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After two days off the Cavs take on the Heat in Miami where the Cavs have not won in over 11 years. End of preview.
JK. Two weeks ago the Cavs played in Miami and got smoked 113-98. The Cavs gave up 95 points in the first three quarters to the 5th lowest scoring team in the NBA and trailed by 19 after three. The fourth quarter was garbage time.
Some things have changed in two weeks due to trades and injuries and guys returning to health. Miami traded Kelly Olynyk, who started that game and kicked Cavalier butt with 17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. In his place is Trevor Ariza, averaging 6.1 ppg. I’m not complaining.
The Heat picked up Victor Oladipo, whose first game with the Heat was Thursday. He scored six points and replaces Kendrick Nunn in the starting lineup. Nunn was a +19 in 21 minutes against the Cavs so that might work in the Cavs’ favor if Oladipo is still not comfortable with his new team. Butler, Adebayo, and Duncan Robinson round out the starting five.
Jimmy Butler tore up the Cavs two weeks ago with 28 points on 11-for-16 from the field. Nobody could handle him; he was a man among boys. He also had 12 rebounds and four assists. I’m expecting similar numbers tonight.
Bam Adebayo is averaging 19.3 ppg, 9.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists on 55.8% from the field. He’s their tallest starter at 6’9”. With Jarrett Allen still out I expect Adebayo to get Hartenstein in foul trouble early in the first quarter. Heck, he’ll probably get a couple of fouls in warmup.
Duncan Robinson is hitting 39.8% on 3’s and was 4-for-8 against the Cavs in March. At 6’7” the Cavs don’t have the height on the perimeter to prevent him from getting good looks. Last year Robinson shot 51.2% on 3’s in four games against the Cavs. He loves playing against short guards.
The Cavs don’t match up well defensively against Miami. They have nobody who can stop Butler from doing whatever he wants and Robinson punishes them on 3’s.
After Butler (21.4 ppg) and Adebayo (19.3) the Heat have four players averaging between 10.0 and 15.7 ppg plus Oladipo who is averaging 20.3 ppg this season. They have great scoring balance. In fact, the Cavs have pointed to Miami as the team they are trying to emulate in terms of unselfish team play and max effort every night from every player.
For the Cavs, Nance and Allen are injured but they have added Love and Prince since the last Heat game. Since returning to the lineup after missing a month with injuries Prince is 4-for-18 in two games. He’s clearly very rusty. Maybe two days of practice will help. Love looked pretty good on Thursday and the Cavs will need him to pick up the slack with Nance being out. Nance has a “mysterious illness” which may cause him to miss the road trip, according to reports. If that’s the case he’ll miss at least two more games after tonight.
The Heat are 25-24 overall and 13-12 at home. After beating the Cavs on March 16 they lost six straight before winning their last three.
The Heat are a weak offensive team, ranking 23rd in offensive efficiency and 26th in points per game. However, that may change now that they added Oladipo, giving them three 20-point scorers in Oladipo, Butler, and Adebayo. Throw in Robinson’s 3-point shooting plus Nunn and Dragic off the bench and this team looks more potent offensively.
The Heat stubbornly continue to try and make themselves into a 3-point shooting team. They shoot more 3’s than all but five teams and make fewer than all but two. Yep, they’re 6th in 3-point rate and 28th in 3-point percentage. Hopefully they’ll be off on their deep shots tonight.
The Heat rank 25th in turnovers per possession but only committed 13 against the Cavs in the first game. The Cavs need to force more turnovers tonight if they want to compete. The Cavs are 3rd in forcing turnovers so when they play a team that ranks near the bottom in turnovers the Cavs need to force a lot of them.
The Heat rank 26th in offensive rebounding percentage so the Cavs need to make them miss their first shot. However, defensive rebounding has been a problem for the Cavs as they rank 28th. They have to force missed shots and then secure the ball against a team that is among the worst on the offensive glass.
Defensively the Heat are excellent, ranking 4th in points per game. They are #1 at preventing points in the paint, which is where the Cavs prefer to shoot. The Heat are only 28th in block percentage so they don’t swat many shots, but they force misses from in close despite nobody being taller than 6’9”. Everybody on their team is between 6’4” and 6’9”.
The Cavs’ biggest problem in the last game was going 10-for-35 on 3’s. It looks like they understood that the only way to beat Miami is to hit 3’s, but they couldn’t get them to drop which is not surprising since the Cavs are 29th in 3-point percentage. Offensively the Cavs do not match up well against Miami.
Two weeks ago the Cavs allowed the Heat to score 62 points in the first half. This is inexcusable against a team that is averaging only 106 ppg and takes fewer shots per game than any team in the NBA. Then the Cavs allowed 33 more points in the third quarter and the game was over.
I think a realistic goal tonight is to have a better first half and not be down by 14 at halftime. That will be hard to accomplish without Allen and Nance, but they have Love back and Olynyk won’t be there to smack them around although they will have to contend with Oladipo. This could be another painful game to watch but let’s see what adjustments Bickerstaff makes after the last game. The Heat have won three straight and won’t be taking the Cavs very seriously. But this is a bad matchup both offensively and defensively so I’m not expecting much especially since the Cavs never win in Miami.
