2023-24 Season | Game #36 | Spurs @ Cavs | Jan. 7, 2024 | 1:00 p.m.

[Tlyons]

Can't believe Caris shot the ball there.

 

[shoes22]

I missed this game. We won, which is good, but it seems bad to win by only two points against a 5-29 team. was there anything particularly outrageous in the way we played or did they just play well?

Seems like the refs were favoring Wemby with 11 FTAs?

The Spurs were honestly impressive for a 5 win team.

Felt like Wemby barely played, and they were a tweak or two from winning that game, and probably should've.

Cavs offense was more or less frustrating, but Levert, Merrill and Strus had good games. Allen continued to play pretty well.

Rotations and ATOs are still a mess.

 

[Kouki]

Apparently Wemby is on a minutes restriction. No idea how many minutes it is.

I missed this game. We won, which is good, but it seems bad to win by only two points against a 5-29 team. was there anything particularly outrageous in the way we played or did they just play well?

Seems like the refs were favoring Wemby with 11 FTAs?

I only caught the fourth quarter but we were much more comfortably winning until a series of boneheaded plays and bad luck. Thankfully the Spurs also had some boneheaded plays. Sochan (I think) did not attempt a point blank layup, he could have maybe passed to Wemby at the bucket, but he threw it out of bounds.

Spurs also could have called timeout to get a better look at the final shot, with like 1.6s or so.

Cavs can't inbound the ball, and then instead of just holding the ball with three seconds left, we executed a shot attempt which gave the Spurs the chance to win

 

[Dr. Claw]

I wonder if anyone noticed that JBB switched Okoro for Merrill in the last minute or so of play. I believe that was an issue earlier.

I still don't get why inbounding is so difficult for this team.
I thought JA's foul of Wemby to keep him from shooting a 3 when they were up 3 or so was a smart move.
The one move of Wemby's that seems the most unblockable is his pull up 3. He might miss, but no close-out will ever help.
Wemby on minutes restriction saved this game. That, and the Spurs just playing some "WTF" basketball down the stretch (passing to Sochan late for example).

That being said, JA had another great game. Almost 30 point double double. Did as well as one can guarding Wemby.
STRUS was great. Niang continues the path of denouncing and rejecting The Ways of Being Ass.
Merrill comes closer to making it clear he should be a rotational player.
and Caris LeVert seems to be the answer when no one can get a bucket (but he's not doing this with YOLO ball).
Team assist totals continue to climb.

Cavs miss Mobley on nights like these regardless.
The biggest issue is the defensive flexibility here on out. The amount of players who can defend 3, 4, 5 is suboptimal.

The NBA can eat the poopoo with this scheduling however. 1PM on a Sunday in football season (granted a lot of the games were jokes)?

Off to France it is.

 

[jjvors]

Individual Cavs stats:

Starters:
Okoro 3-5-1 in 27 minutes
Wade 2-2-1 in 11 minutes
Allen 29-16-2 with a steal and a block in 31 minutes. 11-19 fg He should get 19 fga every game, IMO. Great job taking it to the rookie Wemby! He drew 5 fouls.
Strus 8-5-4 with 2 steal in 37 minutes.
Mitchell 17-2-9 with a steal. in 37 minutes Just 1-10 from 3, off shooting night.

Bench: 60-14-10 in 27 minutes
LeVert 23-2-3 with 2 steals in 26 minutes 9-13 fg, 4-5 from 3. Great job!
Merrill 18-3-3 in 22 minutes. Merrill is breaking into the regular rotation! 5-9 from 3.
Thompson 8-4-2 in 17 minutes.
Niang 11-4-1 in 27 minutes
Porter 0-1-1 in 4 minutes. Why didn't he get more time?

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

LeVert and Merrill saved our ass. A combined 41 points, 14-for-24 from the floor, and 9-for-14 on 3's. At the end of the first quarter, LeVert hit a 3, then stole the inbounds pass and hit another 3 at the buzzer. That shot was the difference in a 2-point win.

Mitchell was 1-for-10 on 3's or this one would not have been close. He did have 9 assists, however. He's a great point guard.

Merrill had 18 points in 23 minutes and was a +23. On an afternoon where three starters (Okoro, Wade, and Strus) combined to score a paltry 11 points in 75 minutes we needed some help from the bench. Niang was a +27 in 27 minutes.

The Spurs starters were all between +9 and +17; ours were -9 to -21. Their starters kicked our starters butts, but the bench saved the game.

Wemby had a line of 24/10/3 with 5 blocks in just 25 minutes. If he played his average of 29 minutes we probably lose this one.

I prefer to think of this Spurs team not as a 5-30 doormat, but as the team that came within 3 points of taking the Bucks to OT in Milwaukee three days ago.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

I've been a Dean Wade believer but today makes it really hard. He looks like he doesn't want to be out there. He looks like the little brother who was allowed to play because they only had nine players but was told to stay out of the way.

Today he was a -21 in just 11 minutes. JBB started him both halves but took him out quickly and he never returned. He didn't score. When he gets the ball in his hands all he wants to do it give it up as quickly as possible. I'd like to see him drive and use his body to muscle his way to the rim, but he's way too timid. He has attempted 14 free throws all season, less than one every two games.

 

[Real Deal]

You just gotta call it like you see it: ALlen has become a different player w/ space. W/o Mobley next to him. He looks like an all-star.

I don't know what Altman is supposed to do with this information.

