2023 Season | Game #49 | Cavs @ Wizards | Feb. 7, 2023 | 7:00 p.m.

[Lee]

Having your athletic 7 foot power forward make all 5 of his last 3 point attempts kind of helps open things up, lol

 

[Smooth]

• The question that will be persistent with Georges Niang, particularly in the playoffs: Will his offense be able to offset his defense enough, and how much will teams target him defensively? Niang had a rough start defensive giving up a few baskets, and a foul. He followed that up with his patented floater in the lane and a spot-up three. Smart teams will single him out defensively which begs the questions how valuable is his shooting and how much can his defense keep him on the floor so his shooting value can show through.
• The aggressive Evan Mobley on the second unit is a fun one. If he can find his spot on second units, it opens a lot more for this time. He earned a trip to the foul-line as well as took a defender off the dribble for a finish around the rim. More on Mobley offensively later.

RCF RECAP
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[avs2000]

That was close. You could see the Wizards were sick of getting embarrassed by the Cavs - they were playing hard on both ends. Fortunately Donovan carried us to another win with a line of 40/8/5. Just an extraordinary player with a relentless will to win.

The Cavs were down 90-88 with 9.5 minutes to go and went on a 13-5 run, holding the Wizards to 5 points in the next 6.5 minutes. They won with defense and Mitchell on a night where the open 3's weren't falling.

Niang and Garland played like crap for the most part. Niang was being abused defensively. Garland needs more time. He was 4-for-12 from the field with 3 turnovers.

The Wizards' bench lost this one. Omoruyi and Coulibaly were -19 and -17 in 13 and 28 minutes. Kispert played a great game with 23 points and 7 rebounds in 33 minutes on 9-for-15. Gafford was a +11 with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks. He was playing like his life depended on it. The Wizards were -19 in the 13 minutes he was down.

Mobley was huge with 22 points on just 10 shots (9-for-10) and 8 rebounds with great defense. He also hit both his 3-point attempts. Allen was having a tough time with Gafford (12 points, 9 rebounds) so Mobley was very important to get this win.

Allen and Mitchell played 37 and 38 minutes, which won't help us against Brooklyn tomorrow. I was hoping for an easy win with the subs playing the whole 4th quarter, but the Wizards were determined to make the Cavs earn it. Fortunately, Kuzma finally started missing shots late in the 3rd quarter. He had 28 points with 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and that's all he got.

Nothing wrong with earning a close win. Blowing out every one every nite has a cost. Having a little reality thrown at you by a lower tier team is ok to me

 

[rabman_gold]

While winning the game's fine and all, it gave me a slightly bad feeling.

• The Wizards gave us a fight, but they (poorly) executed throughout the night.
• Their (sloppy) passing, their (cringy) shooting, and their (questionable) decision-making meant the win was never in doubt.
• The Cavs didn't really play well either, but sometimes... having the best player on the court is all you really need.
• They probably lacked focus because of their winning streak. And seeing the team in front of them.
• The fact they won despite that is actually a good thing for dealing with adversity.
• The rotations weren't crisp. Struss left early in the first quarter while LeVert barely played in the fourth quarter. Mitchell looked gassed at the end of the third. And Allen looked beaten up throughout the fourth.
• Bickerstaff did something in the first to try to get the team going: He brought Okoro and Wade in for Mobley and Garland earlier. I think it was a good decision to shake off the cobwebs. Go with the lineup that won the majority of the last 15 games.
• Allen wasn't really looking good there for a moment in the fourth. It felt like if you out-physical him, he stops setting solid picks and puts up bad layups. That could be a difference between winning a playoff series and bowing out in five games. I hope that isn't the case come April...
• Garland looked off in all bits and pieces of tonight. Sure, we could cap it to not being in game shape, but he was sloppy with the pass. His body language looked off. Obviously his shot wasn't there (and missed a point blank layup). And his drive game felt like a chicken with its head cut off. He needs more poise. Hopefully, it was just a bad game.
• I liked Mobley's game. If he gets that three going, he may get to a Garnett-lite level by the end of the season. He's going to be the difference in the team's ceiling.

Beyond all that, I think the team is learning good lessons. Keep making progress and hope it fields different results than last year.

 

[Pierre Pan]

Having your athletic 7 foot power forward make all 5 of his last 3 point attempts kind of helps open things up, lol

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but Evan went 0 for 1 from deep in Monday‘s Kings victory sandwiched between the 3 for 3 and 2 for 2 efforts. Oh, and much better spelling today.

 

[Tlyons]

There will be games like these.

These types of games seem to be the exception, so I'll take the dub and move on.

If Ev keeps this 3pt shooting up, my god.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

After the game Garland admitted he is still working on getting back to his previous level of play after missing six weeks and he's also adjusting to the new style of play. As we go forward he should get better by the week if not by the game.

Mobley's 3-point shooting is a potentially huge development if he can keep it up. I don't mean keep hitting 5 for 6, but if he can hit 40% it would really help open up the floor.

Niang is really struggling at the moment after a strong January. He's made 4 of his last 25 attempts from deep and teams are going right at him as soon as he steps on the floor (and having success).

Dean Wade, OTOH, hit 45.9% of his 3's in January and is at 40% after four games in Feb. He also plays defense about eight levels above Niang, in fact, he has the 5th best defensive rating in the NBA among players with 25 games or more. Niang gets targeted and abused defensively due to slow feel and lack of length and jumping ability.

With Mobley back and Wade playing elite level defense and hitting 40% from deep, I don't see many (if any) minutes for Niang. JBB is showing him respect and playing him equal minutes with Wade at the moment, but at some point JBB will just have to decide who is the better player rather than giving each of them 17-18 minutes and even less as Mobley's minute restriction is lifted.

 

[Lee]

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but Evan went 0 for 1 from deep in Monday‘s Kings victory sandwiched between the 3 for 3 and 2 for 2 efforts. Oh, and much better spelling today.

Not a debby downer, didnt catch the one miss....5 for last 6 is still very good.

And dont ever think my spelling will get better, the fact I made no errors of spelling is as much luck as anything else.

 

[Lee]

After the game Garland admitted he is still working on getting back to his previous level of play after missing six weeks and he's also adjusting to the new style of play. As we go forward he should get better by the week if not by the game.

Mobley's 3-point shooting is a potentially huge development if he can keep it up. I don't mean keep hitting 5 for 6, but if he can hit 40% it would really help open up the floor.

Niang is really struggling at the moment after a strong January. He's made 4 of his last 25 attempts from deep and teams are going right at him as soon as he steps on the floor (and having success).

Dean Wade, OTOH, hit 45.9% of his 3's in January and is at 40% after four games in Feb. He also plays defense about eight levels above Niang, in fact, he has the 5th best defensive rating in the NBA among players with 25 games or more. Niang gets targeted and abused defensively due to slow feel and lack of length and jumping ability.

With Mobley back and Wade playing elite level defense and hitting 40% from deep, I don't see many (if any) minutes for Niang. JBB is showing him respect and playing him equal minutes with Wade at the moment, but at some point JBB will just have to decide who is the better player rather than giving each of them 17-18 minutes and even less as Mobley's minute restriction is lifted.

Wade played a bit of center the other game and didnt get abused defending the center like I thought. He has already proven to be a plus plus defender at 3-4, decent at guarding the 2...if he can be even guarding the 5...watch out.

And now Wade has been semi aggressive in taking the 3? Wade is turning himself into a very usefull 3 and D guy for sure, emphasis on the defense, but dont you dare leave him open either. I am really starting to love Wade's play as of late,. he might get all of Niang's minutes come playoffs.

 

[jjvors]

Cavs Wizards highlights:

 

[Dr No]

After the game Garland admitted he is still working on getting back to his previous level of play after missing six weeks and he's also adjusting to the new style of play. As we go forward he should get better by the week if not by the game.

Mobley's 3-point shooting is a potentially huge development if he can keep it up. I don't mean keep hitting 5 for 6, but if he can hit 40% it would really help open up the floor.

Niang is really struggling at the moment after a strong January. He's made 4 of his last 25 attempts from deep and teams are going right at him as soon as he steps on the floor (and having success).

Dean Wade, OTOH, hit 45.9% of his 3's in January and is at 40% after four games in Feb. He also plays defense about eight levels above Niang, in fact, he has the 5th best defensive rating in the NBA among players with 25 games or more. Niang gets targeted and abused defensively due to slow feel and lack of length and jumping ability.

With Mobley back and Wade playing elite level defense and hitting 40% from deep, I don't see many (if any) minutes for Niang. JBB is showing him respect and playing him equal minutes with Wade at the moment, but at some point JBB will just have to decide who is the better player rather than giving each of them 17-18 minutes and even less as Mobley's minute restriction is lifted.

Niang & Strus coming in was always going create a minutes log jam. That's why I was surprised that at least one of Okoro, Wade or LeVert wasn't moved in the off-season (or even at the trade deadline). Its ended up being a huge benefit for the team this season with all the injuries, but, with everyone healthy, we are back to having more quality players than we have minutes to play them. It's kind of nuts to have two guys as productive as LeVert and Wade only get 13 & 12 minutes last night - and that's with 3 starters logging under 30. If we remain at full strength, JBB is going to have some hard decisions to make. He could stick with this 10 man rotation and play his starters less minutes - this probably makes the bench happy but it hurts the starters' stats. He could stay with the 10 many rotation, play his starters 32-35 minutes, and give short stints to the bench - this probably makes his stars happy but pisses off his bench players. Or he could go back to the 8-9 man rotation and have a couple of agents demanding a trade in the off season. I honestly don't know what is best, but I think I'd lean toward option 1 and try to sell the stars that it is to their benefit to play less now and be fresher for the post-season.

 

[scene42]

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