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Hoping to break their first losing streak of the season before returning home, the Cavs take on the Warriors who are off to a slow start with a 4-7 record. However, the Dubs are 4-1 at home, which makes them 0-6 on the road.
Their four wins, all at home, have come against 3-6 Sacramento (by 3 and 5 points), 4-7 Miami (by 13), and the 2-8 LA Clippers (by 14). So the best team the W’s have beaten is probably Miami.
Besides being at home the W’s will have the rest advantage as they haven’t played since Monday while the Cavs played Wednesday. Three days off and 4-1 at home - the Warriors will be tough. They are also healthy with the exception of 38-year-old Andre Iguodala.
Like the Cavs, their last game was against Sacramento. They beat the Kings 116-113. Steph Curry carried them on his back with 47 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists in 38 minutes.
Curry, still awesome at age 34, leads the Dubs with 32.6 points per game, shooting 51% from the field and 43% from deep. He chips in 7.1 rebounds and 6.9 assists as he continues his march to the HOF.
Andrew Wiggins, the former Cavs’ #1 pick who was traded for Kevin Love, is having a good year at 18.2 ppg and 6.1 rebounds. He’s hitting 48% overall and 40% on 3’s. He and Curry combine for 50 points out of the 117.3 the team averages.
Klay Thompson, 32, having suffered two major leg injuries in recent years, is getting 28 minutes per game and averaging 15.1 points. He’s not the Klay he used to be, however, shooting only 36% from the field and 33% from deep - about 10% lower than his career averages.
Draymond Green, also 32, is still doing his thing with a line of 9.1/6.1/5.6 and great defense. Green is hitting 61% of his shots but only 30% of his 3’s. He’s a great passer but turns the ball over a ton, ranking in the 2nd percentile at his position, possibly because he handles the ball so much.
Their “big” man is Kevon Looney at 6’9”. Looney only plays 23 minutes and averages 6.4 points and 6.6 rebounds.
Jordan Poole comes off the bench but is third in minutes behind Curry and Wiggins so he’s more like a starter. He averages 15.2 points but his shooting percentages are poor; 40.6% and 30.1%.
James Wiseman, 7’0”, averages just 14 minutes a game in relief of Looney and veteran journeyman JaMychal Green, 6’9”, averages 17 minutes.
For this preview I decided to use cleaningtheglass.com, whose statistics don’t include garbage time. They rank the W’s 19th in point differential (the Cavs are #2). Offensively the W’s rank 12th and defensively 25th out of 30. Last year they were 2nd defensively. They’re allowing about 8 more points per game than last year. This could be another high scoring game similar to the 127-120 Cavs’ loss to the Kings.
The Warriors are outstanding shooters, ranking 4th in eFG, but what knocks down their scoring is turnovers, where they rank 25th. It adds up to an above average but not great offensive team that is highly dependent on four players (Curry, Wiggins, Thompson, Poole). Those four combine to score 81 of the team’s 117 points per game. Curry is in the top 1% of the league in offensive efficiency (142 points per 100 shot attempts).
In terms of shooting frequency, the W’s are dead last in shot attempts at the rim, 17th in short mid-range shots, 10th in long mid-range shots, and 2nd in 3-point attempts per game, shooting from deep on 42.5% of their shots. Defending them is all about the 3-point line.
In terms of accuracy the W’s are 13th in 3-point accuracy at 37.0% - slightly above average. Only 19% of their 3’s are shot from the corner versus 25% by the league, and they are near the bottom in accuracy on the corner 3’s.
Defensively the W’s allow 115 points per game - only five teams are worse. They are 19th in eFG but what pulls down their scoring average is they are last in opponents’ free throw rate at 26.6 per game. They hack you all night long.
They don’t defend the rim well (24th) or the mid-range (27th). Not surprising as they have only one starter above 6’7” and that’s Looney at 6’9”. They’re average defending 3’s (15th).
On paper the Cavs are clearly the better team with an 8-3 record against the league’s 8th toughest schedule so far. The Dubs are 4-7 against the league’s 24th toughest schedule and all of their wins have come at home against teams with losing records.
But with three days off and playing at home the Dubs will not be an easy out. Curry is capable of scoring 50 if necessary and he got 47 Monday to carry his team over the finish line. I expect LeVert to get that assignment and it will be fun to watch.
Actually, given that Curry is 34 years old the best bet would be to rotate LeVert, Garland, and Mitchell so he always has a fresh body defending him. Deny the pass and make him work hard just to get the ball, then go at him on defense, doubling and trapping occasionally. Never let him rest except on offense when a teammate has the ball. Wear him down so his 3’s start rimming out in the 4th quarter.
After the loss to the Kings Bickerstaff was clearly angry. He berated the Cavs’ for “arrogant basketball”, coming out lackadaisical on defense, ignoring the game plan and the opponents’ individual tendencies, and allowing them to play “freely”. So it will be interesting to see if the Cavs come out tonight with more defensive intensity in the first quarter. The Cavs rank 19th in the NBA in first quarter scoring defense and JBB wants that to change - immediately.
