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Game Thread | 2021-2022 Season | Game #76 | Mavericks @ Cavaliers | March 30, 2022 | 7:00 p.m.

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Wham with the Right Hand

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The Cavaliers, reeling from an injury to Evan Mobley on Monday and already depleted on the front line with Jarrett Allen and Dean Wade out, host the surging Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs started the season 16-18 but have completely turned it around and have since gone 31-11. They are 12-4 in their last 16. The Mavs are clearly the better and the healthier team at this point in time.

The Cavs spanked the Mavs by 18 points in late November with Allen and Mobley combining for 40 points and 21 boards while Ricky Rubio was a +30 off the bench. None of them will be on the floor tonight as the Cavs shift to a small-ball lineup with three of their bigs out.

This is the start of a brutal stretch of four games in five days for the Cavs. They play in Atlanta tomorrow night.

The only factors favoring the Cavs are that Dallas has not been especially good on the road (20-17) and they played in Dallas last night and had a long flight to Cleveland after the game. They smoked the Lakers, who were missing LeBron and AD, scoring 82 points in the first half and coasting from there. None of their starters played more than 31 minutes.

The Mavericks are a team built on defense (similar to the Cavs), ranking 2nd in scoring defense and 25th in scoring offense. Their entire rotation is 6’5” to 6’7” with the exception of guard Jalen Brunson (6’1”) and their two centers, Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber (both 6’10”). Their forte is preventing the 3-point shot as they lead the NBA in fewest 3-pointers made per game at 10.8.

The Mavericks are 27th in both blocks and steals, so you can get shots off. But it’s tough to make them as the Mavs are 7th in opponents’ effective field goal percentage and you don’t get many second chances as they’re 9th in defensive rebound percentage.

This is going to be a tough game for the Cavs to score 100 as they’re up against the 2nd best scoring defense in the league and they don’t have Allen or Mobley. The best way to score against a small Dallas team is in the paint. In November the Cavs put up 114 points against them while only making ten 3-pointers.

Luka Doncic is their superstar, averaging 28.0/9.2/8.5. Last night he toyed with what’s left of the Lakers with a line of 34/12/12 in 30 minutes.

By the way, the Lakers are now tied for 10th and in real danger of not making the play-in. LeBron has to be looking for a way out, right? He sprained his ankle in the 2nd quarter Sunday, stayed in the game, scored 39 points despite not being able to drive in the second half, and afterward said his ankle is “horrible”. If he can't make a very quick recovery the Lakers are toast.

Bickerstaff has had a day to figure out how he wants to deploy his forces with Mobley out. They will probably go with the same configuration as Dallas; one big (Markkanen/Love), one point guard (Garland/Goodwin), and three wings (a combination of Okoro, Stevens, Windler, LeVert, and maybe Cedi gets another shot). We might see a two-big lineup with Moses Brown and either Love or Marky for part of the game.

The badly undermanned Cavs are taking on a healthier team that is on a roll and this probably won’t end well. The Mavericks are pretty dependent on 3-point shooting, ranking 9th in percentage of points from 3’s. They jack up a ton of them (5th in 3-point rate) but don’t make that many (24th in 3-point percentage). After a game and a long flight last night their legs may be a little tired and the 3’s may not be dropping. The Cavs need to contest the 3’s, force misses, get the rebounds, and fast break off the long rebounds, getting transition buckets before the Mavs can set up their 2nd ranked scoring defense. I don’t see the Cavs having a lot of success in the half court offense.

If the new, smaller lineup can play an up-tempo pace and gets points in transition while the Mavs have an off-night from deep the Cavs just may be able to keep this close. But figuring out an answer to Doncic will be all but impossible, and the close games are usually won by the team with the best player.
 
I don't have a lot of hope for this game, but if Markkanen, Love, and Garland shoot great, we have a chance.

I'd give us a 40% chance of winning.
 

