Game 41 | Cavs (20-20) @ Clippers (26-13) | January 16, 2015 | 10:30pm EST

Simon said:

Quick take - Are the Cavs better without Kevin Love?

*walks out*

(being sarcastic)

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That's a great take Simon!

OhevEtHaCAVS said:

HEY! What did I say before the game?

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I was being sarcastic. Blatt needs and deserves a full season with this team.

Rome wasn't built in a day.

Czvosec said:

I want to be positive. Really, I do... but that defense still wasn't good (how many times did they just give up on shooters?), and they were bailed out by LeBron and Kyrie shooting out of their minds. Players not named Shawn Marion or Mike Miller (who continues to miss open looks) shot 61% from the floor, and they still almost lost that game.

Nice to beat an actual team for once though.

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yes -- it didn't really feel like we were making progress on our issues in this game, just that it was a reminder of how great we can be when our stars show up.

121 points certainly isn't good but if you break down the splits..47% overall, 34% from 3, 69% from the FT line, it isn't that bad. Yeah FG% should be in the low 40s (maybe closer to 45% in our case) but considering we were getting torched on the offensive glass early it wasn't that bad. Scores all over the league were high tonight. Our situational D was actually pretty good, especially in the 2nd half.

We scored 126 and had 20 turnovers .

crabbyshark said:

Kyrie goes Iso cuz he doesn't trust LeBron to make a good play with the ball.

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We win...because he does.

Rob said:

Yeah I cannot believe that people in the Clipper organization were okay with trading a 1st rounder for Austin Rivers.

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“He fits our team,” Doc said.

What does the younger Rivers’ bring?


“For one defense,” Austin said before his first game with Los Angeles. “Being a physical guard, a bigger guard, just trying to be physical with players. Guarding the one or two spot, even the three depending on who.

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A bigger bill of goods has never been sold. I saw this on PBT on nbc today and just had a blank stare on my face for a minute trying to comprehend that.

Missed the game tonight, can someone hook me up with a link? Name your price.

I have absolutely no complaints about a Cavs team beating a team that was 17-6 at home going into this game on the last night of a long road trip and on the the second night of a back-to-back, missing their starting PF and with all the other crap going on. I thought they were going to lose by at least 15!!! Not going to be disappointed about it.

Defense was of course an issue but the Cavs kept up a high pace in the game without giving up as many transition buckets as they sometimes have. I thought they competed on defense in the second half but didn't always have the right personnel to make it work. Lots of challenging, lots of energy. It bodes well.

Some players shouldn't have gotten as many minutes as they did but I think that's what should happen in a back-to-back. You need contributions of some kind from the other guys. Marion may still be hurt. Smith had the back issues in pregame.

I wasn't posting during the game but I thought the hack-a-Jordan strategy was very smart at the time, even if the Cavs (aka LeBron) tried to squander it with turnovers. My guess is that it was suggested by Lue or Drew. It was a very "NBA" move, and the kind of thing Blatt should have tried with Drummond when the Pistons were crushing us earlier this year.

They say the hardest game of the road trip is the first game back, which will be against Chicago. I hope the Cavs are ready for an extremely different type of game that night. They played in the style of the Clippers and beat them at it for a night.

Fantastic win tonight. Showed a lot of grit in pulling out a win against a championship contender on the road.

Gotta be ready to pull out a home win against a very good road team Monday night, but tonight was encouraging, especially the visible connection between LeBron and Blatt.

wuck said:

I have absolutely no complaints about a Cavs team beating a team that was 17-6 at home going into this game on the last night of a long road trip and on the the second night of a back-to-back, missing their starting PF and with all the other crap going on. I thought they were going to lose by at least 15!!! Not going to be disappointed about it.

Defense was of course an issue but the Cavs kept up a high pace in the game without giving up a huge number of transition buckets. I thought they competed on defense in the second half but didn't always have the right personnel to make it work. Lots of challenging, lots of energy. It bodes well.

Some players shouldn't have gotten as many minutes as they did but I think that's what should happen in a back-to-back. You need contributions of some kind from the other guys. Marion may still be hurt. Smith had the back issues in pregame.

