Game Thread | Game #77 | Cavs @ Hawks | March 28, 2023

[Randolphkeys]

The next rule interpretation that needs to change is that when the ball handler clearly deviates from his normal route to the basket in order to initiate contact, play should continue.

The reason Trae Young threw the ball at an official in the Pacers game is that he kicked his legs out on a three attempt and made the shot... but the ref rightfully called an offensive foul.

So the NBA rewards such behavior and penalizes the next team they play. Good to know.

 

[MrDonut]

Make it so that if you land on or within the 3 point line when shooting a 3 it gets changed to a 2.

 

[Ohioplayer00]

Reasons Cavs lost

1. Allen and Okoro out
2. Refs
3. Extended minutes for Stevens and Diakite, due to #1
4. Poor rotational depth overall(I love Koby for making the Mitchell deal but he has bench work to do this offseason. Love falling of a cliff this year also didn't help)

Before I give any Cavs main rotation player or coaches flak for the overall game tonight(of course always individual plays to nitpick)

Another reason the Cavs lost is because JBB continues NOT to attempt to exploit mismatches!

I’m specifically talking about on the Cavs last posssesion. They had LeVert over in the far corner standing there with Tre guarding him. JBB should have either put the ball in LeVert’s hand to take Tre one on one or get LeVert and DM in a pick situation to get Tre switched onto Mitchell. There’s no way you run your last offensive play and NOT include the other team’s weakest defensive player in it

 

[kookoo]

Austin Carr is correct, the NBA has made it all but impossible to play defense. If that was a foul on Mobley, WTF can you do?

The next rule interpretation that needs to change is that when the ball handler clearly deviates from his normal route to the basket in order to initiate contact, play should continue.

As least I was happy to see the refs not calling fouls when Trae was clearly initiating contact and then flailing.

Much like in the premier league, the rules are fine and the replays are great but the people who are in charge of actually calling fouls are the worst part. Can't wait for this to all be done by robots and the clowns who get paid the make the right calls all end up getting canned.

 

[nolookpass]

Why did Donovan run the clock down with 20+ seconds to go when they were down by 1? How do you let Trae waste 6 seconds all by himself in the backcourt?

Idk if it’s the players or the coaching staff, but these kind of things lose you regular season and playoff games

 

[David.]

What a trash game

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Why did Donovan run the clock down with 20+ seconds to go when they were down by 1? How do you let Trae waste 6 seconds all by himself in the backcourt?

Idk if it’s the players or the coaching staff, but these kind of things lose you regular season and playoff games

They wanted to hit the go-ahead basket with just 9 seconds to go instead of giving the Hawks 15 seconds to set up a game-winning shot. But Mitchell forced up a contested 3 that missed. The Cavs were in the bonus so he should have driven to the paint and either shot the layup or floater, or draw the defense and pass to Mobley for the dunk. I agree with the poster who would have called for LeVert to set the screen, hopefully forcing the Hawks to switch Young onto Mitchell.

They blew it by letting Young get the ball in the backcourt and run around untouched for six seconds. They should have been guarding him from the other direction and prevent that pass.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Just to add, the Cavs were down by 1 when Mobley got the rebound with 28 seconds left. The Cavs could have let the clock go down to 4 seconds before they had to shoot. Mitchell jacked up a contested 3 with 12 seconds left. He had 8 more seconds to get himself into position for a better shot. Bad decision and he said he regretted it after the game.

With Cavs trailing by 2 there was this sequence:

1:27 Garland misses layup, Stevens rebounds
1:21 Garland misses uncontested floater in the paint
1:12 Mobley blocks Young's shot, Cavs get the loose ball
1:07 Garland bad pass, Murray steals
0:58 Murray makes 18-foot fallaway

Garland struggled the whole game, going just 1-for-6 on 3's and missing an open 10-footer with 1:21 to go and the Cavs down by 2. Mitchell forced up a contested 3-pointer that missed with 8 more seconds on the shot clock. The Cavs were in the bonus so the Hawks didn't dare foul him. He should have taken it to the rim.

 

[Melancholy Jaques]

Just to add, the Cavs were down by 1 when Mobley got the rebound with 28 seconds left. The Cavs could have let the clock go down to 4 seconds before they had to shoot. Mitchell jacked up a contested 3 with 12 seconds left. He had 8 more seconds to get himself into position for a better shot. Bad decision and he said he regretted it after the game.

With Cavs trailing by 2 there was this sequence:

1:27 Garland misses layup, Stevens rebounds
1:21 Garland misses uncontested floater in the paint
1:12 Mobley blocks Young's shot, Cavs get the loose ball
1:07 Garland bad pass, Murray steals
0:58 Murray makes 18-foot fallaway

Garland struggled the whole game, going just 1-for-6 on 3's and missing an open 10-footer with 1:21 to go and the Cavs down by 2. Mitchell forced up a contested 3-pointer that missed with 8 more seconds on the shot clock. The Cavs were in the bonus so the Hawks didn't dare foul him. He should have taken it to the rim.

