First preseason game last night.. that starting rotation even without Mobley was crazy. Philly got lit up, the floor spacing was unlike anything we've ever had. DM was as advertised. This might be one of the most fun years in Cavs history. If they could stay healthy it could be a huge step forward for them.

Go Cavs!

Great game. Had the feelings of a playoff atmosphere. Cavs come up short. Cavs win if Garland does not go out for the game in the 2nd quarter after getting jammed in the eye.

Mitchell was spectacular. Raul Neto is brutal.

It will be huge when Rubio returns to this team.

Cavs Notes
@CavsNotes
.@spidadmitchell
31 points are tied for the most EVER by a player in his @cavs
debut.

The only other Cavs player to score 30+ PTS in his debut was Ron Brewer (31 points) on 12/26/1981 vs. Milwaukee. (via @EliasSports
). #LetEmKnow

https://twitter.com/CavsNotes/status/1582915042605158400

Yeah I was on the fence whether I prefered Garland or Sexton, Garland is dainty and always seems to be hurt..We def. need Rubio back. Cavs should cut Neto, you can't tell me he's the best option out there.. Rest of the team was looking great and held the lead most of the second half. Mitchell is scary good.

Getting jabbed in the eye is hardly "dainty". Geesh.

I was unable to watch the game, so I looked up a game recap. I'll post it for others who live out of town. Also, those of you who watched the game can confirm or dispute points in the article. One thing that stood out to me was the 16 turnovers that led to 25 Toronto pts. Also, the Raptors had too many offensive rebounds.

He's constantly hurt is my point.. He's a great player but very fragile. His being injured kept cavs from playoffs last year. Some players are just prone to injury, he's one of those guys.

No Garland, no Problem.

Cavaliers win 128-96. Mitchell with 32/9/8. The bench made sure that the Bulls had no chance to come back. Contributions all around. Nice win.

RoLo...

I think some fans are surprised with how good Mitchell is … I have an uncle who is a die hard Jazz fan, so I watch them quite often … and Mitchell is GOOD

I got to watch the game because Direct TV is having a free preview for NBA League Pass right now. Some observations:

--I like how Mitchell tried to let other guys get established early on. We got down early and he went off. He is a very athletic player. His athleticism reminds me of OBJs. It's just different.

--Love played very well. Hit multiple threes, grabbed a ton of rebounds, and took a couple of charges.

--Mobley is smooth. Needs to rebound better on the defensive end.

--LOL at the Lopez hook shots. Ugly. But damn, he makes them. I think he can play a role on this team.

--Cedi had a very good game. He is playing w/more confidence than I remember from previous years.

--I thought Neto did a nice job. Wasn't a liability.

--LeVert is long and made some nice plays. He's good in the open court. Needs to finish stronger on some of his drives.

--I didn't get a good feel for Allen. He made some plays, but I thought he was a better rebounder.

--Speaking of.......this team needs to rebound better on the defensive boards.

--Getting Garland back will give us two guys who can create off the dribble.

--When is Rubio supposed to be back?

--This team is very athletic and has a lot of nice role players that can work w/our two stars. Fun team to watch.

I don't have twitter

I do appreciate the twitter posts

you guys/gals put up

for me and others to see !!

Thank you all !!

Twitter is free, you just have to give them your soul as collateral.

Mitchell might be the most talented guard we’ve had in my lifetime. Man if we would have had him during lebron years would have been unthinkable. Hell put lebron on this team and we’d win 75

j/c...

Tito is cleveland royalty

What a game

Cavs are going to be so fun this year, hats off to Altman

Great game by the Cavs on a back-to-back. Great team effort.

Mitchell has been incredible.

I wouldn't even bother with the Browns. Guardians and Cavs deserve Cleveland's fandom.

yeah thats what I was saying in the guardian thread.. This town needs to stop pretending its a football town.. worst coached and ran team in the City while you have two extremely young teams with great coaching and FO's, give them the money, especially the Guardians so Dolan can spend and get some more offense for next year. Browns are 10-15 years from being watchable at this rate

Cavs will make up for what the Browns destroy

It sounds like this is what the fans are thinking as well based on Mitchell's description of the arena last night. He basically said couldn't believe how awesome it was.

Most of Cleveland is doing this. Guardians completely rejuvenated the fan base in the city and most of the chatter is about the Cavs.

However, if you listen to local sports talk it's 90% Browns dominated. I believe the primary reason for this is that both WKNR and 92.3 are the radio home of the Browns and WTAM which is news/politics radio is home of the Guardians and the Cavs. WKNR and 92.3 have vested interest in jamming Browns talk down the city's throat.

Listened most of the day today on my drive to NY and the Cavs win opening night win and Mitchell's incredible performance was but a footnote on most of the shows. Otherwise, right back to Browns talk.

Yeah it’s sad. Both those teams are 10x more deserving of loyalty

Is Lebron washed up and time for him to retire or do the Lakers not have the supporting cast to win?

31-15-8
20-10-6
31-8-8

It ain't LeBron.

j/c...

You tell 'em, Chuck...

I just watched the one game, but they are a fun team to watch. I think there is today is the last day of the free NBA League PASS promo. I will watch tonight's game if that is true. Looking forward to it. I think the Cavs have one game coming up against Boston that is on ESPN and I'll get to watch when they play Charlotte. Wish I could watch more.

You could. You could buy the pass, but I get it , I wouldn't do that either. Fan ot not, I am not so big a fan to pay to watch 80 or so games. The only sport i would pay for a pass is the NFL. Only because you are talking 17 games. I can do that. No way cold I watch a 162 game baseball season or 80 game basketball or hockey season.

Yeah, I could buy it. I did have it at one time. But, I've soured on the NBA as a whole. Load management hurts the game. Tanking hurts it even more. The social justice stuff was over the top. Guys like Kyrie and Ben Simmons not wanting to pay and then wanting paid for it. I used to love watching hoops, but not anymore due to those factors. I do like watching the Cavs, though.

I have always had Sunday Ticket since I moved out of the local area. I watch a ton of other games on Sundays. I often have three TVs going at once w/the sound muted on two of them. Thus, it's worth the investment.

They're the same price. Are you saying you'll feel like you ripped yourself off if you don't watch every game?

Cavs beat the Magic. 6 guys in double digits. Nice game.

And did it with poor shooting nights from Mitchell, LeVert and Love.

Cavs did what they had to to get the win tonight. Doubt Garland is back against Boston after seeing his swollen eye. My guess is the hold him out until next Wednesday, at home, against Boston.

Banchero will be a star in the NBA.

Vers,

I haven’t had a chance to get to watch a game because of the time difference and not really into getting a game pass. What I’ve done is search on YouTube cavaliers vs ___ game highlights. I did this an hour ago (4pm) so that’s 10 pm eastern time. So it comes out fairly quick. It’s full game highlights, I know it’s a cut up and there’s more to the game then a highlight will show (ie. the game drama building up to the climax), but it’s a good 10 minute (average) watch. Example from tonight below.

I don't know if I would say ripped off, probably more about not caring all that much. I know I wouldn't watch all that many games. The NBA is my least favorite sport. Always has been. I root for the Cavs because they are Cleveland. If Cleveland didn't have an NBA team I wouldn't watch NBA basketball very long if I had control over the TV. My interest level is maybe a 6 out of 10 for the Cavs and maybe .50 for the rest of the NBA.

I'd rather watch bull riding over some random NBA game, and I can't say I like bull riding all that much. At least it's interesting.

Thanks. I'll check it out because the Free NBA League Pass expired before last night. I must have had the dates mixed up. Thanks again.

If you bet $5 on Fanduel you get NBA for free through January

j/c...

What a game to knock off Boston in OT. LeVert played out of his mind. Mitchell with a huge game as well.

Impressive win after being down 14 or 15.

Bally Sports producers need slapped for removing AC from the color commentary and switching to Fratello, who is painfully boring to listen to. I would have blamed a loss on Fratello's broadcast.

Nice win for the Cavs in Boston. Levert and Mitchell with 40+, still no Garland. They might be scary good this season.

Hate Fratello commentary, where is AC? Hopefully it’s just a few games like last year.

Fratello is awful. Worse than the rug on his head.

https://www.thefocus.news/sports/nb...is-complain-about-broadcast-without-him/

Any chance the Cavs look at Josh Primo who was just released by SA?

This team is so fun, never know who’s going to turn it on. Allen and Mobley haven’t even got to where they were last year. Watch when that happens. Meanwhile Lakers are 0-5. They just need to blow that up and let lebron come back home for a couple more rings before he hangs it up.. j/k. Kinda. Ok not really. Can you imagine a starting 5 of garland spida lebron Mobley and Allen? How do you guard that. You think trash like Tristan Thompson benefited from lebron, watch what Allen and Mobley would do

I don't know that those guys need to be elevated. I think if Bron was to come back, I'd like to see him in a 6th man role.

That's a quality win for the Cavs. Wish I could have watched it. ESPN is going to show the Boston @ Cavs game in early November. Looking forward to it.

An aside..........I know he isn't polished and many might not like him, but I love listening to Austin Carr. It's like talking to some dude you sit down beside at the bar. That's a positive in my world.

Hell yeah. Plus, AC is hometown. TBH, most of his lack of polish, or any gaff, just puts a smile on my face because he just seems like a fan -- like one of us. In fact, most of that bleeds through when he's excited, or angry lol.

These people at Bally are out of their minds. They want some outrageous amount to stream through an app, and from what I've read -- the app sucks. Most are hoping they finish feeding their ego, burn through a few billion, and get out of the biz.

Last year, NBA offered Pass for 50% off on Black Friday through Cyber Monday... I'm waiting 'til then before I subscribe... whether they offer it this year or not.

What a win at Boston

j/c...

Get Fratello back on the postgame show where he belongs.

I don't know, I haven't watched a cavs game in a long time, especially since I lost fox sports ohio when it became Bally's.

But didn't it get old hearing "deep in the Q" and "get that weak stuff outta here" 50 times a game? Especially when they were horrible.

No. Part of his charm.

What a crazy 4th quarter. Great comeback.

Mitchell had another monster game. Kevin Love with eight 3 pointers. Also, Love taking charges is incredible. He has to lead the league in drawing charges.

Dean wade had six 3s!

Joe Haden and his family were at the game.

Another great crowd tonight.

Cavs win again. K Love, Wade, and Mitchell all with really strong games.

man Mitchell has fit right in from the jump! and glad K Love had a big game with 29 points in tonight's W.

The Dofu sports app works pretty good, and you can get it in the google play store if you're Android. Unfortunately the cast button to my tv doesn't work, but I watch on tablet or laptop.

I'm telling you, this team is special.. Something about them you just know they are going to be great.. Add in getting Rubio back next month...uhh, yes please. My only concern will be usage on guys like spida and garland. Having rubio means very little drop off from that position. Anyone else find themselves doing double takes with Lopez on the floor. If you didn't know you would think somehow we still had AV out there playing

It's going to be a fun season. Got my league pass yesterday. Great win.

The positives have been expanded upon. I'm going to list some negatives that I think will hold the team back from competing with the heavyweights of the east...Boston, Milwaukee, Miami.

Mobley doesn't appear to be all that improved. Cannot make a serious run without him. You need three guys. He desperately needs to improve his game to help Mitchell and Garland.

While interior defense is outstanding, perimeter defense is going to be a challenge all year just because the twin towers aren't going to come out on shooters. The Cavs will lose to teams who get hot from three unless JB is quick to go to small ball, which will leave them vulnerable at the rim. Catch 22.

Bench scoring looks like it will be a challenge. Will levert go to the bench when Garland gets back?

On a positive, maybe Mitchell will make up for all of it. I grew up with Price, Daugherty, and Nance. Mitchell is the 2nd best player the Cavs have ever had after LeBron.

Cavs are a top 3 team in the east IMO. Brooklyn and Philly have underwhelmed. I think we can beat anybody.

This team deserves Carr back doing color play by play. The man IS Cleveland, and whoever moved him is wrong and should be ashamed. Fratello is boring, lousy by comparison. Strikes me as exciting as somebody reading a phone book. Carr and his game calls strike me as being just like Bernie Kosar in the booth. I loved him and I miss him. He had game in a way that was spot on and he had played well. No homer in Fratello. This team will be exciting, give them Carr! Fix this first!

yeah good points, I haven't been too impressed with Mobley so far but he was out a bit with the ankle. I'm hoping he takes that step forward this year. Perimeter defense has always been a problem for this team with JB at the helm. I think we really miss Markkanen. He was the guy I didn't want to trade but can't fault too much given how good mitchell has been, but Markkanen has been big for Jazz too, and having a 7ft guy that can shoot like that would have been good. I kinda prefer his game over mobley.. I feel it gets congested down there. But thats just picking nits, this team is pretty freaking good right now

Kyrie Irving is such a freaking jerk. Dude makes me sick. He thinks he is above the game. He is perhaps the worst teammate in the league. Now, he is endorsing anti semitism. And the Nets and the NBA continue to allow him to get away w/his crap. I'm glad both Shaq and Barkley called him out and referred to him as an "idiot." Preaching hate against any group is wrong.

