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Game Thread | Game #68 | Cavs @ Heat | March 8, 2023

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Awesome road win against a team that was 21-12 at home. Everybody chipped in and the Cavs almost folded down the stretch but got a couple of huge buckets and some stops at the end.

The defense was excellent, holding Miami to 100 points and forcing 24 turnovers. The rebounding was shaky as the Heat got 10 offensive boards, but part of that was having to play small due to Allen being in foul trouble. Overall the defense was great, but the Heat hit some contested 3's.

It looks like JBB had decided on his 8-man rotation - no Cedi and no Dean Wade.

The Cavs were in a position to take control leading 70-60 three minutes into the 3rd quarter, but Allen fouled Herro on a 3-point attempt, which was Allen's 4th foul. It was ruled a flagrant, Miami had 4-point possession and just like that they had the momentum back.

The most impressive thing was after Garland and Mitchell choked in the last three minutes to allow the Heat to get within one point, the Cavs pulled it together. Garland made a huge fallaway in the paint, they got a stop, then Garland hit Okoro under the rim and he got the bucket in traffic.

Okoro had a nice game, hitting 3-for-4 on 3's and scoring 13 points while leading the team in on/off at +9. We really needed that on a night where Mitchell was off, going 1-for-7 on 3's and scoring just 18 points.

The Heat are very similar to the Cavs; they have three scorers in Butler (28 points), Herro (22), and Bam (17). Nobody else got more than 9.

Kevin Love had 8 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and drew two charging fouls in 21 minutes. He started but was not in during crunch time.

The Cavs were 17-for-19 from the line while the Heat missed seven free throws and that was the difference, along with the Cavs' 7-point advantage in points off turnovers.

I didn't see Miami use their zone at all tonight which was a huge surprise.
 
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Didn’t get to watch the game. some questions looking at box score: 1. were we really that good defending the 3 or was Miami just off? Us holding a team under 30% is a change. 2. Very short bench, different rotation, but similar results. These guys aren’t this bad. What is going on that has caused our collective bench to go on an extended slump?
 
Dr No said:
Didn’t get to watch the game. some questions looking at box score: 1. were we really that good defending the 3 or was Miami just off? Us holding a team under 30% is a change. 2. Very short bench, different rotation, but similar results. These guys aren’t this bad. What is going on that has caused our collective bench to go on an extended slump?
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We defended the 3 well, Oladipo missed some open 3s.

I don't know why Cedi and Wade are slumping.
 
Another devastating victory.

Paraphrasing Scott Hanson - it’s the Bitching hour. Where wins become losses and losses become apoplexy.

We beat Boston and Miami back to back. Our offense struggled in both games because JBB is a terrible coach, not because the Celtics and Heat play tenacious defense.
 
Defensive highlight, featuring Stevens and LeVert. I think this board underestimates LeVert's defensive value. He always gives 100%. He's quick and smart on defense and at 6 6 220, he's big.
 
jjvors said:
Defensive highlight, featuring Stevens and LeVert. I think this board underestimates LeVert's defensive value. He always gives 100%. He's quick and smart on defense and at 6 6 220, he's big.
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LeVert changing his game this late in his career…in a contract year at that to be one of the glue guys on this team is under appreciated. He’s given this team timely assists, rebounds, and steals all season.
 
Dr No said:
Didn’t get to watch the game. some questions looking at box score: 1. were we really that good defending the 3 or was Miami just off? Us holding a team under 30% is a change. 2. Very short bench, different rotation, but similar results. These guys aren’t this bad. What is going on that has caused our collective bench to go on an extended slump?
Click to expand...
Actually our bench is very bad at shooting. We played LeVert, Stevens and Rubio who are less of a threat from 3 than Ice (yikes!). Wade is in a bad shooting slump, Cedi is inconsistent - there’s just not much shooting beyond the starters. We really miss last season’s Kevin Love who provided excellent bench shooting, and although Wade has never shot in volume he had a decent percentage but not since the injury.

We need to figure out how to get Mobley in position to score late. It appears we only trust Spyda and Darius but we need to keep defenses honest.
 
2 For The Brew said:
Actually our bench is very bad at shooting. We played LeVert, Stevens and Rubio who are less of a threat from 3 than Ice (yikes!). Wade is in a bad shooting slump, Cedi is inconsistent - there’s just not much shooting beyond the starters. We really miss last season’s Kevin Love who provided excellent bench shooting, and although Wade has never shot in volume he had a decent percentage but not since the injury.

We need to figure out how to get Mobley in position to score late. It appears we only trust Spyda and Darius but we need to keep defenses honest.
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I don’t see how we can succeed with Okoro, Stevens, Mobley, Rubio, and Allen being 5 of an 8 man rotation. There’s just no threat of shooting there. Unless someone just has an out of body shooting series, in the playoffs, it’s doomed from the beginning.
 
You know what, I'm going to lay off JB for a minute.
Not just because the Cavs won and have been winning, but this situation just makes me press the pause button.
Yes, his ATO inbounds are ass. (Though I think the execution of them is also ass -- there are many signs of miscommunication thereabouts).
Yes, I know he's going to get outcoached like a MF in the playoffs, etc.


The Cavs are a team so thirsty for shooting, they're scraping in the G League for something workable. But can't afford to play the theoretical shooters they have because they will be killed on defense.
And on a team like this, it could be disastrous on nights like these where the best player is muted relative to the norm and fouls take the other best players you have out of the game long stretches.

I see the vision of how the Cavs will scrape away these games. It's so antithetical to this age of basketball it drives some people mad. Not me.

Denver gets away with having some of the most asstacular defense because their offense can patch up the potholes so much they're the #1 seed. If not for Jokic being on that team I would never watch that shit.

The Cavs WIN because of their defense. Was true before Mobley and definitely is the case after. I feel much better rooting for a team with this identity than watching those frauds in San Francisco get away with all kinds of chicanery just because of who their marquee player is. I begrudgingly respect Boston and Miami because they're more like than unlike the Cavs.

But I'll be real. The Cavs won this in large part because they were facing the mirror in the Miami Heat. They even doghoused Duncan Robinson and picked up Kevin Love for the full "Alternate Universe Cavs" effect. Their shooting save a few guys was ass. Butler was crusing. He and Bam were picking up some weak ass calls (as was the rest of the team). I straight up forgot Victor Oladipo was on this team.

I predicted Lamar would get the nod over Wade. And for as much people clamor for Cedi, he hasn't proven any more reliable than Caris LeVert, who is getting the nod because of defense (LeVert's offense continues to be ass).

Ricky Rubio hasn't been great either. But at least got some offense going. He was screwed on that time out.

Already Cavs have gotten the 3 out of 5 they needed. Split the Boston games, won Detroit, have won one against Miami thus far.

It looked like it would be a classic Cavs choke tonight. Despite Miami going full Toronto Raptor mode in the 4th, Cavs got up large enough near the end, then turned the ball over too much. Then got 2 straight screwjobs from the refs.

Cavs fought through it and won.
In Miami, a place they have a 21-2 record in over 12 years of play there (including LeBron years).
On a night where Donovan Mitchell had what was for him, a pedestrian box score (only 1 3PT made???).
No one got hurt.
Still a W. I'm grateful.

(but for the love of Prime, Koby gotta add some reliable shooting on this team in the offseason. This team REALLY needs a "JR Smith" type off the bench. Like KCP in the aforementioned Denver).
 
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