Game 33 | Cavs (18-14) @ Horncats (10-23) | January 2nd, 2015 | 7:00pm EST

[priceFTW]

At least our DRtg will improve (they were at about 94 points per 100 possessions).

 

[Flight479]

2 superstars can't win by themselves. Show me 2 that have.

2 superstars can win regular season games. The championship is another story

 

[Flight479]

This is probably one of the best wins of the season. Not THE best but damn close. The collective effort and not dying down in the moment after they could have is pretty awesome.

I'm not going to lie. I'm completely stoked about this win considering we were trailing for a good portion of this game and when we were trailing in other games we couldn't muster the moxie to come back.

I like it and I also like how the team actually ran plays that gave our best players the opportunity to do them. We were screening, we were moving, we were playing real basketball and I almost completely lost hope that we couldn't do that anymore.

I don't mind the ISO type of ball when it is performed in the flow of the the actual play that is being called. That is why plays are called. That is what the coach is looking for.

I think Blatt redeemed himself BIG TIME in this game. His offense caters to his stars and if LeBron is indeed the leader of this team then he needs to accept what we're trying to do. I think this game goes a long way with him personally.

Windy said he thinks Blatt is the Isreali version of Greg Popovich and that players resent that.

I say, give me the Isreali version of Greg Popovich 10 times out of 10.

Nope that 4th quarter erased any chance at this being a good win. Good 3rd quarter though

 

[MirORich]

It's possible to be critical with out making absurd final judgements.

I criticized Kyrie and Dion for the huge number of shots they took and missed in the 4th qtr vs the 3 shots that Love had. Especially since Love is dependent on the guys who handle the ball to get shots. But Kyrie and Dion both did good things in this game, especially in the 3rd qtr.

And the coaching staff is trying to adjust to having Andy and now LeBron out for an extended amount of games.

This mini stretch w out LeBron is a work in progress, as is the season as a whole, but they did manage to win tonight and played great basketball in the 3rd qtr to build come back and then build up the lead necessary to hold off the Hornets.

They need to build on this, take care of the Sixers, and then hopefully find a way to scrape out some wins against actual good NBA teams prior to LeBron returning.

 

[Rainman]

38% FG holy shit

 

[MirORich]

Nope that 4th quarter erased any chance at this being a good win. Good 3rd quarter though

Such dumb logic.

The game is not a linear straight line. It's 48 minutes. They did some good stuff. They did some bad stuff. They did some dumb stuff. But they did enough over 48 minutes to get the win while adjusting to playing without LeBron and still missing Andy(we need to get a living breathing replacement for him SOON).

 

[priceFTW]

That was a long ending, its 4:40 am here. Good win, should have been an easier ending but was worth seeing Love's winning shot. I'm sure its going to contribute to his confidence. Good night!

That's the positive, but it was disheartening to see no ball movement and heroball continue. We got so few good looks off of passes in this game which is sad. We were terrible offensively.

The defense was better, but opposing us was a team that couldn't score in an open gym (other than in the first quarter against us).

 

[crabbyshark]

In addition, the "when Lebron went out agsinst the Heat, Kyrie and the team were running Blatt's offense" nonsense should stop.

Ha. The Cavs played better when LeBron went out that game. Tonight in the third quarter the offense looked good. In the fourth quarter the guards reverted to old habits. Something to build on.

 

[Bandwagoner305]

You can't expect to get more assists when you have a PG who wants to pound the ball and looks to make flashy "Top 10 plays" on every ISO possession. You also have a SG who always wants the ball and has a tendency to take quick shots.

 

[Rainman]

2 superstars can win regular season games. The championship is another story

Tell that to New York

 

[Rainman]

I'm just happy to win a game. This team no where close to where I thought we would be.

 

[kookoo]

If Blatt doesn't get into Kyrie's ear about the shot selection this game, I don't think he should be the guy to coach this team.

 

[priceFTW]

Ha. The Cavs played better when LeBron went out that game. Tonight in the third quarter the offense looked good. In the fourth quarter the guards reverted to old habits. Something to build on.

In the last three games without James, we have about a 97-98 ORtg, the equivalent of the worst in the NBA other than the 76ers' God awful offense.

 

[Rich]

Ha. The Cavs played better when LeBron went out that game. Tonight in the third quarter the offense looked good. In the fourth quarter the guards reverted to old habits. Something to build on.

What about the 1st and 2nd quarters? What about the other games he hasn't played? It's funny how you pick the smallest possible sample sizes to make these determinations when much larger ones exist.

They've been putrid on offense since James has went down. Only the most devoted of the blame James crowd can argue otherwise.

 

[crabbyshark]

In the last three games without James, we have about a 97-98 ORtg, the equivalent of the worst in the NBA other than the 76ers' God awful offense.

Two of those games included no Shawn Marion and almost no Kevin Love. If LeBron misses the full two weeks it'll be interesting to see how the numbers look then.