Frantically trying to get a stream that works when I finally realize the Cavs are on ESPN. 🤪

Jb is an idiot sometimes. End of the game , less than 10 seconds with a 2 point lead and you put dean wade on Tatum.. dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. Oh and Garland, they are free .. make them. Mitchell and garland are offensive nightmares

One of the worst officiated games I’ve seen in years. But man garland is much a defensive liability. And Allen has some mental breakdowns. We should have won this game easily

Mitchell is like next level and you can tell he really likes playing here. He’s easily my favorite player. Nice to see lavert returning to form. Cleanup with perimeter defense and it’s going to be crazy. This is the most fun team since 2016. The great part is it’s such a likeable team. A bunch of good dudes that enjoy balling together.

Mitchell is not going to let them be intimidated by anyone in the east either. I think they can win a series against anyone with my only concern being the Bucks. Giannis is a different beast.

But yeah why put Wade on Tatum and Brown late. Made no sense.

j/c...

What a game. Feels like payoff intensity. Great to have Garland back. Going to be scary when Mitchell and Garland really develop a chemistry.

Fun times!

Nice sub by JB to get Wade out there on the final shot to defend. Wade has the 7th highest defensive win share in the NBA.

On that note, Cavs have 4 players in the top 11 of the NBA in defensive win shares.

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense

I'll just add I love the way the team plays defense. I can live with losses when you give max effort on the defensive end.

this team is a beast and we have the 2nd best record in the NBA

What a great game. Entertaining as can be. Hard fought by both teams. Had a playoff feel. Van Gundy said something about give me Cleveland and Boston every night and I'll be motivated about the NBA. These two teams are the opposite of the New Jersey Nets and the selfish Kyrie Irving. Guys on both teams play hard, respect the game, and are good teammates.

Some observations:

--We had a lot of great looks, but it was an off-shooting night by Mitchell, Love, and others.

--Garland is a star. He reminds me of Walt "Clyde" Frazier. Just quicker and more athletic. Lots of similarities in their handle and shot making. Dude is a real star.

--Mitchell has the heart of a lion. He was off tonight, but he fights like a lion.

--Love was way off tonight.

--Mobley needs to get stronger, at least in his legs........but he is so freaking smooth. Great low post arsenal.

--I'd play Lopez more.

--Great play call by Bickerstaff coming out of the timeout when Mitchell hit Allen for an easy slam dunk. Well executed, but that was a great call.

--Refs were allowing Boston to get away w/a lot. They bump people a lot. It is not exclusive to tonight. They always do that. Kinda bogus.

--You know what I liked best? This team genuinely likes one another. The smiles are real. They are a team. You can see it throughout the game. This is what the NBA should be about. I love this team!!!!

--Gotta give Boston some credit. They fought hard. What a great game. It was like a playoff game.

--I'm telling you...............Garland and Mitchell are shot creators for both themselves and others. Mobley is a very efficient low post player. We have role players all over the place. The chemistry on this team is off the charts. Enjoy this team. It's going to be special!

That was not a good sub at all. Those starts are misleading and worthless. Wade was shook in less than half a second.

Yeah, ok. JB, who's leading a 6-1 team, just had major brain fart, got it!

You're dramatic. I dig it and appreciate it.

Garland's left eye still looks boogered up. Heck of a game though.

Great team chemistry. A lot like the Guardians.

j/c...

In this instance he did, at no time should Dean wade be left to stop Tatum in a game winning situation.. That should have been lavert. but looking back I realize you meant the actual final shot of the game with wade on brown...and yeah, that made sense and worked out and was a good call. Trust me, I love JB. He's got the perfect demeanor for this squad and they are showing it

saw another twitter post that echoed what I said, Lebron on this team walks to another ring. True story for sure. We got jack squat from our bench today and Boston still couldn't beat us..We are built different and alot of teams are going to struggle against our inside/outside game. The only thing we get in trouble sometimes is we fall into iso ball sometimes.. When we are moving it we are unstoppable. JB keeps that in check and we don't stay that way for long.. but man, I can't hate the iso too much with garland and spida back there. Mitchell is just nasty. He gives the cavs that refuse to lose leadership like lebron had. You just know that we aren't going to be an easy out and we will play to the end. Boston is in trouble in the east.

Personally, I don't want Lebron anywhere near this team. Thankfully it won't/shouldn't happen, but this team is growing together establishing their own leadership and identity. Bringing Mitchell in this year was bringing in their alpha leader. Adding another alpha leader....especially Lebron and his personality I don't think would mesh.

Great game last night. Cavs hit a lull and bounced back. Mitchell wasn’t himself with an ankle injury, but Garland was good early and Mobley was effective throughout IMO. Boston is a tough team to beat.

Mitchell was in a really poor system in Utah … it placed a ton of stress on him because Gobert was limited, Bogy couldn’t create, and Clarkson was so inconsistent. It’s gotta be a breath of fresh air.

Nets suspend Kyrie Irving for 5 games minimum: 'He is currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets' - CBSSports.com
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...to-be-associated-with-the-brooklyn-nets/

NEW YORK -- The Brooklyn Nets have suspended Kyrie Irving for a minimum of five games without pay, they announced on Thursday, a week after Irving first publicized a film full of antisemitic tropes.

Irving promoted a film entitled "Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America," on social media last Thursday, and has since refused to fully disavow its contents or say he's sorry despite having multiple opportunities to express some form of contrition.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a prepared statement on Thursday that he is "disappointed" in Irving's decision not to apologize, and Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted that Irving has "a lot of work to do."

Irving said Thursday that he "cannot be antisemitic if I know where I come from." Asked what he meant by that, he repeated, "I cannot be antisemitic if I know where I come from."

Here is the Nets' statement in full:

"Over the last several days, we have made repeated attempts to work with Kyrie Irving to help him understand the harm and danger of his words and actions, which began with him publicizing a film containing deeply disturbing antisemitic hate. We believed that taking the path of education in this challenging situation would be the right one and thought that we had made progress with our joint commitment to eradicating hate and intolerance.

We were dismayed today, when given an opportunity in a media session, that Kyrie refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge specific hateful material in the film. This was not the first time he had the opportunity - but failed - to clarify.

Such failure to disavow antisemitism when given a clear opportunity to do so is deeply disturbing, is against the values of our organization, and constitutes conduct detrimental to the team. Accordingly, we are of the view that he is currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets. We have decided that Kyrie will serve a suspension without pay until he satisfies a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct and the suspension period served is no less than five games."

Irving first addressed his decision to promote the film, based on a book of the same name, on Saturday -- he chose to double down then, and he tripled down after practice on Thursday, embarrassing the team that had put out a joint statement with him and the Anti-Defamation League the previous night. The Nets gave Irving a full week to show some degree of remorse, and he instead was defiant. If the bar he had to clear to avoid -- and now end -- a suspension is simply stating that he doesn't have any antisemitic beliefs and disavows the antisemitic conspiracy theories in the film, he has not indicated that he has any intention of hopping over it.

The suspension means that Irving will miss games against the Wizards, Hornets, Mavericks, Knicks and Clippers, and more games could be added. But, at present, the soonest Irving would be able to return to action would be on Sunday, Nov. 13, when the Nets face the Lakers in Los Angeles.

100% agree. I can't think of anything worse than Bron Bron joining this team. The good news, there is zero percent chance of it happening. Media fodder to fill show topics. Bron Bron enjoying the L.A. life, he's accomplished what he wants to in the NBA.

I absolutely loved his time in CLE, but that time has long since passed. Thanks for 2016! A Father's Day to remember.

Kyrie is completely out of touch. He is certainly no "beacon of light."

I am not a huge basketball fan. At times I have gotten into it.

I use to be a big ACC basketball fan. But that ended because I was really a Ga. Tech fan.

The NBA when we had LeBron. Last year I caught a couple Cav's game. I liked what I saw.

So the other night the Celtic game was on and I watched some of it.

Damn they look like a really good team. I am not into hero ball. So, it was fun to watch team ball.

The Cav's could be a treat this year.

Irving is a weird dude .. such an enigma.

In terms of Lebron .. I’ll pass too. Keep the mojo going with these dudes. I think adding a versatile wing will put them over the top.

At this point adding LeBron actually makes the team worse.

I don't think we need to add anything. This team has plenty of talent and the chemistry looks to be amazing!

A little exposed with Boston starting to really use Smart/Brown pressuring Mitchell/Garland. It would be ideal to have a wing alleviate some pressure by creating. That won’t let teams dictate terms (the good teams obviously). Plus, us going to the 1-2-2 kind of showed me that we don’t 100% trust our perimeter D yet, which is where a wing comes into play. Of course, they don’t grow on trees either

not really, Smart/Brown can't contain either of them, then you have mobley/Allen. Boston tried their best twice and couldn't get us, and thats with us not having any bench production. When Okoro gets back and you can put him on Tatum, you will see even more flaws.. The team that got exposed was boston, not cleveland

When Rubio xomes back, what about a lineup that consists of Rubio, Garland, Mitchell, Allen, and Mobley

I think that could be interesting

I think LeVert is an adequate wing and I think Rubio will serve as a backup PG. We will have quite a bit of flexibility w/guys like Garland, Mitchell, LeVert, Cedi, and Love. Not saying I am correct, but I am not sure about bringing in anyone from the outside. The chemistry is just too good.

Rubio Def. comes off the bench, he excels at getting production out of of that second team.. But I think we will def see alot of flex lineups based on opponent and game . Neto is basically worthless. Hes not a threat to do anything.. Rubio can get you points and run the offense. I am actually surprised he's still on the roster TBH, i figured we'd cut him and bring up Goodwin or Newman

Kyrie should probably get booted out the league

Are Mitchell and Garland sitting tonight? Why?

j/c:

I just got the free NBA league pass trial through Amazon Prime and agreed to pay $99 for the rest of the season. I really want to follow all the Cavs' games this year.

Nice. Gonna be a fun season.

Hmmm. I didn't know you could sign up via Amazon. I went through the nba.com. And I'm super annoyed at the moment because the sound and video aren't currently lining up.

Vers, are you experiencing the same issue by any chance?

"Pistons looking to stop the bleeding."

They may need a tourniquet...

Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell won’t play Friday night vs. Detroit Pistons, sources say
Updated: Nov. 04, 2022, 6:27 p.m.|Published: Nov. 04, 2022, 5:51 p.m.


By Chris Fedor, cleveland.com
DETROIT -- The Cleveland Cavaliers will be without both starting guards on Friday night against the Detroit Pistons.

Sources tell cleveland.com that Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, listed as questionable going into the night, won’t play because of injuries suffered in Wednesday’s hard-fought win over the Boston Celtics. Garland has a sprained left knee while Mitchell sprained his left ankle. Neither are believed to be serious injuries.

With the All-Star backcourt unavailable, the Cavs will move Caris LeVert to point guard and re-insert Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade into the starting lineup, sources say. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen will round out Friday’s starting five.

Even though both Garland and Mitchell were able to finish Wednesday’s game, they experienced discomfort in the hours after, requiring treatment Thursday and Friday. The two participated in parts of Friday morning’s shootaround at Little Caesars Arena. Garland left the building and walked onto the team bus with an ice pack around his injured left knee.

While Garland and Mitchell are both out, veteran backup point guard Raul Neto is available, sources say, and is expected to receive playing time. Neto sprained his ankle on Sunday against the New York Knicks and did not dress Wednesday.

Friday’s game versus Detroit is the first of a five-game road trip that will continue in Los Angeles over the weekend.


https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2022...ight-vs-detroit-pistons-sources-say.html

What's your streaming platform?

I'm just doing it through NBA.com on my laptop.

So video and audio is lining up now. Hopefully it stays that way.

Cavs look good without Mitchell and Garland so far, but Detroit doesn't have a lot to work with.

I'm reading that there a lot of issues with the app this year, don't know if that would be the same streaming through NBA.com though. Actually some reddit posts that say they switched to Amazon and it worked great.

If you have a Roku, grab the app there and see if it's any better?

That sucks, sorry.

Still in my trial week on league pass. Going to cancel and resubscribe through amazon.

Love watching teams that play hard defensively. Cavs play so hard defensively. Credit JB on that. Defense in basketball is 95% effort and want to.

Yep. Van Gundy was talking about that the other night. "There's no big mystery, TRY! Run the floor! SPRINT!"

Love watching this team.

Man, if Love can play like this all season, watch out. Could have a really strong bench if everyone stays healthy.

If Mobley can play like this... wow. Seven blocks already.

Such an exciting brand of basketball!

Man, let Love get his triple double!

24 point win without Garland or Mitchell.

Nice win for the Cavs!

