This one was lost when the Cavs were outscored by 18 in the 3rd quarter. They won the other three quarters by 14. Nice to see the big comeback in the 4th but they were too far down.
At least they played some decent defense. Memphis is averaging over 126 ppg in their six-game win streak and they only got 113. But that 38-point third quarter killed us and it was done mostly on our starters. Thompson and Cedi were -27 and -24 for the game and combined for 7 points. Cedi only played 21 minutes as he was clearly having an off night. TT may have let Crowder distract him and eventually get him kicked out of the game. Not his finest hour by a long shot.
The long range shooting was awful. Love, Cedi, and Garland combined to go 1-for-16 on 3's and they're all good 3-point shooters. If they just went 3-for-16 we might have won this one. Also, Love missed four free throws and we lost by four.
OTOH, McKinnie had a huge game off the bench with 12 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, a block and a +20 in 27 minutes, making 6 of 7 shots. He was playing like he's on a 10-day contract that's expiring shortly. Oops, he is. I wonder if a contender might offer him a guaranteed contract for the rest of the season. He brought a lot of energy, rebounding, and perimeter defense off the bench. The guy can really elevate. He had a put-back dunk that was pretty impressive.
Larry Nance Jr also had a big game going 7-for-8 with 16 points, 6 boards, 2 steals and a +19 in 24 minutes. Great to have him back. John Henson had a very productive 13 minutes with an 8/5/2 line. The Cavs did really well when the trio of McKinnie, Nance, and Henson was in the game. That's a lot of defense and rebounding, especially when you add Exum. Beilein may have found a new second unit to replace the one led by Jordan Clarkson.
In addition to solid defense the Cavs had 16 offensive rebounds. But they still need to be more aggressive when the opponent shoots 3's. There are a lot of long rebounds that the opponent grabs because the Cavs' perimeter defenders stand there and watch the shot instead of sucking in to the 15' area.
The Cavs did a pretty good job on Ja Morant, who had a decent line of 16/8/3 but had five turnovers. The guy that hurt them was Brooks, who took advantage of his 6'7", 225 pound body and solid shooting skills to abuse the Cavs' small guards. He had 26 points on 9-for-16. Big shooting guards like Brooks have been a problem all year and will continue to be. We need to put bigger defenders like Exum and McKinnie on him as much as possible.
I know it was only one game but McKinnie showed some skills that the Cavs really need, namely perimeter defense, rebounding, the ability to get up and down the floor, and three-point shooting. I wonder if he's making them consider trying to sign him for next season, although they seem committed to Cedi and Windler at the small forward spot, plus Porter can play there, too. McKinnie is shooting 47% for his career and doesn't need a lot of shots.
Sexton with a week's worth of assists in one game. Whoo-Hoo!