Game 53| Spurs @ Cavaliers| Wednesday, February 13th| 7:00 pm EST

[Jack Brickman]

But if you're going to get sucked into the paint, go all the way and double Parker hard. Don't go a little over half way and then decide, you know what, I'll just stand over here. Oh well, life goes on.

I mean, I'm not sure what you expect anyone else to say at this point. It's pretty much consensus that Dion screwed up and blew that final play. He even accepted accountability for it in the post-game interview. He screwed up. He knows it. It'll be better for him in the long run having a game winning shot stripped away because he blew his coverage on the defensive end.

Yeah, it sucks that the team lost, but this is the kind of perfect moment that can really get through to a young player like Dion and make him realize that defense is just as important as offense.

[Marcus]

A comment I just saw on FB. "I enjoyed the game tonight with my son and his grandfather. My son was fortunate enough to be randomly selected to be 1 of 5 kids that are honorary ball kids and get a game ball from each of the starters. However, Kyrie decided to not present a ball to a kid although he was standing right there. He sent out Boobie Gibson instead in his place. My son received a ball from Boobie but he's no dummy as he is a huge basketball fan. It was an awesome opportunity for my son and not a slight on the Cavs, but Kyrie needs to be a little more involved with the fans. Particularly the kids. We go down to the games early and have a friend that works there so the players all sign for my son. Kyrie of course warms up at a different time and walks around the court and into the locker room to avoid the throng of kids that idolize him. Great player on the court. Less than great from a public relations standpoint."

Eeek. I mean I know Kyrie has a lot going on, but that's not a great sign.

From all accounts that I've heard, Kyrie is nothing but great to the fans, even going so far as to stay late after signing sessions are over to make sure he has a chance to sign and greet for everyone, etc. He just slipped and fell and missed the potential game winner. He played like shit the entire night when his teammates really stepped up and he knew it. I'm not surprised to hear something like this, but I'm not worried, either.

Sorry if this was posted earlier but man the Spurs are a team of professionals and solid veterans. When Dion went for a layup then hurt his leg/ankle (2nd/3rd QTR I think), aside from Kyrie, TT, and Gee; Duncan, Parker and Green were right there with him checking up on him too. When Dion got up Timmy even gave him an encouraging tap. They play and act the right way, such a well-run organization.

The Spurs have long been my favorite non-Cavs basketball franchise for this very reason. Personally, I think they are absolutely the most professional in all of American sports right now. They are champions who do things without being flashy; winners that are absolutely humble. They play the game the right way and if the Cavs are even able to sniff the success and the sportsmanship that the Spurs have exuded for the last 15 years or so then I think it would be an outstanding accomplishment.

Aka Kyrie needs to get some new weed, cuz whatever he's smokin lately, it's putting him to sleep on the court.

This was Dion Waiters coming out party and Kyrie fuckin blew it. I don't care, Kyrie is too good, but you gotta give it up to your running mate in this situation. Dion was on fire, he deserved the shot.

To say that Kyrie laid an egg in the 4th would be an understatement. It was selfish, but I believe Leonard might have been guarding Waiters, still nonetheless I think Kyrie should have played decoy on the play and Dion should have been the guy with the ball in his hands.

If Dion can do this consistently, then we might have got the top player in the draft. He's built like a tank, and nobody could seem to stop him when he decided it's time to go to the rack.

Byron Scott was the one who drew up that play. He even said the key was to get it to Kyrie, and nobody else. The guy may not have had it last night, but he brings it EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, especially in the fourth quarter.

And please, let's not get ahead of ourselves. While I think Waiters is probably the best scorer to come out of the draft, to say that he's a better pick than Lillard, who's probably going to run away with Rookie of the Year honors, is simply homeristic at best.

To me, this was a very encouraging loss. The Cavs hung with the best team in the league right now despite a poor showing from their superstar, and it came down to the last second. While the game was ultimately decided by a rookie mistake on the defensive end (which, by the way, Dion IMMEDIATELY owned up to and said he was at fault), we saw some flashes of what the future has in store. Zeller had an outstanding game. Tristan still put up decent numbers, even if it's not what we're accustomed to seeing from him lately. Tim Duncan was held to 13 points on 6-15 shooting, and only 6 rebounds. (He normally averages 17.2/9.6 on 50.2% shooting.) There was production off the bench.

I would have loved for the Cavs to win this one. I really would have. But there are still plenty of positives to take out of this loss. And for all of you tankers, look at it as another ping pong ball to add to the Cavs' collection in June.

[BigErieCavsFan]

To get sucked in the paint with Parker driving is acceptable. The half second where his body was completely relaxed , Arms down by his sides was the wtf moment for me.

Outside of that.... Great game from him

Pretty bad D there. Sure he had to try and help on Parker, but you have stay in the passing lane between him and your man. That 1-2 secs that he relaxed he should have been thinking "Oh shit, I better not let him pass the ball to my guy!" time.

[shoes22]

The Spurs have long been my favorite non-Cavs basketball franchise for this very reason. Personally, I think they are absolutely the most professional in all of American sports right now. They are champions who do things without being flashy; winners that are absolutely humble. They play the game the right way and if the Cavs are even able to sniff the success and the sportsmanship that the Spurs have exuded for the last 15 years or so then I think it would be an outstanding accomplishment.

And Popovich is probably the best coach of the last 25 years, outside of Phil Jackson. Seems like you can plug almost any player into his system, and you'll get productivity out of them.

Byron Scott was the one who drew up that play. He even said the key was to get it to Kyrie, and nobody else. The guy may not have had it last night, but he brings it EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, especially in the fourth quarter.

I'm worried that Byron Scott will become an "enabler" for Kyrie. I understand that Kyrie and Scott have a close relationship, but Scott has to do his best to make sure that Kyrie doesn't fall into bad habits, and last night we saw a lot of them from Kyrie.

[Marcus]

And Popovich is probably the best coach of the last 25 years, outside of Phil Jackson. Seems like you can plug almost any player into his system, and you'll get productivity out of them.

Absolutely. It's outstanding how well his role players are playing - he gets contributions from every one of his players, and he has six players currently averaging 10 points or more a game. (I'm including Gary Neal in that number, even though he's averaging 9.9... ah, technicalities.) They're elite on both sides of the ball and I really think that they could take the Western Conference and even the whole thing this year, so long as Pop continues to monitor their minutes and keep them fresh like he has been.

I'm worried that Byron Scott will become an "enabler" for Kyrie. I understand that Kyrie and Scott have a close relationship, but Scott has to do his best to make sure that Kyrie doesn't fall into bad habits, and last night we saw a lot of them from Kyrie.

When I think enabler, I think Mike Brown. Don't forget that Scott just recently benched his starters for their piss poor effort in a loss a couple weeks ago. He doesn't mince words and he has shown that he is not afraid to call out any one of his players.

Kyrie had a terrible game last night. It happens. He was also consistently being shadowed by a second defender throughout that entire game. The Spurs had a very good gameplan going into that matchup, and it worked to perfection for them. Kyrie's teammates stood up to the task and they lost in the very last seconds to the best team in the NBA. A veteran, championship team. That's still pretty damn good, considering their starting lineup is 4/5 rookie and sophomore, and that on average they are one of the youngest and most inexperienced teams in the NBA. It sucks that they lost, but I'm not as concerned as other people are.

[Jack Brickman]

Byron Scott was the one who drew up that play. He even said the key was to get it to Kyrie, and nobody else. The guy may not have had it last night, but he brings it EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, especially in the fourth quarter.

Can we not pretend there was actually a play drawn up? Tossing the ball to Kyrie is not a play.