This team is going to be so fun. They are built the right way, respond to coaching and genuinely like playing with each other. Loose and fast is their style and they are no longer the team that plays down to the opponent. They play their game regardless who’s if front of them or who we have hurt. Years past this would have been a throwaway game

j’/c…

No Garland. No Mitchell. Giving their ankles a rest for Sunday’s game against the Lakers and they beat the snot out of the Pistons.

So when does Altman offer Love a contract extension? I’d extend him.

Going to just truly enjoy the ride this season.

This.

Im going to a random Hawks game next week. Im going to wear my Love jersey just to confuse the hell out of the fans.

j/c…

Cavs stomp Detroit. Not even close. Rolling

Rish, the sound and video were synced up. I have Amazon Prime and a Smart TV, so it was easy to choose. You can't get the package w/out Amazon Prime according to what I read. I prefer watching the games on a large screen TV, but I guess you don't need a Smart TV if you watch on another device. They give you an option of which local feed you want to watch. For example, last night you could choose the Detroit local telecast or the Cavs local telecast. $100 for a year is a good deal. I thought it was way more than that.

This team is something special.

--I was worried because we didn't have our two biggest stars and because they are our two primary ball handlers, but we beat the crap out of the Pistons.

--How many times did we exploit Detroit in the paint w/soft pick and rolls that ended up w/dunks for out bigs off of lobs or nifty feeds? We had to have at least doubled them up in points in the paint. I freaking loved that. Wait, I'll look it up........58 to 24 advantage for points in the paint.

--We shot 54.3% from the field compared to 37.3% for them.

--We had 13 blocks last night.

--We had 30 assists. They had 16.

--Team basketball, for sure.

--Man, Mobley is smooth. He's built like Durant and carries his body on the court like him, too. Keeps great balance w/his chest over his thighs at all times. Lacks the J, though. Still, he is very, very smooth and under control.

--Allen was dominating their bigs. Nets were foolish to part w/him.

--Love had a great game and he looks so much happier.

--Neto contributed.

--LeVert has such long arms. He is our 5th best starter. Think about that.

--Osman had a nice game. He isn't polished enough, but he is a good role player.

--Lopez is probably my new favorite.....LOL....he was gonna beat the crap out of Noel. It was cool seeing his teammates hold him back and laughing at the same time.

--What I find most impressive is just how well this team plays together. They are a real team and far removed from the corruption that plagues teams like the Nets. They genuinely seem to like each other and Bickerstaff has them playing unselfish ball and rooting for one another. I remember his dad, Bernie, who was a very good coach in his day.

--Happy to see Austin Carr doing the color commentary.

Hope you are rooting The Land. . . .
Or are you rooting for both teams? Either way, I know you will have fun! Enjoy it. Let us know how it felt at the game. Any other Cavs fans in Atlanta?

Im rooting for The Land even if they arent playing in this game (its Hawks v Jazz). I pull for the Hawks too because I enjoy going to their playoff games. Playoffs ball is SO INTENSE. Ideally CLE and ATL will play each other in the playoffs.

since you get to see ice trey, is he the real deal in your opinion?

Yes. He is the reason that team gets in the playoffs. But, he is really short though. They dont have enough weapons to ever get far in the playoffs. Either last year or the year before he got injured and that was the end of their playoff run. They couldnt bounce back.

Really struggling against a bad laker team today. We are falling into iso too much . And our bigs are getting destroyed in the paint

Better this quarter. Guy like Mitchell you’re never out. But need more balance and to hit the FT

Nvm more iso lost all momentum and the lead. Not playing like a team

Starting to move it now

I’m not sure Westbrook would make a d league team

Putting it on them now

Garland making some horrible decisions

Statement win. We’ve moved on from lebron and the lakers are a lottery team

j/c...

Nice Sunday win. Lakers came out hot to start the game and the Cavs were able to withstand their own sluggish start. Garland mentioned before the game the west coast time change and early start time made it feel like they were playing a morning game and had them a bit off schedule. Cavs were cold from 3pt range all day, were down double digits early and still won by 14.

I believe this was the Cavs first win against LeBron since he left the Cavs. Added bonus!

8-1.

Go Cavs!

This is great.

That was awesome. Thanks for sharing, Milk.

I started watching the game somewhere in the first quarter. Had to watch a couple of endings in the NFL. Tried recording the game, but I don't see that feature on the NBA League PASS through Amazon.

Some thoughts:

--I think that early start time after a long flight on Friday night hurt us in the first half. We were out of sorts.

--We gave up too many points in the paint. LA can't shoot. Force them outside.

--Garland and Mitchell kept us alive in the first half.

--Early foul trouble for our bigs hurt.

--We cranked up our defensive intensity in the second half and got out in transition.

--We pounded them in the paint for most of the second half.

--The game seemed closer, but we pulled away.

--Great victory considering the travel and time of the game.

--Gonna be a tough game tomorrow night.

This is getting exciting.

It could a year that I really get into it.

Love beating the Lakers … i dont care that they stink lol

I've watched this like 25 times.

Perimeter defense is atrocious tonight. Clips getting whatever they want inside and out. So are we but man come on tighten it up. I still hate watching cedi. His lateral quickness is non existent

Hate this rotation out there right now

Okoro needs to give the ball up and stop playing hero ball and wasting possessions

Horrible half defensively. If they had their full team we would be run out of the gym right now. Gonna have to dig deep on the defensive side this next half

Much better intensity second half . Not sold on okoro. But man our guards are relentless

Klove doing them dirty right now

Bad iso stuff going on now. All we’ve needed is a basket or two to put it away and we can’t

Lavert is killing us

Garland is not a closer. Stop trying to make him one. That’s going to cost us. Jacking up dumb shots, bad passing and can’t finish at rim. Mitchell is the closer, keep going to him

If we lost this it will be because of garland and lavert in the 4th

Just horrible team basketball. We deserve this loss

The Cavs were up 10 with 2:30 to play and lost. Ouch.

I was watching MNF and fell asleep early. Woke up at 11:40 and turned the Cavs game on. We were down 81-78. We took the lead and I think we were up by 13 at one point. We were up by 12 and then missed 7 shots in a row and turned it over 3 more times. Clips scored 15 straight. Some questionable officiating. Allen got hit hard in the paint w/no call. Powell drives and there is hardly any defensive contact and he gets a 3 point play opportunity. We still had a chance because for some reason, Paul George fouled us on a 3 point attempt. Mitchell made two and missed the last one on purpose and we almost got the rebound. Tough loss.

Some observations:

--LA did a really good job of pushing us out on the perimeter when we went into our set offense down the stretch. This hurt our angles on entry passes and we went Iso too much and turned the ball over or took highly contested shots.

--KLove is important to this team. I hate to use this word, but his time here has been tumultuous. It seems like he is content and happy w/his role here and he is giving us quality minutes.

--We went cold at the wrong time. Mitchell had a good night, but missed some open shots. So did Love. Garland forced up a couple of bad shots.

--Hopefully, we can use this game to learn how to adjust to teams that can amp up defensive pressure on the ball and/or perimeter. We are very athletic and skilled. We are not the most physical team.

I think the quotes by Mitchel and J.B. are significant.

What a bummer to wake up to the news that we lost to the Clippers.

Two steps forward one step back

Yeah the biggest issue we are going to have is physical play on Garland...he's small and pressure seems to make him do things he's not accustomed to. His decision making last night in the 4th along with Laverts shot selection was horrible. Teams are going to play us physical now, LA showed them the blueprint. Mitchell is alot better than Garland when it comes to responding to the physicality. More than likely because of all the time playing in the west. JB should have went to him when they were making the run but instead let Garland try to close it, I get doing it to see what would happen but there was plenty of time to still close the game out and they should have went elsewhere for points.. Love was living on the FT line and we stopped going inside and started taking horrible shots that had no chance. But all in all its just tweaks, nothing to worry about as of now. This will hopefully be a reality check. Mobley was really bad last night on the defensive side, I think he had the worst +/- of anyone for both teams. He really needs to take that next step. Bucks lost last night as well which makes this loss hurt a little more. I still think we need another wing, Theres a big drop off when Osman/Okoro come in for different reasons. Okoro has already started playing himself out of the rotation. Osman is probably the most frustrating player on the team. One minutes he's this offensive juggernaut and the next he's getting beat like a drum on defense. Theres not much middle ground with him. The line up we had midway through the second should never be used again. Garland/okoro/osman/wade/mobley. It was so difficult to watch. They couldn't match clips physicality. Everything went ISO. Even thinking about it now I have no idea how that was something we'd try.. Luckily JB didn't keep it long, which is one thing I will say about him, most of the time he's pretty good at realizing something isn't working and adjusts. His adjustments were a big reason we had such a good run.

8-2, would equate to 4 steps forward and 1 step back. I'm very happy w/the record and how this team is playing. Nothing negative about it.

I was just going to post the same. I hope that no one thought that we would go 81-1. As nice a dream as that would be ... it is totally unreasonable. This team is far ahead of where I expected at this point. It was a tough, 2 point loss, on the west coast. Tghings like this happen.

We are still 1 game behind the Bucks in the East, as they lost to Boston last night.

Maybe this team isn’t that good

A nice run to close 1st out but if we don’t start closing out they will score in heaps. And both our bigs struggling big time against sabonis

Mike brown schooling JB right now. Kings gameplan is far superior than ours. Garland and Allen are really struggling on both ends right now

Pathetic effort on defense. They should be embarrassed

I was at the Hawks game. They lost and the club I was in sucked and my seat sucked. Only one person acknowledged my Cavs jersey. No fun.

Perfect example of why I hate osman. Cavs within 1, could play for the last shot , cavs on a Runnout and osman pushes ahead with no help , loses the ball, kings steal and go and hit a 3 as the buzzer expires and takes back all the momentum. That’s osman in a nutshell

Showing some heart. Mitchell and Lavert carrying us

Two games in a row garland ineffectiveness cost us the game. This team has a lot more holes that are starting to show. They are better than last year but def don’t look like a serious threat. Garland should be on bench when Rubio comes back. If he’s not hitting shots he doesn’t do anything else. Our bigs need to get tougher, they got torched underneath today and I hate our perimeter defense. It was nonexistent. No way we should be losing to the kings. Honeymoon over. Mitchell is legit. Glad we got him. But man I rather gave up Mobley than markanen

j/c...

Defense is a problem in the first half....again. This may be the worst effort of the season. Sloppy as a team with the ball.

Garland is a hot mess right now. Not sure if he's still injured, but man, he's been terrible these last two games. Especially, late in the game.

Brown said post game that they ran the same play 15 times in a row in the 4th quarter.

I started watching the game, but fell asleep in the first quarter. I woke up and watched the last 8 minutes of the game.

A few observations:

--We really struggled w/the physicality of Sabonis. We have a lot of lean players. Something to watch.

--The intensity on D wasn't where it should be late in the game.

--A little sloppy w/the ball. Gotta value possessions more.

--Keep in mind, west coast trips are really tough on teams. It's been that way forever.

I agree, and at the same time LM is tearing up the League for the Jazz.

Yep, I wanted to keep LM for sure, he's better than both allen and mobley but plays same position as mobley and is alot better at it.. Mobley just doesn't have any physicality to him, he's a finesse guy, that don't work usually at the PF spot, and Allen struggles against bigger body guys. I think when Rubio comes back I'd like to see Rubio and Love replace Mobley and Garland in the starting lineup.. Garland is a PG because he's small, he doesn't really run the team well at all and he really struggles when his shot isn't on. We need a floor general and thats not Garland, so now we have 2 6'1 guards. I think that has alot to do with our struggle to shut down the perimeter, saw it last two games, other teams just shoot over them. These are picking nits now, but in playoffs its going to become evident we need better wing play and more size overall. The last two games didn't look like the team ball they had been playing. Can't count on Mitchell getting 40 a game, that means noone else is doing anything.

Yep, our inability to defend the perimeter will be a flaw. We have a good team .. I’m hoping they can figure out, whether it’s the 3-2 zone they look at or different rotations

its like the old adage, can't teach size, the reality is we have a 6'1 SG when most teams have atleast 6'5 there.. thats a big difference in the NBA world, that means they can shoot over you regardless if you're playing tight or closing out. Biggest issue is wingspan, Garland has a puny 6'5 wingspan, while mitchell who is the same height has a 6'10. I think we are going to have to change the way we defend, most nights we can outslug teams because of our plus level offense, but it requires so much to go right the whole game. I think Altman has a plan. I think this fast start suprised alot of people and people were dumping expectations on them. The players were believing their own hype and got smacked in the mouth. They'll learn because JB sees it already and I don't think he lets it fester. They need to get back to fun, they didn't have much fun the last two games

I have mentioned physicality a couple times. I wasn't referring to our guards as much as our bigs. They are tall, lean guys. Guys like Sabonis were a lot stronger and put their shoulders into our chests and we were not able to match their strength in the paint. We have shown to be quick jumpers and do provide weak side help, but I think our legs look a little tired and we aren't moving as well. That's probably due to the effects of a west coast trip this early in the season.

yeah i've mentioned our bigs struggling against physical centers as well.. Good news is theres not alot of those out there, Allen is the mold of the new NBA center, but there will be guys like sabonis, valaciunas, vucevic, jokic theres a couple others I'm sure I'm missing. But for the most part Allen fits the bill there, at PF is where our lack of physicality really shows

Yeah, I think you are right about that.

j/c...

