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The Cavs’ death march to the sea continues with a trip to LA for a battle with the 19-8 Clippers. Well, we’re hoping for a battle. These teams played in Cleveland on Feb. 3. The Cavs were down 3 points at halftime but Paul George took over and scored 16 in the third quarter to effectively end the Cavs’ chances. George ended up with 36 points, including 8-for-9 on 3’s. He was a man among boys.
However, that was George’s last game as he has developed a toe problem and missed the last four games. The Clippers went 2-2 in his absence, beating the 6-20 T-Wolves and the 10-15 Bulls while losing to the 13-12 Celtics and the 12-13 Kings. Are the Clippers a below average team without George and his 24.4 points, 6.2 boards, and 5.5 assists? It’s only four games but it kind of looks that way.
Hot flash - George may not be ready to go against the Cavs tonight.
The Clippers return home for a 6-game homestand starting Sunday, but PG's status for that is also very much in question at this point.
The team has said little about a timetable for George’s return, only “hopefully we can get him back sooner than later,” Lue said.
The Clippers still have plenty of weapons, including Kawhi Leonard, who is averaging over 26 ppg. Marcus Morris, Serge Ibaka, Lou Williams, and Nick Batum are all averaging 10-12 ppg. In the four games without George the Clippers scored 110, 112, 115, and 125 points. Leonard stepped up his game, scoring 33 and 36 the last two games.
“He’s hitting those contested shots like there’s no defense,” [Ivica] Zubac said. “He gets the ball so high” on the release. “It’s just, it seems like, defense doesn’t affect him. When he gets it going, we’re a tough team to beat.
“He’s been great all year. But, with Paul out, he’s picked up even more, on the offensive part, and he’s leading us.”
Meanwhile the Cavs have the NBA’s worst defensive rating over their six-game losing streak, so facing the league’s third highest scoring team, even if George can’t go, will be a massive challenge. Speaking of defense, the Cavaliers are 8-9 when Larry Nance Jr plays more than 14 minutes, and 2-8 when he doesn’t. The two wins without Nance were against teams with records of 7-19 and 6-20.
Sexton and Garland scored 27 and 23 points in the first game. Drummond was a -33 while Allen was a +11 as the Cavs lost by 22. The Cavs were a staggering 44 points better over 48 minutes with Allen on the floor.
In that game the Clippers shot 34 times from the 3-point line to 10 for the Cavs. The Clippers hit 20 threes and outscored the Cavs by an unbelievable 48 points on 3-point shots.
The Clippers rank 3rd in scoring and 5th in scoring defense. They’re 25th in points in the paint and 22nd in fast break points. They’re an older team that likes to work the half court offense and shoot from deep. They lead the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage at an amazing 42.2%, but if George is out they might not be quite that good. They’re average to a little above average in most other stats.
The Cavs hung with these guys for one half at home but they’re on the road now and playing their worst basketball of this young season. George had a huge game against them in Cleveland so if he’s out the Cavs have a chance stay competitive a little longer if they bring their A game, which we haven’t seen in a while. If they don't find their A game we could be looking at another Valentine's Day Massacre.
Andre Drummond had a horrible game in the first matchup, going 4-for-13 with 3 turnovers and a -33 in 22 minutes. Ibaka and Zubac kicked his butt, combining for 24 points, 20 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Ibaka was 6-for-8. Zubac had six offensive rebounds and 16 total in 28 minutes. Drummond absolutely needs to look at what went wrong for him that game and make some adjustments. I hope they watched that tape yesterday.
Garland and Sexton combined to go 22-for-39, but made only two 3’s between them and the Cavs only made four as a team. That has got to change tonight.
Even taking away George’s sharpshooting the Clippers were 12-for-25 on 3’s in the first game. The Cavs need to defend the 3 much better this time around. Luke Kennard is hitting 44.7% of his 3’s off the bench. Kawhi is just under 39%. Ibaka is at 39.1%. Lou Williams is 39.4%. Nobody knocks down 3’s better than these guys and the Cavs are dead last in opponent 3-point percentage. This will be a matchup of the best 3-point shooters in the league against the worst 3-point defenders.
They have a number of tall 3-point shooters like Leonard, Ibaka, and Morris, not to mention George, which makes it very tough for a team with small perimeter defenders like Sexton, Garland, and Okoro to disrupt those shots. Like Zubac said, Leonard releases his shot so high that it's like the defense doesn't matter (unless he has a Larry Nance Jr or Jarrett Allen right in his face).
