2023-24 Season | Game #77 | Cavs @ Suns | April 3, 2024 | 10:00 p.m.

[Dr. Claw]

Donovan can't go. DG can't replace the production. The team's primary "cheat" is done, and pretty much that looks like how the rest of the season will go.

Only solace is that the Knicks are banged up worse, Milwaukee has Doc Rivers, and every other team in the conference besides Boston has problems.

JBB's replacement better not be Ham-tier.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

We're not going to beat the Suns on the second night of a BTB, but it was nice to see the Cavs come out after halftime with some fight and go on a 17-4 run. It was only a matter of time before the Suns put a stop to it, but I was glad to see the Cavs come out with some effort. They outscored the Suns by four points in the second half.

When Booker and Durant are shooting like that there's nothing you can do. The Suns had by far the two best players on the court and they combined for 72 points and 15 assists. Royce O'Neale came off the bench to shoot 5-for-7 on 3's.

The good news is Mobley continues to play well and expand his game. Tonight he was 8-for-13 with a line of 20/9/5. Allen had a line of 20/5/4. Mitchell showed progress over his last game as he works his way back from the injury with 24 points, although he still has a ways to go. He missed some 3's he usually makes. But I saw flashes of the Donovan Mitchell we saw before the knee problem.

Garland played 40 minutes with Porter out. He generally did not play well, missing floaters and layups and going 1-for-4 from deep. He needs to make more than one 3-pointer in 40 minutes.

Strus did a little of everything with a line of 9/12/8, but we need more than 9 points in 38 minutes from our small forward.

You knew the Cavs were tired because they made no effort on the offensive glass. Their first second chance points came with under three minutes to go in the third quarter.

The starters weren't bad, but the bench was awful. Niang had a brutal game with a -21 in 11 minutes. LeVert was a -20 in 24 minutes with 5 turnovers. Merrill and Morris were -10 and -9 in 4-5 minutes. This had to be the worst game of the year for the Cavs' bench.

Now the Cavs get a much, much needed two days off and hopefully Mitchell continues to get stronger and Garland finds his floater and 3-point shot. They desparately need Dean Wade, in my opinion. Putting Niang on Durant is absurd.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

So Niang just isn't playable, right?

I think that is pretty obvious, at least against good teams.

 

[Smooth]

• Every loss hurts but this one hurts a little more. The Bucks lost at home to the lowly Grizzlies. Not only do they fail to capitalize on that loss, they also now are tied with Knicks and the Magic in the loss column. So instead of being a game back of the division, they know could easily fall to 5th in the coming days.
• Make it another stretch of alternating wins and losses for the Cavs. It’s been over a month since the Cavs have had a win streak.
• The Cavs are currently limping to the finish line. While other teams are getting heathy (Knicks and Sixers) and others are honing their craft (Celtics, Magic), the Cavs are struggling. Their best player may never be healthy until the offseason, the defense has failed post-All Star break (25th in DRTG), and the others haven’t stepped up to help their ailing star.
• The realization that the Cavs best player can’t be his best self is a disappointment. The even bigger disappointment is those around him haven’t picked up the slack like Mitchell did for them earlier in the year.

RCF RECAP
​

 

[Pierre Pan]

I'm assuming transition points make up a large portion of that stat.

Oh, I’m sure they do

 

[Pierre Pan]

Excellent summary and analysis from the Fear the Sword crew:

Watching the Market: Cleveland Cavaliers at Phoenix Suns

Donovan Mitchell was the one bright spot in an otherwise embarrassing performance for the Cavs.

www.fearthesword.com

-Lineups with both Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley continue to struggle with getting out to three-point shooters. Opponents shot 39% from three last season when both were on the floor. This season, that’s jumped up to 40.8%.

-Caris LeVert looked nothing like the guy he was against the Utah Jazz. Few players have a wider gap between what they look like on their best and worst days. We saw both in just over 24 hours.

-Sam Merrill’s minutes seemed to have disappeared with the guard rotation fully healthy. He played just three minutes outside of garbage time after contributing 18 points on six threes the night before.

-Second-chance points remain an issue on both ends of the floor. The Suns grabbed 30.2% of thier misses (68th percentile) leading to 14 second-chance points. Meanwhile, the Cavs couldn’t grab an offensive rebound as they retrieved just 16.3% of their misses (8th percentile) and just six second-chance points.

-There’s no reason a team that starts two bigs like Allen and Mobley should be giving up easy points on both ends like this. It simply shouldn’t happen with this roster construction.