Nip it in the bud early.

Looking forward to tonight's game.

I like Bickerstaff and this team. They will be there in the end if they can stay healthy.

Good message IMO. I like that phrase arrogant basketball. It could be the case of a younger team having success. The season is long and has ups and downs. Sometimes losses aren’t bad in the long run

Absolutely NAILED IT.

Love this coach and what he brings to this young team.

This team isn’t going anywhere until they fix the defense and get another consistent threat outside of Mitchell. Our bigs are horrible on offense. We can’t keep letting teams shoot 50 percent . You aren’t going to win many games. If you’re a team that can shoot the 3 you will beat us

Garland is horrible. 3 straight games he’s been trash and it’s cost us.

We need some guys to lose some PT. I think we are coming back down to earth to what we are probably going to be. A middle of the road team that isn’t ready to make a run yet.

Garland is really struggling and dragging the team down, especially down the stretch. Put him on the 10 day IR. His eye still looks horrible, he had the flu, is missing easy floaters and costing the team in the final stretch.

Lot of season left and I have no worries this team is a serious playoff contended.

I disagree w/the takes on Garland. He is a very good young player who has already earned the respect of the best players in the league. I kinda get lead saying it because he does that. But no, Garland is far from horrible.

We played a pretty good game overall. We needed more of a cushion because Steph is usually deadly down the stretch when the game is close. We had multiple defensive lapses, but what really cost us is we missed too many open shots. Love's outside shooting is so freaking important to this team. When he is hitting the 3s, we get on prolonged rolls. When he is missing, we struggle. I was against bringing in another player, but I think we need another 3 point shooter to really make this thing work. Too bad we lost Markkanen. We don't need another star player. Just someone who can get hot from 3 pt range.

I really think that Mobley and Garland are going to be stars in this league for a long time. I've already talked about Garland a bit so I will comment on Mobley. He's a special talent. Very smooth. Very fluid. Quick, quick jumper. Polished moves in the paint. Provides good help defense and can block shots. I see his upper body developing down the road. Shoulders getting wider. That added strength will be huge for him. He can become a dominant player in the paint.

Well we hung with Golden state, but they also haven’t kicked it into gear yet. Tough playing a road trip though

And I'm usually right and you are wrong when it comes to Player eval.. Just like the TT days. To be clear, I don't think Garland is a horrible player in general, but he's been horrible this trip and overall I don't think he's a good floor leader and struggles with pressure. No mistake, Garland's struggles this trip directly led to the 3 game losing streak against bad teams we had no business losing to. Yes I include the Clippers in that as they were without most of their starting unit. To early to tell about Mobley, he has good games and bad games, he's very streaky. But I agree he needs to add some size and more than likely will do so. Took him 3 quarters to realize that GS had no presence down inside and finally decided to be aggressive. I blame JB on that one, because everyone knew that but JB didn't adjust his game plan for it until it was too late. Allen should have dominated Looney and didn't. But the Garland inability to guard anyone and missing way too many easy shots and layups down the stretch cost the team. I think Rubio would make a better starting PG and let Garland come off the bench for awhile when he returns. Garland will learn alot from him. But in the immediate, Rubio runs this team alot better. I also agree we need another 3 and D player. Okoro is a bust and I think he won't be here at the end of the year. He's just not moved the needle in his development. Time will tell but he's hard to watch as is Osman whos streaky. Biggest thing we are missing is dependable scorers and consistency. The only one we have is Mitchell and I worry he will be worn out by ASB with his usage.

LOL, if you say so.

You can't sit Garland. He's a top 5 pick who is on an upward trajectory, the last few games notwithstanding. You just have to let him figure it out. He's too good not to.

The biggest concern should be Mobley. Zero improvement between last year and this year. I am not saying he's not good. What I'm saying is he doesn't appear primed to make a sophomore jump and build on his rookie season. Looks like exactly the same player from last year. This team was a 7-8 seed without Mitchell. They are probably a 5-6 seed with him. If Mobley developed into a legitimate down low presence, they are 1-2 seed. That's the reality of where we are it. I don't know if he can do it mid-season. Probably another season away unless Mitchell can legit just carry this team on his shoulders.

Agree on playoff scenario, though I say 4 seed is quite possible. The hope this year should be to win a playoff series. Anything more is an added bonus. Expecting more is la la land.

This team is so young. Hell, Mobley just turned 21 a few months ago. Next year and the year after is when expectations of the Conference and NBA finals would be more realistic.

Enjoy the ride and watching this young team grow.

Home game today against the T-Wolves. Go get that win.

Garland hurts us right now. He needs to be coming off bench till he figures it out and gets healthy.

No Mitchell again. Geez. Hope this isn't a theme during the season. Cavs are staring at a 4 game losing stream while Mitchell acts as a cheerleader on the bench.

This was my fear..both our guards miss a ton of time, and with the way JB is riding them because Mitchell is the only one doing anything consistent, they are going to wear out.. We need help on the bench. We have a couple decent PG's in Dleague that could contribute. But I think youre seeing so far this game what I'm talking about with Garland, hes not a leader. He doesn't make the right read most of the time, he's a prolific streak scorer.

Garland refuses to give Love the ball in the post. No matter how short the guy on Love is. Wow.

Wow,.the Cavs suck all of a sudden after starting the season 8-1. 4 games later and the team resembles nothing like the team that started 8-1. This is pretty disheartening.

Garland looks nothing like the player that finished the season last year.

And Garland with the unnecessary technical. What leadership.

Wow, the Cavs are really bad.

8-5. Four game losing streak after starting 8-1.

Just bad.

kinda started when Garland came back...

As a Jazz fan (well, my family is), I’ve watched Mitchell A LOT. He’s got some issues with injuries … especially when it comes to one of his ankles. He twisted it vs boston and i knew it would linger. He’s gonna miss more games than we would hope throughout each season

The constant negativity is draining. Sheesh! I have no idea how some of you get through life. You are literally miserable over sports teams. smh

I didn't watch the game, but the real narrative is a bit different than what was presented on here. Garland had 51 points, yet he should be benched. LOL

Anyway, here is a game recap.

Darius Garland’s 51-point night, virtuoso fourth quarter not enough as Cleveland Cavaliers lose to Minnesota Timberwolves, 129-124

Updated: Nov. 13, 2022, 10:15 p.m.|Published: Nov. 13, 2022, 8:57 p.m.


By Chris Fedor, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Darius Garland nearly did the unthinkable.

The young All-Star point guard scored a career-best 51 points and almost single-handedly lifted the Cavaliers to their most improbable win of the season.

But not even Garland’s career night could end the team’s downward spiral. The undermanned Cavaliers fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, 129-124. It’s Cleveland’s fourth straight loss and first at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. So much for that brilliant 8-1 start.


With silky jumpers and dazzling drives, Garland ignited a lethargic team and electrified the crowd -- at least the fans who stuck it out despite Cleveland facing a one-time 24-point deficit -- during a virtuoso fourth-quarter performance that had injured All-Star backcourt mate Donovan Mitchell bouncing around the sidelines.

Mitchell didn’t play Sunday night because of a sore ankle. Jarrett Allen and Dean Wade missed the game as well.

Garland nearly nullified those losses -- and the many other circumstances working against the Cavs.

“He was phenomenal,” Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of Garland. “He kept competing. We were sluggish to start with and could’ve very easily laid down early, but he kept getting after it and tried to will us to a win.”

Tapping into his All-Star form that hasn’t shined through that much so far this season, Garland hit on 16 of 31 from the field and 10 of 15 from 3-point range. He poured in 27 of those points during a scintillating fourth quarter that saw the Cavs cut a 20-point deficit following the third to just three in the final seconds. It’s the first 50-point game by a Cavalier since LeBron James in 2017 -- and the first one in the NBA this season. It’s also the 17th game in NBA history a player has had at least 50 points and 10 triples, with Garland becoming the youngest to do that.


After Timberwolves point guard D’Angelo Russell split a pair of free throws, the Cavs had one more chance. Down by three points with 6.5 seconds remaining, there was enough time for Garland to punctuate his masterpiece. Only the Timberwolves sent two defenders at Garland, refusing to let him touch the ball. He couldn’t shake free. Garland didn’t even get a shot, as Kevin Love’s inbounds pass got intercepted and the Timberwolves sealed the win at the foul line.

What a show. What an effort.



“Special. That’s what Darius is capable of,” Love said. “He shot the ball extremely well from 3 and got to his spots and kept us right there in the game. That gave us a chance at the end and that’s all you can ask for. An incredible performance. A masterclass by Darius. We’re hoping for many more of those out of him. Just beautiful.”

The phrase “schedule loss” is well known in the NBA. And Sunday qualifies.

Through three quarters, the Cavs looked very much like a sleepy, jet-lagged team that had returned to Cleveland on Saturday afternoon following an exhausting, cross-country road trip that spun the clock forward three hours. They then tipped off earlier than usual at 6 p.m. without three members of their usual nightly rotation, including a pair of starters.

To say Sunday’s circumstances were unfavorable would be a massive undersell. The game felt over before it even started.

Without defensive stalwart Allen, the lackadaisical Cavs gave up 40 points in the first quarter to Minnesota, which ranks just 23rd on offense this season. The Timberwolves took a 15-13 lead at the 5:50 mark of the first quarter -- and didn’t trail the rest of the night. At one point, the lead ballooned to a game-high 24 points before Garland put the team on his back.


“Just tried to fight,” Garland said. “That was our team mentality, just to fight back. We got ourselves into a hole in the first quarter and we were just trying to dig deep and get back into the game. That’s what we did. Our team is just set on trying to grind everything out, play 48 minutes really hard, and see what the outcome is, so when we fight back, we thought we had a chance and thought we could get over that hump, but we fell a little bit short tonight.”

Little-used Lamar Stevens, inserted into the starting lineup because of the team’s pile of injuries, chipped in with 15 points. Love had 14.

The Timberwolves got a season-high 30 points and 12 assists from Russell. Karl-Anthony Towns added 29.

In the end, it’s another loss. Hardly the homecoming the Cavs wanted after a discouraging road trip that featured three gut-wrenching late-game collapses.


https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2022...e-to-minnesota-timberwolves-129-124.html

I was confused as hell. I was reading thinking damn, dude played like crap. I decided to look at the box score, wait, what? 51 points, 10-15 from deep, 6 assists…ok, he must’ve turned the ball over a ton…2 TOs. Hm.

I know box scores aren’t everything, but how do you take criticism with a game like that? Is it because D. Russell had 30? Was he guarding someone else?

this might be the most hilarious thing I've ever read in my life coming from you..

in a vacuum it looks like a good game..but it was a selfish game, he took 31 shots...thats just asinine. next closes on team took 12. It was a stat padding game that only looked good in a box score. But the problem with Garland isn't his ability to score points. His job is to make it easier for others to produce.. Garland blows at that. Perfect example, he took 31 shots and had 6 assists. Love and Lavert each shot the ball 11/12 times and both had 1 less assist than Garland. Thats the problem we had with Lebron here, the one man army doesn't work against playoff teams because they got guys that can do that too. But looking at last night and seeing what the bigger issue is and its Mobley, Absolutely sucked, could not have sucked more without being called out for doing it on purpose. All this is to say the biggest struggle the cavs have right now is defense and consistent effort. They need a stretch of easy games to get back in the groove. But Altman needs to bring in a couple players at the deadline. Neto is just trash and don't understand his role, good PGs in Canton that can contribute and we have Neto who had a -17 +/- for the game. We need to get our bench in order, last year the bench was a big reason behind our success. Thats because we had guys love, rubio, and markanen coming in. We don't really have any usable size coming off the bench, We have lopez but lets not pretend he's helping much. So we have Love. We are going to need some more size in the interior and on the perimeter. Still WAAAY early but losing 4 in a row to teams with losing records isn't a good look.

Ugly game last night. I fell asleep at halftime, but we got killed on the boards in the first half and gave up far too many uncontested 3s. Can't win w/that combination.

Garland should not be closing games. That's Mitchell's job.

Cavs have Browns disease.

Cavs were winning by 10 with 1:45 left and are going to OT. Can't make this stuff up.

Cavs were actually winning by 10 with under a minute to go. Survive in double OT.

Oy vey.

Those extra minutes will affect them though. Gotta close that out in regulation

Cavs get the win thanks to some clutch shooting by Garland late in the game to keep them alive.

--Garland is such a smooth player. Excellent shooter and gets his shot up no matter the defense. Barring injury, he's going to be a star for a long time.

--Mitchell had another strong game, but had some careless turnovers early on and missed some key shots late. He still helped us win by making a couple of other big ones.

--Mobley has so many tools. Another smooth player.

--Allen makes a huge difference to this team. His inside presence--combined w/Mobley's--causes issues for other team's interior defense.