I wasn't posting during the game but I thought the hack-a-Jordan strategy was very smart at the time, even if the Cavs (aka LeBron) tried to squander it with turnovers. My guess is that it was suggested by Lue or Drew. It was a very "NBA" move, and the kind of thing Blatt should have tried with Drummond when the Pistons were crushing us earlier this year.

They say the hardest game of the road trip is the first game back, which will be against Chicago. I hope the Cavs are ready for an extremely different type of game that night. They played in the style of the Clippers and beat them at it for a night.

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Weird thing is that the Bulls are playing with a faster tempo this year and not playing the same type of defense we are used to from Thib's teams. Looks like since they can now score, they don't put out as much effort on defense.

In any case, this team did what you have astutely looked for: overachieve. Just for a game. It was a weird game, but we did overachieve for once. Every other team had and now it was our turn.

Marcus said:

Fantastic win tonight. Showed a lot of grit in pulling out a win against a championship contender on the road.

Gotta be ready to pull out a home win against a very good road team Monday night, but tonight was encouraging, especially the visible connection between LeBron and Blatt.

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This a completely different topic, and its really not related to the game tonight at all, but are the Clippers a championship contender? They've been really schizophrenic this year, and their defense has taken several steps back. This really seems like a team that might make the second round and nothing else.

CAVS BACK

With how uneventful this season has been so far, here comes another post breaking down this game way more than needed because, let’s be honest, it’s a win streak and we forgot how that felt.

This has to be up there with one of the best wins of the season, putting it right by the 2nd game of this year’s campaign against the Chicago Bulls. I absolutely loved the hustle and grit this team possessed and they simply out played the Los Angeles Clippers tonight.

Granted, 120+ points is a lot to give up and neither squad played much defense but baby steps as the offense was on point (pun intended) and secured the win. Okay, one defensive stat I can look at and not shake my head in disgust is the 34.5% the Clippers shot behind the 3 line when that is usually more than half their game plan night in and night out.

Now, back to the offense…this team is best when running, too many weapons out there for an unset defense to control. Move the ball, good things happen, the Cavaliers did that. 24 fastbreak points (even if less than opponent), outscoring the Clippers by 2 in the paint and having 23 assists on 46 made shots is nothing short of good offense.

Onto individual player break down, all about the studs but honorable mention to Mosgov with 12 and TT with a stellar night in the hustle department with 24 points and 12 rebounds. MVP of the night has to go to the 2 headed beast now known as “Le-yrie,” an amazing combined 69 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. That combo was delicious and that offense was smooth, just like the peanut butter I prefer.

Hopefully this is a step in the right direction because they are starting to feel each other out and I hope it’s a easy transition when Shumpert comes into the fold.

Side mention about the coaching, I liked the hack-a-Deandre Blatt implemented. It showed in game adjustments and while immediately it didn’t produce much in the scoring side, it eventually took LA out of their game a tad and that was big in that regard.


Thinking outside here, do they play this good offensively if Love is in the game? Do we throw this up to hustle and determination more so than the absence of Love? The offense was more free-flowing but then again I like Love and I think they would have put forth a similar offensive outing with him out there as well.


I am going to go now eat my ice cream treat I saved for after the game. My fat-ass wanted something to look forward to if this was a horrible loss and since I am 85% ice cream, I am eating it after a win because I want to and I eat my feelings. God, help me. It’s 3:30 am as I eat ice cream rewatching that LBJ inbounds play to TT on repeat. I need a woman.

My favorite moments/events:

• Embarrassing Austin Rivers in front of his Pops.
• LeBron and Kyrie lighting the Clippers up.
• Mozgov's leftover Denver Nuggets shoes.
• Chris Paul's constant whining.
  
• Tristan Thompson.
• The play out of the timeout with 47.3 seconds left.
• The win, of course.

Folks, say what you want about our defense (yes, it needs work), but I'm loving the body language and chemistry out on the court the last couple of games. Good, good win tonight. I want to give a special thanks to the city of Los Angeles and the Staples Center. You were a great host. Onto the next one.