They weren't and Kyrie Irving was, at least for a while, as the Nets raced out to a twenty-point lead after the first quarter and held the Cavaliers at bay thereafter in a 115-108 Brooklyn victory.
Darius Garland led Cleveland with 34 points with Evan Mobley dropping in 19 as the top secondary scorer.
Cleveland will now watch tonight to see who wins the 9-10 game between Charlotte and Atlanta as they will welcome the winner to Cleveland Friday night.
Swashbucklings
1) Kyrie Irving was perfect in the first half as Irving hit all nine of his shots from the floor including a walk-off third pointer and would hit his first three shots in the third quarter on his way to a 34 point, 12 assist evening.
Cleveland simply couldn't stop Irving all evening.
2) Kevin Durant finished with 25 points but every time that the Cavaliers seemed to crawl within distance, Durant would make a huge shot to keep things in line for Brooklyn.
I wrote in the preview that Cleveland's chances to win were dependent on a few factors but one was don't allow Irving and Durant to score between seventy and eighty points.
They combined for sixty-nine.
3) Brooklyn outrebounded Cleveland by just three (43-40) and each team grabbed ten offensive rebounds but it seemed like the big rebounds that Cleveland needed to grab to turn the game just a little more all fell into the hands of the Nets.
4) Lauri Markkanen finished with thirteen points but only four rebounds and just as in the above note about rebounding, it seemed like every time that Markkanen touched a rebound that it deflected off his hands and usually to Brooklyn.
5) Caris LeVert just continues to struggle to fit in the offense.
LeVert finished with twelve points but did it in forty minutes and hit only four of twelve shots.
LeVert seems to struggle without the ball in his hands and yet he isn't a knockdown shooter that could benefit from Darius Garland (or anyone else) driving to the basket and dishing to the wide-open shooter.
Maybe a training camp with the team will help with the chemistry but right now (on the overall) I'm disappointed with what the Cavaliers received in the trade that brought LeVert to Cleveland.
6) Darius Garland is a lead dog and I say that with respect.
Garland knows what needs to happen in a game against a superior team and he isn't afraid to put the load on the back.
I worry that as time goes on Garland could fall into the clear the floor and let me handle it trap but for now, I love the attitude.
7) If the Cavaliers lose Friday night, they will go into the lottery and keep the first-round pick that would go to Indiana as part of the Caris LeVert trade.
If Cleveland wins, the pick will go to the Pacers.
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