Recap: Nets 125, Cavs 117 (or, Humble Pie)
The Cavs allowed a Christmas hangover to take them out of this game from the jump as the Brooklyn Nets coasted to a 125-117 victory at the expense of the good guys. NBA Champion Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant combined for 64 points but the Cavs allowed the Nets’ role players T.J. Warren, Ben Simmons, Yuta Watanabe, and Royce O’Neale to go off as well. Let’s dive in on last night’s game…
1. Darius Garland with an MVP performance
The biggest positive of the game from the Cavs’ perspective was DG going off for 46 points, eight assists, and was the only positive impact starter at +6 plus/minus in a game the Cavs lost by nearly double digits. DG did all he could to keep it interesting, but ran out of steam at the end of the game with some mistakes that sealed the Cavs’ fate. After a mediocre start to the season due to a vicious eye injury, DG is rounding into All-Star form again and has even made improvements to his game with fewer turnovers this season and a higher stock rate. DG finding his rhythm should improve the offense that has fallen out of elite status as the season has gone along.
2. Cedi Osman and Kevin Love with solid efforts
Cedi the Jedi and NBA Champion Kevin Love were the only other Cavs in positive impact territory. In spite of a poor three point shooting night, Cedi found ways to be effective on offense with a variety of nice finishes and good ball movement. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff needs to re-consider his decision to not allow Cedi to start because there’s enough evidence at this point to suggest that Isaac Okoro (net rating of -1.1 with the starters) and Lamar Stevens (net rating of -2.9 with the starters) stink in comparison to Cedi sporting a +32.9 net rating with the starters. If not Cedi, why not Caris LeVert who’s a +9.6 with the starters? It’s time for J.B. to start making better decisions.
Love was en route to an easy double double if it were not for J.B. inexplicably playing him for only 13 minutes while Tower City stunk up the joint, Jarrett Allen in particular. Yours truly doesn’t know what J.B. was watching but it was clear that Love was putting in effort on both ends of the court that JA and Evan Mobley weren’t. Show some respect to the champion J.B.!
3. Cavs served some humble pie
Coach Bickerstaff has two hard and fast rules about Cavalier basketball: Be the most unselfish team and the most competitive team every game. No stat measures these things better than rebounds and assists, and they tell the story of the game. The Cavs got outrebounded 38-33 by the worst rebounding team in the NBA bar none. The Cavs also couldn’t match the ball movement of the Nets getting outassisted 27-21. This game was an excellent learning opportunity for the Cavs about what it’s going to take to actually compete with the best of the NBA. The lack of ball movement hurt the Cavs’ role players who never got it going offensively. The lack of fight on the boards allowed the Nets to get away with playing small ball lineups that continually punished Allen and Mobley’s inability to guard the perimeter. Coach Bickerstaff also deserves some blame for not abandoning tall ball, but perhaps that strategy would’ve worked had Tower City put forth a greater effort.
4. Quick word on the Nets
Apparently Steve Nash was the problem in Brooklyn, as the Nets are the hottest team in the NBA with Jacques Vaughn at the helm going 20-7 under his regime. The T.J. Warren offseason pickup is proving to be a shrewd one for the Nets as he destroyed the Cavs with 23 points, eight rebounds, and a +16 plus/minus off the bench. Ben Simmons looked his usual timid self on offense but definitely provided his trademark defense and ball movement. Kyrie and KD seem to be hitting their stride, however nothing they do in the regular season really matters as far as they’re concerned. It took four years but it seems like the Nets are finally figuring it out, luckily there’s plenty of time for age (KD) or stupidity (Kyrie) or laziness (Simmons) to tank their championship hopes.
5. Next up, Pacers in Indy
The Cavs will make their way to the Crossroads of America to take on the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night. The Cavs will get a nice two days’ rest before doing their mini-tour of the Central Division before closing out 2022. As everyone saw a few days ago, the Pacers will be a tough one so the Cavs better be prepared to compete, Go Cavs!