For some reason I could not get onto this website until this morning. Sorry about that. But it's probably for the best. I wrote that if Holiday and Grayson Allen are out the Cavs should win.
This game was lost in the first six minutes of the 3rd quarter when the Cavs were outscored 20-6. The rest of the game was 32-32.The first half was 61-60. It was six minutes of bad basketball when the Cavs came out flat that decided the game.
Mitchell had 16 in the first quarter and 7 the rest of the game. He just disappeared. We needed him and Garland to get some buckets and assists starting the 3rd quarter, but everybody went cold at the same time while the Bucks got hot.
To be fair, Brook Lopez had a shooting night like he may never have again. He averages 16.6 and got 29 on 7-for-9 on 3's. He's a 36% shooter from deep. We had to double Giannis which left Lopez open on the pick-and-pop. Once he made his first one everything he threw up went in.
Nwora came off the bench to score 21 points in 29 minutes, mostly from deep. He was shooting 28% from deep this month but went 5-for-9 last night. The Bucks hit 41% of their 3's, well above their season average.
The Cavs bench was demolished again, 45-20, and seven of those points came after both coaches cleared their benches. Love, Cedi, Okoro, and Robin Lopez combined for 13 points in 72 minutes.
During this losing streak our bench has been consistently outplayed and opponents have been killing us on 3's. What's especially discouraging is the Bucks had three starters out and five of their guards are out with injuries. Yet their bench still totally dominated. Normally Carter, Portis, and Beauchamp come off the bench.
When the Bucks get Middleton, Allen, and Holiday back, not to mention Joe Ingles, they will be unbeatable.
As for the Cavs, it's clear the Garland/Mitchell/LeVert grouping does not work. LeVert was 1-for-5 with 2 points in 20 minutes. He still can get an uncontested 10-footer in the paint anytime he wants, and he still can't make them. That guy who put 41 on the Celtics was a mirage.
They need to turn LeVert, Cedi, and Love into one good wing, but I don't know if that is possible.
The announcers mentioned that Giannis physically looked like Mobley when he entered the league. Giannis was 18 when he played his first game (at age 27 he's in his 10th season!). At 21, in his third season, Giannis averaged 16.9 points and 7.7 rebounds on 50.6% from the field. Mobley, 21, in his second season is averaging 15.1 points and 7.5 rebounds on 56.1%. Almost identical.
We can only hope that Mobley bulks up and grows into a similar player, only with a better shooting touch. I don't think he has the frame to gain 27 pounds of muscle which would make him the same size as Giannis, but I'm hoping for a somewhat slimmer version with a better shooting touch.
Last year Jarrett Allen was the key player on the Cavs. Their record when he was out was worse than when any other player was out. And their lineup with Dean Wade at the 3 this year is over 30 points better than with LeVert at the 3.
I was saying this before the season - start Wade at small forward. I just hope the knee soreness is temporary and not a lingering thing.
