Joel Embiid

Kyle Korver looks like himself tonight.

Good thing, it'd be a shame if he looked like me or you!

I'd hate for him to have a face like mine right now

I have been meaning to ask you how you are doing.

You're an impressive dude to have a positive attitude like that with what you're going through!

Hope you're feeling better!

Doing good brother! Still much of the same, but it's not getting me down at all!

Thank you and thank you Ted

Hang in there, candy. I'm sorry you are going through that crap. I am impressed by your positive attitude. I wish you the best, brother.

Yeah, I think the Korea deal is starting to look good.

Thank you Vers!

The Jazz are a really well rounded team. I think they'd beat Houston in a playoff series,

That would be an interesting match-up. Jazz are better defensively. They grind it out. Have big time advantages at center and at SF.

However, Houston is so much better that they got rid of the poison of Dwight Howard. They are playing team ball now and have a few guys who can score the ball in Haren, Gordon, and Ariza.

That would be a fun series.

And again.............hang in there, candy. I've been praying for you. I get that you might not believe in prayers, but at least we all respect positive thoughts. Be strong, brother!

Did I miss something? What's wrong with candy? Hope you're doing well man!

Thank you!!

https://www.dawgtalkers.net/ubbthreads.php/topics/1210399/my-bells-palsy#Post1210399

They need Favors to return to what he was before. However, Utahs size is going to give teams a LOT of problems.

I typed Korver, I don't know how Korea got there.

Another Korean invasion.

I thought you were talking about the deal where we shipped Anthony Bennett to North Korea.

More proof that we need to build that wall really, really high ......

He still wouldn't be able to crack the starting lineup there. Man, that dude is awful.

It's Bennetts own damn fault. He still needs to lose weight. Crazy thing is that I wouldn't mind signing him if it was for the cheapest contract possible. He'd give us more than what some of Lebrons old washed up has been buddies have given us.

Good game last night, granted it was against the kings, but sometimes you need games like that to get things going again. Korver looks much better after actually getting to go through an extended shootaround, kudos to Lue for digging up how boston used ray allen, that's exactly how we need to use him.. Lebron needs to be careful of how he talks about players when complementing while disrespecting his own teammates, instead of calling Boogie the best big in NBA, just say he's a premier big in the league...no reason to give media something to run with. That being said, i pray that interview by Griff was just smokescreen, he basically said he didn't agree with lebron about needing a backup pg and a Big, because anyone with two eyes can see that's exactly what we need.. Watching TT play the 5 is painful sometimes, watching frye play it is downright torture, if kings were smart they would have given cousins the ball every possesion. Watching TT and Frye trying to defend him was like watching a 10 year old kid trying to defend his dad in the driveway. Neither one of those dudes stood a chance, they are both 4's.

Can't wait for the GS game, another good test to see where we are after each have game tape of a previous matchup. I expect GS to win big at home, thats how this usually plays out...be funny if lue rested lebron and kyrie just to play a little mind game with them

I don't feel bad for Melo. He knows he's never going to win a title. However, that's what happens when you choose money and fame over winning.

In all fairness to Melo, you don't go to the #2 market in the league and expect them to suck this long. It's not his fault they can't build a team to save their ass

It's Phil Jackson's fault....and nobody has heard from him all year. He probably hasn't been in New York since the draft.

Melo did say he'd accept a trade to only two teams, Cavs and Clippers.

LA should try for it.

Melo was always known as a selfish player who was more interested in his stats and money than the team winning.

He's changed a bit over the years and isn't quite as selfish as he used to be, but I would not want him on my team if I thought I had a legit shot at a championship.

If I had a poor team and needed to put butts in the seats, then I might go for Melo. But no, I would not want him on a championship roster.

Dwight Howard is another guy who is an example of a player w/that mindset.

There was a rumor the Cavs were going to sit Lebron, Kyrie and Kevin for tonight's game. Nothing really to gain because we won the title last year and won the Xmas day match-up. Plus, this comes during a long west coast road trip.

I don't like teams sitting stars, but I wouldn't have cared. I felt like this was going to be a blow out for the Warriors anyway.

Looks to be that way so far.

I'd like them to win enough during the regular season to get to the playoffs because that's all that matters....You have to gel and learn how to play well and such but the regular season record doesn't matter to me.

The cavs have been garbage the whole road trip, they should be embarrassed with the effort, execution and coaching. But it's really shown how bad we are on defense and our need to get a pg and a center. I'd love to snag chandler . He'd be perfect on this team. But warriors are destroying us. They look 100x better than xmas game. Regular season our not, you better be concerned with how easily you are being dispatched of

Is that Mike Brown on the Warriors bench? What the hell?

Just checkin' in.

Cavs gettin' owned.

-LeFlop strikes!

The Cavs dont want it very much.

Y'know, if you're gonna skate, skate against the teams that don't matter. Don't skate against these guys.

This is kinda rough to watch.

Looks like they don't care. They're defense IS abysmal.

The offense is all ISO.

Kyrie and LeBron trying to be the hero.

I don't think they're skating, Mr. Ted, they're just gettin' outplayed.

Zaza...what a scrub.

Are these guys going to get Love involved?

It's so bad I can't tell.

Can't wait for the freakout when we lose this one....

#FireLue

I imagine coaching a team with Lebron on it makes coaching look easy.

Just ask Mike Brown.

Lue should've had these guys lazered in tonight. He looks like he doesn't even know where he is right now.

So our team doesn't know how to play defense I guess? Why the hell are we turning it over so much?

Did anyone hear that Thompson called the Cavs Halloween party childish?

This from the guy who wouldn't shake hands with the Cavs after they won the finals.

To me he is the guy who it's hardest to like on their team.

I think this was pretty easy to predict after the way the Cavs have played the last week and a half.

I really want to like Lue, but I've seen nothing from him that says he's better than blatt, I don't believe the whole oh he won a ring garbage either, blatt took the same team to 6 games without love and Irving. No one will convince me he couldn't have won it last year. Lue puts no emphasis on defense and it shows. His game plans suck and he allows them to get into this hero ball way too much. I get it's regular season and all, but you don't see teams like spurs and warriors looking like trash this often. We are def going to need some moves to help. We did nothing in off season but watch old guys get a year older while GS added at top 5 player. Going to be much tougher, especially when you're relying on offfense to carry you

Yeah, I watched for a while and they looked sloppy and tired.

A timeout already? You just had half time, what did you do during that?

Doesn't help that shots that normally fall for these guys aren't falling tonight.

Irving again looking like hot garbage.

I'm glad he got a gold medal, but that's a lot of basketball for a guy with his frame.

And Lue plays these guys massive minutes.

Is Shumpert able to hit a 12 ft uncontesed jumper? Ever?

Almost like watching the Keystone Cops.

I suspect that the team wasn't all that excited to extend their win streak against the Warriors in a meaningless regular season game.

No sense giving additional motivation to them in the Finals.

That's the excuse I am going to use, anyway.

The team packs it in if they think they don't have a chance. They've had a long road trip, they're a bit worn down now and nursing injuries. You could almost see the big fat postage stamp the stuck on this one as they mailed it in.

Did anyone else watch the Warriors vs the Thunder last night?

Man, I despise Za Za Punkchula. He knocks Westbrook down and stands over him like he's pissing on him. He is such a jerk.

Earlier this year, I saw him spanking his own butt after he made an elbow set shot. Hubie Brown got on his butt [yes, it's intended] about it and then when Punkchula missed from the same spot shortly afterwards, he really lit into Punkchula's punk ass. It was classic.

Between Za Za Punkchula and Damien Green, the Warriors have two of the most unlikable players in the league.

LOL.....Westbrooke was not voted as a starter on the All Star team. What a joke these votes are.

I can't believe Love wasn't voted a starter either...only guy in the Eastern Conf averaging 20/10.

The fans get 50% of the vote. Ridiculous.

Right, fan input should be a lot less. Harden and Westbrook should be the starting guards for the West. I know we have a certain disdain for Curry, and he's one of the best players in the league, but he's not having a better year than Westbrook.

I can't believe a guy averaging 30, 10 & 10 for a playoff team isn't a starter. #Shameful

Yep!

Fans get 50%. Players get 25%. And the media gets 25%.