--Our pick and roll game is good. I think we have three of the top 10 pick and roll duos in the entire league.

--Our bench sucked. What did they have? Something like 13 pts? Ouch.

--Our defense is not consistent w/it's effort and concentration. That has to change.

--We give up big leads too often. That has to change, as well.

Overall, it was nice to get the win while providing more evidence for the coaching staff to show the players where they need to improve.

Agree with pretty much everything you said.

One of the things that is irking me is I feel like the offense should run through Mitchell late, not Garland. Garland seems like he is trying to prove a point by dominating the ball late. And while he played well last night down the stretch, he makes me nervous that he will make a critical mistake that costs the game. I don't feel the same way with Mitchell. He's a much more established, proven player that I feel will more often than not make the right play. Plus, he's just better. He's the team's best player, he should be dictating the offense late.

We need more from Levert. I feel like he'll be searching for his comfort level all season. He's kind of stuck in no man's land, and I don't think he's sure what the team needs from him. He's a scorer naturally but also a streaky scorer. It's hard for him to sit back, assess the situation, then try and score if the team needs it. That's not how natural, streaky scorers work. I think from him we just need solid play across the board. Top end effort on defense and facilitate when necessary (his passing is underrated).

The other thing we need to do more of is get Love touches in the post. Love is a master at drawing fouls. When we need to slow the game down, go to Love in the post and let him score or get fouled. We can slow the game down and score. On pick and rolls, Love will roll to the basket with the smaller player on him and wave for the ball. 9 out of 10 times he is ignored. I think that is dumb basketball.

I want it with Mitchell more as well, and I think that will happen when games become more important. He’s gotta be the focal point in high leverage situations

I'll add my thoughts to your points one at a time.

--I think the offense runs through both Mitchell and Garland late in games. I think Mitchell was missing and Garland was making in that particular game. If memory serves me correct, I believe Mitchell excelled in the second OT. I think Garland got us to that point w/clutch shooting. I actually think it is a positive that we have two go-to guys on the team who can create for themselves and others.

--I agree completely w/you about LeVert. Dude was on a scoring tear a few seasons ago in Brooklyn and sometimes he confounds me, but you are right about his streakiness. I don't know this for sure, but it looks like he makes good moves to the hole, pulls up and then questions himself on whether to pull the trigger or not. Can't have any negative thoughts when you are a scorer. He will probably be up and down all year due to him being so low on the option totem pole.

--I would agree w/you about Love in the paint, but I would not use him down there w/this particular team. Our pick and roll options w/three different combos is the best in the league. Love would clog the lane and take away the lobs to Allen and Mobley. We don't want that to occur. We just need Love to make 3s, rebound on the defensive end, stretch the D because they have to respect his shot, and throw in some of those awesome outlet passes he is so good at.

In terms of Levert: sometimes there are those enigma type players. Streaky and tough to predict. Clarkson, Levert, Bey, etc. Tough to scout and also tough to predict.

A lot of times coaches put them as the 6th man to try to provide a spark to the rotation

I didn't realize that we played the Heat on Sunday, so I missed the game. We blew them out. Nice to see.

Last night's game was fun to watch. Garland hot early. Mitchell took over afterwards. Allen was a presence in the middle.

Osman w/back to back games w/20+ points. The more I see of him, the more I like him. He is inconsistent and certainly isn't polished, but he plays hard. Full go. Works hard on D and is good in the open court. Competitive guy.

I could do w/out Mobley dribbling the ball up the court. Give it to one of the guards and run the floor.

Pretty good defensive effort last night.

I missed the game, but Atlanta is solid team. Looks like the team is back on track after the little losing streak.

Last night was a good win, especially on a back-to-back.. The Cavs definitely wanted to win that one after getting bounced last year by Atlanta in the play-in game.

The Cavs are still young and learning how to closeout games. Garland and Mitchell still haven't played many games together, but seem to be getting more comfortable with each other.

Mitchell stealing the rebound from Mobley to prevent Mobley from recording his 6th straight double-double was a funny moment. Mitchell looked mortified when he realized what he had done. Good stuff.

Tonights game Blazers @ Cavs should be fun game to watch.

Garland and Mitchell are starting to play much better together. Call me crazy but Stevens has really helped the starting line-up. It’s like he was the perfect piece to the puzzle.

Im going to the Hawks game tonight. Ticket prices are so expensive. Last time I went the arena was only half full. They are going to have lower prices if they expect their fanbase to show up.

The Cavs are good and fun to watch. Garland hogs the ball a little for my taste, but he's really good and usually gets away with it. Other than that, fun team with fun players and a good coaching staff. Easy team to root for. And they root for each other.

I agree with you so I don't think you got my gist. I don't want Love to take touches or pick and roll opportunities away from the star guys. What I do want them to do is -

1. Run the offense through him a little more with the second unit. He's an underrated passer.
2. When Love is in the pick and roll and pins a smaller player down low, stop ignoring him so much and let him go to work down low. This would also typically most often happen with the second unit.
3. When the team needs to slow the game down because they are playing too fast, sloppy, etc., go to Love down low. He's a master at drawing fouls in the post and getting to the free throw line. That's a great way to slow the game down.

Great point about Stevens. I have noticed that, too.

That makes sense about Love. Good point about him w/the second unit. I just don't want it to take away what we do best.

Fun game last night.

--I truly think that we have two bonafide superstars in Mitchell and Garland. They are deadly on the floor together, especially w/the length we have w/Allen and Mobley. The pick and roll game is extraordinary. The other night, I watched the local feed when we played Charlotte. The NBA League Pass doesn't show local telecasts. Their HC, Clifford, was talking about our pick and roll game. He said that we had 3 out of the top 8 pick and roll duos in the entire league. He didn't say who. I'm guessing it went like this:

Garland to Allen
Mitchell to Allen
Either Mitchell or Garland to Mobley.

That's impressive.

The other thing is that both guys get to rest and the other keeps the team afloat during that time. We are truly blessed to have two players of that caliber.

--We need to cut down on the sloppy turnovers.

--We go on incredible runs where we just overwhelm the opponent and last night was no exception.

--I agree w/Frenchy in that Stevens is kind of one of those lunch pail guys who brings toughness to the team and doesn't need the ball to contribute. Those kind of guys are so important when you have other guys who are scorers and ball dominant.

--Mobley covers a ton of ground in the defensive paint. Quick jumper. He needs to refine his offensive game a bit. So much talent. Doesn't have a signature move yet, probably due to him being able to do so many different things. I'd like to see him build his thighs up. He will always be slim, but get stronger in the thighs. Develop the back to the basket in in the middle of the paint and perfect the little jump hook. He can make a lot of money w/that move.

--I get the feeling people don't like Osman, but I like him as a role player. Dude plays hard and w/an edge. I like him coming off the bench.

--Bickerstaff is an impressive coach.

I’m impressed by Allen’s ability to alter shots and rebound attempts for other big guys

I agree. In his time with the Cavs Love has been a floor stretcher. What seems to be forgotten is he is a darn good player in the paint.

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Lopez can’t be on this team and play meaningful minutes. This team is soft as hell tonight especially Mobley and Lopez. JB stuck with a horrible lineup and had a 30 point swing and didn’t call a single time out. They deserve this L. Got start winning games against good teams if you plan on being taken serious

I feel they played alright, but they got NO calls in the 3rd. That is a top 3 team in the NBA we played tonight.

first half for sure, they came out and did what they needed to do, then 3rd quarter again they fold.. thats on JB too. He usually makes quick changes when something isn't working, he stuck with that horrible lineup with Wade and lopez waay too long. We could have used Love and Allen getting hurt didn't help.. This team sure has alot of injuries consistently. Mobley is so frustrating.. he's soooo close to taking that next step. Then games like last night make you wonder if he's going to take it ever. Mobley Def. needs Allen. The two of them together are better than either individual. Lopez is straight garbage, he's like a slower version of AV. I would have went with one of the longer more athletic 5's last night over lopez. Good chance to start another streak sunday against Detroit. I think our biggest weakness right now is our bench in key spots. I'm getting concerned with Garlands/Mitchells utilization. They are both over 36 and Mitchell is at 38, I'd like to see them both in the 33ish range
.

I pretty much agree w/lead on the Bucks game. The Cavs were playing pretty good basketball in the first half, but Milwaukee really took it to them in the 3rd quarter. They wanted it more. They were tougher both physically and mentally than the Cavs were in the 2nd half, especially the 3rd quarter.

Losing Allen was huge. Lopez was brutal. He has a hard time catching the ball. Not having Love hurt, as well.

Also, Mitchell, Garland, and Mobley had too many carless turnovers. That has to stop.

I agree w/lead that JB should have utilized a couple of timeouts. I was literally yelling at the screen for that to happen. He's a good coach and I like him, but he should have tried to stop their runs.

The most disappointing thing to me was in order for the Cavs to beat the Bucks, Mitchell has to go toe to toe with Giannis. He never took that bull by the horns. Giannis may be the best basketball player in the league. Mitchell is top 10. It's a superstar league and you have to have a top player to compete. Really wished Mitchell would have been more aggressive and imposed his will on the game. He was very passive in the second half.

And this is the Bucks without Middleton, Ingles, and connaughton. That doesn't bode well for the Cavs later.

lol there was alot more to be disappointed about than that, Mitchell is fine, hell he's the reason we were even in the game that long, he was the Cavs leading scorer. They play different positions, but problem is he got zero help from anyone else. The cavs had 3 players in double digits scoring.. but the bigger issue is When allen went down we lost our interior defense and Giannis just destroyed us there.. We had him slowed down pretty good that first half, but when Allen went down you had Mobley vs Giannis and Giannis went off. I don't think the cavs as constructed can beat the bucks this year. We will have to make some trades. They are such a complete team. But this cavs team if they can get consistent will do some damage.

j/c:

Watched the Cavs/Pistons game last night. Garland and Mitchell were ice-cold. We were missing Allen, Love, Stevens, etc. We somehow found a way to win. Played some good defense in the second half. Pressured the ball, made good switches, challenged shots.

It's really evident how important Allen is to this team. We really missed him on both ends of the floor.

I'll say this again. Please don't let Mobley lead the fast break. He turns it over almost every time.

Frenchy made a point about Stevens the other day. I think he is correct. Stevens is one of those glue guys. He's tough and physical. Doesn't need the ball. Plays good D. We missed him the last two games.

Some kid played significant minutes last night. He's tall and athletic. Had a couple of blocks and a slam. He isn't quite ready physically, but he has some athleticism. I can't spell his name.

Diakite! He played on UVA's NCAA championship team and played really well in the preseason for the Cavs. A lot of fans were quite surprised when he was waived and did not make the Cavs final roster heading into the season. He cleared waivers and Cavs were able to bring him back so it worked out in the end.

Tonight's game against Toronto will be tough. They definitely miss Allen.

That's the guy. Thanks, Milk.

Man, the Cavs should wipe the floor with a team who features Siakim, Anunoby, and VanVleet as their top three players. That team will never have a chance to win anything.

But the Cavs are nothing if not inconsistent.

And if Mitchell isn't going to play aggressive why is he here? Why trade for him to just be a passive piece on the floor.

The Cavs look like a 5th to 8th seed and a first round out.

It will all depend on their ability to defend more consistently and get production outside of the two guards when it’s crunch time. JMO

The Cavs injury situation was the main issue last night. Also, they played two straight games on the road. That's rough for a short-handed team. I will say the Cavs need to get more physical. Toronto is a bully team.

I think we need to swap out a few pieces and bring some physicality in.. This team plays too soft. Bench is extremely weak. I don't understand keeping Neto when both of our PG's in canton are 10x better and more athletic than he is. They also just need to cut Windler, its over, dude is never going to be an NBA player.. it sucks but its just the reality. Use that spot for someone that can help. I'm also not sure what to do with Okoro, he really just isn't going to get much better.. Wade, osman, Isiah mobley... these are very meh players. Love should be moved as well as he could potentially bring in some help and he's always hurt. Rubio coming back will be a boost and that should be any day now. But I think we need another quality scorer for the bench group. No excuses to lose to the likes of Toronto. I think we are a 6-7 seed when it all shakes out as we sit right now, but I really don't think we are going to look like this at the end, Altman def. seems like he has a plan. Not going to get easier tomorrow against Philly, def. need both Love and allen back or they will probably lose again

I would not go trade-happy. Maybe a move or two, but don't go crazy.

Unlike you, I like Osman. He is a good role player. I would not trade Love at this point. We need his scoring and rebounding w/the second unit.

I agree about Okoro. He looks like a very good athlete, but he has no offensive identity.

The guy who irritates me is Wade. What's he good at other than fouling?

Bringing in a traditional Big might actually hurt us. Look at what happens to our O when Lopez is in the game. He clogs the paint and our pick and roll game [which is deadly] is eliminated.

I read where Jay Crowder is on the trade block. He could provide some physicality, hit some 3s, and play good D on the wings.

