Not enough time in Cavalier loss to Nets

The Cleveland Cavaliers trailed by ten points at the end of one quarter and they would get no closer until a furious late rally left them three points short in a 99-96 loss to the New Jersey Nets.
Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers with 32 points with 21 of the total in the final period.
Antawn Jamison finished with 20 points on the evening in support of Irving.
Cleveland travels to Boston tomorrow for the first of a home and home set over three days....

Swashbucklings

1) I was happy to see the team battle back in a game that was already decided,but let's face it-much of the comeback was in garbage time and off missed Nets free throws.
Liked the effort,but have to be realistic..

2) That does not make up for the listless play over the first three quarters as the Nets pretty much put things into cruise control for the second,third and early fourth in keeping the lead between ten and fifteen points.
I would even say that had the Cavaliers showed up with any intensity for the third quarter,they might have stolen this one away.
On that part-the effort was disappointing...

3) Kyrie Irving's career high came with much of the points coming through the lane as the Nets preferred to give the basket away rather than foul and stop the clock,but I was encouraged to see Irving driving to the hoop rather than chucking up threes in that situation..
Smart play by the rookie to take the sure two rather than risky threes....

4) Ramon Sessions had one of those rare games where his jumper was falling (5-8) and finished as the only Cavalier other than the two mentioned above to finish in double digits with 11 points.
It is really too bad that Sessions' shooting is so unreliable,if he could just improve a little,Cleveland would be able to utilize Sessions so much more over the course of a game.
As it stands now,the Cavaliers just cannot afford to spend too much time with Sessions and the inconsistent Daniel Gibson (zero points in 25 minutes of court time) clanging jumpers off the board like they are tossing cement blocks off Lake Erie....

5) Tristan Thompson returned from his ankle sprain and scored five points in fifteen plus minutes.
Thompson will likely keep the same playing time range for the two Celtic games to avoid a flareup.

Photo Credit-AP