I heard Hardin and Westy were named the starters by the players and the media, but that Curry got in because he did so well in the fan vote.

Btw.........I can't believe I heard this right, but they said Za Za Punkchula won the fan vote at center. I was working on some of my designs on the computer while that was on and wasn't listening closely, but I am pretty sure that is what they said.

Za Za?!?

It's because the entire country of Georgia votes for him. He's been among the top vote getters for a couple seasons now.

Speaking of the players, they don't know what they're doing either. Russillo was just reading off names of players that got ALL Star starter votes, not just All Star.

Joakim Noah - 5
Delly - 6
Javale McGee - 4
Michael Beasley - 6
Mo Williams (retired and yet to play a game this season) - 1

I get a player might vote for themselves, if they're allowed to, but how screwed up is it that those guys received starter votes for the All Star game by their peers.

The players shouldn't be allowed to vote on themselves or their teammates.

I'm not outraged by it. I find it more funny than anything. Heck, I probably won't even watch the game because it's a sloppy 3 & dunk contest.

Of course fans get 50% of the vote. Popular players = higher ratings =more advertising revenue.

Umm ... I was responsible for some really bad Western Conference votes ...... and it was intentional ......

JC..

My daughter DancinDawg and I have tickeys for the Cavs OKC game next Sunday afternoon the 29th... Bring on Westie

should be fun!

I am getting tired of the cavs playing like trash for nationally televised games. Its the only time I get to watch them. So they better do well tonight.

I'm pretty sure Yao Ming was the leading vote getter in at least one season he hadn't even played in.. #China

Kawhi Leonard is a NBA equivalent of Richard Sherman, but he's quiet so nobody cares. It amazes me how much he grabs and gets away.

Lue infuriates me when he benches TT in the 4th quarter. So dumb.

And candy.........you are complaining about Leonard? LOL....really? How about LeBron pushing off on almost every single offensive play?

Defensively this team just won't be able to compete against the SA and Warriors in a 7 game series, they have too many playmakers and they defend well, we need rim protection so bad..TT and Frye are turnstiles, I sure hope they are just coasting and actually remember how to play defense come june and back to needing a backup pg...watching lebron trying to dribble and run the offense is infuriating, he is a HORRIBLE ball handler and turns it over too much for my liking, let him facilitate, he don't need to dribble the ball around and up the floor, stupid. let him create from the backdown when they come to help

Getting a couple good stops in a row sure helps.

Lebron gets away with alot more...Leonard is a stud..his game has exploded

Can't buy a bucket two times in a row!?

Finally a shot fell!

James with the clutch three!

Shucks! Well at least the game ain't over.

Man, your eye for BB stinks.

Your constant bashing of TT is so unbelievably lame.

Without him, there is no way we win the championship last year. And a turnstile? LMAO.........clueless.

no dude..your love affair with a fringe guy is lame...but bash me because thats how a little guy like you acts...i'm right...TT is BELOW average in defense..if he's not offense rebounding he worthless...so make sure you hug your TT pillow tight tonight and think of how great he is and how someday you can get ice cream together...god you're a troll and the least knowledgeable person on this board when it comes to bball

that might be the funniest thing I've ever read in my life

You are clueless.

You think we win w/Mosgove manning the five? LMAO

2015 Mosgov, maybe. Last years, noooo.

3 words I hate "love for 3"

This is simplifying it, but it came down to Lebron being outplayed by Kawhi

You're confused.

When have I denied what Lebron does? I watch the Spurs when they don't just play the Cavs.

Nah, I'm not confused.

Leonard is a great defender and making the claim you did diminishes his greatness.

By comparing him to Richard Sherman? You're reaching for an argument.

Not really. I just disagree that he holds as much as you claimed.

I disagree. I think this game came down to missed and made shots. When Lebron wanted to stop Kawhi he did. But Love must have missed about 8 open 3s in the second half, including two back to back good looks on a shot and offensive rebound to get another one and then an air airball on a wide open 3 to tie the game in OT. Korver misses a wide open 3 late. Irving has stretches where he acts like he's the only guy on the team and misses shots playing ISO ball. Then you have Patty freakin Mills hitting the dagger 3 pretty much sealin the win. Missed and made shots.

I know the Spurs are one of the top teams in the league but they came into the Cavs home and beat them. Whatever magic the Cavs carried over from last season has vanished. These guys are not playing championship basketball.

They're also still down a starter.

spurs were down 2 starters

I'm very aware, but we're talking about the Cavs here.

Awesome game last night, I know we came up short, but that was a fun watch.

I really don't understand people getting all upset. None of this matters until April rolls around. Especially considering what happened last summer, I can really enjoy the season without freaking out.

I have news for some people, they may not win it all again this year! Repeating is insanely hard to do. I think we'll get over it. I'm still excited about another playoff run regardless.

The only way we have to worry about the Spurs is if they make the finals.

At one point in the 4th Lebron was 3-4,and the rest of the team was 3-14. (Going by memory from the broadcast)

No kidding. We're a lot further along at this point of the season than we were last year.

Isn't today the anniversary of when we fired Blatt?

I think it was last Friday, but yes, very close.

Yeah, good game last night. Losing stinks, but playing them into OT says we're not far off. Adding Korver, missing JR and Kevin being hurt aren't excuses, but they are what they are.

I kind of hope the Spurs somehow beat the Warriors so we can get last nights match-up in the Finals. I don't think I'd care to watch a 3rd Cavs/Warriors Finals.

Ouch. Oh how the mighty have fallen...

Lakers can't score 81 on Kobe's anniversary, suffer worst loss in team history instead

The Lakers lost 122-73 to the Mavericks, the 15-29 Mavericks.

I tuned into a Lakers game recently and man they are tough to watch. I almost feel bad for Mozgov, but he's getting paid well.

Knew they'd get blown out when I saw their starting lineup. I really don't know why Walton thought a gigantic lineup would work tonight.

yeesh, that's a blowout

49 points? owwwww

Speaking of blowouts, we're getting killed by the Pelicans at half. Something tells me Lebron will be going to the "whip hand" soon, just like he did last year.

Wish he'd have done that last week against the Warriors. I don't like it when the 'Big Three' are on the floor and all we have to show for it is a 20pt. deficit.

no more excuses...this team is just bad and broken right now...and i don't think Lue has a clue how to fix it. We've sucked for just about all of January. If we weren't playing in the weakest conference in any sport, we'd be in much more trouble. They have alot to figure out...its worse than what got blatt fired

Why the hell is it that these guys just can't get the long ball to fall? What makes them so inconsistent?

my fav saying is live by the 3 die by the 3, we simply have a bunch of spot of shooters and noone that can actually create their shot or make a play...

I had hopes for Korver but he's either not athletic enough to get open anymore or Lue sucks at drawing up plays for him...i'm guessing its somewhere in the middle...

Kyrie and Lebron are normally (not in recent weeks) guys that can create shots and make plays.

Looks like they're making potato salad here recently.

and yeah, Korver ought to be out there more often getting familiar with the guys on the floor.

Kyrie had to go uncle drew and carry the team and we are back in it, be nice if rest of team would contribute

This lineup is stupid why does Lue keep going to it,

Whopping 10 points from bench

Korv is starting to-dammit-we make one they make one...

Coaching...no way we ought to be down like this to anyone. I don't care if they only care about the post season or not.

Yep my thoughts as well, you don't see warriors or spurs making excuses, they play well all the time. Sure they will lose games but man we've looked really bad this month

For once I might have to agree with you wholeheartedly. They have not been the same team since they lost Swish and picked up Korver.

Terrence jones just destroying us

Jones just embarrassed Lebron for like the 5th time tonight. They are doing this without their best player

Now we're getting into hero ball.

No better time to get fouled than when you air ball a 3pt shot!

Lebron needs help with that Jones fella.

Terrence jones is lbjs daddy

Really need JR back on the floor. just a few more points and we'd be in a lot better shape.

We let Terrence freaking Jones score 36 and Justin Holiday score 33.

LET is the key word. Can't count how many times these guys just watched someone drive to the basket and score.

Now Love hits a three?

The Cavs lost to NO without Davis.

They've dropped 5 of 7.

