The Wizard of Moz
Punishing This Air
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You do realize for the good of the team you guys mustn't ever meet again, right?
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Eastern Conference Finals Game 3 : Cleveland Cavaliers @ Toronto Raptors, May 21st, 8:30pm
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Jscc
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I knew when ESPN started endorsing that things will get bad.
Mike Greenberg said we're winning the championship.
John Salley said we'll sweep the finals.
Tweets on Hey Windy asking if going 16-0 + ship is more impressive than GS's regular season record + ship.
Tornicade
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Rebounding was the key here. Cavs need to win on the boards if their shootng is off and the opponenet is on.
I was surprised Lue didn't go with Mozgov in the 2nd half even though Channing was shooting well someone needed to body up on byombo and Tristan didn't have a good sense to where the ball was going.
I saw quite a few plays where the ball movement was pretty solid but no results and I also so the team take too many threes with no one in the paint to rebound.
Toronto played a good game but the narrative will probably focus on the Cavs playing poorly rather than the Raptors being a good team having a great night.
I was surprised Lue didn't go with Mozgov in the 2nd half even though Channing was shooting well someone needed to body up on byombo and Tristan didn't have a good sense to where the ball was going.
I saw quite a few plays where the ball movement was pretty solid but no results and I also so the team take too many threes with no one in the paint to rebound.
Toronto played a good game but the narrative will probably focus on the Cavs playing poorly rather than the Raptors being a good team having a great night.
KilgoreTrout
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So, the long and the short of it is that we played like ass, and both of our point guards are hurt now?
kookoo
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I kind of want to see a lineup of Frye and Mozgov. He needs to take a Biyambo approach to the game and just try to alter shots in the paint. You know Bismack is going to be within 5 feet of the rim at all times, so just play one on one and help off him when you notice someone driving.
KilgoreTrout
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See? Told you everything would go to shit with Delly gimpy. What happened? Team's energy level was shit. Team's fight was shit.
KilgoreTrout
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I was afraid Lue was going to cost us games....
TheBigAristotle
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Both Love and Irving were awful today. So now they have adversity, let's see how they respond.
BTW I don't see what Lue did wrong, this was just an off shooting night
BTW I don't see what Lue did wrong, this was just an off shooting night
Nphan
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Stop....
Stop..........!!!You sound foolish right now.
Lue's been the best fucking coach in the postseason. James on Derozen didn't fix the problem. He kept playing Kyrie because Delly was obvious hurt and off.
Don't mean he can't mess up and get out-coached. He let Derozen go off and everyone else feed off his energy. He let Biyombo live off rebounds and never for a second bring in the taller Mozgov when Love and Thompson were getting dominated.
Answer this:
How many points did Derozen score in the 4th with Lebron on him?
Ace Kicker
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Props to Toronto and their effort despite their horrid first 2 games of this series. We could have still beaten them tonight but we just couldn't buy a bucket. It happens.
Take game 4 and celebrate the eastern conference crown on our homecourt on Game 5.
Take game 4 and celebrate the eastern conference crown on our homecourt on Game 5.
godfather
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Lue did not get out coached. We got outplayed. I mean, it happens... Toronto is an inferior team but it's hard beating a team four straight times.
The Cavs didn't come out of the game with much energy, Toronto did. We looked lethargic. Toronto didn't.
Maybe we got a little full of ourselves and got an awakening call. Games like this I feel can be healthy for a team.
It's not going to be cruise control to a title. They got embarrassed by a team they should have beat. Toronto came out desperate and won a must-win-game.
I think everyone needs a taste of humble pie, re-group, and no more patting everyone on the asses and heaping non-stop praises that they've been getting and get that focus back.
This game doesn't bother me at all. We played really bad, but this stuff happens. It's how you respond to it.
I think this series ends in 5. Just a newsflash: it's going to get much harder from here and much scarier.
Those of you that are scared over this should probably go to bed at 9 when we play the Warriors.
The Cavs didn't come out of the game with much energy, Toronto did. We looked lethargic. Toronto didn't.
Maybe we got a little full of ourselves and got an awakening call. Games like this I feel can be healthy for a team.
