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After a day off for some football and home cooking the Cavs welcome the San Antonio Spurs for a little Monday Night Basketball. The Spurs have the second worst winning percentage in the NBA with a 14-43 record. They are 5-22 on the road while the Cavs are 24-6 at home. The Spurs have lost 12 in a row and will be playing their fifth consecutive game on the road and their fifth game in eight days.
On top of that, they just traded starting center Jakob Poetl and sixth man Josh Richardson. Their second leading scorer, Devin Vassel, is out with an injury as is starting point guard Tre Jones and shooting guard Romeo Langford, who started against the Cavs in December. Leading scorer Keldon Johnson is listed as a game time decision.
Between the travel fatigue, injuries, and having traded two of their top players the Spurs are a mess, not that they were very good even before all that. This looks like the easiest game of the season by far. However, the Cavs lost to the Spurs in San Antonio on Dec. 12 by a 112-111 score in what might be the most disappointing loss of the year as the Cavs came in complacent and got themselves beat.
A lot of it was ourselves. You have to have the appropriate fear of teams. We came out like we were playing a team that lost 11 in a row. We played the record, not the team. We didn’t respect them coming out and that’s on us. That can’t happen. We can’t keep putting ourselves in this position. - Donovan Mitchell
Tonight the key will be sending a message early. Here’s what I wrote after the first game against the Spurs:
The Cavs had three turnovers and allowed three offensive rebounds in the first 2-3 minutes. You could immediately see which team wanted to win more. The Spurs recognized right away they could win this game - the Cavs weren't intense and they weren't physical.
That’s something the Cavs have been better at lately - throwing the first punch. In the first five games of their current six-game win streak they outscored the opponent in the first quarter.
The Cavs were 5-for-23 on 3’s in the loss in San Antonio and they lost by one point. Garland was 1-for-6 from deep; his thumb injury may have been bothering him. Josh Richardson came off the Spurs’ bench to score 24 points in 27 minutes on 9-for-13 overall and 5-for-7 on threes. He’s been traded. Devin Vassell scored 16 points off the bench and he’s out with an injury. In total the Spurs are missing 58 points and 13 rebounds from that game due to players being traded or injured. Meanwhile, the Cavs have added Rubio and Wade, both of whom were injured that night.
The Spurs rank 28th in offensive efficiency and 30th in scoring defense. They are allowing a league worst 122.8 points per game; the next worst team is a full three points better. With the recent losses of Poetl, Vassell, and Richardson they are missing about 43 points per game so they are probably 30th in offense now.
Help is on the way, however. The Spurs have 12 first round picks in the next six years. Some of them are top-16 protected, so it may take a while for them to convey. They will probably get a top four pick this year and are obviously hoping to win the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.
Pops just turned 74 so if he can stick around until he’s 78 or so he might just get to hoist the Larry O’Brien yet again. If they get lucky and get the #1 pick this year - look out. After seeing what Pops accomplished with Tim Duncan I don’t want to see him get his hands on the 7’3” Frenchman. But I would like to see Victor end up in the Western Conference as opposed to Detroit or Orlando.
The anticipated starting lineup tonight will have two Ohio State Buckeyes making something of a homecoming. Rookie guard Malaki Branham, a 6’4” shooting guard, will apparently be the point guard. He’s shooting 42% from the field and 30% on 3’s. Keita Bates-Diop, in his 4th season at age 27, starts at small forward. He’s averaging 8 points in 19 minutes per game.
I’m sure Branham and KBD will have some fans at the game, especially Branham who attended SVSM. The Spurs will have the advantage of no expectations and no pressure, and we’ve seen how teams composed mostly of eager backups are capable of shocking superior teams who are overconfident and come out playing sloppy.
The Cavs will be looking for some payback from the debacle in San Antonio, I assume, and they are fully healthy now whereas the Spurs are depleted by trades, injuries, and travel. This one should be over by halftime if the Cavs come out with the “appropriate fear” that Mitchell referred to.
