That was about as impressive as it gets. No Mobley, Wade, or Strus and on the road against a healthy team with two days off that has won 13 of 17 and the Cavs win by 21. This was one of the five most impressive games of the year, IMO.
The team defense was outstanding, holding the Pels to 95 points on 44% and 18%. Actually, the Pels missed a ton of uncontested 3's. You can't win in the NBA if you only make four 3's, and a couple of those were in garbage time. The Pelicans' five starters combined to make one 3-pointer. One.
Zion needed to make 11 more layups for them to win this one.
Garland's game has been coming on strong and he took it to another level tonight; 27 points on just 16 shots with 11 assists and only one turnover. Awesome.
Merrill was a team high +30 in 28 minutes and he finally got some 3's to go down. The Pelicans defend the 3-point shot better than anyone at 34%, but the Cavs hit 44.4% tonight on a high volume. Considering the opponent and the fact that the game was on the road and this was probably their best 3-point shooting game of the year.
The ball movement on offense was sensational as the Cavs had 38 assists on 47 buckets. Passing, defense, shooting - it was all there tonight and the hottest team in the NBA, playing at home, had no answer for a team missing two starters, their backup power forward, and with Mitchell a little rusty, shooting just 5-for-16.
Love the way Damian Jones runs the floor in transition, getting easy buckets. He was 7-for-8 and a +15 in 23 minutes. Who needs Tristan? It was wierd to see him and Allen on the floor together but it worked.
