Take your clothes off, we're going streaking! The Cleveland Cavaliers have won two games in a row (ignore the opponents) and this one against the Bobcats was truly a joy to watch. Other than a rough start, this game was really freaking fun and had me grinning from ear to ear.
Cavs Leaders: Points: Irving, 20; Rebounds: Thompson, 9; Assists: Sessions, 9
Quick Thoughts:
The Cavaliers once again played another bad team. I don't know why the schedule worked out this way, but the Cavs have started the season with a bunch of reallllllyyy bad teams. By the way, they continue this streak again with the Raptors tonight. I know that you have to consider the team that the Cavs played on Tuesday night, but they looked really good as a unit. They were firing on all cylinders offensively. As a team, they had a turnover rate of just 8.9 and had 9 turnovers to 25 assists. That is a much better ratio and when you take care of the ball like that, you'll generally win.
The Cavaliers continued their torrid 3-point shooting at 10 of 21 (47.7%). They shot 50% from the floor and had an eFG of 55.6%. The Cavs did a great job at getting easy shots at and around the rim. They shot a whopping 26-36 at the rim. It's no secret that the Bobcats have struggled in protecting the paint, and Cleveland did a great job taking advantage of that. Tristan Thompson shot 6 of 8 at the rim. Anderson Varejao shot 4 of 4. Kyrie Irving shot 4 of 5. That's really good. If a team can successfully get layups and hit three point shots, that's another great recipe to winning ballgames.
Something that has come up a few times in this young season is the idea that the Cavaliers are going to be too good for own our good. The plan all along has been to suck again this year and add another top-5 lottery pick to the core. Once we have a solid core in place, start adding veterans and build the next Oklahoma City Thunder. People have voiced some concern that the Cavs are going to be too good and perhaps challenge for the 8th spot in the East. Personally, I'm not concerned about this yet. Once again, I look to the schedule that we have played. Who have the Cavs played so far? Raptors, Pistons, Pacers, Nets, Bobcats. If we were truly a good team, perhaps a playoff team, we'd be 4-1 at the very very least after that stretch. It will undoubtedly get harder as the season goes on and we will gradually, if not quickly, move towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference. As good as the Cavs looked last night, there will be nights when they look horrible. When two of the key players on your team are merely teenagers, there will be ups and downs. The downs haven't come yet. They will.
I also liked how Byron Scott managed the team's minutes against the Bobcats. Knowing that they have another game tonight against the Raptors, Scott once again managed not to play any one player for 30+ minutes. Alonzo Gee played the most minutes with 28. I like the awareness by Scott. It's a compressed season and he needs to keep these guys fresh.
Notable Performances:
Luke Harangody!!!! HOLLA. Check out who got some playing time! Luke Harangody provided a much needed one minute off of the bench. He shot 100% from the field and scored 2 points. His shot selection was fantastic and he managed not to do anything ridiculously goofy. I love what Harangody brings to this team: comic relief and a goofy white guy for the crowd to cheer for.
Omri Casspi was pretty terrible. He started the game with some of the worst basketball that I've ever seen. He was benched after about 4 minutes and I'm surprised Scott stuck with him for that long. He got slightly better as the game went on but it was still pretty bad. Of the Cavaliers' 9 turnovers, Casspi had 4 of them. Ew. Byron Scott said after the game that he is not in danger of losing his starting spot to Alonzo Gee. I would probably lean towards Gee at this point, but I'm not the head coach.
Tristan Thompson is definitely a worthy candidate for player of the game. He dunked on everybody. EVERYBODY. He absolutely oozes energy. He tries to swat every shot that goes up. He tries to grab every single rebound. He had 9 rebounds total, 5 of them on the offensive glass. Tigger was 1 rebound away from his first career double-double.
Fear The Sword's Player Of The Game:
Kyrie Irving
The two best players on the floor for the Cleveland Cavaliers last night were rookies. Think about that for a moment. I don't think you can really argue it, honestly. Thompson and Irving showed us exactly what we wanted to see from them. Irving missed his first two shots of the game....and then went on to shoot 8 for 8 the rest of the night to finish 8 of 10 from the floor. He played just 20 minutes, yet lead the team in scoring with 20 points. He effectively ran the offense, tossing 6 assists and committing 0 turnovers. He also two blocks, one of which was a spectacular chasedown. I think you'd have a hard time finding a flaw in Irving's performance against the Bobcats. He was spectacular.