I took bets on cavs 1st q, cavs 1st half, and cavs for the game. I like the 1st q b/c it's our best versus 2 of their starting 5. I think we go hard in the 1st half since we play tomorrow, and I still think our backups can hold the lead. We have blown out 4 of the 6 teams we have played during our win streak. I like how we have LBJ/Marion on Joe Johnson too, so it comes down to whether or not Kyrie can stay in front of DWill.
I really think that Knicks game was important for us. Obviously Kyrie went bananas, but there were 2 really important take-aways:
1. Position-less b-ball is happening. Kyrie was hot, and LBJ is the best in the league at deciding when to be the guy and when to pass to the guy. It was Kyrie's night and LBJ was able to pivot to the point forward (and he didn't even seem to have a sense of urgency). Blatt can still maintain some form of rotations for cohesion on defense, but on offense, we have the ability to play in a way that is extremely difficult to prepare for.
2. Most importantly: I think that steal & dunk by LBJ at the end when he came crashing to double team was a defining play. We really had our defense bail us out, and that play encapsulated where we are headed. It isn't even fair to consider us a bad defensive team right now. We aren't, and we will only get better as we settle in. That play sticks in my head where some of the young guys saw us win based on hunkering down when we don't have the ball & how that led to instant offense.