It would be nice if the starters only have to play 25 minutes or so ahead of the big showdown in Philly on Wednesday.
On top of that, they just traded starting center Jakob Poetl and sixth man Josh Richardson. Their second leading scorer, Devin Vassel, is out with an injury as is starting point guard Tre Jones and shooting guard Romeo Langford, who started against the Cavs in December. Leading scorer Keldon Johnson is listed as a game time decision.
Between the travel fatigue, injuries, and having traded two of their top players the Spurs are a mess, not that they were very good even before all that. This looks like the easiest game of the season by far. However, the Cavs lost to the Spurs in San Antonio on Dec. 12 by a 112-111 score in what might be the most disappointing loss of the year as the Cavs came in complacent and got themselves beat.
A lot of it was ourselves. You have to have the appropriate fear of teams. We came out like we were playing a team that lost 11 in a row. We played the record, not the team. We didn’t respect them coming out and that’s on us. That can’t happen. We can’t keep putting ourselves in this position. - Donovan Mitchell
Tonight the key will be sending a message early. Here’s what I wrote after the first game against the Spurs:
The Cavs had three turnovers and allowed three offensive rebounds in the first 2-3 minutes. You could immediately see which team wanted to win more. The Spurs recognized right away they could win this game - the Cavs weren't intense and they weren't physical.
That’s something the Cavs have been better at lately - throwing the first punch. In the first five games of their current six-game win streak they outscored the opponent in the first quarter.
The Cavs were 5-for-23 on 3’s in the loss in San Antonio and they lost by one point. Garland was 1-for-6 from deep; his thumb injury may have been bothering him. Josh Richardson came off the Spurs’ bench to score 24 points in 27 minutes on 9-for-13 overall and 5-for-7 on threes. He’s been traded. Devin Vassell scored 16 points off the bench and he’s out with an injury. In total the Spurs are missing 58 points and 13 rebounds from that game due to players being traded or injured. Meanwhile, the Cavs have added Rubio and Wade, both of whom were injured that night.
The Spurs rank 28th in offensive efficiency and 30th in scoring defense. They are allowing a league worst 122.8 points per game; the next worst team is a full three points better. With the recent losses of Poetl, Vassell, and Richardson they are missing about 43 points per game so they are probably 30th in offense now.
Help is on the way, however. The Spurs have 12 first round picks in the next six years. Some of them are top-16 protected, so it may take a while for them to convey. They will probably get a top four pick this year and are obviously hoping to win the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.
Pops just turned 74 so if he can stick around until he’s 78 or so he might just get to hoist the Larry O’Brien yet again. If they get lucky and get the #1 pick this year - look out. After seeing what Pops accomplished with Tim Duncan I don’t want to see him get his hands on the 7’3” Frenchman. But I would like to see Victor end up in the Western Conference as opposed to Detroit or Orlando.
The anticipated starting lineup tonight will have two Ohio State Buckeyes making something of a homecoming. Rookie guard Malaki Branham, a 6’4” shooting guard, will apparently be the point guard. He’s shooting 42% from the field and 30% on 3’s. Keita Bates-Diop, in his 4th season at age 27, starts at small forward. He’s averaging 8 points in 19 minutes per game.
I’m sure Branham and KBD will have some fans at the game, especially Branham who attended SVSM. The Spurs will have the advantage of no expectations and no pressure, and we’ve seen how teams composed mostly of eager backups are capable of shocking superior teams who are overconfident and come out playing sloppy.
The Cavs will be looking for some payback from the debacle in San Antonio, I assume, and they are fully healthy now whereas the Spurs are depleted by trades, injuries, and travel. This one should be over by halftime if the Cavs come out with the “appropriate fear” that Mitchell referred to.
It would be nice if the starters only have to play 25 minutes or so ahead of the big showdown in Philly on Wednesday.