Yikes.

not pretty

So our big three plus Shump scored 107 of the 122 points. Gee. Do you think our bench might be a problem?

I've said this all year, golden state adds an ex-mvp and we basically just got a year older, we did nothing to improve anything and weakened the backup PG, for all of Delly's limitations he was a million times better than felder and liggins..Looks like Lebron isn't too happy with the roster either

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/..._social_feature


Griffin needs to get his head out of his ass and listen to what lebron is saying and just about everyone who watches this team sees..this team is worse than last year and if Lebron isn't happy with how you do your job, you won't be doing your job long, is it right for a player to have that kind of power, usually no, but when you're LBJ? Yeah you have that power

but let's not let Lue off the hook, dude has been horrible. He's running the big 3 into the ground, stupid rotations that don't work and cost us the game when he came out with that rotation to start the 4th (the same on that got blitzed by SA 29-4) after Kyrie single handedly brought the deficit to a manageable 8, then that lineup comes in and poof, the lead is 17 again. He actually went to a 7 man rotation last night....in january..how stupid do you have to be? To be honest, as soon as the lead went above 20, i woould have conceded the loss and just rested the big 3. If he doesn't figure out how to keep these guys 35 minutes or less they are going to be done before playoffs. LBJ leading the league in minutes..unacceptable

If the bulk load of our roster is going to play like crap, we need to cut back on LBJs minutes. Kovier's defense is flat out horrible. This team needs to do some soul searching and accept the fact they were the Champs last year, which means everyone has a target on them and will bring Max effort towards them. I turned the game off, hard to watch it anymore. 5 of the last seven games lost against teams we should have zero issues in crushing.

Lebron is part of the reason Griff's hands are tied when it comes to signing anyone new. He's the one who wanted TT and JR signed to big contracts. He's the one who wanted JJ and Birdman on the roster. After that, there's not many options left for bringing guys in. We traded Mike Dunleavy's corpse and Mo William's carcass for a guy that can actually play a few minutes. We also did what you always advocated in dumping Delly and picking up a couple of top level D-leaguers to replace him.

Honestly, I think the two biggest things we've been missing is Delly and JR. JR hasn't been up to playing standards since his lengthy holdout, and he keeps getting injured now on top of that. Delly is exactly what we need in this long January part of the schedule. An energy guy that you can plug in, let the others on the team feed off that energy and then use his ability to be a field general to get some scrappy bench points.

I agree about Lue though, I'm not sure about his rotations and the minutes he's handing out. If we're getting blown out, just take the loss and pull the big three. We should also be running only 2 of the big three for most minutes of the game.

Solid post. We have a chance tonight against a broken team to remember what it's like to win again. They've lost 8 of their last ten I believe I heard.

Sure do miss Delly and with no JR, it's hurting. Sure wish LBJ would be like Curry and even Green. They're willing to get paid less to make the team better as a whole. We have people like LBJ, TT and JR who all had opposite mindsets and only had themselves in mind.

LBJ, imo, has a hand in the blame.

I agree with most, yes lebron is to blame for some of this, but after delivering a ring, he has earned the right..But lets not let griffin off the hook, JJ is vet minimun, not a big deal, Birdman was a head scratcher, but i think he could have been more productive if Lue actually played him..he was tough around the rim and played physical. But we have assets, we have spots we can free up to get people in here. I'd love for them to find a way to move TT's contract for Cousins but yeah, wasn't a fan of Delly , he didn't deserve the contract he got and he's playing like JAG now. Def not worth his contract and I don't blame the cavs for not giving it to him, both he and mosgov cashed in on being part of a championship team, but as people find out, lebron makes them look better than they are.. TT is a perfect example...he was nothing special before lebron, but now he's freed up to move around and rebound...wish he'd be more consistent and develop his game..but thats a diff thread. But Mo left cavs holding the bag. They just did a poor job replacing delly/moz. But lets not fool ourselves, Griff has to do something. I guess we're negotiating trade for Nelson, I'd love to snag Chandler somehow as well.But ultimately Lue better learn to coach and quick...he's been bad this year and he doesn't believe in defense as he's stated, which is concerning for a team looking to play in June

Report: Cavs rejected Knicks' offers of Carmelo Anthony for Kevin Love
http://www.thescore.com/news/1217109

If only it were January 25th, 2016 (for the Knicks' sake).

We're down 10-0 to start the game.

Not down anymore.

Man came out of that timeout like a different team

Thank goodness!

Buckeyes ain't doin' too bad either. Up 33-20 on the Gophers right now.

I am still hoping that the Cavs can get either Chalmers or Jack. We really need that type of player on this team.

I still can't stand Korver's game the last couple of years. Again, he has a hot shooting night once in awhile and the fans go crazy, but most nights he is a huge liability.

There are some teams w/a plethora of point guards. They aren't great, but they would be an improvement. I wonder if there is any way we could swing a deal for a guy DJ Augistine, Felton, Michael Carter Williams, CJ Watson, Sessions, Joseph, Nelson, etc????

What is a loose ball foul? Looked like the ball just went off the rim and now the Cavs get free throws?

A loose ball foul is when neither team has possession of the ball, but one player pushes, shoves, elbows, jostles, etc another player to get position on the court or to impede the progress of another player.

Does that make sense?

Let's say you and I are in the paint. A shot is taken and I hook you to move you out of the way so I can grab the rebound. That would be considered a loose ball foul.

Thank you! I thought it had to do with 'the ball got away from someone' or something like that.

One thing you can say about Korea, he is a quick shot. No get the ball, bend the knees a bit and then shoot.

He gets the ball and it's out, and when he's on it's in.

In other news, the Buckeyes held out for a 78-72 win over the Gophers.

Free throw shooting has been awful

Cousins is a beast. Not sure why he shoots so many 3s though.

This team has been incredibly bad passing.

Very sloppy with the ball in crucial moments.

Boogies talent can only be matched by his stupidity.

What is korver doing

Unbelievable...

Why the hell did Lue have freaking Korver in there at the end? Jesus!

17/34 from the FT line.

Korver was 4/7 from 3pt range-tonight. We turned the ball over like The Three Stooges tonight. If Love hits that second free throw it's a two point game.

#firelue #freethrowsmatter #defensematters #turnoversmatter

Seriously this team is trash right now

yep. it's been an ugly few weeks

It'd be different if we were playing top tier teams or even marginal teams, but we're getting handled by sub 500 bottom of basement teams..We look old and slow, playing selfish, fundamentally garbage, I mean you have guys like TT making 14million a year shooting 48% at the line..Thats just unacceptable..It's also not an agenda against TT though sometimes it appears I don't like him, I actually really like TT, i just think for what cavs were forced by lebron to pay him, I'd expect him to be more than a rebounder. And he really doesn't do that all that well on the defensive end..he is great on the offensive, but he's nowhere near a great fundamental rebounder like Love. Just saying that we have alot of money invested in this team to get the production we are getting...Lue needs to lock these guys in a gym with no offdays until they get out of this funk they are in...they just look poorly coached. side note, i've seen reports that Collison might be available..He'd look great backing up Kyrie

Was at the game last night..blah. The team missed 17 free throws with a 50% clip. No team is going to win consistently with that stat. Gross.

Lebron's whip hand is going to come out.

Sucks we're going through this, but it's expected and probably needed. We'll be stronger for it in Feb and March.

Lebrons getting the D-Wade treatment when his play starts going down hill. So I guess he needs to be aggressive now.

Not sure if you guys have been following, but I see both sides of the debate that has been on-going and came to crux after the New Orleans game.

I get that LeBron wants a backup PG here and that the bottom of the roster is weak. I get his desire to win. I get that he was promised that the Cavs would spend money each year to help win multiple championships.

On the other hand, I get that no one is spending more money on players than Gilbert. The team is way over the cap and he is paying an obscene amount in regards to the luxury tax. I also get that Griffin might be weighing his options and will make the right move at the proper time.

It's kind of a tough situation.

I think Lebron is just being his passive aggressive self. He's upset we don't want his buddy Melo.

j/c...

I seem to recall going through this same drama last year. LeBron and his "cryptic tweets."