That's a replay of Garland in the last two minutes of quite a few games this year. Garland bad pass, Garland air ball, Garland falls down, etc. Not sure what is happening with this otherwise excellent guard.

 

[Dr. Claw]

Another reason the Cavs lost is because JBB continues NOT to attempt to exploit mismatches!

I’m specifically talking about on the Cavs last posssesion. They had LeVert over in the far corner standing there with Tre guarding him. JBB should have either put the ball in LeVert’s hand to take Tre one on one or get LeVert and DM in a pick situation to get Tre switched onto Mitchell. There’s no way you run your last offensive play and NOT include the other team’s weakest defensive player in it

Tyronn Lue would be absolutely cooking with this roster. Alas... I hate all of this contested 3 crap. Pass the ball. That applies to outside of the end of games, too...

Just to add, the Cavs were down by 1 when Mobley got the rebound with 28 seconds left. The Cavs could have let the clock go down to 4 seconds before they had to shoot. Mitchell jacked up a contested 3 with 12 seconds left. He had 8 more seconds to get himself into position for a better shot. Bad decision and he said he regretted it after the game.

With Cavs trailing by 2 there was this sequence:

1:27 Garland misses layup, Stevens rebounds
1:21 Garland misses uncontested floater in the paint
1:12 Mobley blocks Young's shot, Cavs get the loose ball
1:07 Garland bad pass, Murray steals
0:58 Murray makes 18-foot fallaway

Garland struggled the whole game, going just 1-for-6 on 3's and missing an open 10-footer with 1:21 to go and the Cavs down by 2. Mitchell forced up a contested 3-pointer that missed with 8 more seconds on the shot clock. The Cavs were in the bonus so the Hawks didn't dare foul him. He should have taken it to the rim.

I was shouting at the screen when Donovan took that 3. Cavs were in the bonus. He is one of the best "take it to the hoop" players in the league. And he took that 3. That would have been a much better 2 ball. Someone might have panicked and fouled...

 

[nolookpass]

They wanted to hit the go-ahead basket with just 9 seconds to go instead of giving the Hawks 15 seconds to set up a game-winning shot. But Mitchell forced up a contested 3 that missed. The Cavs were in the bonus so he should have driven to the paint and either shot the layup or floater, or draw the defense and pass to Mobley for the dunk. I agree with the poster who would have called for LeVert to set the screen, hopefully forcing the Hawks to switch Young onto Mitchell.

They blew it by letting Young get the ball in the backcourt and run around untouched for six seconds. They should have been guarding him from the other direction and prevent that pass.

Strategically, I just think there was enough of a difference between shot clock and game clock (~7 seconds) for the Hawks to have plenty of time to set up a good shot either way. The Hawks had multiple timeouts left.

Now, if there were less than 24 seconds left in the game clock or something and he shot it as near the buzzer as possible, I’d understand it more. Don’t love it philosophically to run the clock down when you're down, but I would’ve totally understood since the main guys played a lot of minutes + we were on the road and short handed + bumps & bruises etc. (i.e. let’s get this over with and not even bother with OT)

Otherwise, in my opinion, it's better to just shoot it earlier, give yourself another chance in case you miss, especially without a timeout.

But yes, all this might've been a non-conversation if they didn't let Young waste 6 seconds all by himself, not even playing keepaway with his teammates.

 

[bs80]

I was shouting at the screen when Donovan took that 3. Cavs were in the bonus. He is one of the best "take it to the hoop" players in the league. And he took that 3. That would have been a much better 2 ball. Someone might have panicked and fouled...

By and large I agree with you there, but the way that game was going, I wouldn't trust the refs to blow the whistle if he got fouled. And even they did, they'd probably have granted the Hawks an extra challenge, and overturn it to a flagrant foul on Donovan.

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

In addition we missed 4 absolute layup bunnies in the first half. Point blank, no defender. See it on occasion, but not 4 times in 24 minutes. Knew at the time it would bite us.

 

[Cavatt]

What the hell is going on? Why does every team get superstar calls and the best defense in the league can't get the benefit of the doubt on a guy kicking their DPOY candidate in the legs?

HIs legs weren't under his weight at all. You can't land like that without falling down. That isn't a jumpshot.

I think "Intent to land on your feet" needs to be considered. That was bullshit of the highest order.

2 really obvious game-changing coach's challenges have screwed this team. Koby needs to have a serious talk with JB. Him yelling at the refs all game seems to be hurting the team. I can't figure it any other way unless the games really are fixed.

The close association of the NBA with Gambling makes stuff like this look incredibly suspect. Same with the Embiid call.

 

[jjvors]

Okay, a little good news about this game: the Cavs got the No. 1 play of the day in the NBA: