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The Cleveland Cavaliers came into tonight's game rested and with positive spirits coming off of two convincing victories. They made their west to the land of purple and met another bad team that has put together some solid play of late, the Sacramento Kings.
It didn't go well. In a season that has seen the Cavs get blown out on several occasions, this goes down as their most lopsided loss yet. That's pretty embarrassing if you think about it. The Cavs were outscored 65-30 in the 2nd half.
First 12:38 of this game: #Cavs 35-30. Next 18:34 of this game: #Kings 52-23. Well then, offense (and defense).
— Jacob Rosen (@WFNYJacob) January 13, 2014
The Cavaliers didn't really defend in this game. The Kings were taking uncontested three pointers all game. They made a lot of them. They finished 15-30 from three point range, and shot 52% overall from the field. The Cavaliers came into the game 15th in the NBA in points surrendered per 100 possessions. That ranking might take a hit.
The Cavaliers couldn't shoot in this game. Not Kyrie Irving, who was 3-14 from the field, 0-3 from three point range, and 1-4 from the free throw line. He is usually pretty good at shooting basketballs threw circles with netting attached. Not tonight. Not Dion Waiters, who was 1-7 from the field, 1-5 from three point range, 1-2 from the free throw line.
Cleveland as a team was 11-23 from the free throw line, which is horrendous in every sense of the word. They shot under 40% from the field against one of the worst defensive teams in the league.
Tristan Thompson was invisible for much of the night. Anderson Varejao had a great first half, but by the start of the 4th quarter I am told Henry Sims was seen hanging up "Missing" signs with his face on it all around Arco Arena.
The blowout loss meant that Anthony Bennett and Sergey Karasev got some run. Neither were particularly good. Bennett had 3 points on 5 shots, and added three rebounds. His effort level looked good. Karasev scored on a nice cut but was otherwise quiet.
C.J. Miles had 14 points on 8 shots. He didn't miss a three, including one at the end of the first quarter to beat the buzzer from about 45 feet. I like him a lot. It was nice of him to show up. Everyone else, I don't know. Hope they catch the flight to Los Angeles for Tuesday night's matchup with the Lakers.
The Cavaliers are now 1-1 on a 5 game west coast road trip that I hoped they would get two wins on. That is still very possible, but tonight was not particularly encouraging. Hopefully this is a learning experience and team will bring the necessary focus for the rest of the trip.