can. Like I said before, he's a great player. I never took that away from him, I never said anything about that. I just said I'm going to compete every night and give my hardest effort every night and live with it. He makes shots like he did and plays like he did, ain't many people in the league, ever, probably ever, that can match that. So it is what it is, he had a great game and move on."

The Pistons will have to win a game or two to avoid coming across as Chihuahuas chirping at the shoelaces of James' signature Nike sneakers. But they won't be silenced just yet. Morris declared before Game 2 that the Pistons would have to be more physical if they stood any chance against the Cavaliers. When informed how James reacted on the court after receiving that elbow from Morris in the fourth quarter, Morris replied, "I know for a fact he wasn't talking to me. … You can quote me on that."

James already stated that he was too old to get caught up in any "shenanigans" when he refused to respond to Stan Van Gundy's comments in Game 1 about James always receiving favorable calls. Though he lost his cool for a brief moment after the consecutive elbows, James said he would never cross the line and risk hurting his team. "I'm the last person that would allow physical play to go to the other side," James said. "I know how much I mean to my team and I understand what this is all about. And I'll make sure our guys understand that we're here to play basketball, everything else is irrelevant. We want to play physical. We want to get up into those guys, make it tough on them. The game is played between the four lines. Video here, video there, it means absolutely nothing. I took a shot, I'm OK. I'm still standing tall. I'll be ready Friday."

When we're playing like that, not much can stand in our way. Hitting threes, passing the ball well and everyone getting in on the scoring.

My only complaint is Mozgov has become an extremely weak link. I don't know what happened with him, but it's at the point where I hope his playing time decreases even more.

A few points:

--TT got two early fouls, but his defense on Drummond to start the 3rd quarter really helped turn the game around.

--Moz is a mess. He was so much better last year.

--JR is an assassin.

--The team plays better when Delly is in for Kyrie.

--This team is incredible when hitting the 3's. They are extremely vulnerable when they are not hitting the 3's. Excel was the first guy to mention that fact awhile back. It's really true.

--This has been the best of all the playoff series thus far.

Lazy LeBron has not surfaced thus far. Maybe there really is something to him taking the regular season off. I hate watching that in the regular season, but he's come to play so far. I haven't seen anyone since Jordan so good at playing passing lanes on defense.

The Cavs are clicking. Even Kyrie was playing D last night.

Stanley Johnson...smh.

Don't know what happened to Moz. That surgery really messed him up and his play has dropped off a cliff this year. It was a contract year for both him and Delly. Delly has earned himself a nice contract. Moz has probably earned himself a pink-slip.

I agree with everything except the TT statement...he had zero points and 1 rebound in the whole game, nothing he did against drummond had any effect, when we put love/frye at the 5, that's when we opened up the game