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Tonight’s rematch should be very interesting as Brooklyn is the same personnel-wise while the Cavs are adding Garland and Windler. The Cavaliers have changed dramatically since they edged the Knicks a week ago, having added Sexton, Allen, Prince, Garland, and Windler. That's not a bad lineup. Four legitimate NBA starters plus Windler.
But it would be a mistake to think the Cavs will win because they’re stronger than they were on Wednesday while the Nets are the same. Nets’ coach Steve Nash spoke about defensive “breakdowns all over the place” that allowed the NBA’s lowest scoring team to score 113 points in regulation and another 34 in the 10 minutes of OT. I think Nash will clean up some of those breakdowns by tonight. James Harden talked about watching the film and cleaning things up.
Wednesday’s game was the first for the new Big Three and it showed. Individually they were brilliant, but there were a number of passes thrown to Austin Carr’s Invisible Man. Although 16 turnovers in 58 minutes is by no means excessive, I won’t be surprised if the Nets cut that number down a bit tonight.
Honestly, the Nets have no need to pass the ball at all. They simply need to decide which of Irving, Harden, or Durant has the best matchup on any given possession and let that guy go one-on-one. No team in the NBA has three defenders who can stop any of these guys.
So I expect the Nets to be less error prone tonight both on offense and defense. I also expect them to use DeAndre Jordan more. On Weds he only played 24 minutes yet was 6-for-7 from the field with two blocks. He was very effective getting lobs off middle pick-and-rolls, throwing down four of them. Joe Harris played 42 minutes off the bench and was 2-for-10 and a -10. I don’t know why Harris played so many more minutes than Jordan but that could change tonight.
For the Cavs I expect Garland will take most or all of the 25 minutes Dotson played on Weds. Windler may get a couple of minutes but with Cedi and Prince at SF he'll be hard pressed to get a lot of playing time.
The way I see it the Nets really want this game and not just because it would be embarrassing for a team that’s expected to be in the Finals to lose two straight to the Cavs. Wednesday was kind of a coming out party for the new Superteam. It had the highest viewership of any NBA game this season on Directv’s Season Pass. A lot of people who wouldn’t normally tune in to a Nets-Cavs game were watching and they saw the new Big Three get upstaged by the young Cavs. That can’t sit well with the Nets.
Obviously they’re not going to fix all those “breakdowns” with one practice and one film session, but this is a veteran team and I expect them to be a little sharper on both offense and defense tonight. I also expect that they won’t underestimate the Cavs and will be serious about getting some payback and showing Wednesday was a fluke, a perfect storm of the Nets playing together for the first time and the Cavs getting a hot hand. They’ll also want to even the bragging rights score with their former teammates Allen and Prince.
I expect them to make some adjustments to try and neutralize Sexton like maybe trapping and doubling him or having Kyrie guard someone else. They won’t let him go off like that again. Kyrie can't be happy about being outplayed by a 22-year-old that the Cavs got from trading him.
The Cavs will have their same group from Weds plus Garland and they won’t be intimidated by the Nets. Drummond can’t be happy about getting benched the last four minutes of the fourth quarter and all of overtime. I think he’ll come out with some fire in his eye. He got pulled right after he tried to Euro step through two guys and ended up air-balling a finger roll from three feet. Hopefully he shows better shot selection now that Allen is on the team.
Garland hasn’t played in 19 days so I think he’ll be rusty and won’t get too many minutes. This should be a war tonight but I think Brooklyn is still stinging a bit from being upstaged and will look to make a statement.
But it would be a mistake to think the Cavs will win because they’re stronger than they were on Wednesday while the Nets are the same. Nets’ coach Steve Nash spoke about defensive “breakdowns all over the place” that allowed the NBA’s lowest scoring team to score 113 points in regulation and another 34 in the 10 minutes of OT. I think Nash will clean up some of those breakdowns by tonight. James Harden talked about watching the film and cleaning things up.
Wednesday’s game was the first for the new Big Three and it showed. Individually they were brilliant, but there were a number of passes thrown to Austin Carr’s Invisible Man. Although 16 turnovers in 58 minutes is by no means excessive, I won’t be surprised if the Nets cut that number down a bit tonight.
Honestly, the Nets have no need to pass the ball at all. They simply need to decide which of Irving, Harden, or Durant has the best matchup on any given possession and let that guy go one-on-one. No team in the NBA has three defenders who can stop any of these guys.
So I expect the Nets to be less error prone tonight both on offense and defense. I also expect them to use DeAndre Jordan more. On Weds he only played 24 minutes yet was 6-for-7 from the field with two blocks. He was very effective getting lobs off middle pick-and-rolls, throwing down four of them. Joe Harris played 42 minutes off the bench and was 2-for-10 and a -10. I don’t know why Harris played so many more minutes than Jordan but that could change tonight.
For the Cavs I expect Garland will take most or all of the 25 minutes Dotson played on Weds. Windler may get a couple of minutes but with Cedi and Prince at SF he'll be hard pressed to get a lot of playing time.
The way I see it the Nets really want this game and not just because it would be embarrassing for a team that’s expected to be in the Finals to lose two straight to the Cavs. Wednesday was kind of a coming out party for the new Superteam. It had the highest viewership of any NBA game this season on Directv’s Season Pass. A lot of people who wouldn’t normally tune in to a Nets-Cavs game were watching and they saw the new Big Three get upstaged by the young Cavs. That can’t sit well with the Nets.
Obviously they’re not going to fix all those “breakdowns” with one practice and one film session, but this is a veteran team and I expect them to be a little sharper on both offense and defense tonight. I also expect that they won’t underestimate the Cavs and will be serious about getting some payback and showing Wednesday was a fluke, a perfect storm of the Nets playing together for the first time and the Cavs getting a hot hand. They’ll also want to even the bragging rights score with their former teammates Allen and Prince.
I expect them to make some adjustments to try and neutralize Sexton like maybe trapping and doubling him or having Kyrie guard someone else. They won’t let him go off like that again. Kyrie can't be happy about being outplayed by a 22-year-old that the Cavs got from trading him.
The Cavs will have their same group from Weds plus Garland and they won’t be intimidated by the Nets. Drummond can’t be happy about getting benched the last four minutes of the fourth quarter and all of overtime. I think he’ll come out with some fire in his eye. He got pulled right after he tried to Euro step through two guys and ended up air-balling a finger roll from three feet. Hopefully he shows better shot selection now that Allen is on the team.
Garland hasn’t played in 19 days so I think he’ll be rusty and won’t get too many minutes. This should be a war tonight but I think Brooklyn is still stinging a bit from being upstaged and will look to make a statement.
