Game Thread | Game #29 | Cavs @ Mavericks | Dec. 14, 2022

Cedi can’t even get on the floor in garbage time; the only Cav not to play. Makes you scratch your head as to what happened to fall out of favor so quickly.

MirORich said:

So then again why the need to minimize a very solid and very necessary game from a young developing player who was doing the right thing in the situations and converting the finishes?

Did people say he played like a poor man’s Kawhi? No, they simply pointed out the obvious that anyone who watched the game could see: he played a good game, played well on both sides of the ball, and (not an end all, be all) had the best +\~ on the team tonight

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I don’t see how stating the obvious minimizes anything. At least he went to the rim when he wasn’t guarded. That’s good!

What doesn’t need to be minimized is the impact of this game on the six guys who might have sacrificed their season for a game that wasn’t hardly contested.

Very well played game and loved the way they withstood Luka's big push in the 4th to pull within 10 points and then the Cavs dropped the hammer.

26 assists and only 6 turnovers - that's a winning formula. I like the way they started the game on a 16-2 run - no easing into it. They came to play.

Mitchell was awesome going 13-for-20 and a +20, Allen was +20, Mobley 14/7/6 and +12, and Stevens 18/11/2 and a team high +22 as he drew the defensive assignment on Doncic.

Only 13 points from the bench and 11 were from LeVert. Love is looking extremely old and slow. He failed to score and is easily blown by on defense. He stills know how to position himself for a rebound, though.

When Garland sat down for four minutes in the 4th quarter the Cavs went on an 11-2 run to push the lead from 10 to 19. That's where they won the game. Garland had a quiet game; 4-for-11 from the field, 6 assists, but no turnovers. The Cavs just seem to be better with Mitchell and LeVert in the backcourt and the numbers prove it.

ice cream man said:

Cavs have a long-term Garland problem. Idc how good the other 4 guys are…he is an extremely weak link on defense. Will be abused in the playoffs. Has to be stellar offensively to make up for it. Will he be able to control pace and be a constant threat to score? Draw fouls?

With Garland out of the game the Mavs don’t know how to attack us.

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Ehh, Garland going out also coincided with a guy called Evan Mobley coming in.That may have had something to do with them "attacking us".

When they scored, it was basically because we played good D but they missed so bad it was a long rebound into an open 3 that they missed but they got an even longer rebound and then they hit the ensuing open 3, then it was on a christian wood pick&pop where Jarrett Allen honestly forgot who was on the floor for a second because he should have switched but instead dropped , then after that they switched that play every time(a lot easier to switch with Mobley in the game too), Christian Wood then got doubled because he had a percieved mismatch on I think LeVert and he passed it inside for a dunk, and then Doncic scored on a beautiful knifing attack through the lane where he finished over a recovering Jarrett Allen by switching to his left hand and going with a lefty reverse layup at the last second after attacking right.

They didnt score on us by attacking Garland who we had hidden on THJ. They scored on us by attacking the vulnerability left when our young DPOTY Evan Mobley sat down for 2 minutes.

I also agree with Rich that Garland took a step forward tonight. He was playing the right way tonight even in the 4th. He missed a great look from 18 feet that he is usually money with and he missed his little running left side bank shot that he mastered last year. But mostly he was getting the ball up the floor quicker, getting into the offense faster, and getting the ball swinging around to other guys immediately. When teams sell out to our guards I really like when we get the 2 man Mobley/Allen interior passing game going as a priority. When Stevens hit that 1 corner 3, all of a sudden the next 3 plays the interior was just wide open. Thats how important getting one more spacer we can play especially in closing lineups is, or hopefully getting Dean Wade fully healthy will help there as well.

Comeback kid said:

I don’t see how stating the obvious minimizes anything. At least he went to the rim when he wasn’t guarded. That’s good!

What doesn’t need to be minimized is the impact of this game on the six guys who might have sacrificed their season for a game that wasn’t hardly contested.

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Now your bordering on comedy in that second paragraph with hyperbolic concern over 6 guys under 27 playing between 29-38 minutes tonight.

InBoobieWeTrust said:

I don't know why I waste my time commenting on posts of people who don't watch the games or understand basketball.

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Fixed it for ya Boobs!

MirORich said:

Now your bordering on comedy in that second paragraph with hyperbolic concern over 6 guys under 27 playing between 29-38 minutes tonight.

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Wait, and see…..

Cavs highlights:

Doncic was a -20 and Dinwiddie a -30. Not bad defense by the Cavs. Held them to 22 points under their home scoring average.

Cedi only played seven minutes against the Spurs and none last night. Is he in JBB's dog house?

I was okay going with a smaller rotation tonight because we really really needed to get a road win, especially one against a decent team, just to exorcise our road demons a bit. I felt we were just so uptight in that Spurs game. It was just a really ugly performance and then to lose the way we did, despite deserving to lose...I think the whole team took that one to heart and really stepped up preparation for tonights game.

6 Turnovers total all night was the stat of the game for me. Garland has been the worst culprit there so to see him come out and protect the ball all night as priority #1 was nice to see, and as the point guard of this team, and one of our young leaders, the rest of the team then followed suit. Mobley, Stevens and LeVert each had 1. And then Mitchell had 3(which isnt bad given his usage tonight).

Just felt like while we still didn't shoot well outside of Mitchell from deep, we played under control and with attention to detail all night.

Comeback kid said:

Wait, and see…..

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No Cav player played the entire second half as at least one person suggested a page or few back. Every player was substituted out at some point during the 3rd quarter/early 4th quarter.

No Cav player played more than 38 minutes

The end of the the quarter had a long pause in action for the Garland trip review, then the technical foul shot, the the break between quarters. Mitchell then came out at 10:17 of the 4th and a full timeout was called at the 9 minute mark prior to Mitchell coming back in.

MIA plays old ass Kyle Lowry more MPG then Garland

BKN plays 16 year vet KD(who has had major leg injuries in his 30s) more mpg then Mitchell.

Keep reaching

Just want to point out that Evan Mobley is a 21 year old who should legitimately be in the top 3 of DPOTY voting this year if people have any sense. He is the most important part of our very elite defense.

InBoobieWeTrust said:

Just want to point out that Evan Mobley is a 21 year old who should legitimately be in the top 3 of DPOTY voting this year if people have any sense. He is the most important part of our very elite defense.

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Sorry Boobs, he’s not shown that he’s prime KD or Giannis yet so not allowed to be impressed

LeVert highlight:

jjvors said:

LeVert highlight:

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Caris has really recalibrated his mid range(kinda close midrange 4-8 feet). Shots on the lane he was missing or passing up earlier have been falling the last 4-5 games.