Sell high.

Something about this roster having a legitimate forward sounds better than Allen when Mobley is right.

 

[Peacedog]

LeVert and Merrill saved our ass. A combined 41 points, 14-for-24 from the floor, and 9-for-14 on 3's. At the end of the first quarter, LeVert hit a 3, then stole the inbounds pass and hit another 3 at the buzzer. That shot was the difference in a 2-point win.

Mitchell was 1-for-10 on 3's or this one would not have been close. He did have 9 assists, however. He's a great point guard.

Merrill had 18 points in 23 minutes and was a +23. On an afternoon where three starters (Okoro, Wade, and Strus) combined to score a paltry 11 points in 75 minutes we needed some help from the bench. Niang was a +27 in 27 minutes.

The Spurs starters were all between +9 and +17; ours were -9 to -21. Their starters kicked our starters butts, but the bench saved the game.

Wemby had a line of 24/10/3 with 5 blocks in just 25 minutes. If he played his average of 29 minutes we probably lose this one.

I prefer to think of this Spurs team not as a 5-30 doormat, but as the team that came within 3 points of taking the Bucks to OT in Milwaukee three days ago.

No mention of that big fella in the middle? He had a pretty decent game, I reckon.

 

[Peacedog]

Sell high.

Something about this roster having a legitimate forward sounds better than Allen when Mobley is right.

No.

 

[Real Deal]

No.

These stats are meaningless in the grand scheme of things. I'll remind you when the lights become brighter than expected again vs Isaiah Hartenstein.

 

[jjvors]

Cavs vs Spurs highlights:

 

[jjvors]

Cavs on the NBA Stats boards:

REBOUNDS​

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1.	Jarrett AllenCLE	16
2.	Goga BitadzeORL	14
3.	Rudy GobertMIN	13
3.	Duop ReathPOR	13
5.	Clint CapelaATL	12

ASSISTS​

---

1.	Anfernee SimonsPOR	11
2.	Dennis Smith Jr.BKN	10
3.	Donovan MitchellCLE	9
3.	Trae YoungATL	9
5.	Brandon IngramNOP	8

THREE POINTERS MADE​

---

1.	Caleb HoustanORL	7
1.	CJ McCollumNOP	7
3.	Sam MerrillCLE	5
3.	Anfernee SimonsPOR	5
5.	Paolo BancheroORL	4

FANTASY POINTS​

---

1.	Paolo BancheroORL	63.0
2.	Anfernee SimonsPOR	57.3
3.	Jarrett AllenCLE Interestingly, JA edged Wemby	56.2
4.	Victor WembanyamaSAS	55.5
5.	Trae YoungATL	50.3

 

[Comeback kid]

I've been a Dean Wade believer but today makes it really hard. He looks like he doesn't want to be out there. He looks like the little brother who was allowed to play because they only had nine players but was told to stay out of the way.

Today he was a -21 in just 11 minutes. JBB started him both halves but took him out quickly and he never returned. He didn't score. When he gets the ball in his hands all he wants to do it give it up as quickly as possible. I'd like to see him drive and use his body to muscle his way to the rim, but he's way too timid. He has attempted 14 free throws all season, less than one every two games.

He defended today just like he always does. His man never scored. But he missed a couple shots. That’s what got him benched. But they want him to shoot! Yeah right….

 

[jjvors]

Cavs in 6th seed, tied for 4th. Enjoy our growth. Wait till we get our starters back.

Eastern Conference​

TEAM	W	L	WIN%	GB	CONF	DIV	HOME	ROAD	OT	LAST10	STREAK
1 Boston Celtics	28	7	.800	--	22-4	10-1	17-0	11-7	1-3	8-2	W 2
2 Milwaukee Bucks	25	11	.694	3.5	20-10	6-5	16-3	9-8	1-1	6-4	L 1
3 Philadelphia 76ers	23	12	.657	5	17-9	5-3	13-6	10-6	0-1	5-5	L 2
4 Orlando Magic	21	15	.583	7.5	15-9	5-2	13-4	8-11	1-1	5-5	W 2
5 New York Knicks	21	15	.583	7.5	16-9	4-3	10-4	11-11	0-0	6-4	W 4
6 Cleveland Cavaliers	21	15	.583	7.5	13-9	3-3	12-8	9-7	2-0	7-3	W 3
7 Indiana Pacers	20	15	.571	8	17-11	9-2	11-8	9-7	0-0	7-3	L 1
8 Miami Heat	20	15	.571	8	15-10	7-0	9-6	11-9	0-0	6-4	L 1
9 Brooklyn Nets	16	21	.432	13	13-11	1-4	10-9	6-12	0-2	3-7	L 1
10 Chicago Bulls	16	21	.432	13	11-15	3-5	12-9	4-12	2-2	6-4	W 1
11 Toronto Raptors	14	21	.400	14	9-17	0-9	9-9	5-12	1-1	4-6	L 1
12 Atlanta Hawks	14	21	.400	14	9-17	4-4	5-9	9-12	1-1	4-6	L 2
13 Charlotte Hornets	8	25	.242	19	7-16	3-5	4-11	4-14	1-0	1-9	L 1
14 Washington Wizards	6	29	.171	22	4-24	1-9	3-12	3-17	0-0	2-8	L 4
15 Detroit Pistons	3	32	.086	25	3-20	1-7	2-14	1-18	0-2	1-9	L 3