Can we just fast forward to the Finals already?

his tweets have been anything but cryptic...but while i get that the roster is thin after the big 3, this is alot of LBJ's fault for pushing to get big contracts for role players like TT and JR, guys like RJ, JJ, Birdman, felder, and mcrae are just taking up valuable roster spos. RJ is the only one that contributes somewhat, but at a 6 something PER, he's not contributing that much, bottom line is we're going to have to move some bodies and get some production from bench..have 2 guys with injury proneness and 1 guy with more miles than keith richards face, you can't expect them playing 40 minutes a night, especially can't expect them to play 40 minutes a night and we still lose. The thing that sucks its hard to pinpoint exactly what happened. But I know for fact I have been thoroughly unimpressed with Lue. I don't see anything he's doing working. We were 30-10 when blatt was fired..well here we are 30-14, so is Larry Drew up next since it worked last year...i kid but ASB is 3 weeks away, no way we should be mailing in games already against teams that we should have stomped and had bench playing the whole 4th. The thing that Lue has that Blatt i guess didn't was Chemistry with his star player, because as a coach, Blatt is a much better coach imo, he just needed time to adjust to NBA egos and that just wasn't going to happen on lebron's watch. Cap management has been our downfall, but it got us a ring, just repeating is going to be so much harder this year..we've lost the hunger it looks like

LBJ should complain about this type of stuff in the offseason instead of making us sign the corpses of his friends.

I don't know if the team's not hungry. I think we just ran out of gas and need a kick start.

We had a long offseason, we played well up until this past west coast trip and the injuries and rest are starting to wear on the team. I think that's normal for any team after a title. Plus, it's the end of January. It's the dead zone in the NBA, post-Christmas and pre-All Star.

And like you said, this is pretty much the same thing that happened last year. We're still in first, we just played the Spurs to the last second, we'll get a PG and JR will come back.

I know the media wants us to freak out, but I'm not going to do it.

What crap.

Even worse than losing was watching JJ miss three foul shots in a row. Has he ever missed three foul shots in his life? He wasn't the only one who had trouble at the foul line.

I turned the game off when we went into OT, I knew our losing streak was going to continue.

We shoulda won last night, if we shot a bit better at the foul line we'd have had it. Once JR gets back, and Love gets his 3pt shot back it will be different.

I do think the bench needs more minutes to gain chemistry though. Kover is supposed to be this sniper from the distance (and he didn't do bad last night) but he's not consistent either.

Man, if we just had the Knicks' roster.

Lighten up, Francis.

You complained all last year and we won the championship.

I complained too, but I learned to shut my mouth when proven wrong.

Glad Rondo called out Wade.

Rondo might get bought out now! Get on the phone Grif! Sign him to the vet min.



http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/rajon-rondo-blasts-bulls-teammates-butler-and-wade-on-twitter/

Rondo is not a team player. He has trouble w/his teammates wherever he goes. That is why he has moved around so much.

I don't think that is the type of guy we want.

We might not have a choice.

I prefer Chalmers or Jack.

Rondo may work as a backup PG, but he's so unstable. If he's not getting enough minutes, he'll become a distraction and could make this team worse. I'd keep looking elsewhere.

What was wrong with JR before he got under Lebron's mentorship? Could the same thing happen with Rondo?

this has a different feel than last year..this year just seems like everything is out of sync..

please god no Rondo, i want him nowhere near this team...theres alot of teams that would probably give up a pg close to deadline, I'm thinking guys like Nelson (who we have been rumored to have ongoing discussions to get, Collison, Chalmers, hell even Jack if he's healthy.. I'd dig up the corpse of Miller before i sign Rondo, what's mark price doing these days? Serious, screw Rondo, hes done as a player and a cancer to every team he's on

Mark Price actually helped Rondo improve his shot years ago. He's now currently the Head Coach of the UNC Charlotte 49'ers.

But I bet he could still hit an open 3.

So...what about this guy? Or did people forget about him? Remember Larry Sanders from the Bucks?

https://twitter.com/l8show_thegoat/status/824787180472123392

Rondo hasn't been good for years.

Carmelo to the Clippers for Rivers and Crawford.

Sounds like it has legs.

The Clippers are desperate to get out of the 1st round of the playoffs this year; they probably would've last year, if Blake Griffin and Chris Paul weren't made of glass.

They are desperate to make the Conference Finals.

A team of CP3, Griffin, Melo, Jordan, and Redick would be interesting, but I don't know if it would be good. They would also have zero bench.

What happens when Blake comes back?

Seems like a bad mix in regards to floor spacing.

I was talking about Price hitting the open 3.

Hope so. Not that I'm too worried about him going to Boston, but I don't want to make our trip to the Finals any harder by putting Melo on the Celts.

If the Clippers are going to make a run, they need to go all in now. It would be something of a 2nd round in the West (Warriors, Spurs, Rockets and Clips).

Report: Cavaliers targeting Jameer Nelson

The Cleveland Cavaliers have their eyes on acquiring a playmaker and that aforementioned player is likely coming from Denver.

According to Sam Amico of Amico Hoops, the Cavaliers have been in repeated discussions of acquiring Denver Nuggets point guard Jameer Nelson:

"The Cavs have taken part in repeated discussions centered around Nelson, and he would appear to be the primary target of the three mentioned by Forbes, per Amico Hoops sources."

This story follows up the previous report from Forbes' Mitch Lawrence, who states that the Cavaliers are interested in acquiring Nelson, Rajon Rondo or Deron Williams.

The Cavaliers have lost six of their past eight games and are in "crisis mode." LeBron James has been pushing for the team to acquire another playmaker, while the organization seems to be concerned with the cost of adding another player due to their luxury tax situation.

Nelson is a 13-year veteran who has averaged 11.8 points and 6.0 assists per game for his career. The 34-year-old is currently averaging 8.7 points and 4.5 assists per game and helped the 2009 Orlando Magic advance to the NBA Finals.

The 6-foot point guard would obviously represent the veteran backup point guard the team has been looking for since Mo Williams' retirement in September.

http://cavaliers.247sports.com/Bolt/Report-Cavaliers-targeting-Jameer-Nelson-50843385

Just a prediction: Cavs destroy the nets and get out of the losing funk.

or they lose and the world melts down

either way, we win

thanks man, I needed that. My week has sucked.

Props to Barkley.



Shaq is a numb nut as always

I would approve of that move.

I just listened to this and I think you are wrong.

I think the two best points belonged to KG and Shaq. LeBron is not afraid to compete, but he should have had this conversation w/the Gilbert and Griffin rather than doing so in the media.

The 76ers probably won't make the 8th seed, but they're fun to watch. And Simmons is about to start playing.

Wonder who they will trade? They are going to have to trade one of their bigs, maybe two.

I thought I heard Noel, but he's been playing well recently. Who knows. Maybe they stick for a while.

As for the Cavs, the win feels good and that 21 point lead after the 3rd was nice to see.....but giving up 43 to the Nets in the 4th is insane. They shouldn't break 30 in a quarter, ever, let alone 43!

On to the Thunder, without Kanter. What a dope.

Much better passing tonight.

Them and the Bucks are redeeming the East in regards to watch ability.

Wow! This is absolutely incredible!

James Harden makes history with second 50-point triple-double of the season - CBSSports.com
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/james-...-of-the-season/

Another night, another signature game for James Harden's MVP résumé. The Rockets guard put up a 51-point, 13-rebound, 13-assist triple double in a 123-118 victory over the Sixers on Friday night. It was Harden's second 50-point triple-double of the season, making him the first player, ever, to have multiple 50-point triple-doubles in one season.

Along with Russell Westbrook's 51-point triple-double in October, that's now three 50-point triple-doubles in one season, when there hadn't been any since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1973. The MVP race this season continues to just amaze.

This wasn't an empty performance, either. The Sixers have been a good, tough team lately, and they had actually closed the gap to five in the closing minutes Friday. Harden legitimately needed that production to secure the win. These performances are meaningful. The Rockets are now 12-3 when Harden has a triple-double; the Thunder are 18-5 when Westbrook does the same.

The performance overshadowed a 32-point, seven-rebound, four-assist performance from Joel Embiid in just 28 minutes. It seems like every night is one superstar's huge game vs. another's. Harden's efficiency continues to thrive as well; he shot 16 of 28 from the field.

