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The Cavs stagger into San Francisco for the final game of their Bataan Death March after getting hammered by Denver, LA, and Portland by 17, 19, and 38 points. They’ll be playing on the second night of a back-to-back on the road against the Warriors, who are 14-13 overall and 9-6 at home.
Andre Drummond did not suit up last night. The official reason was to give him a rest. However, he’s 27 years young and had played 33 minutes in the last five days, so I’m not buying it. We’ll see if he plays tonight.
The Warriors are led by Stephen Curry, of course, who is still making it rain at age 32. The Cavs have been playing against a lot of older guys lately and they’ve been feasting on the young Cavs. Curry poured in 57 points against Dallas just over a week ago and since then has scored 32, 32, 40, and 27. He’s averaging 29.9 ppg on the season along with 5.9 assists. He’s hitting 43% from deep and 49.3% overall.
The W’s have an injury problem on the front line at the moment with rookie 2nd overall pick James Wiseman (12.2 ppg) out with a wrist injury and backup center Kevon Looney also out. Marquese Chriss, a power forward who has played some center, is also out. Draymond Green went down with a leg injury against the Nets two nights ago but returned to the game. Green has disappeared as a scorer, averaging 5.2 ppg on 35.5% shooting and only 18.6% on 3’s, but he leads the team with 8.0 assists per game.
Saturday against Brooklyn the W’s got hammered 134-117, giving up 108 points through three quarters. Their tallest player that game was skinny Andrew Wiggins at 6’7”. They won’t have anybody taller tonight so it will be interesting to see if the Cavs try to force the ball to Allen a lot and also Drummond if he plays.
After Curry’s 29.9 ppg Wiggins gets 17.6 and Kelly Oubre 13.9. Those are the only players scoring in double figures other than Wiseman, who is out.
As a team the W’s rank 9th in points per game. Being perhaps the smallest team in the league they rank 21st in points in the paint but they like to run, ranking 5th in fast break points. The Cavs need to be aware of getting back in transition and not allowing uncontested 3’s.
The W’s rank 6th in 3-point rate so they’re another Western Conference team that lives on long range shots. They’re 11th in 3-point percentage. The absence of Klay Thompson dropped them out of the top spot but they’re still above average. Another challenge for the Cavs - the league’s worst team in defending the perimeter.
The W’s rank 6th in assist percentage so it’s easy to see what they do - push the ball up the court, move the ball around, and try to set up an open 3 off a pass.
The W’s are 28th in offensive rebounding percentage and 25th in defensive rebounding percentage and that’s with 7'0" James Wiseman playing in 20 of their 27 games. He’s their leading rebounder so without him they might be last in both categories. The Cavs glaring weakness on the defensive glass might not get exploited too much for once.
That being said, the W’s are 6th best in opponents' points in the paint and 2nd best in opponent’s 2-point percentage. Despite lacking height they’re 9th in block percentage, 4th in effective field goal percentage, and 9th in forcing turnovers. They’re 18th in opponent’s 3-point percentage so it appears they pack the paint defensively and make you beat them from deep. Since the Cavs are 28th in 3-point percentage this will be a good strategy tonight.
Overall the Warriors rank 22nd in opponents’ points per game despite their excellence in defending the paint and the 2-point shot. One problem is they foul a lot, ranking second worst in opponent’s free throws per play. That's probably due to their size disadvantage. The Cavs should try to pound the ball inside and see if they can get the W’s in foul trouble. With Looney, Wiseman, and Chriss out the Warriors are pretty much down to Green and Paschal in terms of muscle in the paint and they’re both listed at 6’6”. Paschall is a load at 264 pounds. He'll be pushing Allen out of the paint.
Traditionally the W’s feature a team of guys who are all about the same size enabling them to switch constantly on defense so they always have a defender in front of the ball and are not that vulnerable to the pick and roll. They’re usually in good position to challenge shots which explains why they’re 4th in opponent’s effective field goal percentage and 7th in defensive efficiency. I think they're 22nd in points allowed due to fouling a lot and playing at a fast pace which gives the opponent more possessions. They're last in opponents' percent of points from free throws. This might not be an issue tonight because the Cavs are the worst free throw shooting team in the league.
Draymond Green was listed as “day-to-day” before the Nets game Saturday. During the game he went down with a leg injury on a play with no contact. He went to the locker room but returned in the second half. He’s obviously dealing with something. If he doesn’t play it will be a significant loss due to his passing and interior defense, especially with all their other bigs out.
This could end up being another one of those games where the Cavs are shooting 2’s while their opponents shoot 3’s.
The optimistic side of me wants to believe the Cavs will see this game as their last chance to salvage a little respect and end this road trip on a high note, even if that means just keeping the outcome in doubt deep into the fourth quarter. They did some talking after last night's game about playing better defense. We'll see if they can turn those words into actions tonight.