JK. Two weeks ago the Cavs played in Miami and got smoked 113-98. The Cavs gave up 95 points in the first three quarters to the 5th lowest scoring team in the NBA and trailed by 19 after three. The fourth quarter was garbage time.
Some things have changed in two weeks due to trades and injuries and guys returning to health. Miami traded Kelly Olynyk, who started that game and kicked Cavalier butt with 17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. In his place is Trevor Ariza, averaging 6.1 ppg. I’m not complaining.
The Heat picked up Victor Oladipo, whose first game with the Heat was Thursday. He scored six points and replaces Kendrick Nunn in the starting lineup. Nunn was a +19 in 21 minutes against the Cavs so that might work in the Cavs’ favor if Oladipo is still not comfortable with his new team. Butler, Adebayo, and Duncan Robinson round out the starting five.
Jimmy Butler tore up the Cavs two weeks ago with 28 points on 11-for-16 from the field. Nobody could handle him; he was a man among boys. He also had 12 rebounds and four assists. I’m expecting similar numbers tonight.
Bam Adebayo is averaging 19.3 ppg, 9.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists on 55.8% from the field. He’s their tallest starter at 6’9”. With Jarrett Allen still out I expect Adebayo to get Hartenstein in foul trouble early in the first quarter. Heck, he’ll probably get a couple of fouls in warmup.
Duncan Robinson is hitting 39.8% on 3’s and was 4-for-8 against the Cavs in March. At 6’7” the Cavs don’t have the height on the perimeter to prevent him from getting good looks. Last year Robinson shot 51.2% on 3’s in four games against the Cavs. He loves playing against short guards.
The Cavs don’t match up well defensively against Miami. They have nobody who can stop Butler from doing whatever he wants and Robinson punishes them on 3’s.
After Butler (21.4 ppg) and Adebayo (19.3) the Heat have four players averaging between 10.0 and 15.7 ppg plus Oladipo who is averaging 20.3 ppg this season. They have great scoring balance. In fact, the Cavs have pointed to Miami as the team they are trying to emulate in terms of unselfish team play and max effort every night from every player.
For the Cavs, Nance and Allen are injured but they have added Love and Prince since the last Heat game. Since returning to the lineup after missing a month with injuries Prince is 4-for-18 in two games. He’s clearly very rusty. Maybe two days of practice will help. Love looked pretty good on Thursday and the Cavs will need him to pick up the slack with Nance being out. Nance has a “mysterious illness” which may cause him to miss the road trip, according to reports. If that’s the case he’ll miss at least two more games after tonight.
The Heat are 25-24 overall and 13-12 at home. After beating the Cavs on March 16 they lost six straight before winning their last three.
The Heat are a weak offensive team, ranking 23rd in offensive efficiency and 26th in points per game. However, that may change now that they added Oladipo, giving them three 20-point scorers in Oladipo, Butler, and Adebayo. Throw in Robinson’s 3-point shooting plus Nunn and Dragic off the bench and this team looks more potent offensively.
The Heat stubbornly continue to try and make themselves into a 3-point shooting team. They shoot more 3’s than all but five teams and make fewer than all but two. Yep, they’re 6th in 3-point rate and 28th in 3-point percentage. Hopefully they’ll be off on their deep shots tonight.
The Heat rank 25th in turnovers per possession but only committed 13 against the Cavs in the first game. The Cavs need to force more turnovers tonight if they want to compete. The Cavs are 3rd in forcing turnovers so when they play a team that ranks near the bottom in turnovers the Cavs need to force a lot of them.
The Heat rank 26th in offensive rebounding percentage so the Cavs need to make them miss their first shot. However, defensive rebounding has been a problem for the Cavs as they rank 28th. They have to force missed shots and then secure the ball against a team that is among the worst on the offensive glass.
Defensively the Heat are excellent, ranking 4th in points per game. They are #1 at preventing points in the paint, which is where the Cavs prefer to shoot. The Heat are only 28th in block percentage so they don’t swat many shots, but they force misses from in close despite nobody being taller than 6’9”. Everybody on their team is between 6’4” and 6’9”.
The Cavs’ biggest problem in the last game was going 10-for-35 on 3’s. It looks like they understood that the only way to beat Miami is to hit 3’s, but they couldn’t get them to drop which is not surprising since the Cavs are 29th in 3-point percentage. Offensively the Cavs do not match up well against Miami.
Two weeks ago the Cavs allowed the Heat to score 62 points in the first half. This is inexcusable against a team that is averaging only 106 ppg and takes fewer shots per game than any team in the NBA. Then the Cavs allowed 33 more points in the third quarter and the game was over.
I think a realistic goal tonight is to have a better first half and not be down by 14 at halftime. That will be hard to accomplish without Allen and Nance, but they have Love back and Olynyk won’t be there to smack them around although they will have to contend with Oladipo. This could be another painful game to watch but let’s see what adjustments Bickerstaff makes after the last game. The Heat have won three straight and won’t be taking the Cavs very seriously. But this is a bad matchup both offensively and defensively so I’m not expecting much especially since the Cavs never win in Miami.