No i'm not suggesting go crazy, just a couple pieces to solidify the bench a bit. Love has scoring, sometimes..but he's hurt so much thats its not something you can depend on and he's one of the few pieces we have that could get something since we have no draft capital. Its not that I don't like Osman, I just find him frustrating..he's so hot and cold. I don't like Wade either, never did. I don't necessarily want a traditional big, and lets be honest, Lopez isn't even that, we got the worse of the Lopez brothers and neither are special. We just need something similar for the bench that we have on the starting unit so we don't have to change our game so much and we can have more traditional rotations. Are you talking about Jae Crowder, who we had before? I think he left here and talked trash about cleveland, unless i'm thinking of someone else

I was talking about that Crowder. Sorry for the misspelling. He and LeBron never got along. He's on the market and several Eastern Conf teams are interested, including the Bucks. We don't need another star. He's not the best, but not much is available. The only other guy I saw that might be getting is Collins from Atlanta. He has some range and dunks well. He could spell both Allen and Mobley. They probably would want more than we can offer, though.

Man, LeVert is playing bad. He was playing so well w/the Nets. Scoring like crazy. He's so indecisive right now. It appears it is all in his head.

Lavert has been playing well but since the move to the bench and the injuries he's not been the same, hopefully its a lull and he can be that scorer off the bench. Its perfect scenario for him, he's option A and can be the high volume he likes to be. I wouldn't mind Jakob Poeltl depending on cost, but he's been rumored to be on the block as well. Good size

Levert needs to come off the bench and play the Jamal Crawford/Jordan Clarkson role. You have one objective and one objective only...score. If a pass is there, make it. Otherwise put the ball in the bucket.

He's an inefficient streak scorer on a team full of efficient scorers. And because of that he's thinking too much. Create scenarios to let him be who he is.

Man, the Cavs looked great last night and they did it w/out Allen, Love, and Stevens.

They won by 28. They torched the nets by shooting 94% in the second quarter and putting up 44 points in that quarter alone. They had leads of 33 points in the 4th.

--I criticized LeVert yesterday and he had 22 pts off the bench. He started off really hot. Great to see. Even Okoro and Wade had nice games after I trashed them. LOL

--Garland had a great floor game. 21 pts and 9 assists. Some of his passes were like works of art. And the dude has such a great handle. Very smooth and deceptive.

--Mitchell was hot from deep.

--Mobley gave Embid some problems and played well on offense.

--Diakite made his first start and had 6 pts.

--I was impressed w/our defensive intensity and how well we ran in the open court. We beat them down the court multiple times. Man, Osman is fast.

--That was such a fun game to watch.

I didn't get to see the game but the box score looks like a pretty solid team effort. Philly is a good team too. So to beat them like that was a good boost.

j/c...

Cavs w/another win.

Defense was a bit lazy at times. I don't think they took Orlando too seriously.

Mitchell was on fire from deep and Mobley was looking all-world. One of their guards was trying to pick Garland up at 3/4 court. That was dumb.

Cavs can beat the dregs of the league without trying all that hard. That's one of the first signs your team is good.

Two points of concern for me...I think we have an identity crisis in the clutch. I think the offense should run through Mitchell. I think Garland believes the offense should run through him. In Miami's win over the Celtics last night it was clear Butler was the closer and everyone took his lead. I think the identity crisis will hurt the Cavs in big games against good teams late in the season when it really matters.

The other thing is the Cavs have played a lot of games at home and don't really hit the road until next year. They are going to have to learn how to be a good road team.

Cavs are so bad on the road.

Yeah that wasn’t a pretty performance. It’s a long season, but I don’t like that trend either

j/c...

What a game and effort by the Cavs. Davis when out early with a tummy ache.

Getting Allen back was huge. What a game he had, especially early.

Mitchell is an absolute monster.

I think about 60% of the Browns players were at the game last night. Good stuff.

Frigging Vegas is considered local for the Lakers so I couldn't get it on my league pass and don't have the channel the Lakers played on so I didn't get to watch it. I was surprised by the score as the Lakers had been on a little bit of a roll.

Rish, you are going to kick yourself. The game was on TNT.


Fun game to watch.

--Mitchell went off. He had 43. One of his 4 steals resulted in a huge slam that led to an thunderous eruption by the guys on the bench and the crowd. It also led to an immediate TO by the Lakers. His J was deadly last night. He also had a sweet lob to Allen where he was floating through the air and the ball landed like a soft pillow in Allen's hands.

--Garland's shot was on and off, but I think he still scored over 20 and had 11 assists. Why teams try to pressure him befuddles me. He blows right by them. He also made some sweet layups over LeBron and others.

--Mobley w/some foul trouble, but he makes guys think in the paint.

--Allen had 22 of his 24 before halftime. He is such a huge difference maker for us. I never realized that until I started watching the team closely this year. He is really quick off his feet. His touch is actually pretty soft.

--Love's hand injury is hurting his shot. They were talking about how they had to change his shot to compensate for it.

--Our interior D was off last night, but theirs was even worse.

Nice W for the Cavs. They are fun to watch.

Because of some weird rule it was blacked out on TNT and it was forcing me to watch on the "local Laker network" which I don't have. Super lame.

That sucks. At least you don't have to blame yourself.

Would have been a great reason to plop down at Circa or Caesars and made fistfuls of cash!

I avoid the strip like the plague.

Perrion Winfrey seems like such a knucklehead lol … and yes, I have never met him

Bad loss for the Cavs last night. Mitchell and Love did not suit up and that hurt us.

Some thoughts:

--Too many turnovers. Garland was too careless w/the ball down the stretch.

--On a positive note, Garland's left hand is really, really good.

--LeVert had a nice game. Had a beautiful 360 move in the paint. He drove the ball well most of the night.

--Sabonis beat up our bigs.

--Our outside shooting was inconsistent.

--Stevens is our glue. Guy impressed me more and more. He will never be anywhere near a star in this league, but he is an important piece. Good teams need guys like that.

--The Kings fast break to shoot open 3s. Very different strategy, but they were hitting them last night.

--Gotta get a win against the Thunder tonight.

Missed the game but the Kings seem to have our number. Don't understand it.

I didn't know Mitchell didn't suit up. Don't like these little nagging injuries and missing games here and there, especially coming off a dominant performance.

They were probably resting him and Love since we are playing a back-to-back. I was disappointed, too.

I don't watch a lot of NBA, especially regular season. But from reading these threads it sounds like the hole we have on the roster is a stout big. Someone to come off the bench and body up against a strong big like Sabonis. Doesn't need to be able to put the ball in the hoop, just provide some muscle.

Would that be an accurate statement?

I've thought about that. I'm guessing that they want the more athletic guys like Allen and Mobley. Both block a lot of shots and are great at slamming the ball home on pick and rolls. They did block a lot of shots last night, but they may have both had 5 fouls. Not sure about that. I do think your theory is sound, though. lead and I touched on the subject at one point. Also, not sure my answer is correct. Just an opinion.

Ho hum win vs OKC, who isn’t very intimidating lol

Got the win w/out Mitchell and Love. I thought for sure they would both play last night. I assumed both were resting two nights ago due to the back-to-back games. Mitchell was running and jumping after made baskets, so I don't know what to think. LeVert and Stevens both played well and we got just enough from Garland and Mobley to get the W. Effort overall was a bit inconsistent. Played hard at times. Careless during some stretches.

I was only able to catch about a quarter and half of the first half. I have been told all season long that Gilgeous-Alexander was a player. He pushed off with his off arm every time he drove to the basket. Never called.

As for the Cavs I like it when Lavert plays well. Cavs are a different team when he does that. Not sure why Mitchell didn't play. Not a fan of that. With the Celtics playing the way they are every game matters.

Yeah SGA is the main concern playing OKC. And I agree about Levert … he’s such a streak guy

Saw that Paul Silas died. I'll always remember him calling Boozer "C U next tuesday"

Dang, RIP coach

RIP Coach Silas.

Man, so many of the iconic figures, in sports, movies and tellevision, and music are passing into eternity.

this team has to be better on the road. No excuse losing to an 8 win team thats rebuilding. Garland needs to play better and we need less turnovers from the guard spot in general. Our bench has been abysmal. Def going to have to swap some parts out there.. I get stevens being a good defender and all but 25 minutes and didn't take a single shot and only had 3 rebounds...you can't do that too many times without being replaced. Tough one tomorrow too. Looks like rubio been cleared for 5 on 5. that will be a nice boost going into the second half of the season.

The Cavs got killed on the defensive boards in the first half. It was awful. The Spurs kept getting second shots on almost every possession. There was one time where they got 5 shots on one possession. Inexcusable. We also were closing out on their outside shooters strong enough. There were also too many careless turnovers.

We finally turned on the heat in the 4th quarter and had a chance to win, but I think they deserved to lose for playing w/such a poor effort for 3 quarters.

Yeah thats my frustration with Mobley, he's so streaky. Allen too and Love 3. Don't really get much consistency from our bigs. Garland and Mitchell turn the ball over waaay more than average. Thats why I think having rubio back will fix some of that. This team has to figure out the road as well. Dallas is alot better than SA is so lets see. Starting to see some chinks in JB's armor as we move on. Still think we are missing a couple pieces to make any real noise but they are fun to watch when they are humming. The give and go game is going to blow up once Rubio gets back.

I've always like Rubio and thought he received a lot of unfair criticism. Can't wait to get him back on the court.

3rd quarter really hurts the Cavs. That’s on JB. I almost am starting to thinks he might be in over his head with a team that all of a sudden has expectations. The 3rd quarter and on the road.

Luka gets away with so much

Mitchell is so good. He’s def the closer. Much better when it runs through him and not Garland

Donovan Mitchell is good

Excellent game by the Cavs. I think Bickerstaff had the team ready to play. We came out w/so much more energy than we did the other night in San Antonio.

Some thoughts:

--Mitchell and Garland were hot at the beginning of the game. Mitchell stayed hot throughout.

--Mobley and Allen were giving Dallas fits in the paint.........on both ends.

--LeVert looks so much more confident these last handful of games. I think bringing him off the bench was a great idea.

--Love is so bad at trying to defend a guy off the dribble. Guys just blow right by him.

--Stevens had a good game. He gives us a toughness that we need. It's also nice to have a guy who doesn't demand the ball when you have so many guys who are scorers.

--It bothers me when defenders shade a guy on the wrong side and let him go right by on his strong side. Sheesh....that is such a fundamental aspect of basketball.

--It was nice to have such a good performance on the road.

LeVert will really benefit from Rubio, Love is pretty much done.. He gives us really nothing these days. He's really out there stealing money. I think Mitchell is as good as any player we've ever had, Lebron included when it comes to dominance on the offensive side. Whenever we needed points last night he delivered. Garland was not good the second half, even after Dallas tried to double Mitchell, other guys like Mobley and Allen went to work. It was def. spark we needed on the road.

This is what I've been saying.

Mobley can be such a nightmare for other teams. He’s fun to watch

This is not a criticism, but this makes absolutely no sense to me.

I think it isn't about choosing one or another at all. It's best to have two guys who can close. Hell, I am hoping that Mobley continues to develop and we end up w/3 closers. That's what good teams have. Think back to when we won it. LeBron was the man, but Kyrie could close, too. He hit that huge shot when we won the Chip. Golden State had Stef, Duran, and Klay as closers. Boston has Tatum and Brown. The 76ers are trying to do it w/Embiid and Harden.

There is no need to stir-up controversy where it doesn't exist. Enjoy that we have two guys who are truly stars in the league.

I don't see it as controversy, just a fact.. of all the people on the team, Mitchell is far and away the most consistent closer we have. While Garland and Mobley flash at times, they aren't as consistent as Mitchell. Thats not a knock, just a statement.. I love all the guys on the team, Some frustrate me more than others, but for the most part VERY easy to root for any of them.

I feel pretty much the same way as lead. It's not so much a knock on Garland as it is a praise of Mitchell. I am also on record as saying the team will not win a championship unless Mobley takes a huge step forward. So I am counting on him to do that.

In the case of Garland, you can make the argument that he is the most gifted offensive player we have, even better than Mitchell. He's silky smooth. But Mitchell is a better all around talent and basketball player. You are talking about a guy who is a top ten player in the league. Let him lead the way, and if Garland starts demonstrating he can do it, then you start sharing the load down the stretch.

Cavs look terrible against the Pacers tonight. This team is so inconsistent.

Mitchell was not letting them lose tonight

This is why he has to be the closer. Man, he was so fired up. What a trade by the Cavs. Can't believe Mitchell is a Cav.

Yeah and he’s still got a lot of prime left

That jab step 3 to take the lead was just ice.. you could see panic set in on the pacers faces. They knew

He's an elite player.

Really like Daugherty as the color guy as well.

What a performance by Mitchell

I was disappointed w/the Cavs effort last night. Their defense was awful. They didn't close out on the shooters, gave up too many offensive rebounds, and allowed drives off the dribble w/very little resistance. They turned it on late and squeaked out a victory, but that was a pathetic effort. I guess that's the NBA in December, but I don't like it.

