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After an ugly bricklaying exhibition at Madison Square Garden the Cavs return home for their second and final game of the season against the Los Angeles Lakers. The game will be nationally televised by TNT.
The Cavs beat the Lakers convincingly in Game #9 in LA by a 114-100 score. The Cavs made 32 free throws that night to 12 for the Lakers. Anthony Davis, LeBron, and Russell Westbrook combined for 65 of the 100 Laker points. That loss dropped their record to 2-7.
Jarrett Allen had 16 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in that game. If he can’t go tonight it would be a huge blow to the Cavs’ chances. He’s listed as a game time decision. If he plays I expect he’ll be a little off after missing the last five games.
The Lakers have been two completely different teams this year. They started the season 2-10 but since then are 8-2 with one of the losses being to Phoenix on the road. They beat Milwaukee on the road 133-129 to start their current road trip on Friday.
I don’t see any point in going over their season averages since they are clearly a different team now. They have been an offensive juggernaut last five games, scoring 143, 115, 128, 133, and 130 points. They’ve also given up some points; 138, 116, 109, 129, and 119. With the Cavs playing at home where they shoot much better this could be a high scoring affair.
Anthony Davis is on a Hall of Fame type roll, having scored 99 points with 27 rebounds the last two games. For the season the Unibrow is averaging 28.6 points and 12.8 rebounds on 59% from the field and 33% from deep. He dropped 55 points on Washington two nights ago and became the first player since Kevin McHale in the ’70’s to have a 50+ point, 15+ rebound game with at least three blocked shots. IOW, he is in Beast Mode right now. However, he is listed as a game time decision with lower back tightness so if his back tightens up he could be less effective or possibly not play.
LeBron is rolling along at age 38 with a line of 26.1/8.6/6.6. He’s shooting 47% and 33%. Same as it ever was. The key is to try and make AD and LBJ shoot 3’s since they’re each at 33%.
Lonnie Walker IV, a 6’4” guard, averages 16.7 points on 48% overall and 39% on 3’s. My guess is he gets a lot of open looks when opponents help on LeBron and AD. In four years with the Spurs he started just 56 games and never averaged over 12 points.
Russell Westbrook averages 14.6 points and 7.7 assists in 28 minutes off the bench. His shooting percentages are low (40% and 31%), but he leads the team in assists.
Patrick Beverly, 34, has started 17 games and averages 4.2 points and 2.5 assists in 27 minutes. He seems to be running on fumes as he’s only making 28% of his shots.
Austin Reaves, a 6’5” shooting guard, averages 10.4 points off the bench in 29 minutes. He’s shooting 53% and 39% - another guy who benefits from the extra attention demanded by LeBron and AD.
In the Lakers’ last two wins LBJ and AD combined for 84 of their 130 points against Washington and 72 of their 133 against Milwaukee.
Dennis Schroder and Kendrick Nunn are still around, but they are only shooting 40% and 36%.
The Cavs held the Lakers to 100 points in LA as they did a nice job on AD and LBJ, holding them to a combined 46 points. The Lakers shot only 29.6% from deep and were 12-for-21 from the foul line. The Cavs went to the line 36 times, with Donovan Mitchell going 12-for-13, Garland 7-for-7, and Allen 6-for-6.
The Lakers don’t have a true center. AD is their tallest player at 6’10”, followed by LeBron at 6’9”. On Sunday they started two point guards, Schroder and Beverly (both 6’1”), and Walker (6’4”). Their top three off the bench in minutes were Westbrook (6’3”), Reaves (6’5”) and Troy Brown Jr (6’6”). They did bring in 6’10” center Thomas Bryant for 10 minutes and he had five rebounds.
Based on the scores of their most recent games it appears they mainly try to outscore teams. They’re allowing an average of 122 points per game in their last five, so defense has not been their forte. Based on how many times they fouled the Cavs in LA that seems to be the case.
The Lakers are on a roll and if Jarrett Allen is still out the Cavs will have a tough time matching up with them. If he can play they could put him on AD and Mobley on LeBron, but if Allen is out that plan goes out the window.
The Cavs’ best bet is to try and stay in front of AD and LeBron and double them intelligently, forcing them to pick up the dribble and take contested outside shots or pass off. On offense the Cavs need to draw a ton of fouls like they did in the first game. There’s no way Beverley, Schroder, and Reaves can keep up with Mitchell and Garland. The Cavs are shooting 39.9% on 3’s at home so a big night from deep would offset all the 2-pointers AD and LeBron will get.
Mitchell, Garland, and LeVert need to get dribble penetration to force AD to contest the shot, opening up passing opportunities on lobs to the rim or kick outs for open 3’s. Getting to the foul line 36 times will also help.