Every night Harden has what seems like an MVP-defining game, Westbrook answers with one of his own (Sunday at the Cavaliers should be fun). Every time it seems like Westbrook might have taken the lead back, Harden does something remarkable. It makes you wonder.... when was the last time we had an MVP race this good?

Harden and D'Antonio are a great match. They've saved each other's career

We are witnessing some historic play by Harden and Westbrook.

From my understanding he did, he even said he told griff the same thing to his face, so maybe he was just tired of the inaction, but regardless shouldn't have said anything where it could have been run with like it is, he's a petulant child..as a player love watching him, as a human being I'm not a fan. He just does things because he thinks hes untouchable, thats not what true leaders do.

The rumor was Noel, but since Embiid came out and basically said Noel was his BFF the talks have cooled, I could see it being Okafor

As they should. Okafor is unplayable with Embiid. I wish we would have tried to pull the trigger on Richaun Holmes, but he's playing up to his ability now.

Wasn't Okafor the first overall pick?

Yes, but so was Anthony Bennett. Okafor also had horrible college metrics compared to Embiid. Okafor and Embiid really hurts the team in regards to spacing or pace.

Also if Loul Deng leaves the country he might not be allowed re-entry.

Methinks you missed my point.

Probs. What was it?

He was picked 3rd btw

I think today will be a game where it finally clicks for us or we get blown out by 30 again..Kyrie "guarding" westbrook might be the scariest thing ever

Kyrie just made Westbrook check his ankles

Kevin needs to sit for 2 weeks to rest his back and reset his shot.

Our defense is just atrocious, also giving up a first for korver looks so stupid right now and it didn't look that great when it happened. Shump has done a good job on Westbrook as you can do but man I wish we had just one dude that played with his intensity. Kyrie has been balling

Westbrook wouldn't score 5 points a game if he couldn't use his off arm

This game had much better flow from the cavs, very encouraging

nice game today. a different energy and urgency IMO

You are amazing. 5 pts a game? LMAO

How many would LeBron score? Negative 8?

it was a joke...only you would take that seriously and use it to start an argument...god you're a troll and i just need to put you back on ignore..I have zero need to see your garbage

Wow............more namecalling.

Btw............what did you think of TT today? How about those blocks? Bet you loved those, eh?

Man, Green is such a jerk. Did any of you just see that play on on McCollum? Dirty as hell.

Fun game today.. DancinDawg and I went to the game!

Shumpret's D on Westbrook was awesome. Glad to see them get their rhythm back again.

wow 1 game where he actually looked like he deserved that contract..get out of here with your TT lovefest..dude is average..oh guess what..cavs still rank at the bottom of league in blocks and lead the league in points given up in the paint...but thats probably nothing to do with TT...completely ignorant is what you are...back on ignore..you are easily the worst poster on here, about 1% of your posts have any content, the rest is arguing with whoever and whatever you can about any subject, especially if its not in accordance to what you think...its a joke.

watching them try to defend kyrie with just about every player they had was even more fun, OKC is basically Westbrook and just some guys, I do like Payne though and ofcourse adams, they should have used him much more.

Just clicking.
I don't usually comment about the NBA cuz I dont care, but I gotta say
LeBron continues to be a punk, throwing teammates under the bus in public.

Sounds like you care.

Jordan McRae and Channing frye should never under any circumstances see the floor at the same time. They literally can't stop anyone

Do we just hate playing defense during the regular season? These shots that these bum ass teams are getting is ridiculous. So open

It's Barnes, he's paying us back for going cold in games 5, 6 & 7. S'ok.

No defense, no playmakers, and horrible rotations. This team has lost every single bit of mojo it had. This isn't regular season blues, we just aren't very good. TT 24 minutes 0 points and -22 +\-. How you like those number Vers, I know you do. 15 million a year. Korver with 3 points. Def worth a first round pick. So much work needs to be done before June. The teams we are losing to is just unacceptable.

He's happy.

I don't, really.

I agree. I don't think this is regular season coasting. This team came into the season with a ton of swagger and mojo and they've completely lost it. This team is just bad right now.

this is a yo-yo team jesus

I think it very well could be "regular season coasting."

The biggest problem I see is terrible transition defense. We typically have multiple players not running back on D and LeBron is the most guilty of that group. Love and Kyrie don't either.

That is an effort issue.

I am not saying they are going to repeat, but they should certainly challenge for the title again, especially if they address the backup PG position.

I got an update on my phone yesterday or the day before that the Cavs called the 76ers for T.J. McConnell. They said no.

LINK

Grif is trying.

It would be great if the All Star break started today....and lasted 10 days.

LeBron James rips Charles Barkley: You're the NBA bad boy, not me

Dave McMenamin
ESPN Staff Writer

DALLAS -- After years of being fodder for Charles Barkley to comment on in his role as an analyst on TNT's "Inside the NBA," LeBron James has heard enough.

"He's a hater," James told ESPN of Barkley following the Cleveland Cavaliers' 104-97 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday. "What makes what he says credible? Because he's on TV?"

James had been stewing the past couple of days after Barkley took James to task for the four-time MVP calling out the Cavs for needing to fortify the roster with another playmaker to have a realistic shot at a repeat title.

"Inappropriate. Whiny. All of the above," Barkley said of James last week. "The Cleveland Cavaliers, they have given him everything he wanted. They have the highest payroll in NBA history. He wanted J.R. Smith last summer, they paid him. He wanted [Iman] Shumpert last summer. They brought in Kyle Korver. He's the best player in the world. Does he want all of the good players? He don't want to compete? He is an amazing player. They're the defending champs."

Barkley has consistently needled James, telling HBO's Bill Simmons over the summer that James would "never" ascend to top-five status in NBA history over Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain, and going back all the way to 2010 and James' "The Decision" television special, when Barkley told ESPN Radio 103.3 FM in Dallas/Fort Worth that it was a "punk move" for James to leave the Cavs to take up with the Miami Heat.

James initially took the high road when asked about Barkley's recent comments, saying they were "good for the ratings," while defending his competitive spirit.

But after ESPN followed up with a story asking Tristan Thompson for his thoughts on Barkley's comments, James chose to speak out again in ardent fashion.

"I'm not going to let him disrespect my legacy like that," James told ESPN. "I'm not the one who threw somebody through a window. I never spit on a kid. I never had unpaid debt in Las Vegas. I never said, 'I'm not a role model.' I never showed up to All-Star Weekend on Sunday because I was in Vegas all weekend partying.

"All I've done for my entire career is represent the NBA the right way. Fourteen years, never got in trouble. Respected the game. Print that."

James, whose friendships with Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony have also been called into question, recalled watching a 1993 NBA Finals game between Jordan's Chicago Bulls and Barkley's Phoenix Suns and being surprised what he saw on his screen.

"Go watch the '93 Finals when John Paxson hit the shot," James said. "Barkley and Jordan were laughing and joking with each other during one of the games while somebody's shooting a free throw. In the Finals. But, oh, nobody were friends back then."

Bringing up Anthony reminded James of another basketball luminary who has tweaked him this season -- New York Knicks president Phil Jackson -- and he had a story to share about Jackson as well.

"I went to see Melo at the Garden two years ago when we were in New York," James said. "They played Portland. I went up to a suite at halftime, and Phil Jackson didn't say one word to me."

This fall, Jackson brought up James unprompted in an interview with ESPN's Jackie MacMullan and described James and his close circle of business associates -- Rich Paul, Maverick Carter and Randy Mims -- as his "posse."

"I'm here to win ballgames and take care of my teammates and take care of my, what's that word, oh, my 'posse,'" James said, animatedly.

He had more words for Barkley too.

"I know he wanted to retire a long time ago, but he can't," James said. "He's stuck up on that stage every week."

James then issued a challenge, of sorts.

"And if this makes him want to talk to me, the schedule's out there," James said. "He knows every road arena I'll be in. Don't just come up to me at All-Star and shake my hand and smile."

It was James' second bout of frustration shared with the media in a week, as the Cavs finished out January going 7-8. It was the first time James has had a losing record in a calendar month with at least 10 games played since February 2006 -- his third season in the NBA -- when the Cavaliers went 6-8, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

James also spoke up about the perception he and his inner circle face as young, successful black businessmen, believing that identity being so rare in the power structure of professional sports makes him and his partners targets.

