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The Cavaliers return to the scene of the crime where they lost 118-107 to the Nets on Friday. This game will have a lot more significance than Friday’s game, of course. It will be the same teams, same players, and same venue only four days later. What do the Cavs need to do in order to get a different result?
On Friday the Cavs led by five going into the fourth quarter where they were outscored 35-19. The Nets scored on 14 of their 18 possessions and hit four 3-point shots. It took them just over three minutes to take the lead. Kevin Durant started the quarter on the bench and came in after a minute and a half. The Nets immediately went on a 12-2 run to take control.
For the game the Cavaliers shot a solid 48.8% from the field but were only 8-for-27 on 3’s, or 29.7%. If they want to win this one they need to shoot better from deep. But they did hit 58% of their 2's on Friday so maybe they should attack the rim more.
The other big problem area was second chance points, where the Nets outscored the Cavs 23-6 by my count. The Nets grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and there were ten other missed shots that resulted in the Nets getting the ball out of bounds or in one case a jump ball. That’s 23 missed shots where the Cavs did not get the rebound.
As a result of poor defensive rebounding the Nets had ten more shot attempts than the Cavs, 92-82. That has to change. We can't give the Nets all those extra possessions and expect to win.
So what has to change is clear - better 3-point shooting by the Cavs and most importantly they can’t give up that many second chances after forcing missed shots. Andre Drummond had five offensive rebounds and battled for other missed shots that ended up out of bounds to the Nets or a loose ball that was grabbed by a Nets player. With Jarrett Allen down the Cavs have no one physical enough to keep Drummond off the offensive glass. I really don’t know what the answer is.
The Cavaliers forced 49 missed shots by the Nets on Friday but still gave up 118 points due to those 23 second chance points.
Bruce Brown, who is a 6’4”, 202 pound guard playing small forward, had four offensive boards. Isaac Okoro, the Cavs’ starting small forward, who is actually bigger than Brown, had 1 rebound to Brown’s 10. That needs to change. Brown had a quietly effective game with 18 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, and 4 blocks. While the Cavs were focused on Durant and Irving it was Brown who sneaked in under the radar and had a big game.
Durant had 36 points in 41 minutes and dished out 5 assists. He was 4-for-6 from deep. The Cavs need to crowd him and force him off the 3-point line. Give up 2 points rather than 3.
Kyrie had a rare off night, shooting 7-for-22. I don’t expect that to happen again.
The Cavs did some good things Friday. They shot 48.8%. They committed only 8 turnovers. They shot more free throws than the Nets. They had a lead in the 4th quarter.
But the inability to consistently rebound the first missed shot and the sub-30% three-point shooting killed their chances of an upset. They also lost their composure in the fourth quarter when the Nets turned up the juice. They committed three turnovers in the first 4.5 minutes.
The other factor is this will be the first playoff game for most of the Cavaliers and it will be on the road in front of a crowd of hostile New Yorkers. The Nets, particularly Durant and Irving, have a lot more playoff experience and they are NOT going to want to be involved in a second play-in game.
The Nets have not been all that impressive lately. Their last five wins were against Indy, Cleveland, New York, Houston, and Detroit. Their last win against a good team was 17 days ago against Miami. In the meantime they lost to Charlotte, Milwaukee and Atlanta.
The Nets' last game was Sunday against the 25-56 Pacers, who had lost nine in a row. The Nets beat them 134-126. The Pacers were down by 8 points with three minutes to go. Irving and Durant had to play 40 and 41 minutes to make sure the Nets won. I expected that game to be over by halftime but it went down to the end with the Nets giving up a whopping 126 points. I don't know if the Nets are struggling or if they just assumed the Pacers would mail in their last game. The Nets committed 20 turnovers.
The Cavs viewed the film of the fourth quarter of Friday’s game before they played Milwaukee, which tells me the Bucks let them know they would be resting their starters. I’m sure JBB will have a game plan but whether the Cavs can do a better job on the defensive glass and hit more 3’s while keeping Kyrie under control for a second straight game is the question. I hope they have an answer but I really doubt it. Even though the Nets have no impressive wins in the last couple of weeks they know how to perform in the playoffs.