Spencer Dinwiddie (left knee injury recovery) will not play in Wednesday's game against Cleveland.​

This is night two of a back-to-back, so the Mavericks will give Dinwiddie the night off. His next chance to play will be on Friday against his old team, the Washington Wizards. This could open up some minutes for Frank Ntilikina (ankle) if he can go, but he is not a fantasy target. Reggie Bullock could get some more minutes as the starter, and he is only rostered in 19% of Yahoo! leagues, so he should be easy to grab.
 

Sterling Brown (health and safety protocols) will not play in Wednesday's game against the Cavaliers.​

Brown is not on the fantasy radar, so this won't affect anyone's roster.
 

Trey Burke (health and safety protocols) will not play in Wednesday's game against the Cavaliers.​

This will be the second game on the sidelines for Burke, and they certainly did not miss him much in Tuesday's blowout win over the Lakers. With Spencer Dinwiddie (rest) out and Frank Ntilikina (ankle) questionable though, the Mavericks might be thin at point guard on Monday if all three are out.
 

Trey Burke (health and safety protocols) will not play in Wednesday's game against the Cavaliers.​

This will be the second game on the sidelines for Burke, and they certainly did not miss him much in Tuesday's blowout win over the Lakers. With Spencer Dinwiddie (rest) out and Frank Ntilikina (ankle) questionable though, the Mavericks might be thin at point guard on Monday if all three are out.
LOL! Thin at point guard? Luka is thicc, at 6 7, 230. But who ends up backing him up? Ntilikina?

It may be good to attack Luka off the dribble and go at him, one-on-one. Try to get him in foul trouble. Garland, Okoro, LeVert, Stevens, even Cedi.

Throw bodies at him. Maybe he'll get tired defending, or foul out.
 
LOL! Thin at point guard? Luka is thicc, at 6 7, 230. But who ends up backing him up? Ntilikina?

It may be good to attack Luka off the dribble and go at him, one-on-one. Try to get him in foul trouble. Garland, Okoro, LeVert, Stevens, even Cedi.

Throw bodies at him. Maybe he'll get tired defending, or foul out.

Frank Ntilikina (right ankle sprain) is listed as questionable to play in Wednesday's game against Cleveland.​

Ntilikina could get some extra minutes on Wednesday if he can go, given the fact that Spencer Dinwiddie (rest) will not play. Even still though, he is not a fantasy target, so he can be left on the wire.
 
This is the start of a brutal stretch of four games in five days for the Cavs. They play in Atlanta tomorrow night.
Any game without Allen & Mobley is a likely loss against teams that aren't tanking. With the parade of injuries, we just don't have the offensive or defensive firepower necessary to beat teams that still care. Unfortunately for us, we only have one true tanker left on the schedule (Orlando). We might get lucky and get a Knicks team that has phoned it in with no path to the play-in available. And, depending on how things shake out, maybe the Nets and Bucks will be resting starters getting ready for playoff runs just as we get Allen & Mobley back. I hate it, but this is where we are - hoping for other teams to be depleted/deflated. Because if every opponent is playing motivated, and our two bigs (plus Wade) are out, its difficult to see many more wins in these last seven.
 
Cavs only +2 pts +105 ML? Wow

The recipe for success is going to be tough D on Mr. Thicc, transition buckets, and attacking the rim. We're not going to win putting up 30+ 3pters tonight. We just need to hit them when the paint is clogged.
 
Win is slim tonight unless we can contain doncic but if we can’t can’t contain dj Augustine will see
 
I've really liked JBBs decisions the last game and a half.


It will be a major mistake to try and go for this win when you've got Atlanta tomorrow night.

Sit Garland. Play Markennen and Love sparingly.

Moses Brown should get 35 minutes tonight. This should be a Goodwin/Windler/LeVert game.

You lose this game and then to Atlanta and now the 9th/10th spot is very, very much in play.
 
Line was DAL -4.5 last night and now it's -1.5. I was expecting to see Doncic out as the reason. I guess all those other guys listed are the reason.
 

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