 |
| Courtesy Chuck Crow-Cleveland Plain Dealer |
One man changed that as Lou Williams of the Toronto Raptors caught fire and to most peoples surprise,it was Toronto that led at the half and then dominated the third quarter and rolled on to a 110-93 victory over the Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena.
Kevin Love led Cleveland with 23 points and Kyrie Irving added 21 in the loss.
The now 5-7 Cavaliers will host Orlando on Monday....
Swashbucklings
1) The man that caught fire was Lou Williams,who finished with 36 points off the Toronto bench with an amazing 15 of 15 from the line.
The career high for Williams is part of the game as occasionally you will see someone that looks at the basket as the Atlantic Ocean (or Lake Erie in this case) for an evening and it's tough to stop.
2) Kevin Love did seem a bit more comfortable in the offense,which is a piece of good news in this one.
Love shot 8 of 16 on the game,but the tipper for me was this-only one attempted three pointer.
Love looked to get better shots in the low post and was able to take advantage of them off the block.
I hope this continues!
3) LeBron James is getting his share of the blame for the poor play and some of it is warranted,but I believe that James is in a no-win situation,
James finished with 15 points (6 of 12 shooting),but with 10 assists.
Shoot more and he isn't involving the teammates more,Pass more and he isn't doing his part offensively.
4) However,it has become apparent for the time being that if the Cavaliers are going to win games,the offense needs big scoring numbers from LeBron James.
When James does not score and works more off the passing games,Cleveland generally loses.
Now,I understand that there is a need to tune things ups and I'd rather win games in May than November,but keep that in mind.
5) Austin Carr commented during the Toronto tornado of points in the third quarter that the Cavaliers are "playing five or six guys on a back to back game night and they are starting to wear down",
It's actually seven (five starters,Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson),but it is still a valid point.
David Blatt waits too long to unload the bench,wastes tread on games early in the year and needs to either find something off the pine or hope that David Griffin can do something to help a unproductive group.
It's pretty clear that something needs to be at least tried....
6) Dion Waiters is playing pretty poorly.
Waiters scored just six points over 20 minutes of play and commented after the games that he "likes to have the ball in his hands more".
Looking at the composition of this roster,that simply isn't going to happen.
The problem is that with him playing so poorly he is losing value for a possible trade.
Tough situation for the player and the team...
7) Jonas Valanciunas scored eight points and added just five rebounds for Toronto,but just looking at his low post game and body on the block makes me wish the Cavaliers had taken him,when most expected them to,instead of Tristan Thompson.
Valanciunas had a third period run of a putback rebound for a score,a blocked shot on Kevin Love,a short jump hook over Love and then a rebound to set up a fast break.
I really like Valanciunas coming out of the draft and thought they should have taken him then (I'm not perfect,I liked Derrick Williams over Kyrie Irving in the same draft due to Irving's injury issues).
I can just imagine this team being able to use Anderson Varejao (another double double in the loss) as the energy guy at the 4 of 5 spot off the bench and Valanciunas enabling Kevin Love to play more of a freelance game near the basket....
Back later with a quick boxing challenge update
No comments:
Post a Comment