"I collect one paycheck from this," James said of his role with the Cavs. "There's the owner, Griff's [David Griffin] the GM, I'm the player. Screw Charles Barkley."

James put on his baseball cap and offered a parting thought as he prepared to leave the visitors locker room at the American Airlines Center to head to the airport for a flight back to Cleveland.

"I'm tired of biting my tongue," James said. "There's a new sheriff in town."

Article

Chris Haynes Verified account
@ChrisBHaynes

ESPN Sources: Cleveland to host mega free agent workout featuring Mario Chalmers, Lance Stephenson, Kirk Heinrich.

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not sure who I'd pick, 2 PG and a SG, I'd like chalmers as the backup PG over Hinrich, and Stephenson is odd, because he's a defense guy who can score a little bit but is a headcase.

Hinrich blows.

Yeah, I don't get the point of bringing in the two not named Chalmers. Hinrich lost whatever athletic ability he had a few years ago, and Stephenson is Shumpert but with head issues.

Really would love them to bring Larry Sanders in for a look

Lot's of interesting stuff out there. I heard about the Philly thing and the open tryout. Wonder why Jack wasn't invited? I like Chalmers the best. Then Jack. Just depends if they are healthy or not.

The Jameer Nelson trade is fairly interesting, too.

LeBron going off on Barkley is blowing the airwaves up. I listened earlier when I was driving to and from the hospital and clinic. It's pretty funny, if you ask me. LOL........dudes are trading bombs!

I just read pretty much the same article on Yahoo, pretty interesting!

Report: Cavaliers interested in Melo; won't give up Love
http://www.thescore.com/news/1222275

I suppose it doesn't hurt to try, although I wouldn't begin to know what we'd be offering. Plus, it feels like we'd still need a backup PG.

I don't really agree with adding Melo, because it feels like we'd be even worse defensively and run nothing but iso offense.

I'll let the smarter basketball minds figure out how it could work, and if it should.

I would be very upset if we traded for Melo. Guy is a selfish player and that is the last thing this team needs.

That's kind of what I've heard/read. I don't follow the team like some on here do, but from what I read, melo is NOT a guy the cav's need. Or want.

But he's friends with LeBron.

Also, Olympic Carmelo is very unselfish and a great teammate.

How does Melo fit on a team with Lebron, Love, and Thompson? (and as the article says, I don't give up Love either)

I don't get it either. We need a 1 or a 5. We've got one of the best Small Forwards of all time, yet we're still overloaded at that position ... So we're going to bring in another one? He wouldn't fit this team at all.

i think melo makes us worse to be honest

provided we don't give up love, probably the only trade involving love I'd do and would work salary wise is for cousins, and I'd do that in a heartbeat, but back to Melo, melo on crappy teams is a selfish dude for sure, but also remember olympic melo is pretty damn good. He passes and defends. If he is in a situation where he knows he can be successful, I think it would be a different scenario here. But at the same time, not sure what we would be giving up. I think we should pick up Chalmers, Stephenson and sign Sanders and call it a wrap

I wonder if people remember how Melo ended up w/the Knicks?

Olympic Melo is good because he's playing against scrub International teams. Lebron is also willing to play at PF for a few weeks to make room for Melo in the starting line-up, but I doubt he'll want to do that for an entire season.

The biggest problem with Melo is there's no where to fit him in the lineup. Do you bump Lebron or Melo to SG and put JR on the bench? Do you play Lebron at Center? And honestly, I'd rather have JR playing the 2. He plays Defense and hits the spot-up 3. He doesn't need to have the ball in his hands to do stuff, whereas Carmelo is going to give us 3 guys in the starting lineup that want to run the play.

Melo is the all time Olympic scorer. I think its a little more than the teams hes playing. Especially nowadays with how good some countries have been, not Us caliber, but not washington generals either. I agree he doesn't seem like he fits. But at the same time, if you can keep love and add a playmaker like Melo, as long as he comes in understanding his role I don't have a problem with it, or maybe he shocks us all and agrees to come off bench.. who knows, but we def. need more playmakers, but i think Melo at this point is a pipe dream..like i said, give me chalmers, stephenson and sanders and I'd be fine with that

Melo has played under some horrible coaches. Phil Jackson is a bum now too.

JR doesn't hit the spot up 3.. he hits the 3 from 5 feet outside the circle while falling out of bounds with a 6'10" guy diving at him.. those shots he will make.

My bad, you are absolutely correct.

Looks like Farmar is the front runner for the backup PG spot, I'm still hoping for Dwill or Nelson, even Mack would be a better option

I see Kyrie is doing the 3pt contest again this year..hope he brings it home again

j/c:


https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/827602572622036996

Just when he though it was his year to finally get a ring! On that note, watch him turn around and accept the ring the Cavs were going to give him.

Rumor is they did this so they could keep us from signing Weber

We could have signed Weber days or weeks ago. We had an open roster spot. Even with us winning last year, I don't think the Warriors are too concerned with how we fill out our bench and would make a roster move out of spite.

we could have had tryouts days or weeks ago too but we didn't.. I'll have to look for the article, but theres a couple articles about it

Wonder if the Cavs would be interested in bringing Andy back considering Bird Man is done for the season?

Andy is just about done for his career.

Strictly speaking as a fan, it would be nice to have him back, contribute enough and get another ring.

Other than that, how much could he contribute at this point?

j/c

I went to the Blavers/Mavs game last nigh. Dallas was crazy good in the first quarter. They made their first 7 or 8 shots, and at one point was 77% from 3 point land.

Unfortunately the Blazers came up just a little short, tying it late in the 4th only to lose by I think 4 points. I'm not sure I've ever seen a team shoot so well in a quarter.

They're feeling it from the arc tonight. And no Kyrie too.

Maybe we should trade for Jennings instead of Carmelo.

He's doing it against felder, so it's like playing against a middle school kid. Felder is trash. I wouldn't mind Jennings or Lee

I play Fantasy BB every night. Multiple entries.

I can tell you that Jennings always posts good numbers when he gets minutes.

Speaking of trash ... What's happened to Korver's shot?? He can't hit anything.

I don't think Felder is trash. He's a rookie. Had a pretty good stretch in the 1st half. Had a pretty bad stretch in the second half. About what you might expect for a project guy that has a bunch of room to grow.

He is who he is.............a streak shooter who is more cold than hot at this stage of his career.

I don't think streak shooter is accurate, but he may not be a good fit on this team.

How is not accurate?

He's #8 all-time, for career three point percentage. That's a little better than a streak shooter.

I think of a streak shooter as a guy who gets hot once in awhile and also is capable of really cold stretches. Korver is too pure a shooter in my opinion to be considered a streak shooter.

Wow. This officiating crew is trash.

Yeah, they've had some bad calls, but how do you miss that last one after a review?

Did you misread what I said?

I said............."at this point of his career..."

The Kings are funny. They've recently beat the Cavs and Warriors but they've also lost to the 76ers (sans Embiid) and the Suns.

Cousins is so crazy good, but he can go full tilt so easily.

that was one of the worst calls i've seen this season, it was so obvious the ball went of the knick player...that was amazing they could review that and come back and say knick ball

Felder's biggest struggle and why i don't think he'll be anything more than a deep bench guy is his defense and inability to get to the glass and finish due to his size..he's just too small, there are very few people his size that make it, but man jennings was just doing whatever he wanted against him.. I hope he develops into something, but the bottom line is we can't wait for that right now, sign a vet PG, and send him to dleague and just let him play every night. We aren't doing him any favors right now..dude needs to play and figure out what he can and can't do at this level.

I think it's scheme to be honest, when we run these pickdowns and high picks to get him open off screens, our bigs aren't getting to their guy in time, so they can go over the pick and contest the shot..Korver is used to getting that open look when he curls off that screen, when he does he hits it at a good percentage. I think i read he was shooting contested 3's at like 57% or something..I thought giving a first round for him was stupid by griff and will end up biting us, just like i thought giving up 2 firsts for Mozgov was stupid and people said i was wrong...i wasn't.. I get picks aren't as valuable with the team we have, but they are down the road and we have none. I think korver will help more as the season goes on and they figure out where to get him the ball. Kyrie almost seems to never look for him and I've seen him open.. Kyrie is great at driving and dumping off inside, he's got to be better and kicking it out too. Thats why Korver is better with lebron. I think in the end Korver will be alright. Just have to wait

You try and act smart, but you have no clue about bb.