Get ready for a lot of Austin Carr saying, “Wow!” and “Man!” as another Clipper bomb swishes through the net.
However, that was George’s last game as he has developed a toe problem and missed the last four games. The Clippers went 2-2 in his absence, beating the 6-20 T-Wolves and the 10-15 Bulls while losing to the 13-12 Celtics and the 12-13 Kings. Are the Clippers a below average team without George and his 24.4 points, 6.2 boards, and 5.5 assists? It’s only four games but it kind of looks that way.
Hot flash - George may not be ready to go against the Cavs tonight.
The Clippers return home for a 6-game homestand starting Sunday, but PG's status for that is also very much in question at this point.
The team has said little about a timetable for George’s return, only “hopefully we can get him back sooner than later,” Lue said.
The Clippers still have plenty of weapons, including Kawhi Leonard, who is averaging over 26 ppg. Marcus Morris, Serge Ibaka, Lou Williams, and Nick Batum are all averaging 10-12 ppg. In the four games without George the Clippers scored 110, 112, 115, and 125 points. Leonard stepped up his game, scoring 33 and 36 the last two games.
“He’s hitting those contested shots like there’s no defense,” [Ivica] Zubac said. “He gets the ball so high” on the release. “It’s just, it seems like, defense doesn’t affect him. When he gets it going, we’re a tough team to beat.
“He’s been great all year. But, with Paul out, he’s picked up even more, on the offensive part, and he’s leading us.”
Meanwhile the Cavs have the NBA’s worst defensive rating over their six-game losing streak, so facing the league’s third highest scoring team, even if George can’t go, will be a massive challenge. Speaking of defense, the Cavaliers are 8-9 when Larry Nance Jr plays more than 14 minutes, and 2-8 when he doesn’t. The two wins without Nance were against teams with records of 7-19 and 6-20.
Sexton and Garland scored 27 and 23 points in the first game. Drummond was a -33 while Allen was a +11 as the Cavs lost by 22. The Cavs were a staggering 44 points better over 48 minutes with Allen on the floor.
In that game the Clippers shot 34 times from the 3-point line to 10 for the Cavs. The Clippers hit 20 threes and outscored the Cavs by an unbelievable 48 points on 3-point shots.
The Clippers rank 3rd in scoring and 5th in scoring defense. They’re 25th in points in the paint and 22nd in fast break points. They’re an older team that likes to work the half court offense and shoot from deep. They lead the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage at an amazing 42.2%, but if George is out they might not be quite that good. They’re average to a little above average in most other stats.
The Cavs hung with these guys for one half at home but they’re on the road now and playing their worst basketball of this young season. George had a huge game against them in Cleveland so if he’s out the Cavs have a chance stay competitive a little longer if they bring their A game, which we haven’t seen in a while. If they don't find their A game we could be looking at another Valentine's Day Massacre.
Andre Drummond had a horrible game in the first matchup, going 4-for-13 with 3 turnovers and a -33 in 22 minutes. Ibaka and Zubac kicked his butt, combining for 24 points, 20 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Ibaka was 6-for-8. Zubac had six offensive rebounds and 16 total in 28 minutes. Drummond absolutely needs to look at what went wrong for him that game and make some adjustments. I hope they watched that tape yesterday.
Garland and Sexton combined to go 22-for-39, but made only two 3’s between them and the Cavs only made four as a team. That has got to change tonight.
Even taking away George’s sharpshooting the Clippers were 12-for-25 on 3’s in the first game. The Cavs need to defend the 3 much better this time around. Luke Kennard is hitting 44.7% of his 3’s off the bench. Kawhi is just under 39%. Ibaka is at 39.1%. Lou Williams is 39.4%. Nobody knocks down 3’s better than these guys and the Cavs are dead last in opponent 3-point percentage. This will be a matchup of the best 3-point shooters in the league against the worst 3-point defenders.
They have a number of tall 3-point shooters like Leonard, Ibaka, and Morris, not to mention George, which makes it very tough for a team with small perimeter defenders like Sexton, Garland, and Okoro to disrupt those shots. Like Zubac said, Leonard releases his shot so high that it's like the defense doesn't matter (unless he has a Larry Nance Jr or Jarrett Allen right in his face).
Get ready for a lot of Austin Carr saying, “Wow!” and “Man!” as another Clipper bomb swishes through the net.
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