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Game Thread | 2021-2022 Season | Play-in Game #2 | Hawks @ Cavs | April 15, 2022 | 7:30 p.m. ESPN

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Wham with the Right Hand said:
"I think more so than anything our offense slowed down,” Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said following the loss. “We weren’t moving as much. There was a lot of isolation and standing still and that gave them an opportunity to get going."
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JBB always makes sure to criticize the players for "standing still", which is a joke coming from a head coach who apparently feels it's not necessary to run an offense.

These are NBA players. They all know the rudimentary principles of movement and court balance. But when you have absolutely no idea what your ballhandler will do next, you tend to wait and see.

Movement on the basketball court is something that everybody has to buy into, including the ball-dominating PG. I'm not sure if JBB is throwing shade on the overdribbling of Garland and LeVert with that comment, just preferring not to call them out by name. Might be.

Wham with the Right Hand said:
A big objective for next season will be learning to put an opponent away once they get on top.
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A big problem is that we get paralyzed when the other team has the momentum in the 2nd half. We stop moving the ball and go back to watching Garland. But I guess that's what happens when he's been the entire offense for the whole season. You go back to what you know.
 
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jjvors said:
Here's the last individual stats of the year for the Cavs:

Starters:
Markkanen 26-8-0 with 2 steals and a block in 36 minutes Good game. He was 10-17. I would want him to take even more shots.
Mobley 18-8-5 with 2 blocks 6-12 I want him to take more shots too. 6-12
Allen 11-3-2 with a block in 35 minutes Welcome back! He wasn't up to par, but it was a game effort.
LeVert 16-3-5 with a steal in 40 minutes.
Garland 21-3-9 with 3 steals in 43 minutes. He was only 9-27, so he didn't have it going outside. I'd want him to take fewer shots and give it to Mobley, Markkanen, and Allen.

Bench: 9-10-2 in 22 minutes. Very short bench tonight
Okoro 6-4-0 with a steal in 22 minutes.
Love 3-4-0 with a steal in 10 minutes
Rondo 0-2-2 with a steal in 15 minutes
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Big thanks for the stats and highlight videos you posted here throughout the season.
 
I went to the game last night and the crowd was insane (just had to point that out). What I noticed in the stands was that Darius was gassed in the mid 3rd to 4th quarter. Even while he was gassed, he was the only one running around trying to get open. Everybody else was just standing around on offense. That might explain some of his missed shots. I think he needs to find a better way to pace himself so he's not so tired in the 4th quarter. Or JBB shouldn't use him heavily to get a bucket. I think he could've willed us to a win if he wasn't so fatigued imo.

I knew the game was over when Trae started getting those foul calls and we couldn't buy a bucket. The writing was on the wall in the 4th for me. It also didn't help when our bench didn't do a damn thing when we went up 15. That was our chance to break the game open but they wet the bed.

Oh well. I really wanted this one but the best player on the floor took over. I'm proud of my guys. Can't wait for next season.
 
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It was hard, but this team isn't ready. Let's hope the poison taste in their mouths fuels them to get better.

They can't make mistakes like they have. It killed them in the 2nd half of the season. Lauri turning the ball over after the steal etc.

We have no leeway with the refs. They will call it 100% against the Cavs, so gotta take the refs out of the game.

Defensive rebounding is the #1 priority with shooting a close 2
 
On the bright side, I scored one of those Ohio Lottery parachutes and an extra "Let Em Know" towel.

I haven't scratched the ticket yet. It's not gambling if it was free, right?
 
Wham with the Right Hand said:
As usual, the team with the best individual player won.

Young was awesome but the Hawks still only scored 107 points. The Cavs scored 61 in the first half and 40 in the second. They lost the game when they couldn't score in the second half. Just 50 points would have been enough.

The Cavs got a huge break when Capela went down but couldn't take advantage. If Capela doesn't get hurt the game isn't close.

The Cavs started out 6-for-7 on 3's and finished 7-for-29.

Garland was 9-for-27 with 5 turnovers. He was 1-for-7 on 3's. Young, OTOH, had 31 points and 5 assists in the second half. He just decided at halftime to take over the game. I had a feeling he would.

Allen was not 100% or close to it as he only had 11 points and 3 rebounds in 36 minutes but I appreciate him getting out there.

Rondo was a -18 in 15 minutes. Ugh. So much for Playoff Rondo. He shouldn't be back next year. We need a decent backup point guard in the worst way.

If the Cavs had pulled this out somehow I think we would have been beaten convincingly in four games by Miami. So I'm feeling pretty good about getting that draft pick.

Next year with Allen 100%, Mobley stronger and more experienced, and with the addition of Sexton, Wade, and a mid-first round pick this team will be in the thick of it.
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Wham- Many thanks for your posts setting up each game and then the overall summary. Something I
always look forward to reading.
 
As much as I hate parts of his game, I have to give props to Trae Young. He is the real deal as an offensive engine and really leans into the villain role. Good to have a few of those in the NBA.
 
Trae Young is a very smart player and I knew he was going to bring it the second half as soon as they came out and started hunting Allen and Markk for switches from 30+ feet in the second half. Great coaching adjustment to get your struggling player downhill and attacking instead of reacting and flustered.

The real difference in this game was Nate McMillan giving the additional Capela minutes to Delon Wright instead of Dieng when Okongwu sat, and tasking him with using every ounce of energy to ball deny and hound DG. At 6'5 (Okoro guarded him a few times and Wright seemingly had a full few inches and length on him, but I digress) he made Garland use every ounce of energy to even get space. If you watch the LeVert shot clock dying possessions (there were about 4 of them in the second half during the Hawks run) on each of those, Garland was fave guarded by Wright.

Brilliant adjustment by McMillan. One that required even just a basic counter adjustment from JBB.

Also switching Okongwu from the one armed Allen to Mobley was brilliant.

Both Mobley and DG were taken out of the offense by coaching adjustments that could have been countered to take advantage of the halftime adjustments.

Both of these were very winnable games and both of these left me feeling like our players were on an island by themselves trying to figure out how to physically AND tactically beat the other team and the other coaching staff by themselves
 
Cavatt said:
It was hard, but this team isn't ready. Let's hope the poison taste in their mouths fuels them to get better.

They can't make mistakes like they have. It killed them in the 2nd half of the season. Lauri turning the ball over after the steal etc.

We have no leeway with the refs. They will call it 100% against the Cavs, so gotta take the refs out of the game.

Defensive rebounding is the #1 priority with shooting a close 2
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With the addition of Sexton, we'll have the shooting down. That'll take a tremendous load off Garland. He can also create shots for himself and his teammates.

Rebounding should improve as Mobley gets stronger, and Allen too. It didn't seem to be a problem at the beginning of the year when all three were healthy.

We can pick up a good rebounder as a FA too to help K Love off the bench.
 
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