Their four wins, all at home, have come against 3-6 Sacramento (by 3 and 5 points), 4-7 Miami (by 13), and the 2-8 LA Clippers (by 14). So the best team the W’s have beaten is probably Miami.
Besides being at home the W’s will have the rest advantage as they haven’t played since Monday while the Cavs played Wednesday. Three days off and 4-1 at home - the Warriors will be tough. They are also healthy with the exception of 38-year-old Andre Iguodala.
Like the Cavs, their last game was against Sacramento. They beat the Kings 116-113. Steph Curry carried them on his back with 47 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists in 38 minutes.
Curry, still awesome at age 34, leads the Dubs with 32.6 points per game, shooting 51% from the field and 43% from deep. He chips in 7.1 rebounds and 6.9 assists as he continues his march to the HOF.
Andrew Wiggins, the former Cavs’ #1 pick who was traded for Kevin Love, is having a good year at 18.2 ppg and 6.1 rebounds. He’s hitting 48% overall and 40% on 3’s. He and Curry combine for 50 points out of the 117.3 the team averages.
Klay Thompson, 32, having suffered two major leg injuries in recent years, is getting 28 minutes per game and averaging 15.1 points. He’s not the Klay he used to be, however, shooting only 36% from the field and 33% from deep - about 10% lower than his career averages.
Draymond Green, also 32, is still doing his thing with a line of 9.1/6.1/5.6 and great defense. Green is hitting 61% of his shots but only 30% of his 3’s. He’s a great passer but turns the ball over a ton, ranking in the 2nd percentile at his position, possibly because he handles the ball so much.
Their “big” man is Kevon Looney at 6’9”. Looney only plays 23 minutes and averages 6.4 points and 6.6 rebounds.
Jordan Poole comes off the bench but is third in minutes behind Curry and Wiggins so he’s more like a starter. He averages 15.2 points but his shooting percentages are poor; 40.6% and 30.1%.
James Wiseman, 7’0”, averages just 14 minutes a game in relief of Looney and veteran journeyman JaMychal Green, 6’9”, averages 17 minutes.
For this preview I decided to use cleaningtheglass.com, whose statistics don’t include garbage time. They rank the W’s 19th in point differential (the Cavs are #2). Offensively the W’s rank 12th and defensively 25th out of 30. Last year they were 2nd defensively. They’re allowing about 8 more points per game than last year. This could be another high scoring game similar to the 127-120 Cavs’ loss to the Kings.
The Warriors are outstanding shooters, ranking 4th in eFG, but what knocks down their scoring is turnovers, where they rank 25th. It adds up to an above average but not great offensive team that is highly dependent on four players (Curry, Wiggins, Thompson, Poole). Those four combine to score 81 of the team’s 117 points per game. Curry is in the top 1% of the league in offensive efficiency (142 points per 100 shot attempts).
In terms of shooting frequency, the W’s are dead last in shot attempts at the rim, 17th in short mid-range shots, 10th in long mid-range shots, and 2nd in 3-point attempts per game, shooting from deep on 42.5% of their shots. Defending them is all about the 3-point line.
In terms of accuracy the W’s are 13th in 3-point accuracy at 37.0% - slightly above average. Only 19% of their 3’s are shot from the corner versus 25% by the league, and they are near the bottom in accuracy on the corner 3’s.
Defensively the W’s allow 115 points per game - only five teams are worse. They are 19th in eFG but what pulls down their scoring average is they are last in opponents’ free throw rate at 26.6 per game. They hack you all night long.
They don’t defend the rim well (24th) or the mid-range (27th). Not surprising as they have only one starter above 6’7” and that’s Looney at 6’9”. They’re average defending 3’s (15th).
On paper the Cavs are clearly the better team with an 8-3 record against the league’s 8th toughest schedule so far. The Dubs are 4-7 against the league’s 24th toughest schedule and all of their wins have come at home against teams with losing records.
But with three days off and playing at home the Dubs will not be an easy out. Curry is capable of scoring 50 if necessary and he got 47 Monday to carry his team over the finish line. I expect LeVert to get that assignment and it will be fun to watch.
Actually, given that Curry is 34 years old the best bet would be to rotate LeVert, Garland, and Mitchell so he always has a fresh body defending him. Deny the pass and make him work hard just to get the ball, then go at him on defense, doubling and trapping occasionally. Never let him rest except on offense when a teammate has the ball. Wear him down so his 3’s start rimming out in the 4th quarter.
After the loss to the Kings Bickerstaff was clearly angry. He berated the Cavs’ for “arrogant basketball”, coming out lackadaisical on defense, ignoring the game plan and the opponents’ individual tendencies, and allowing them to play “freely”. So it will be interesting to see if the Cavs come out tonight with more defensive intensity in the first quarter. The Cavs rank 19th in the NBA in first quarter scoring defense and JBB wants that to change - immediately.
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