Final 24 Thoughts by Lloyd:
CLEVELAND: Twenty-four thoughts for 24 points from Kevin Love in a 105-94 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers that wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicates…
1. I was chatting with Mike Miller in Memphis during the preseason when he said something that has stuck with me ever since. Miller saw potential for this team to be good defensively. I did not. (In fairness to me, the original Cavs team we were basing this on was not very good defensively. This revamped team is very good). Nevertheless…
2. “When these guys figure out how easy it is to score, they’ll exert more energy defensively,” he said. “That’s the way it was for us in Miami. We had so much talent on those teams, so many weapons that guys didn’t have to work hard to get good looks.”
3. I thought about that tonight watching J.R. Smith drain four 3-pointers. Smith has been raving since he got here about the space he has on offense and the looks he’s getting at the basket.
4. I thought about it watching Kyrie Irving, forced to carry the scoring load here for so many years, content to defend and move the ball around offensively. Irving didn’t get his first basket until a 3-pointer late in the third quarter.
5. There are so many theories and explanations for the Cavs’ defensive turnaround, but for my money it’s one of the most astonishing storylines of the season. The Cavs couldn’t guard a dead body for two months, now they’re smothering every team they play and harassing the Clippers into five technicals (more on that in a moment). Once teams are buried so low in statistical categories, it’s typically hard for them to recover to the extent the Cavs are flying up the charts.
read the rest at:
http://ohio.com/blogs/cleveland-cav...s-on-first-place-and-five-technicals-1.564694