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2023-23 Season | Game #82 | Hornets @ Cavs | April 14, 2024 | 1:00 p.m.

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bushwick_bill said:


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Wow. OK. With the Hornets missing their three leading scorers and three leading rebounders, the Cavs are in business. The Hornets are missing their entire starting front line and if Nick Richards is out that's their top three centers as Mark Williams is also out. They're also missing Bertans, who is their backup small forward.

With all those key players out the Cavs have no chance of a win today, so it's a good thing they beat Indy.

However, Allen and Mobley should have a feast with every decent big man on the Hornets out with an injury. Based on their ESPN depth chart it looks like they will start Marques Bolden at center (30 career points in 17 games), Pokusevski at PF (he's not bad; 7'0", 210, hitting 43% overall and 37% from deep), Bryce McGowens at SF (at 6'6", 175 Isaac Okoro should plough right through this guy), and Micic and Mann at the guards.

So it will be their starting guards against our backups and our starting front line against their backups. Interesting. I have no idea what they are doing for a bench. They have Leaky Black, a 6'6" undrafted 24-year-old rookie, and Nick Smith, Jr, a 6'2" rookie who had 14 points against Boston two nights ago. They have a rookie 2nd round PG who has played in nine games this year. And they have JT Thor, 6'9", 203, age 21, who has a career scoring average of 3.1 ppg.

It looks like Bolden and Pokusevski will have to play a shit ton of minutes. They have two 6'6" guys who can split the small forward spot. Thor can play power forward. Their other two bench players are point guards. Maybe they have some G League centers or forwards.

Mobley should love this game - it might be the first time in his career that both power forwards he plays against weigh less than him.

Anyway, Allen and Mobley should get whatever they want in the paint. Morris, Niang, and Okoro should be able to throw their weight around. According to their roster, the Hornets have only one player available today who weighs more than 210 pounds. This might be the lightest team to take the court in NBA history.

Porter hasn't played in a long time - just 10 minutes in the last three weeks. I don't know what to expect from him. We might see Strus and Okoro at guard, Mobley at small forward, Niang and Morris at PF, and Allen/TT at center.
 
Okoro may be primed for a big game. He tends to do well in these end-of-year contests where some of our main guys who drive to the hole are sitting. That's partly because he has freedom and space to do what he does best and partly because he plays hard no matter what and lots of the opponents are coasting at the end of the season.
 


CLEVELAND, Ohio — Perhaps it’s only fitting, given how the regular season unfolded, that the Cavs will play the finale with numerous rotational regulars watching from the sidelines.


Star guard Donovan Mitchell, backcourt mate Darius Garland, sixth man Caris LeVert, versatile stretch-forward Dean Wade and sharpshooting reserve Sam Merrill are all out for Sunday’s matchup against the rebuilding and equally depleted Charlotte Hornets who will not have nine players, including two of their three leading scorers Miles Bridges and rookie Brandon Miller.

As for Cleveland, Mitchell continues to nurse a bothersome left knee — an injury that has plagued him for about two months and limited him to 11 games since the mid-February All-Star break.



Garland, who was seen using a heating pad on his lower back during stoppages in Friday’s playoff-clinching victory and listed as doubtful entering the day, has a contusion. LeVert is listed out with knee soreness.



Merrill last played on April 7 because of a neck strain. The Cavs are “hopeful” he will be ready for the Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Playoffs. Wade has missed nearly a month because of a sprained knee and there’s still no certainty on his playoff availability.



“It’s not rest,” Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said prior to tipoff. “Those guys have things they are dealing with that we are trying to protect over the long term. Not guys who are just taking today off. That was the thinking going into it — if we can get them yesterday and today and get out throughout this week, hopefully by Saturday or Sunday, whenever we play, that’s an advantage for us. We will go out and compete our tails off to make sure whatever may happen. So much is out of our control. It’s not a situation where we are going in and saying, ‘We need to do this or do that.’ We don’t control the outcome. So many other teams that have their own plans and own minds that they are trying to make up. We’re going out and trying to compete our tails off and see what happens.

After officially clinching a playoff spot and homecourt advantage in Round One with a win on Friday night, the Cavs can still finish either second, third or fourth in the Eastern Conference, depending on what else happens around the conference.



In order to finish as the second seed, the Cavs need to beat the Hornets and have both the Bucks and Knicks lose. Milwaukee plays Orlando while New York hosts Chicago. Getting the third seed requires the Knicks to win and Milwaukee to lose. Staying in fourth would come as a result of Cleveland, Milwaukee and New York all winning or losing its final game.

Cleveland’s first round opponent also won’t be determined until all East games end Sunday afternoon. The matchups of consequence tip at 1 p.m.



“I think everybody will get an opportunity to play,” Bickerstaff said. “We will go out with the approach and try to play Cavaliers basketball to the best of our ability and then we will tinker with lineups and give guys an opportunity who haven’t gotten as much opportunity. I wouldn’t expect our guys who typically play high minutes to play 30-plus minutes, but enough to get them a little bit of burn and help them maintain a rhythm.
 
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I think everybody will get an opportunity to play,” Bickerstaff said. “We will go out with the approach and try to play Cavaliers basketball to the best of our ability and then we will tinker with lineups and give guys an opportunity who haven’t gotten as much opportunity. I wouldn’t expect our guys who typically play high minutes to play 30-plus minutes, but enough to get them a little bit of burn and help them maintain a rhythm.”

Sounds like he's pulling out all the stops to get the win.
 
Wham with the Right Hand said:
I think everybody will get an opportunity to play,” Bickerstaff said. “We will go out with the approach and try to play Cavaliers basketball to the best of our ability and then we will tinker with lineups and give guys an opportunity who haven’t gotten as much opportunity. I wouldn’t expect our guys who typically play high minutes to play 30-plus minutes, but enough to get them a little bit of burn and help them maintain a rhythm.”

Sounds like he's pulling out all the stops to get the win.
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aka, he's going to go 6-deep today. :chuckle:
 
Strange to see the city night sky in the intro while it is bright and sunny outside.
 
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