Two things:

Korver is a streak shooter whose legs are starting to fail him at this point of his career. I am not a fan of Lue, but blaming him is beyond moronic.

The second point is how you blame our bigs for our defensive woes. Kyrie is a terrible on the ball defender and LBJ rarely puts forth effort on the defensive end during the regular season, but let's blame the bigs. LOL.....................clueless.

Korver's never been a streak shooter. Not yesterday, not today. He's a pure shooter who requires a lot of work to get open. In order to get him shots it's got to be a really concentrated effort by the whole team. I think it takes the flow out of the offense. There's no one else on the team like Korver and they're not used to playing with a guy like that.

I think Korver pays off somehow, some way hitting a big shot in the playoffs when we really need it. But in general it appears to be a tough fit on the team so far.

Kyrie looks like he forgot how to play basketball since last game good god. Between that and TTs stellar rim protection, it's like open gym right now. Washington is gangbusters at home and they play well together. Their screen game is strong. Brooks has done a good job. I think this is going to be a shootout

Felder looks like it's bring your kid to work day

So they just said on the broadcast Lebron is pushing cavs to trade for melo even if it means trading love, if that happens i don't think I can support this team. That's just ridiculous. Better idea trade Lebron to NY and get our team and picks back and build around a young team with sustainable success instead of all in for a year or two

Trading Lebron would be like trading Fort Knox. Watch the mass exodus of whatever talent he has around him if he's gone.

BTW: Which announcers said that? I'm watching on FOXOH. Could it be 'rumor'?

Lol what talent around him? All the geriatrics's? All the young talent is locked up for 4+ years with bird rights on all. It's on the national broadcast, they spent a good 10 minutes taking about it on air and showed a tweet.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18634...o-anthony-trade

It's obvious who the refs want to win

I don't know what bird rights are. I certainly wasn't talking about the geriatrics. And like I said, I'm watching on FOXOH, not the national broadcast. It's blacked out on TNT here in Central, Ohio.

And, I didn't turn the game on till like 8:30 or so.

So much for team chemistry.

Good job LBJ.

For Love, it would be tough playing with a guy like lebron at this point, I would assume.

Whatever happened to players playing, and the front office doing front office stuff?

Well, he did 'front office' enough to get the team together that won it all last year.

I get what you're saying, but it's gonna be hard to keep a guy on Lebron's level from influencing decisions.

You could sneeze soft enough to move a kleenex an inch and get called for a foul tonight.

Nobody wants to shoot inside the arc tonight!

That shot by Lebron lol wow, amazing regular reason game

Especially trading a younger and better player for one who isn't even at the same level and older and more expensive. I really hope this is just rumor because that would really disappoint

Oh. My. WORD!

Thought the game was over! Kevin Love could be a QB if he wanted!

Lebron just fouled out, ruined a great game which will be a loss now

Questionable officiating? Oh hey look, it's a Tony Brothers crew ...

For God's sake kid, pass the ball!

We're about to see who has power in Cleveland.

They are easily the worst

Beal got caught talking crap so kyrie said really chump

Wow! This has been a hell of a game.

I seem to remember another shot made from that side of the arc not but a couple seasons ago!

Ive seen that shot before!!!

Easily the best regular season game in recent memory. Probably preview of ECF

NAIL BITER

Agreed on all points! This has been an amazing game.

Love kyrie Lebron Korver and TT all have had big plays tonight. I could watch games like this every night

Yea!!!!!

What.a.game. That was so fun. And ended in a win

Trading love for melo would kill this team

I was right about the shootout for sure..lol. The pace was crazy

We knew this already. But tonight showed how important Love is.

Yeah but I don't see how Lebron can't see that. Getting melo without trading love? Sure I'm ok with that. But you have to keep the big three

I'd give this less than a 1% chance of happening.

That spin move 3ptr is going to be a season highlight.

That "Kevin for Melo" rumor is coming out of NY, not Cleveland. I heard it's a Frank Isola, but not 100% sure.

I'd wait until we hear something from Lebron, the Cavs or a report from a Cleveland reporter.

I doubt the rumor.

...oh yeah, great game tonight.

ESPN is reporting it too, and not Woj, so it's probably total garbage.

Case closed.....

Jason Lloyd
@JasonLloydNBA
Ty Lue on the Kevin Love trade rumors: "He's not going anywhere."

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Dave McMenamin Verified account
@mcten
Ty Lue on the trade rumors: "Kevin (Love) should be happy that teams want him, but he's not going anywhere"

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Bottlegate
@Bottlegate
Ty Lue just dunked on Frank Isola's face

Tweet with video of Lue on Love trade rumor

This team wouldn't even make the Finals with a Love for Anthony swap. The Cavs would literally have no rebounding with that scenario. Love is an elite rebounder. He's a perfect fit for the way this team is constructed.

One thing I'd like to see the Cavs do more of is run the offense through Love consistently when Lebron is out of the game. Love is much more assertive when LeBron's not on the floor. He's a great decision maker with the ball and funneling the game through Love in the post allows the Cavs to control the pace of the game. I think they should do this even when Irving is in with Love. My damn DVR wasn't set to record long enough for the game tonight so I didn't get to see Irving's heroics but he was hot trash for pretty much the entire game. Terrible decision making. I wonder if the Olympics are catching up with him.

I've never seen you so positive, even in victory.

The game was that good!

I read this five minutes ago and I'm still laughing.

Great game.. how in the hell does LeBron miss that layup? He makes that 999 out of 1000 times. Oh well, guess that means he's not due to miss another one for a long time.

Yeah Irving has been horribly inefficient, Lue is grinding the big three into the ground, the all star break is coming at right time. But not signing some pgs to 10 days in inexcusable. Griff has dropped the ball on that. I agree about love, if they ran it through him the whole game he'd average 26-28 a night. He can do so much more than he's been doing. He's made great sacrifices to his game here. Totally respect that mindset from him. Melo has never been as good as love, why would we trade for an old melo. Lues tweet makes me feel better, though the whole thing seemed a long shot to me

When he got blocked I genuinely felt bad for him..lol and then he ran into gortat on the other end and look like a truck hit him... welcome to NBA rook

I want to add another general comment.

When Jordan played, you always thought that every shot he took in close games was going in no matter where he took the shot from. He had turned it into an expectation, not a surprise. Kobe was different. He was capable of moments like that but he was such a volume shooter that his good moments were offset with bad shots that kept the other team hanging around. LeBron is starting to feel like Jordan to me. Jordan wasn't considered a long range shooter but if you could pick Jordan taking a contested 3 pointer for game winner or a wide open 3 pointer with the best 3 point shooter of all time to take a game winning 3, you're picking Jordan. LeBron's starting to feel like that. It's like he's playing a different caliber of basketball than everyone else. There's high school ball, college ball, pro ball, and then there's LeBron. He's 1b in my book.

I'm going to add another general comment. Love may not be a good defender but it's not for a lack of trying. He just doesn't possess the lateral movement, but the guy gives effort on the defensive end pretty much all game, every game. Kyrie only tries on defense sometimes. It's frustrating to watch. I think LeBron was getting fed up with Irving on the defensive side of the ball tonight.

R-E-L-A-X.

just saw the highlights, looked like a crazy game

one thing though, how in the hell did they not call a travel on lebron that one play LOL

Totally see what you're saying here. His 3pt shot has improved immensely since he was last here.

That three pointer by LBJ from the pass by Love, one of the best plays I've seen all year. Talk about suffocating the life and energy at the arena there.

Wow, just wow.

For those that missed it:



The whole game was one for that ages too. It really felt like a playoff game.

I stopped watching after he missed the layup. I was sure the game was done.

Wow.

I was sure the Super Bowl was over by half time too, but I didn't shut it off, cause you just can't count Belichic or Brady out.

