- Coming off a short-handed, OT thrilling win in Philadelphia on the second night of a back-to-back with the visiting Miami Heat having last played on Monday, the Cavs figured to be a likely victim to a scheduling loss. Just not so sure some expected it to be a 33-point scheduling loss.
- The Cleveland Charge may have been healthier, more well rested and quite frankly a better challenge for the Miami Heat. If it’s any indication of how the night went, most of the 4th quarter was played by the Cavs (Championship) Summer League nucleus of Emoni Bates, CRAIG! Porter Jr, Isaiah Mobley and Sam Merrill.
- Down Donovan Mitchell, Ty Jerome, Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade and a minutes restricted Caris LeVert, CRAIG! Porter Jr got his first NBA start. As evidenced by his play, Porter Jr’s minutes have slowly increased each of the last five games.
- The Heat, well Kyle Lowry, came out firing. They went on a 16-2 run to start the game and were on fire from three. Lowry had 5 of the 6 1st quarter Heat threes. They also were pushing the pace, early and often, running at any opportunity and finished with 9-0 in fastbreak points in the 1Q.
- To their credit, the Cavs did battle back after an early 1Q timeout by JB Bickerstaff. The Cavs issued a 14-3 run to even the game at 19-16 which is the closest it really ever got. The Cavs never lead all night.
- Turnovers were an issue all night for the Cavs, and really inhibited any chance of getting back into the game. They had 6 turnovers to 6 assists in the 1st quarter and finished with 25 assists and 19 turnovers. The Heat finished with 28 points off those turnovers. Each of the Cavs starters had 2 TOs with Porter Jr leading the way with 4.
- The Cavs were really sloppy offensively, and it showed with their turnovers. Lots of lazy passes leading to deflections or turnovers; little off-ball movement and just not a lot of in-rhythm offensive possessions. Despite all that, they still managed to shoot the ball well. They finished shooting 46% from the field and from three-point range,
- The Cavs 1Q problem reared its ugly head again tonight. In games they hold their opponent under 30 points in the 1Q, they’re 6-0 on the year. In games they don’t, they’re 2-7. The Heat scored 37 big points tonight. That is tied with Indiana for the highest 1Q mark allowed by the Cavs this year.
- Tonight was not the night to start out slow, or in a deep hole like they did. Not against a rested, hot Heat team, and not with a tired, injury riddled Cavs team. The Cavs tried to battle back throughout the night but never could get it to a manageable deficit.
- The Cavs welcomed back LeVert, albeit on a minutes restriction basis. He was a key component in the second unit, and was playing well in the first half, until he decided he might prefer an early exit. Unhappy with some foul calls, LeVert got two technical and was told to hit the showers in the 3Q.
- The NBA is a copycat league and Erik Spoelstra might have picked something up from Nick Nurse, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see other coaches try it. The Heat picked up some possessions full court, and were ultra-aggressive on challenging hand-offs, cuts and passes on the perimeter. This severely effected the flow of the Cavaliers offense, and really pushed the Cavs away from the basket. They didn’t have a good answer for the defensive pressure, similiar to how the Sixers handled the Cavs in the 2nd half on Tuesday night.
- The Heat were blistering from deep, hitting 20 three-pointers and shooting 57% from 3, and 52% from the field. In point guard mode, Jimmy Butler dished out a team high 9 assists. The Cavs were consistently allowing deep penetration which lead to open shots on the perimeter. This had the Cavs scrambling and were often a step slow on their defensive rotations. The crispness they played during their win streak just wasn’t there defensively.
- Speaking of three-pointers, CRAIG! hit two of them. If he can show any semblance of an outside shot, this emergence becomes a lot more real.
- Speaking of three-pointers, part 2: Georges Niang has quietly shot 41.7% on 3’s his last ten games. He got off to a rough start to the season but has slowly rounded into shape as the perimeter threat everyone hoped was being added to the rotation. He added 3 more threes against the Heat.
- Tristan Thompson was the only Cavs player to have a positive plus-minus at +2. Otherwise, Isaiah Mobley was the only other Cav to have a single digit (!) negative plus-minus; all others were in double digits.
- Last thought: Yes the Cavs were down a lot of guys, yes they are on the second night of a touch back-to-back and yes the Heat were rested and hot. But… the way this game went down just didn’t sit completely right. The Cavs had a built-in excuse for a loss, and let that be the reason they lost. The sloppy play, lack of crispness on both ends, and the overall lack of a competitive game was a bit disheartening. Chalk it up and move on but this is one of those games you would like to see a little more fight and a little more focus.
- Up next: Saturday night at home against the Lakers.
