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Saturday was so much fun; let's do it again.
The Cavs and Celtics square off for a rematch tonight with the Celtics looking for some payback after blowing a 19-point lead with three minutes left in the third quarter. They were outscored by 21 over the final 15 minutes. After a day to think about it I look for them to come out with a very, very motivated attitude.
The Celtics will have some extra firepower as they will be getting Al Horford and Josh Richardson back. Both of them missed Saturday’s game. Horford is their starting power forward and is averaging 12.2 points and 8.8 rebounds in 29 minutes. He leads the team in blocks at 2.3 per game, which is 3rd in the NBA. Not bad for a 35-year-old 6'9" guy who has surely lost some of his vertical. The Cavs' young bigs should watch some film of him on defense. They could learn a lot.
Richardson is a backup shooting guard averaging 24 minutes and 8.3 points. He’s shooting 44.9% from the field and 32.3% on 3’s.
So the Celtics will be more rested and have two rotation players back. They should be a better team than the one we saw Saturday. The Cavs will have the same group; Love and Markkanen are still out.
The question is what will be different from the last game, if anything? Will this be another low scoring defensive battle with both teams shooting under 30% on 3’s? Or will the outside shooting improve with a day of rest? Both teams were on the second day of back-to-backs on Saturday.
Can the Cavs improve upon their 38.3% from the field so they don’t need another monster defensive effort to prevail? How will they adjust to how the Celtics were defending them? What changes, if any, will they make in the first quarter to avoid scoring only 9 points?
If the Cavs are struggling offensively in the first quarter will Okoro get pulled earlier? IMO having Okoro and Wade on the floor together puts a huge strain on the offense. It’s basically Garland, Allen, and Mobley against five defenders.
Since returning from his knee injury Okoro has scored 13 points in 69 minutes with no blocks and one steal. Wade has 34 points in 168 minutes this month.
What adjustments will Boston make offensively? The Cavs held them to 19 points under their scoring average. Other than maybe give Horford and Richardson their usual 53 combined minutes, what will they do differently to generate more offense?
Marcus Smart was 0-for-5 from the field in 35 minutes. I expect him to look to score more. Jayson Tatum was 8-for-22 from the field and 1-for-8 from deep. The Cavs defended him very well. What adjustments will he make?
Will Bickerstaff go back to Valentine if Okoro is ineffective? I expect Okoro to come out very aggressively after possibly the worst and shortest game of his career; 0-for-7 with 2 turnovers in 18 minutes.
Can Jarrett Allen do a better job of keeping Robert Williams off the offensive glass? I expect Allen will want to have a bounce back game after playing only 28 minutes and get outplayed by Williams. Allen was benched with three minutes left in the third quarter and the Cavs down by 19. He sat out an entire quarter before returning with 2:30 to go and the Cavs down by 2. I’m sure he’ll be motivated to play better. Both Allen and Okoro should come out with some fire in the eye.
So both teams will have a day to watch the video, make adjustments, and then do it again in the same building. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this before. On those rare occasions when teams play a back-to-back against the same opponent it’s always been in different venues.
This game can be looked at as a battle between head coaches - who can make the best adjustments? Saturday’s game came down to the final shot. Can one of these teams get a convincing win or will it be another slugfest between two teams who defend the paint well and can’t hit from outside?
Will Bickerstaff go back to the unit that brought the Cavs back from 19 points down on Saturday (Mobley, Cedi, Windler, Valentine, and Rubio)? It took just five minutes for that unit to cut a 19-point lead down to 4 against the Celtics' second unit.
For the Cavs to win they need to:
1. Shoot better from outside. They were 10-for-38 on 3’s Saturday. With Horford back it will be even harder to score in the paint. They will need to hit more 3's.
2. Get better offensive production from the shooting guard position. Okoro, Valentine, and Windler were 2-for-18 Saturday.
3. Avoid a disastrous first quarter so they don’t have to dig themselves out of a hole. At one point Saturday the Cavs were 2-for-22 as a team except for Garland.
4. Continue to play excellent defense on Tatum while doing a better job on Dennis Schroder, who had 28 points Saturday.
5. Get a more productive game from Allen and keep Robert Williams from getting five offensive boards.
6. Protect the ball well like they did Saturday when they had only 11 turnovers. Marcus Smart had five steals so watch for him in the passing lanes.
The Cavs and Celtics square off for a rematch tonight with the Celtics looking for some payback after blowing a 19-point lead with three minutes left in the third quarter. They were outscored by 21 over the final 15 minutes. After a day to think about it I look for them to come out with a very, very motivated attitude.
The Celtics will have some extra firepower as they will be getting Al Horford and Josh Richardson back. Both of them missed Saturday’s game. Horford is their starting power forward and is averaging 12.2 points and 8.8 rebounds in 29 minutes. He leads the team in blocks at 2.3 per game, which is 3rd in the NBA. Not bad for a 35-year-old 6'9" guy who has surely lost some of his vertical. The Cavs' young bigs should watch some film of him on defense. They could learn a lot.
Richardson is a backup shooting guard averaging 24 minutes and 8.3 points. He’s shooting 44.9% from the field and 32.3% on 3’s.
So the Celtics will be more rested and have two rotation players back. They should be a better team than the one we saw Saturday. The Cavs will have the same group; Love and Markkanen are still out.
The question is what will be different from the last game, if anything? Will this be another low scoring defensive battle with both teams shooting under 30% on 3’s? Or will the outside shooting improve with a day of rest? Both teams were on the second day of back-to-backs on Saturday.
Can the Cavs improve upon their 38.3% from the field so they don’t need another monster defensive effort to prevail? How will they adjust to how the Celtics were defending them? What changes, if any, will they make in the first quarter to avoid scoring only 9 points?
If the Cavs are struggling offensively in the first quarter will Okoro get pulled earlier? IMO having Okoro and Wade on the floor together puts a huge strain on the offense. It’s basically Garland, Allen, and Mobley against five defenders.
Since returning from his knee injury Okoro has scored 13 points in 69 minutes with no blocks and one steal. Wade has 34 points in 168 minutes this month.
What adjustments will Boston make offensively? The Cavs held them to 19 points under their scoring average. Other than maybe give Horford and Richardson their usual 53 combined minutes, what will they do differently to generate more offense?
Marcus Smart was 0-for-5 from the field in 35 minutes. I expect him to look to score more. Jayson Tatum was 8-for-22 from the field and 1-for-8 from deep. The Cavs defended him very well. What adjustments will he make?
Will Bickerstaff go back to Valentine if Okoro is ineffective? I expect Okoro to come out very aggressively after possibly the worst and shortest game of his career; 0-for-7 with 2 turnovers in 18 minutes.
Can Jarrett Allen do a better job of keeping Robert Williams off the offensive glass? I expect Allen will want to have a bounce back game after playing only 28 minutes and get outplayed by Williams. Allen was benched with three minutes left in the third quarter and the Cavs down by 19. He sat out an entire quarter before returning with 2:30 to go and the Cavs down by 2. I’m sure he’ll be motivated to play better. Both Allen and Okoro should come out with some fire in the eye.
So both teams will have a day to watch the video, make adjustments, and then do it again in the same building. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this before. On those rare occasions when teams play a back-to-back against the same opponent it’s always been in different venues.
This game can be looked at as a battle between head coaches - who can make the best adjustments? Saturday’s game came down to the final shot. Can one of these teams get a convincing win or will it be another slugfest between two teams who defend the paint well and can’t hit from outside?
Will Bickerstaff go back to the unit that brought the Cavs back from 19 points down on Saturday (Mobley, Cedi, Windler, Valentine, and Rubio)? It took just five minutes for that unit to cut a 19-point lead down to 4 against the Celtics' second unit.
For the Cavs to win they need to:
1. Shoot better from outside. They were 10-for-38 on 3’s Saturday. With Horford back it will be even harder to score in the paint. They will need to hit more 3's.
2. Get better offensive production from the shooting guard position. Okoro, Valentine, and Windler were 2-for-18 Saturday.
3. Avoid a disastrous first quarter so they don’t have to dig themselves out of a hole. At one point Saturday the Cavs were 2-for-22 as a team except for Garland.
4. Continue to play excellent defense on Tatum while doing a better job on Dennis Schroder, who had 28 points Saturday.
5. Get a more productive game from Allen and keep Robert Williams from getting five offensive boards.
6. Protect the ball well like they did Saturday when they had only 11 turnovers. Marcus Smart had five steals so watch for him in the passing lanes.
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