That and I was holding out hope that there would've been a decent commercial to see (that didn't happen).

My brother watched some of the game, but not the end, mentioned that LeBron is "overrated" and is "good at defense, but should just leave offense to other people"

I sent him a link to that shot.

"A lucky pass followed by a lucky shot?"

The weird thing is he actually played basketball, in HS, probably could of played in college if he wasn't lazy.

I've just labeled him a hater and don't really try to debate with him about certain things.

He also started rooting for Golden State because he likes Klay Thompson. So yeah.

confirmation bias is a powerful thing.

Love is not a great defender, but I think that he is playing better defense that any other time in his career, and as you said, he is giving the effort.

kind of like the curry miss against the kings

I'd have to add that Kyrie has that factor too, we have two guys that will put that pressure on their back and more than likely make it happen..thats got to terrify teams..

Yeah Love gives 100% just about all the time..can't fault him, but Lebron last night you could tell he felt the playoff implications as well. I saw him yelling at Kyrie, TT and Frye on several occasions on defensive lapse. So yeah I think Lebron realizes it needs to be better effort. Which down the stretch everyone tightened up. But it was a track meet for a game on both teams..Sometimes you just have to say screw it and enjoy it for what it was

Here is great camera angle in slow motion of just how incredible the pass Kevin Love made to Lebron and the shot, as well.

Rachel Nichols Verified account
@Rachel__Nichols
There are like a thousand highlights from this Cavs-Wizards game but let's all just look at this one 16 or 17 times, shall we?
#PhantomCam

Kevin Love Pass and LBJ Shot: Slow Motion Video

yeah if you're being honest, that pass Love made was harder than the shot..i mean 80ft chest pass on the dime between two defenders..

And Wizards fans were like:

I was on the exercise bicycle in our condo buildings workout room. I jumped up and yelled, "No F'n Way!". The guy doing tri-dips had to have pooped his pants. I'm just thankful I didn't.

from the horses mouth as it were

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2017/02/lebron_james_calls_kevin_love.html#incart_big-photo

Phil Jackson is a relic.

one of the best regular season games I've ever seen. That was fun. Both teams were incredible

looks to me like either Phil Jackson is fed up with Melo, Phil Jackson wants out of NY, Phil Jackson doesn't give a crap ... or all 3

He's basically trying to break Carmelo so that he will accept a trade to any team and not just the Cavs or Clippers.

My bet is that Carmelo gets traded to the Clippers for Austin Rivers, Jamal Crawford, and Wesley Johnson.

Good read on the bad or unlucky career choices Melo made, compared to Lebron.

LINK
LeBron James, decisions, and how Carmelo Anthony squandered all his leverage
by Howard Megdal

It is easy, and reasonable, to feel for Carmelo Anthony.

The resume is an obvious Hall of Fame one, between the NCAA title with Syracuse, the gold medals with USA Basketball, and a top-50 career player efficiency rating that's powered him to nine All-Star appearances.

In essence, though, Anthony has spent his career paying for not being LeBron James, an utterly impossible standard considering James is a top-three player in the history of the league. The two battled in high school, were selected in the 2003 NBA Draft, remain close friends, are roughly the same size, and thus the comparisons never stop.

But while Anthony was never going to be James as a player, another, equally significant factor has led to the vast separation between the two in terms of reputation: James consistently made the right call to help his career, and Anthony, either by lack of foresight or simple bad luck, really hasn't.

Consider the pair when their paths first diverged, back in 2006. LeBron James followed his rookie contract by signing a three-year, $60 million contract with a fourth-year player option. Anthony inked a five-year, $80 million deal with the right to opt out after four years. That extra year meant more guaranteed money, but it would prove to be critical.

Anthony said at the time: "It was a no-brainer for me. When all the rumors were out there saying I was signing this type of deal or that type of deal, my family called me and said, 'Look, are you crazy?' Growing up we don't have [much]."

Out in three years meant that by 2010, James and Dwyane Wade could hit the free agent market at the same time, when teams were shopping for superstars, and team up in Miami. Anthony, having to wait for the right to opt out until after the 2010-11 season, landed himself right in the middle of a labor struggle.

Still, Anthony would have been the premier free agent if he'd left that summer, or the following one. By then, the Nuggets and Anthony were speeding toward a divorce, though blaming that on Anthony ignores the extent to which the team has cycled through many other plans since he left town.

But once again, instead of letting the labor stoppage run its course, or assume that no matter what new CBA got signed a player of his stature would get paid, Anthony decided not to publicly commit to re-sign with whichever team traded for him. Instead, Anthony insisted that the Nuggets extend him first, as part of any deal, and that he'd consider staying with the Nuggets if they did. It was a de facto no-trade clause, and Anthony handed over the leverage that could have belonged to him alone, had he publicly named a preferred team.

And so, though he wanted to go to the Knicks, he forced them to give up all their extra treasure in young players and picks to Denver. The net result landed Anthony in a situation where his new team had a significant handicap in putting a championship roster around him.

Still, Anthony managed to lead a 2012-13 Knicks team, whose second scorer was J.R. Smith, to 54 wins and an Eastern Conference semifinal loss to the Indiana Pacers that was far closer than most remember. The Knicks were torn down and then built up again, while Anthony played at max effort through injuries and into his 30s, and James was winning titles in Miami.

Summer of 2014 offered him one final shot at maximizing his own destiny. Several teams came calling. Anthony had the chance to learn from what had happened earlier in his career, meaning he could've opted for a shorter deal while preserving his flexibility and betting on himself as the league moved toward what most believed would be a significant jump in the salary cap.

Instead, Anthony hunkered down, inked the max deal at the time with the Knicks, and insisted on a no-trade clause. He tied his fate to that of Phil Jackson, a first-time executive, and a team devoid of many young assets in part, still, because of the very trade that brought him to New York. Meanwhile, James picked his spot, returned to Cleveland, and, well, you know the rest. He's also making a lot more money by signing shorter-term deals under far friendlier salary caps than Anthony's already-outmoded max.

Once again, it is possible to see the case for doing what Anthony did: get that money, stay home, stay loyal, let an 11-time NBA champion as a coach work his magic as a roster builder.

But the increasingly-desperate salvos from Jackson have not only damaged Anthony's reputation in many people's eyes (as unfair as the criticisms are), they have reinforced, once again, that Anthony made the wrong call.

Now Anthony controls his destiny, but to an extent. He can block deals, but he cannot make them. He's not viewed as a logical centerpiece for a young team, not as his 33rd birthday rapidly approaches, and he makes too much money to serve as a secondary piece for a championship team to easily fit him under the cap.

It is easy to look at it all and conclude that it is some on-court failing of Anthony tat has led him to this place, though that simply isn't so. I suspect in the years to come, when Anthony thinks back on his career, he'll realize that he didn't need to be any better than he was, a great player who accomplished many significant things.

He'll realize he needed a better agent and a crystal ball.

It's amazing how many bad decisions he's made, well, aside from being incredibly rich, famous and happily married. I'm not putting this here to have pity for his ringless NBA career, but it's interesting how different it could have been had he followed Lebron and Wade's lead during contract negotiations.

Melo's worst decision was not going with the player option when he signed his first extension like LeBron, Wade, and Bosh did. I think he would have been with the Heat if he had done that.

(I replied to the comment before I read the article.)

Now that is how you come out after halftime!

Looks like Korver has found his shot!

No doubt. Korver has been unconscious tonight. It feels like he truly became a part of the team tonight.

That's what Austin Carr said on the FOXOH broadcast tonight too! We really have a bunch of good guys that can shoot from beyond the arc these days.

Fun game tonight, really put it on them in the second half. Scary to think how good we will be when he comes back and korver. Just a glimpse of how deadly korver can be when we can get him open. He shoots so effortless and quick I'm always amazed how it goes in. He's a pure jump shooter

Ha! I was watching on Fox Sports Ohio, but didn't hear AC's comment. Was busy with my kids and wasn't really paying close attention to the broadcasters.

Yeah, he has the release we wish our QB's had!

As stated above, Kovier was on fire. Good game yday, Pacers were giving full effort. We snapped their long winning streak, at their house!

Go Cavs!!

Nice win against Indy ... especially on the road. Hoping Korver gets hot