The Cavs beat the Lakers convincingly in Game #9 in LA by a 114-100 score. The Cavs made 32 free throws that night to 12 for the Lakers. Anthony Davis, LeBron, and Russell Westbrook combined for 65 of the 100 Laker points. That loss dropped their record to 2-7.
Jarrett Allen had 16 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in that game. If he can’t go tonight it would be a huge blow to the Cavs’ chances. He’s listed as a game time decision. If he plays I expect he’ll be a little off after missing the last five games.
The Lakers have been two completely different teams this year. They started the season 2-10 but since then are 8-2 with one of the losses being to Phoenix on the road. They beat Milwaukee on the road 133-129 to start their current road trip on Friday.
I don’t see any point in going over their season averages since they are clearly a different team now. They have been an offensive juggernaut last five games, scoring 143, 115, 128, 133, and 130 points. They’ve also given up some points; 138, 116, 109, 129, and 119. With the Cavs playing at home where they shoot much better this could be a high scoring affair.
Anthony Davis is on a Hall of Fame type roll, having scored 99 points with 27 rebounds the last two games. For the season the Unibrow is averaging 28.6 points and 12.8 rebounds on 59% from the field and 33% from deep. He dropped 55 points on Washington two nights ago and became the first player since Kevin McHale in the ’70’s to have a 50+ point, 15+ rebound game with at least three blocked shots. IOW, he is in Beast Mode right now. However, he is listed as a game time decision with lower back tightness so if his back tightens up he could be less effective or possibly not play.
LeBron is rolling along at age 38 with a line of 26.1/8.6/6.6. He’s shooting 47% and 33%. Same as it ever was. The key is to try and make AD and LBJ shoot 3’s since they’re each at 33%.
Lonnie Walker IV, a 6’4” guard, averages 16.7 points on 48% overall and 39% on 3’s. My guess is he gets a lot of open looks when opponents help on LeBron and AD. In four years with the Spurs he started just 56 games and never averaged over 12 points.
Russell Westbrook averages 14.6 points and 7.7 assists in 28 minutes off the bench. His shooting percentages are low (40% and 31%), but he leads the team in assists.
Patrick Beverly, 34, has started 17 games and averages 4.2 points and 2.5 assists in 27 minutes. He seems to be running on fumes as he’s only making 28% of his shots.
Austin Reaves, a 6’5” shooting guard, averages 10.4 points off the bench in 29 minutes. He’s shooting 53% and 39% - another guy who benefits from the extra attention demanded by LeBron and AD.
In the Lakers’ last two wins LBJ and AD combined for 84 of their 130 points against Washington and 72 of their 133 against Milwaukee.
Dennis Schroder and Kendrick Nunn are still around, but they are only shooting 40% and 36%.
The Cavs held the Lakers to 100 points in LA as they did a nice job on AD and LBJ, holding them to a combined 46 points. The Lakers shot only 29.6% from deep and were 12-for-21 from the foul line. The Cavs went to the line 36 times, with Donovan Mitchell going 12-for-13, Garland 7-for-7, and Allen 6-for-6.
The Lakers don’t have a true center. AD is their tallest player at 6’10”, followed by LeBron at 6’9”. On Sunday they started two point guards, Schroder and Beverly (both 6’1”), and Walker (6’4”). Their top three off the bench in minutes were Westbrook (6’3”), Reaves (6’5”) and Troy Brown Jr (6’6”). They did bring in 6’10” center Thomas Bryant for 10 minutes and he had five rebounds.
Based on the scores of their most recent games it appears they mainly try to outscore teams. They’re allowing an average of 122 points per game in their last five, so defense has not been their forte. Based on how many times they fouled the Cavs in LA that seems to be the case.
The Lakers are on a roll and if Jarrett Allen is still out the Cavs will have a tough time matching up with them. If he can play they could put him on AD and Mobley on LeBron, but if Allen is out that plan goes out the window.
The Cavs’ best bet is to try and stay in front of AD and LeBron and double them intelligently, forcing them to pick up the dribble and take contested outside shots or pass off. On offense the Cavs need to draw a ton of fouls like they did in the first game. There’s no way Beverley, Schroder, and Reaves can keep up with Mitchell and Garland. The Cavs are shooting 39.9% on 3’s at home so a big night from deep would offset all the 2-pointers AD and LeBron will get.
Mitchell, Garland, and LeVert need to get dribble penetration to force AD to contest the shot, opening up passing opportunities on lobs to the rim or kick outs for open 3’s. Getting to the foul line 36 times will also help.
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