On Friday the Cavs led by five going into the fourth quarter where they were outscored 35-19. The Nets scored on 14 of their 18 possessions and hit four 3-point shots. It took them just over three minutes to take the lead. Kevin Durant started the quarter on the bench and came in after a minute and a half. The Nets immediately went on a 12-2 run to take control.
For the game the Cavaliers shot a solid 48.8% from the field but were only 8-for-27 on 3’s, or 29.7%. If they want to win this one they need to shoot better from deep. But they did hit 58% of their 2's on Friday so maybe they should attack the rim more.
The other big problem area was second chance points, where the Nets outscored the Cavs 23-6 by my count. The Nets grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and there were ten other missed shots that resulted in the Nets getting the ball out of bounds or in one case a jump ball. That’s 23 missed shots where the Cavs did not get the rebound.
As a result of poor defensive rebounding the Nets had ten more shot attempts than the Cavs, 92-82. That has to change. We can't give the Nets all those extra possessions and expect to win.
So what has to change is clear - better 3-point shooting by the Cavs and most importantly they can’t give up that many second chances after forcing missed shots. Andre Drummond had five offensive rebounds and battled for other missed shots that ended up out of bounds to the Nets or a loose ball that was grabbed by a Nets player. With Jarrett Allen down the Cavs have no one physical enough to keep Drummond off the offensive glass. I really don’t know what the answer is.
The Cavaliers forced 49 missed shots by the Nets on Friday but still gave up 118 points due to those 23 second chance points.
Bruce Brown, who is a 6’4”, 202 pound guard playing small forward, had four offensive boards. Isaac Okoro, the Cavs’ starting small forward, who is actually bigger than Brown, had 1 rebound to Brown’s 10. That needs to change. Brown had a quietly effective game with 18 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, and 4 blocks. While the Cavs were focused on Durant and Irving it was Brown who sneaked in under the radar and had a big game.
Durant had 36 points in 41 minutes and dished out 5 assists. He was 4-for-6 from deep. The Cavs need to crowd him and force him off the 3-point line. Give up 2 points rather than 3.
Kyrie had a rare off night, shooting 7-for-22. I don’t expect that to happen again.
The Cavs did some good things Friday. They shot 48.8%. They committed only 8 turnovers. They shot more free throws than the Nets. They had a lead in the 4th quarter.
But the inability to consistently rebound the first missed shot and the sub-30% three-point shooting killed their chances of an upset. They also lost their composure in the fourth quarter when the Nets turned up the juice. They committed three turnovers in the first 4.5 minutes.
The other factor is this will be the first playoff game for most of the Cavaliers and it will be on the road in front of a crowd of hostile New Yorkers. The Nets, particularly Durant and Irving, have a lot more playoff experience and they are NOT going to want to be involved in a second play-in game.
The Nets have not been all that impressive lately. Their last five wins were against Indy, Cleveland, New York, Houston, and Detroit. Their last win against a good team was 17 days ago against Miami. In the meantime they lost to Charlotte, Milwaukee and Atlanta.
The Nets' last game was Sunday against the 25-56 Pacers, who had lost nine in a row. The Nets beat them 134-126. The Pacers were down by 8 points with three minutes to go. Irving and Durant had to play 40 and 41 minutes to make sure the Nets won. I expected that game to be over by halftime but it went down to the end with the Nets giving up a whopping 126 points. I don't know if the Nets are struggling or if they just assumed the Pacers would mail in their last game. The Nets committed 20 turnovers.
The Cavs viewed the film of the fourth quarter of Friday’s game before they played Milwaukee, which tells me the Bucks let them know they would be resting their starters. I’m sure JBB will have a game plan but whether the Cavs can do a better job on the defensive glass and hit more 3’s while keeping Kyrie under control for a second straight game is the question. I hope they have an answer but I really doubt it. Even though the Nets have no impressive wins in the last couple of weeks they know how to perform in the playoffs.