-Evan Mobley continues to show flashes of brilliant play. We’re just waiting for him to put it together for a completely dominant game. Bullying Kevin Durant in the paint for an easy basket was one of the plays that stood out from his performance tonight.

-He (Mitchell) relentlessly kept fighting throughout the fourth and finished with his most complete game since returning from his knee injury. Mitchell finished with 24 points on 8-17 shooting with three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

-Mitchell was still head and shoulders above anyone else on his team even though his knee is still a major issue. His health is all that matters for the rest of the season.

 

[nime]

Excellent summary and analysis from the Fear the Sword crew:

Watching the Market: Cleveland Cavaliers at Phoenix Suns

Donovan Mitchell was the one bright spot in an otherwise embarrassing performance for the Cavs.

www.fearthesword.com

-Lineups with both Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley continue to struggle with getting out to three-point shooters. Opponents shot 39% from three last season when both were on the floor. This season, that’s jumped up to 40.8%.

-Caris LeVert looked nothing like the guy he was against the Utah Jazz. Few players have a wider gap between what they look like on their best and worst days. We saw both in just over 24 hours.

-Sam Merrill’s minutes seemed to have disappeared with the guard rotation fully healthy. He played just three minutes outside of garbage time after contributing 18 points on six threes the night before.

-Second-chance points remain an issue on both ends of the floor. The Suns grabbed 30.2% of thier misses (68th percentile) leading to 14 second-chance points. Meanwhile, the Cavs couldn’t grab an offensive rebound as they retrieved just 16.3% of their misses (8th percentile) and just six second-chance points.

-There’s no reason a team that starts two bigs like Allen and Mobley should be giving up easy points on both ends like this. It simply shouldn’t happen with this roster construction.

-Evan Mobley continues to show flashes of brilliant play. We’re just waiting for him to put it together for a completely dominant game. Bullying Kevin Durant in the paint for an easy basket was one of the plays that stood out from his performance tonight.

-He (Mitchell) relentlessly kept fighting throughout the fourth and finished with his most complete game since returning from his knee injury. Mitchell finished with 24 points on 8-17 shooting with three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

-Mitchell was still head and shoulders above anyone else on his team even though his knee is still a major issue. His health is all that matters for the rest of the season.

His rotations last night were again baffling

6 man rotation basically

Mitchell with 38

Why wasn’t Morris Sr used in Durant?

 

[PIP]

Strus let us down…Marcus Morris was a non factor…

That’s the ballgame right there…

 

[Futuredome]

The rebounding crisis continues on. Just never improves

 

[Pierre Pan]

His rotations last night were again baffling

6 man rotation basically

Mitchell with 38

Why wasn’t Morris Sr used in Durant?

He felt compelled to use our defensive stopper, Georges Niang ; especially since he had the hot shooting hand

 

[AustinCarr]

This team has Really felt the loss of Wade. Say what you will about his passivity on offense, he is often the glue holding this shit together on both ends.

 

[foucault87]

Game was too late for me but looking at the box...

1. Mobley and Allen seem to be putting good pressure on the rim which is good to see

2. This is really a lost season for DG. He had decent numbers for Mike Conely last night, but DG should be better than Mike Conely on a cold shooting night

3. DM seems to be getting into form a bit more? Hard to say without watching the game

4. Strus always finds a way to contribute and I love that. He really is the glue guy we were missing.

5. Wtf was this rotation. Why did only Caris get any bench mins? Half our starters are still playing on injuries. We have established good depth on this roster and this clown refuses to use it. Playing 5 starters 35+ is fine when you have 6 NBA caliber players or your name is Thibs. But we have ~13 NBA rotation level guts and even with 3 out you used 6 players for extended mins? I want this guy gone before we have another rubio/rose situation. Absolutely garbage coaching

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Game was too late for me but looking at the box...

5. Wtf was this rotation. Why did only Caris get any bench mins? Half our starters are still playing on injuries. We have established good depth on this roster and this clown refuses to use it. Playing 5 starters 35+ is fine when you have 6 NBA caliber players or your name is Thibs. But we have ~13 NBA rotation level guts and even with 3 out you used 6 players for extended mins? I want this guy gone before we have another rubio/rose situation. Absolutely garbage coaching

I watched the game. Niang was awful. He fouled Beal on a 3-point shot. He missed a wide open 12' jumper, then didn't hustle back on defense which led to 35-year-old Kevin Durant beating him down the floor for an uncontested dunk. He got blown by on defense. In 11 minutes he took four shots, making none, and committed two fouls. The Cavs were outscored by 21 points in his 11 minutes. That's why "this clown" didn't play him more. Niang was blundering around on both ends of the floor, getting abused defensively and clanking open 3's on the other end. Some nights you just don't have it.