I support this statement.

We will not beat the Celtics or Bucks with the effort of last night.

our bench is what's going to hold us back, and we need a consistent 3rd option. We will see after the trade deadline what happens

Another bad effort tonight against a Dallas team missing 4 starters. More I watch this team, 6-7 more likely at the end with a first round exit. Too much reliance on Mitchell carrying the load. When he ever has an off night no one steps up

Wood absolutely destroyed Mobley and Allen.

This team really needs to start hitting FT. It’s becoming an issue

Somehow eeked out a win but it was so ugly. Have a lot of work to do. Allen was so bad on both ends. Garland and Mitchell were not good. But on second night of a back to back they get a pass and we got the win

j/c...

Another home win for the Cavs on a night when they did not shoot well, but still found a way to win and on a back-to-back.

A day full of wins for the city of Cleveland.

Four games left on the home stand.

Back to back is tough. Got the W and got out

Glad we won, but we were not interested in playing defense. The Mavs were playing backup players and had to fly to Cleveland after playing the previous night.

One little rant. So many NBA players play w/poor fundamentals and play stupid. No jump stops. No triple threat w/the ball. No drawing a string between players to play passing lanes and provide off the ball help. And worst of all............why do these guys run at guys w/the ball on their left side when they are right handed. How freaking dumb is that?

You ever see a shot chart anymore? It looks like a donut lol … all 3s and dunks and nothing in between. The game is just so boring to me, but analytics rule the world of sports

j/c...

Fun game tonight. Ran away with this one early and never looked back. Cedi went bonkers in the 4th quarter.

Went to the game with my buddy. Jimmy and Dee had the grandkids tonight at the game. Dee was off buying dippin' dots for the kiddos.

Good times!

Damn bro, nice seats! Glad you saw a winner!

I was at the Hawks game tonight. Looks like you had better turnout than we did.

That was a fun game to watch. Like Milk said, we came out w/a lot of energy early. I love when we play like that. We are such an athletic team. Maybe the most athletic team in the league???

I also never realized how good Allen was on offense. I always thought he was just a shot blocker and a guy who could throw down off of lobs. But, he is more than that. He has very good footwork in the paint and a nice touch.

Garland is an excellent passer. He gets careless at times, but he has such a nice feel for the game.

Mitchell's ability to make 3s while dribbling at full speed is amazing. And his touch is so soft. That's incredibly hard to do.

Mobley is another smooth player. Hate when he dribbles the ball up the court, but that baby hook in the paint is a real weapon.

Okoro is starting to contribute. Man, that guy can throw it down w/power.

Nice games from Love, Osman, and LeVert. We need that off the bench.

Anyway, nice game and I'm glad Milk was there to witness it live.

Said the same thing about Allen recently, I used the word "refined". As you said, you have to watch for a while to really appreciate it.

Mitchell has something alien going on in the 'quick-twitch muscle' department. Makes other great athletes look like mere mortals.

Very important win for the Cavs last night. We were 0 and 2 against the Bucks and it was nice to get a win on our home court. I loved that we came out w/a ton of intensity. Our defensive effort was outstanding. We pushed the ball when the opportunities were there. We scored a lot of points in the paint. We got a huge lead by playing great team basketball. They came back and it got scary at the end, but I don't think the Cavs let up. I think the Bucks are just really good and Giannis is other-worldly.

Some notes on players:

--Mitchell was cold in the first half, but turned it on in the second. Some of the moves he made were unreal. His body contortion is amazing.

--Garland took over the scoring load in the first half and hit the key shot down the stretch.

--Allen had a huge game. Giannis got his stats, but Allen made him work for them and he altered so many shots. He also was a force on the offensive end.

--Osman gave us a real spark off the bench. Dude is fast.

--Love had a solid game w/9 big rebounds and 5 assists. The two hand chest pass from the baseline to a streaking Cedi was a thing of beauty.

--Mobley got in early foul trouble and wasn't much of a factor. This made Love's contributions even more important.

--Bickerstaff did his best job of the year in knowing when to call time outs. The Bucks are scary when they get on a roll.

--The crowd was great!

The offense is more fun to watch now, but they will need to outpoint opponents. We need better defense for an honest run IMO. We block shots well, but we have given up way too much of too many leads too often. My comments are mostly about defending the perimeter better. Mobley is improving. Allen is a special competitor. Fun to watch. I am impressed with Bickerstaff.
Wine & Gold for The Land! Go, Cavs!

I missed the game. Was pleasantly surprised to see that they won. Victories like this give me hope that maybe, just maybe, we can compete with Milwaukee and Boston when it matters.

And then come out tonight and getting blown out by a dreg like Toronto. Swear it’s half over and still don’t know who this team is some nights. When they get it all together it’s going to be a wild run

The raptors have the worst collection of good players...siakim, anunoby, vanvleet...and yet they own the Cavs.

Neto provides no value.

Been saying this all year. Altman should have brought one of the Pgs from canton up. They are atleast athletic and can run the offense. We are running garland and Mitchell into the ground. Can’t wait for Rubio. We need some bench pieces

That’s a throw away game if I’ve ever seen one

Stunk last night. Sloppy and lousy. When we throw threes at the iron instead of pounding it in the paint, it's a formula for losing.
Some folks just disappeared. Last night was NOT fun to watch. Raps owned us early, then all night. We allowed a bunch of offense, and we seemed to bo consistently late to the shot. We will burn up our guards with these minutes.

Like the rest of you, I was thoroughly disgusted by last night's performance. We are now 0--3 against Toronto. They bully us w/physicality in the paint. Somehow, the worst 3 pt shooting team in the league is on fire against us from beyond the arc. Our defensive intensity was terrible until Bickerstaff benched all the starters. That second group at least played hard.

Mitchell looked like he was hung over or something. Careless turnover on the first possession. A few more careless turnovers throughout. Standing around. Not playing D.

Allen wasn't his usual self. Mobley was getting overpowered. Garland wasn't hitting his shots like normal. The only starter who played hard was Okoro and he had to sit because Siakum was elbowing him in the face and Okoro was getting the foul called against him. Btw-------we did not lose because of this, but that officiating crew looked very young and they were the worst I have seen all year. Clueless.

The ref with the blonde hair looked like he was on the take.

Neto should not be in the NBA. He should be playing with me and my buddies on Saturday mornings.

I agree .. Neto wasn’t good in Washington

Mobley and Allen are underwhelming 85% of the time. The more I watch I still see 6-7 seed that sometimes gets lucky and catches lightning in a bottle. Altman has some work to do yet

Significant loss last night. Two teams who are trying to establish themselves as legit E. Conf. contenders. The game got away from us quickly as the talent on the Nets was evident. I did find some comfort that we didn't quit and fought back to make it close.

--Mitchell is concerning me a bit. He was pretty much a no-show last night. He did not rise up to meet the challenge of the Nets' star talent.

--On the other hand, Garland did step up and he looked like a prime time player. He outplayed Kyrie and earned an immense amount of respect. Showed a great heart last night and he is so skilled to go w/that.

--Stevenson played physical.

--Disappointed by Allen and Mobley.

--Gotta give the Nets credit. Their 3 pt. shooting was unreal. We gotta close out quicker, but they can shoot it.

--I liked having guys like Osman on the floor when we came back w/force. We play harder w/that lineup.

--Bickerstaff should have called a TO at the beginning of that late run at the end of the first half.

Just not a good team. Cracks are starting to show and our defense is pathetic. If we aren’t giving up everything beyond the arc we allow huge lanes to the basket. Better get this straight. Other teams are figuring things out and stringing wins together and we are heading the wrong way. I’m starting to think JB might be in over his head a bit

Another disappointing effort. We are way too slow on our closeouts to 3-pt shooters. I will also never understanding forcing guys to their strong hand unless it is along the baseline and you are trapping.

We had a chance because Garland was carrying us yet again, but he hurt his hand. I think it's bad. He couldn't even hit free throws and was passing left-handed. It could get ugly if he misses time.

Btw---We need Mobley to give us more production. He's very skilled. He's also very inconsistent w/his effort and mental toughness. And please stop dribbling the ball up the court. Give it to a guard and run the damn floor!

I said this at the beginning of the season. People should start listening to me.

The Cavs will only truly become contenders when Mobley does.

Yes, Rishtadamas.

That has a nice ring to it.

LOL

For a top team the Cavs get outworked a lot by inferior teams.

Book is out on the Cavs. They can be outworked. And if you are willing to outwork them you will win.

And why the hell is Mitchell here if he refuses to take over, especially in games without Garland.

This team is just plain soft. We need an enforcer or two. Our bigs are lazy. In no world should Lopez be your backup center. Garland and Mobley are glass. The book is def out. Get up in our face and they are going to back down and play how you want to play. JB might be the wrong guy

Cavs are a tough watch right now. Soft, uninspired basketball.

Mitchell is a shell of the guy he was at the beginning of the season. Can't break down anyone off the dribble. It's like Garland and Mobley got hurt and the whole team just gave up.

If you remember I mentioned earlier I was concerned JB was over using garland and Mitchell. Well you’re starting to see it catch up. JB isn’t that good I’m thinking. And if I’m Altman I make a move once you realize their utilization was high and get someone that isn’t Neto to come in . Even if Rubio comes back you still need another guard. I think Love needs to start. He is worthless off the bench. Make Mobley come off the bench, then you arent sending all your defense to the bench when he and Allen go out. The stevens experiment needs to end. Get someone that can actually score consistently. His defense isn’t that good, def. It to the extent you can overlook his offense.

Man I stopped watching and Mitchell just about has 50.

Yeah Mitchell isn’t the problem to be sure. He has no help

63 and counting.

69 and counting.

Ends wirh 71.

Solid outing.

That may very well be the single greatest performance I have ever seen in a Cavs uniform. Mitchell is insane.

71 .. dude is electric. No other cav has been able to do that

It was alright.

I think it was Milk. I agree.

It was weird watching the Cavs game and the Buffalo game at the same time. Contrasting emotions going on at the same time.

I felt the same way.

What a performance

The player pics are pure gold! lmao

j/c...

Still can't get over the play Mitchell made to send the game into OT. Incredible.

Mitchell accounted for, what? 95 points or something. Just crazy

I heard 99 last night. Second all-time to Wilt's incredible 100 point night (104 pts).

Wilt getting off 63 shot attempts in 48 mins is crazy. Nice numbers from the FT line as well.

😯👀

Unreal

Wilt's stat line is crazy. I think it's safe to say that no TWO players will ever combine for 100pts and 25 rebounds. I would almost bet money that no THREE players ever have.

j/c...

Good article on Mitchell by Windy.

Road to Donovan Mitchell's 71-point performance vs. Bulls
Brian Windhorst
ESPN Senior Writer

The track at Flamingo Park in South Beach is always two or three degrees hotter than the other tracks in Miami. And in the heat of Friday afternoons in the summer it's usually deserted -- an uncomfortable place to be.

But for eight weeks this summer, there was Donovan Mitchell. Running endless sprints. Mitchell, his trainer David Alexander and a jug of water. Six sprints of 50 meters. Then five of 100 meters. Three at 200 meters. And then, at the end, two lung-busting 400s, the most grueling of them all on a surface that was usually around 100 degrees.

During overtime Monday night in Cleveland, Mitchell grabbed a loose ball and, in his 48th minute of game action, was still faster than everyone on the floor as he raced toward one of his 22 baskets. As he put the final touches on an iconic game, he was simply stronger and quicker than anyone left on his Cleveland Cavaliers team or the Chicago Bulls.

Mitchell's 71 points, 13 of them in an epic overtime session, were the most points scored by a single player in nearly 17 years, since Kobe Bryant's unforgettable 81 against the Toronto Raptors in 2006. There was a seemingly endless line of records left in Mitchell's wake en route to the 143-134 overtime win, but one seemed more relevant than all the others.

The 99 points Mitchell created -- he was the first player in history to have 70 points and 10 assists in a game -- were the second most ever behind the night Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in 1962, per ESPN Stats & Information research. Chamberlain also had two assists that game, meaning his mark of 104 will stand.

Living in the same stratosphere as Chamberlain is akin to breaking a LeBron James record in Cleveland, which Mitchell did in the greatest scoring performance in Cavaliers team history. And Chamberlain didn't perfectly miss a free throw, get the rebound and execute a near-miracle three-point play with three seconds left to force overtime.

"To be there in the record book with guys like Wilt is truly humbling," said Mitchell, his uniform still soaked after teammates doused him with water in celebration. "I'm speechless and blessed to be in the company of that greatness."

Stories of summer workouts are common at the highest levels of the NBA, but last summer wasn't just about building stamina. Mitchell was angry at the end of last season. Angry that the Utah Jazz had a disappointing year. Angry at the talk about relationships with teammates. Angry the team was planning a rebuild that included jettisoning him in hopes for a better future.

