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The Cavaliers, reeling from an injury to Evan Mobley on Monday and already depleted on the front line with Jarrett Allen and Dean Wade out, host the surging Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs started the season 16-18 but have completely turned it around and have since gone 31-11. They are 12-4 in their last 16. The Mavs are clearly the better and the healthier team at this point in time.
The Cavs spanked the Mavs by 18 points in late November with Allen and Mobley combining for 40 points and 21 boards while Ricky Rubio was a +30 off the bench. None of them will be on the floor tonight as the Cavs shift to a small-ball lineup with three of their bigs out.
This is the start of a brutal stretch of four games in five days for the Cavs. They play in Atlanta tomorrow night.
The only factors favoring the Cavs are that Dallas has not been especially good on the road (20-17) and they played in Dallas last night and had a long flight to Cleveland after the game. They smoked the Lakers, who were missing LeBron and AD, scoring 82 points in the first half and coasting from there. None of their starters played more than 31 minutes.
The Mavericks are a team built on defense (similar to the Cavs), ranking 2nd in scoring defense and 25th in scoring offense. Their entire rotation is 6’5” to 6’7” with the exception of guard Jalen Brunson (6’1”) and their two centers, Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber (both 6’10”). Their forte is preventing the 3-point shot as they lead the NBA in fewest 3-pointers made per game at 10.8.
The Mavericks are 27th in both blocks and steals, so you can get shots off. But it’s tough to make them as the Mavs are 7th in opponents’ effective field goal percentage and you don’t get many second chances as they’re 9th in defensive rebound percentage.
This is going to be a tough game for the Cavs to score 100 as they’re up against the 2nd best scoring defense in the league and they don’t have Allen or Mobley. The best way to score against a small Dallas team is in the paint. In November the Cavs put up 114 points against them while only making ten 3-pointers.
Luka Doncic is their superstar, averaging 28.0/9.2/8.5. Last night he toyed with what’s left of the Lakers with a line of 34/12/12 in 30 minutes.
By the way, the Lakers are now tied for 10th and in real danger of not making the play-in. LeBron has to be looking for a way out, right? He sprained his ankle in the 2nd quarter Sunday, stayed in the game, scored 39 points despite not being able to drive in the second half, and afterward said his ankle is “horrible”. If he can't make a very quick recovery the Lakers are toast.
Bickerstaff has had a day to figure out how he wants to deploy his forces with Mobley out. They will probably go with the same configuration as Dallas; one big (Markkanen/Love), one point guard (Garland/Goodwin), and three wings (a combination of Okoro, Stevens, Windler, LeVert, and maybe Cedi gets another shot). We might see a two-big lineup with Moses Brown and either Love or Marky for part of the game.
The badly undermanned Cavs are taking on a healthier team that is on a roll and this probably won’t end well. The Mavericks are pretty dependent on 3-point shooting, ranking 9th in percentage of points from 3’s. They jack up a ton of them (5th in 3-point rate) but don’t make that many (24th in 3-point percentage). After a game and a long flight last night their legs may be a little tired and the 3’s may not be dropping. The Cavs need to contest the 3’s, force misses, get the rebounds, and fast break off the long rebounds, getting transition buckets before the Mavs can set up their 2nd ranked scoring defense. I don’t see the Cavs having a lot of success in the half court offense.
If the new, smaller lineup can play an up-tempo pace and gets points in transition while the Mavs have an off-night from deep the Cavs just may be able to keep this close. But figuring out an answer to Doncic will be all but impossible, and the close games are usually won by the team with the best player.
The Cavs spanked the Mavs by 18 points in late November with Allen and Mobley combining for 40 points and 21 boards while Ricky Rubio was a +30 off the bench. None of them will be on the floor tonight as the Cavs shift to a small-ball lineup with three of their bigs out.
This is the start of a brutal stretch of four games in five days for the Cavs. They play in Atlanta tomorrow night.
The only factors favoring the Cavs are that Dallas has not been especially good on the road (20-17) and they played in Dallas last night and had a long flight to Cleveland after the game. They smoked the Lakers, who were missing LeBron and AD, scoring 82 points in the first half and coasting from there. None of their starters played more than 31 minutes.
The Mavericks are a team built on defense (similar to the Cavs), ranking 2nd in scoring defense and 25th in scoring offense. Their entire rotation is 6’5” to 6’7” with the exception of guard Jalen Brunson (6’1”) and their two centers, Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber (both 6’10”). Their forte is preventing the 3-point shot as they lead the NBA in fewest 3-pointers made per game at 10.8.
The Mavericks are 27th in both blocks and steals, so you can get shots off. But it’s tough to make them as the Mavs are 7th in opponents’ effective field goal percentage and you don’t get many second chances as they’re 9th in defensive rebound percentage.
This is going to be a tough game for the Cavs to score 100 as they’re up against the 2nd best scoring defense in the league and they don’t have Allen or Mobley. The best way to score against a small Dallas team is in the paint. In November the Cavs put up 114 points against them while only making ten 3-pointers.
Luka Doncic is their superstar, averaging 28.0/9.2/8.5. Last night he toyed with what’s left of the Lakers with a line of 34/12/12 in 30 minutes.
By the way, the Lakers are now tied for 10th and in real danger of not making the play-in. LeBron has to be looking for a way out, right? He sprained his ankle in the 2nd quarter Sunday, stayed in the game, scored 39 points despite not being able to drive in the second half, and afterward said his ankle is “horrible”. If he can't make a very quick recovery the Lakers are toast.
Bickerstaff has had a day to figure out how he wants to deploy his forces with Mobley out. They will probably go with the same configuration as Dallas; one big (Markkanen/Love), one point guard (Garland/Goodwin), and three wings (a combination of Okoro, Stevens, Windler, LeVert, and maybe Cedi gets another shot). We might see a two-big lineup with Moses Brown and either Love or Marky for part of the game.
The badly undermanned Cavs are taking on a healthier team that is on a roll and this probably won’t end well. The Mavericks are pretty dependent on 3-point shooting, ranking 9th in percentage of points from 3’s. They jack up a ton of them (5th in 3-point rate) but don’t make that many (24th in 3-point percentage). After a game and a long flight last night their legs may be a little tired and the 3’s may not be dropping. The Cavs need to contest the 3’s, force misses, get the rebounds, and fast break off the long rebounds, getting transition buckets before the Mavs can set up their 2nd ranked scoring defense. I don’t see the Cavs having a lot of success in the half court offense.
If the new, smaller lineup can play an up-tempo pace and gets points in transition while the Mavs have an off-night from deep the Cavs just may be able to keep this close. But figuring out an answer to Doncic will be all but impossible, and the close games are usually won by the team with the best player.