Andre Drummond did not suit up last night. The official reason was to give him a rest. However, he’s 27 years young and had played 33 minutes in the last five days, so I’m not buying it. We’ll see if he plays tonight.
The Warriors are led by Stephen Curry, of course, who is still making it rain at age 32. The Cavs have been playing against a lot of older guys lately and they’ve been feasting on the young Cavs. Curry poured in 57 points against Dallas just over a week ago and since then has scored 32, 32, 40, and 27. He’s averaging 29.9 ppg on the season along with 5.9 assists. He’s hitting 43% from deep and 49.3% overall.
The W’s have an injury problem on the front line at the moment with rookie 2nd overall pick James Wiseman (12.2 ppg) out with a wrist injury and backup center Kevon Looney also out. Marquese Chriss, a power forward who has played some center, is also out. Draymond Green went down with a leg injury against the Nets two nights ago but returned to the game. Green has disappeared as a scorer, averaging 5.2 ppg on 35.5% shooting and only 18.6% on 3’s, but he leads the team with 8.0 assists per game.
Saturday against Brooklyn the W’s got hammered 134-117, giving up 108 points through three quarters. Their tallest player that game was skinny Andrew Wiggins at 6’7”. They won’t have anybody taller tonight so it will be interesting to see if the Cavs try to force the ball to Allen a lot and also Drummond if he plays.
After Curry’s 29.9 ppg Wiggins gets 17.6 and Kelly Oubre 13.9. Those are the only players scoring in double figures other than Wiseman, who is out.
As a team the W’s rank 9th in points per game. Being perhaps the smallest team in the league they rank 21st in points in the paint but they like to run, ranking 5th in fast break points. The Cavs need to be aware of getting back in transition and not allowing uncontested 3’s.
The W’s rank 6th in 3-point rate so they’re another Western Conference team that lives on long range shots. They’re 11th in 3-point percentage. The absence of Klay Thompson dropped them out of the top spot but they’re still above average. Another challenge for the Cavs - the league’s worst team in defending the perimeter.
The W’s rank 6th in assist percentage so it’s easy to see what they do - push the ball up the court, move the ball around, and try to set up an open 3 off a pass.
The W’s are 28th in offensive rebounding percentage and 25th in defensive rebounding percentage and that’s with 7'0" James Wiseman playing in 20 of their 27 games. He’s their leading rebounder so without him they might be last in both categories. The Cavs glaring weakness on the defensive glass might not get exploited too much for once.
That being said, the W’s are 6th best in opponents' points in the paint and 2nd best in opponent’s 2-point percentage. Despite lacking height they’re 9th in block percentage, 4th in effective field goal percentage, and 9th in forcing turnovers. They’re 18th in opponent’s 3-point percentage so it appears they pack the paint defensively and make you beat them from deep. Since the Cavs are 28th in 3-point percentage this will be a good strategy tonight.
Overall the Warriors rank 22nd in opponents’ points per game despite their excellence in defending the paint and the 2-point shot. One problem is they foul a lot, ranking second worst in opponent’s free throws per play. That's probably due to their size disadvantage. The Cavs should try to pound the ball inside and see if they can get the W’s in foul trouble. With Looney, Wiseman, and Chriss out the Warriors are pretty much down to Green and Paschal in terms of muscle in the paint and they’re both listed at 6’6”. Paschall is a load at 264 pounds. He'll be pushing Allen out of the paint.
Traditionally the W’s feature a team of guys who are all about the same size enabling them to switch constantly on defense so they always have a defender in front of the ball and are not that vulnerable to the pick and roll. They’re usually in good position to challenge shots which explains why they’re 4th in opponent’s effective field goal percentage and 7th in defensive efficiency. I think they're 22nd in points allowed due to fouling a lot and playing at a fast pace which gives the opponent more possessions. They're last in opponents' percent of points from free throws. This might not be an issue tonight because the Cavs are the worst free throw shooting team in the league.
Draymond Green was listed as “day-to-day” before the Nets game Saturday. During the game he went down with a leg injury on a play with no contact. He went to the locker room but returned in the second half. He’s obviously dealing with something. If he doesn’t play it will be a significant loss due to his passing and interior defense, especially with all their other bigs out.
This could end up being another one of those games where the Cavs are shooting 2’s while their opponents shoot 3’s.
The optimistic side of me wants to believe the Cavs will see this game as their last chance to salvage a little respect and end this road trip on a high note, even if that means just keeping the outcome in doubt deep into the fourth quarter. They did some talking after last night's game about playing better defense. We'll see if they can turn those words into actions tonight.