He'd watched some of his peers catapult around him. Devin Booker in Phoenix. Ja Morant in Memphis. Jayson Tatum in Boston. Trae Young in Atlanta. These guys were on the All-NBA team, and Mitchell wasn't.

When it became clear his days in Utah were numbered after the Jazz traded Rudy Gobert on July 1, Mitchell canceled plans to join the team for workouts at summer league in Las Vegas and went to Miami instead.

He didn't know where he'd be, maybe he'd even start the year in Utah, but he knew he wanted to come back with a different energy. For those two months, he trained harder than ever before. Even when he took an island vacation, he found a five-star resort that also had a basketball court.

It was a mental, physical and emotional cleansing.

When he showed up in Cleveland in September, just a couple weeks after the stunning trade, the Cavs weren't sure what to expect. They were overjoyed they'd executed the deal to get him, even with the tremendous cost of three unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps, but there was a hint of concern over the unknown

Would he really want to be in Cleveland? Would he accept playing alongside another scoring guard like Darius Garland? Would he be a bit of a prima donna after the way things had gone in Utah?

Not only did Mitchell show up in jaw-dropping condition, but his attitude was team-first from Day 1 and has remained that way ever since. It's one of the reasons the Cavs -- desperate for his greatness Monday with Garland and star forward Evan Mobley out because of injury -- celebrated around him on his amazing night.

"Donovan has never put himself above the team, so how can you not root for a guy like that?" Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after he played Mitchell the entire second half and overtime without a break. "We were treated tonight to one of the greatest performances in the history of the game."

When Mitchell ran his final 400 on the last day of training before heading to Cleveland, Alexander clicked the stopwatch and saw 57 seconds. One of Mitchell's best times of the summer. The daily work on his body and his game had prepared him for this type of season.

He's averaging career highs in points and shooting his best-ever percentages on 2s and 3s, and at the foul line. He's one of the league leaders in minutes, carrying the Cavs as Garland continues to deal with injuries and Ricky Rubio works toward his return from a torn ACL.

Ultimately, this season will not be defined in January. The Cavs are trying to make the playoffs for the first time without James since 1998. They haven't won a playoff series without him since 1993. They've been going through an uneven stretch over the past few weeks, and Mitchell was actually in a bit of a slump before his massive showing.

It's the end of the season Mitchell was training for all summer. But he'll always have this one, a game that will be remembered years into the future. And a night when he verified himself as one of the league's best, just in case anyone had questioned it.

"I always believed I could be one of the best players in the league," Mitchell said. "I forced myself into it."

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/st...ric-71-point-performance-was-just-matter

Love to see Mobley hitting the GW shot and Mitchell trusting his teammate enough to pass it off to him to shoot the shot, particularly after Mobley had been having a rough night shooting. This is how the team continues to grow.

That was a brutal game. Neither team could buy a bucket in the first half. The Suns packed the paint and we could not hit a 3. I believe we missed our first 15 3-pt attempts before LeVert nailed one. Mitchell was cold most of the game. I think he was 6 out of 20 or something like that, but he did hit a couple of big shots late. LeVert kept us in the game, but I doubt his shooting percentage was good. The Suns really contested a lot of shots in the paint. We were hoisting up shots while being off balance.

Before the game, Bickerstaff said there might be an emotional hangover. He was correct. Our D kept us in it and the Suns missed some wide-open shots. Mobley was awful until he made the game-winner. We really missed Garland's play-making and scoring.

Tough stretch coming up. I think we have 5 road games in 10 days.

Just checked the box score. I was wrong about LeVert's FG percentage. He was 7 of 11 for the game.

One other note, Neto gets a lot of hate on here, but the guy really provided a spark last night. He played tough D and was 5 of 7 from the field. We were +4 w/him on the floor. Consider the Suns largest lead was 11 and ours was 3.

First half was not a pretty one, that’s for sure

j/c...

Markkanen dropped 49 last night. Nice to see him having a great season. That was the only part of "the trade" I cringed at, mostly because I liked the dude so much...

Carry on.

That’s the part of the trade I didn’t like as well. Would have loved to part with Wyndler, Osman, Stevens, or ‘24 1st round pick, not sure it could have gotten done without LM, but wish it had.

yep we took a strength and made it a weakness. but Mitchell, as evidence by Garland once again unable to carry the team tonight, is a huge get. Our defense is so overrated, they destroyed us inside tonight

Neto is not an nba player. And why didn't JB rest Mitchell against the Suns so he could play this game? Dumb decision there.

Nights like tonight are why the Cavs won't be successful until Mobley reaches his potential as well. Because Mobley has not taken a step forward this year this team, without Mitchell, would be lucky to make the play in.

neto will be gone when rubio gets back, but man...can we just end the Windler and Wade experiments.. they aren't going to ever give us anything so stop using roster space for them.. Get some people in here to contribute so you don't run your squad into the ground before ASB

You mentioned than answer, and LM's stat line tells why. We weren't going to get DM for a few picks and scrubs.

j/c:

Tough game last night. Denver is freaking loaded. They probably have the best starting 5 in the entire league and Jokic has won the last two MVP's. They have the best record in the Western Conference. I pretty much disagree w/most of what lead and Rish are saying. Not being argumentative, but my takes are different.

--Neto has given the Cavs quality minutes in the last two games.

--Winning this game was going to be tough no matter what. So, I think playing Mitchell in a winnable game [Suns] in which Garland was out made sense since Garland would be back makes sense. You certainly don't want to go 0 and 2 in those games.

--I don't agree that Garland can't close. I've seen him do so too many times. I think he played really hard last night and kept us in it w/his playmaking. His shot was off, but I expected that coming off missing games w/a thumb injury. Having an injured thumb effects how you grip the ball. It bothers your shot. Love has been dealing w/that for awhile now.

--Our bench actually outplayed their bench.

--Mobley had one of his best games of the year.

--Allen was dog-tired from having to guard Jokic. We had no one else who had the physicality to guard him. Mobley is too thin. Lopez is strong, but his feet are bad. Jokic would have destroyed him.

--Speaking of Allen..........the dude reminds me of one of those guys from the 60s. Big fro, maybe wearing a tie-dye shirt, listening to Bob Marley or maybe Maggot Brain by Funkadelic, smoking a blunt...........Oh, I better say that I am not saying that in a negative way.

--I know some of you play/played basketball. lead and Rish among you. Answer this: have you ever made a cross-court passed that ended w/your hand closed in a fist? I never have. Following through w/the fingers is what provides touch and accuracy. And somehow, that fist made contact w/Garland's injured eye. Garland was also kicked in privates by a guy who actually threw his leg back. His thumb was hacked repeatedly and Bickerstaff actually addressed that in his post-game PC. I would have contemplated putting in Lopez just to take out one of those dudes. Not anything that result in an injury, but enforcers have been a part of the basketball forever.

Neto is really bad Vers. He should not be on an NBA team. He's a negative on both sides of the floor. You basically have no chance if he is getting significant minutes.

On a separate note, could you imagine guys resting in the 80s and 90s? The whole resting thing just irks me.

In addition, JB doesn't want to stick it to the Cavs fans that paid $200-$500/ticket to come and see Mitchell play for maybe their first time only to have him sitting due to rest and no Garland.

I didn't even think of that.

j/c:

I am still curious if any of you hoopsters ever made a pass where you ended up making a fist and somehow "accidentally" hit your opponent in the face? Hell, I've never made a pass where I ended it w/a my hand making a fist. I thought it was a dirty play.

I do agree w/you about resting players. It's hurt the game on many levels, but I guess analytics say it's smart. I don't think it helps the popularity of the game, though.

I didn't see that play but no I don't think that's a natural motion.

On the kick I thought he was just trying to draw a foul. Glad the NBA is cracking down on that stuff.

I can promise, almost all contact I make with an opponent was never accidental..lol. Actually you bring up a good point and I've noticed it quite a bit this year. Its almost like teams are purposely targeting Garland, and Mitchell sometimes.. Mitchell is stronger so it doesn't affect him as much, but teams really have been getting away with stuff against garland. It goes back to having your teammates back. It happened in the lebron era too, noone paid any retribution..always pissed me off. Need to make other teams feel it on their star players if they come after ours.

It helps the popularity of the game at seasons end when players aren't out of gas.

That said, it seems to me that in basketball you can "rest" players and still give them minutes.

Yeah Neto was so bad in Washington. I wasn’t really enthused when he came up here

j/c...

Nice win by the Cavs. Defense was putrid for a stretch and JB sat some guys to send a message. It worked. Went on a big run and coasted to a win.

Okoro, shockingly, hit (4) threes.

yeah it was a good win against a team missing its two biggest playmakers, so we def. should have won and did. Everyone chipped in which was good and needs to happen more.

I didn't turn the game on until about half way through the 3rd quarter. Game was tight and then the Cavs just pulled away. Both Brad Daugherty and Austin Carr said that Neto sparked the Cavs to the win. I think the game really changed when Neto and Stevens came in and start D'ing guys up. Garland got hot and that was that against an undermanned Suns team. One other thing.........I never realized what a good defender LeVert is. He has good feet and stays in front of his guy.

I think Bickerstaff is doing a great job. He isn't afraid to get on players. His rotations are pretty sound even though he occasionally sticks w/a group too long at times. But, all coaches are guilty of that. I think he has the player's respect and he generally has the guys playing hard, which is rare in the NBA this time of the year.

I popped for tickets to Cavs v Bulls Feb 11.. it's a 8 pm prime time Saturday night game and I can't wait.. I'm taking my daughter

Bring us home a winner, Saint!

i think I'm going to hit the Magic and heat games this spring. I haven't gone to a game since lebron was in town.. Went to a game with him in orlando and he didn't even play..lol.

Ive got courtside seats to Cavs v Hawks. Front row opposite vistors bench. March 28th. I will be sure to share pics. This is bucketlist for me. My bro is flying down for it.

j/c...

Caris LeVert. Barf. What a disastrous 7 point swing on a single possession.

Mitchell remains unreal and Mobley's defense took over until LeVert lost his senses.

Mitchell 25+ points and Cavs +5.5 ATS parlay is a winner.

Yeah. I don't know what happened with LeVert.

That 7 pt. possession lost the game. I don't think they were bad calls by the letter of the rules, but LeVert really didn't do too much wrong to get the fouls. Kind of a freak thing.

I agree that Mitchell looked great and Mobley's shot blocking and D in the paint was special.

I tuned into the game last night, but fell asleep in the 2nd quarter. We were getting a lot of dunks off of lobs early on. Mitchell was taking good shots, but his shot was flat. Looked like tired legs. Lillard was hot and Simon was really hot from 3 pt. range for the Trailblazers. Our D was pretty intense.

Here is an recap article about the game.



Rubio returns and Cavaliers down struggling Blazers 119-113


Ricky Rubio scores first basket since ACL injuryRicky Rubio scores his first basket since his ACL injury in the Cavaliers' game vs. the Trail Blazers.
ByAP
Updated: 9 hours ago

PORTLAND, Ore. -- — Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points, Ricky Rubio played in his first game since a knee injury more than a year ago and the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 119-113 on Thursday night.

Damian Lillard had a season-high 50 points, but it wasn't enough for the Blazers in their fifth straight loss.

Jarrett Allen added 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers' fifth victory in their last seven games.

“Just kept fighting,” Mitchell said.

Portland led by 14 points early and had a 91-87 lead going into the final quarter.

Lillard's 3-pointer from 29 feet put Portland up 102-97 with 7:11 left, but the Blazers couldn't hold the lead. Allen's layup cut it to 104-103 and Mitchell's jumper gave the Cavs their first lead of the game with 4:40 to go.

Anfernee Simons hit a 3-pointer to tie it, but Mitchell and Evan Mobley made consecutive baskets and the Cavaliers pulled away.

“We played hard,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. "We didn’t get into the slump that we are in in one game and we’re not going to get out of it in one game. I think we’re getting close. I’m proud of our effort.”

Rubio finished with nine points in 10 minutes — including two 3-pointers in the third quarter. The 32-year-old tore his left anterior cruciate while driving to the basket at New Orleans on Dec. 28, 2021.

“Today there was a lot of emotions out there,” Rubio said. “I've been working hard all year just to be healthy so I’m grateful to be out there playing basketball.”


The Cavaliers had listed him as questionable on the pregame injury report, but he came in off the bench with 3:38 left in the first quarter.

Lillard appeared to struggle with a sore ankle early in the game. He remained in the contest, but at times appeared to be in pain.

Despite that, Lillard had 25 points in the opening half and Portland went into the break with a 58-51 lead.

https://www.espn.com/nba/recap/_/gameId/401468786

j/c:



AKA "Flopping Consultant"

Andy loves Cleveland, Cleveland loves Andy. Welcome back.

Anyone who experiences Cleveland ends up loving Cleveland more often than not.

I'm curious what "lead international partnership efforts" means, exactly. I have a few ideas, but it seems somewhat nebulous.

Welcome back. Always liked Andy.

That was fun.

I miss Fred McLeod.