Morris was a -9 in four minutes. He disappeared when he was on the court. Not a field goal, rebound, assist - nothing. Merrill was a -10 in 5 minutes and it was obvious the Suns were not going to let him get any clean looks. They chased him off the line every time he touched the ball.

The starting five needs to get into a rhythm in time for the playoffs, which are just around the corner. I assume that's why JBB kept them on the court so long - they need to play together because they've only been on the floor together for 27 games this year and time is running out. Also, the Cavs have two days off after this game, so playing 38 minutes or whatever isn't a big deal.

 

[2 For The Brew]

I watched the game. Niang was awful. He fouled Beal on a 3-point shot. He missed a wide open 12' jumper, then didn't hustle back on defense which led to 35-year-old Kevin Durant beating him down the floor for an uncontested dunk. He got blown by on defense. In 11 minutes he took four shots, making none, and committed two fouls. The Cavs were outscored by 21 points in his 11 minutes. That's why "this clown" didn't play him more. Niang was blundering around on both ends of the floor, getting abused defensively and clanking open 3's on the other end. Some nights you just don't have it.

Morris was a -9 in four minutes. He disappeared when he was on the court. Not a field goal, rebound, assist - nothing. Merrill was a -10 in 5 minutes and it was obvious the Suns were not going to let him get any clean looks. They chased him off the line every time he touched the ball.

The starting five needs to get into a rhythm in time for the playoffs, which are just around the corner. I assume that's why JBB kept them on the court so long - they need to play together because they've only been on the floor together for 27 games this year and time is running out. Also, the Cavs have two days off after this game, so playing 38 minutes or whatever isn't a big deal.

The starters as a group played fairly well. Normally basketball-reference.com has their previous nights games up by 630am but they aren’t up from last night yet.

Niang and Merrill WERE absolutely abused by the Suns. We were up 16-15 when JBB substituted Vert and Niang for Allen and Mitchell and that was that. We were bleeding like a stuck pig on blood thinners whenever we had bench players in.

The starters brought us back several times but we couldn’t sustain it. I was encouraged by how they played as a group last night. Mitchell became more confident as the game went on. They get two days off now but they did play a lot of minutes last night.

Our bench has been a massive strength all season but last night they were awful.

 

[Dr No]

Excellent summary and analysis from the Fear the Sword crew:

Watching the Market: Cleveland Cavaliers at Phoenix Suns

Donovan Mitchell was the one bright spot in an otherwise embarrassing performance for the Cavs.

www.fearthesword.com

-Lineups with both Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley continue to struggle with getting out to three-point shooters. Opponents shot 39% from three last season when both were on the floor. This season, that’s jumped up to 40.8%.

-Caris LeVert looked nothing like the guy he was against the Utah Jazz. Few players have a wider gap between what they look like on their best and worst days. We saw both in just over 24 hours.

-Sam Merrill’s minutes seemed to have disappeared with the guard rotation fully healthy. He played just three minutes outside of garbage time after contributing 18 points on six threes the night before.

-Second-chance points remain an issue on both ends of the floor. The Suns grabbed 30.2% of thier misses (68th percentile) leading to 14 second-chance points. Meanwhile, the Cavs couldn’t grab an offensive rebound as they retrieved just 16.3% of their misses (8th percentile) and just six second-chance points.

-There’s no reason a team that starts two bigs like Allen and Mobley should be giving up easy points on both ends like this. It simply shouldn’t happen with this roster construction.

-Evan Mobley continues to show flashes of brilliant play. We’re just waiting for him to put it together for a completely dominant game. Bullying Kevin Durant in the paint for an easy basket was one of the plays that stood out from his performance tonight.

-He (Mitchell) relentlessly kept fighting throughout the fourth and finished with his most complete game since returning from his knee injury. Mitchell finished with 24 points on 8-17 shooting with three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

-Mitchell was still head and shoulders above anyone else on his team even though his knee is still a major issue. His health is all that matters for the rest of the season.

That first bullet point is a problem. Mobley & Allen are going to play a ton of minutes together. After 2 years of data, 40% is not a bug. It’s what they are. Both guys are natural interior defenders who can cover the perimeter (a great skill to have). But neither is a natural on the perimeter. Giving up 40% in the playoffs is going to be an automatic ticket home.