So tired of watching the Cavs play down to the competition. Miami is a 7th place team, they suck on the road, they were missing four starters, and the game came down to the final minute. The Cavs were pathetic.
They also played stupid basketball. The Heat had no center and are among the worst in the NBA at rim defense, but the Cavs kept jacking up 3's. If there is any opponent that the Cavs should have attacked relentlessly at the rim it's Miami, but they kept bricking 3's, missing 26 of them. Spoelstra had to be loving it - the Cavs were playing right into his hands.
Mobley got a rest day and it destroyed his free throw shot as he went 2-for-7.
The Cavs had a 17-point lead in the 2nd quarter and then Miami went on a 13-0 run as the Cavs went 0-for-4 on 3's. Stupid.
Then in the final minute both Garland and Mitchell played more stupid basketball as they both committed turnoves; Garland leaving his feet with nobody to pass to and Mitchell dribbling around in circles until somebody slapped the ball off his leg. Fortunately, Bam lost the ball out of bounds without being touched and Robinson stepped on the sideline before burying the tying 3. They choked just as bad as we did.
It's hard for me to see the Cavs making any noise in the playoffs but I guess as bad as they play against backups on bad teams they play just as well against starters on good teams. I know they were on the second day of a back-to-back and they have a knack for pulling out wins late in the game, but with four starters out and nobody over 6'9" available to play I didn't think Miami stood a chance. But tonight they could have put five 2-way guys out there and it would have come down to the end. The Cavs will play as far down to the competition as necessary to make it close.
Allen looked pretty tired after his big game last night; he ended up with 4 points, 8 rebounds, and a -12. Mitchell had a nice line of 26/7/5 with two steals, but he also had 5 turnovers. Hunter was a +18 in 24 minutes; easily the best on the team. He went 0-for-4 on 3's so he may be coming back to earth after being over 60% as a Cavalier.
Bam was magnificent with a line of 34/12/5 with two steals. He doubled his scoring average. With Herro out if freed him up to take more shots. But he missed his last shot and then fumbled the ball out of bounds with the Heat down by 3 in the final minute.
The Heat started Alec Burks, age 33, and Kevin Love, 36. The Cavs still couldn't separate. In two days we play Charlotte, who has lost 19 of 22. I'm expecting another nail biter right down to the wire, especially if they have a few starters out.