It's not going to be cruise control to a title. They got embarrassed by a team they should have beat. Toronto came out desperate and won a must-win-game.
I think everyone needs a taste of humble pie, re-group, and no more patting everyone on the asses and heaping non-stop praises that they've been getting and get that focus back.
This game doesn't bother me at all. We played really bad, but this stuff happens. It's how you respond to it.
I think this series ends in 5. Just a newsflash: it's going to get much harder from here and much scarier.
Those of you that are scared over this should probably go to bed at 9 when we play the Warriors.
TopThrill182
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In the 92 games the Cavs have played this season, no game was won with fewer than 89 points. Tonight's 84 points and 35% shooting simply weren't winning numbers.
To be fair, I think our offensive struggles can be credited partly to the Raptors' defense, which looked more energized tonight than it did in the first two games. To a greater extent, though, the Cavs missed a number of shots they usually knock down, led by Irving and Love. I'd argue Irving, in particular, made things even harder for himself by making a number of ill-advised drives to the basket through a swarm of Raptors defenders.
Timing also seemed a big issue for the Cavs tonight. Although the Cavs cut the deficit to a manageable amount at a few different spots in the game, their runs always seemed "one shot short" of what could have given the Cavs some confidence and momentum while deflating the Raptors players and crowd. We couldn't seem to hit shots at the right moments.
The rebounding imbalance was another issue, of course, which as already been discussed at length. I'll only say that I, too, wish Mozgov had of been given a chance to battle Biyombo in light of Tristan's ineffectiveness.
The Cavs' first half defense, which I haven't seen talked about quite as much yet, seemed lacking as well. We allowed the Raptors to get off to another fast start in the opening minutes of the first quarter, which set a bad tone for the game and came back to bite us in the end, I think. JR on DeRozan didn't work, which helped the latter get hot. And throughout the entire game, the Cavs gave up too many open looks after seemingly falling asleep on defense, culminating with completely losing Biyombo on an easy dunk in the final minutes of the fourth.
What we saw from the Cavs tonight wasn't winning basketball, either in this series or (knock on wood) to a superior Western opponent in the Finals, but hopefully this loss gives the Cavs the increased attention and energy they'll need to correct the aforementioned issues in Game 4 and beyond. After all, with a 10-1 postseason record, I'm more inclined to think tonight's game was a fluke than not.
And most importantly, the Cavs now have the opportunity to win the Eastern Conference in Game 5 at The Q in front of 20,562 Cleveland fans!
To be fair, I think our offensive struggles can be credited partly to the Raptors' defense, which looked more energized tonight than it did in the first two games. To a greater extent, though, the Cavs missed a number of shots they usually knock down, led by Irving and Love. I'd argue Irving, in particular, made things even harder for himself by making a number of ill-advised drives to the basket through a swarm of Raptors defenders.
Timing also seemed a big issue for the Cavs tonight. Although the Cavs cut the deficit to a manageable amount at a few different spots in the game, their runs always seemed "one shot short" of what could have given the Cavs some confidence and momentum while deflating the Raptors players and crowd. We couldn't seem to hit shots at the right moments.
The rebounding imbalance was another issue, of course, which as already been discussed at length. I'll only say that I, too, wish Mozgov had of been given a chance to battle Biyombo in light of Tristan's ineffectiveness.
The Cavs' first half defense, which I haven't seen talked about quite as much yet, seemed lacking as well. We allowed the Raptors to get off to another fast start in the opening minutes of the first quarter, which set a bad tone for the game and came back to bite us in the end, I think. JR on DeRozan didn't work, which helped the latter get hot. And throughout the entire game, the Cavs gave up too many open looks after seemingly falling asleep on defense, culminating with completely losing Biyombo on an easy dunk in the final minutes of the fourth.
What we saw from the Cavs tonight wasn't winning basketball, either in this series or (knock on wood) to a superior Western opponent in the Finals, but hopefully this loss gives the Cavs the increased attention and energy they'll need to correct the aforementioned issues in Game 4 and beyond. After all, with a 10-1 postseason record, I'm more inclined to think tonight's game was a fluke than not.
And most importantly, the Cavs now have the opportunity to win the Eastern Conference in Game 5 at The Q in front of 20,562 Cleveland fans!