Cavaliers crush Heat in Game Three

   The Cleveland Cavaliers rolled into Miami looking to finish off the Miami Heat in four games.

And in game three, the Cavaliers accomplished half their goal with a dominating 124-87 victory in game three of their Eastern Conference Quarter-Final series.

Six Cavaliers finished with double-figures, led by Jarrett Allen's twenty-two and DeAndre Hunter's twenty-one.

Cleveland can complete the sweep Monday night in Miami.

Swashbucklings

1) It's hard to imagine, but the Cavaliers were this destructive on a bad shooting afternoon by Donovan Mitchell, who finished with thirteen points on four for fourteen shooting.

2) As a team, Cleveland shot fifty-three percent from the floor while Miami shot forty-two percent.

In basketball, if you have a ratio of eleven points in shooting percentage, most of the time, you win.

3) Earlier, Evan Mobley was announced as the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year.

I was surprised that Mobley won and not because he didn't deserve it, he did.

Usually, players need a year of nomination for such awards before they actually win them.

4) Excellent game from DeAndre Hunter off the bench with his 21 points on six of eight shooting.

Hunter's plus-minus for the game was a stunning plus thirty-four,

5) Cleveland outscored Miami 33-5 at one point in the first half, and you could see the air release from the Heat, they knew early this game was over.

6) All of this was achieved without Darius Garland, who sat out with a toe injury,

Smart move by Kenny Atkinson to get Garland 100 percent for the future and I would sit him Monday as well.

Love saves Cavaliers, Hornets stung 102-101

    Kevin Love nailed two free throws with 1.2 seconds that allowed the Cleveland Cavaliers to win 102-101 over the Charlotte Hornets in a game that will be remembered for quite a while for one of the worst calls that basketball has ever seen.

Jarrett Allen led Cleveland with career highs in points (29) and rebounds (22) the day after the center wasn't selected for the All-Star game in Cleveland.

Kevin Love finished with 25 points and Brandon Goodwin added 12 points as the only Cavaliers to join Allen in double-figures for the evening.

Cleveland improved to 32-21 with the win and will host the Indiana Pacers Sunday night in Cleveland.

Swashbucklings

1) I've never seen a call like the one in the fourth quarter and I've been watching basketball for a while.

Ed Davis, who didn't play in the game, swatted at Charlotte's Terry Rozier as Rozier fired a three-pointer, thinking the play was dead after Cleveland's Dean Wade had stepped out of bounds.

Davis was called for a technical foul for interference, which was fair but Rozier's shot occurred well after the whistle blew, and therefore so did Davis's interference.

Amazingly, the referees counted the three-pointer and even more amazingly the play stood after review.

What the hell is replay for if it doesn't correct mistakes?

2) Charlotte then connected on their next three shots, all from three-point range, and suddenly the Hornets would lead until the Kevin Love free throws- all due to the momentum from a blown call.

Davis clearly wasn't trying to interfere, he was thinking that he was goofing around with a player during a dead ball but the interference did occur but there is no way Charlotte should have been awarded three points-which the NBA agreed with after the game.

3) Cleveland once again played without Darius Garland and it is clear how badly this team needs him.

Rajon Rondo and Brandon Goodwin simply don't shoot the ball well enough to be threats from the outside and I could definitely see the Cavaliers going after someone to cover Garland's absence in the future.

4) Darius Garland was named to the All-Star team but Jarrett Allen was not.

Allen took out his anger on the Hornets as his points and rebounds were career highs and he fouled out Charlotte's Mason Plumlee as Plumlee vainly attempted to stop Allen.

Allen shot twelve of twenty from the floor and split his twenty-two rebounds evenly between offensive and defensive.

With Kevin Durant unable to play, there is an open spot on the Eastern roster and Allen could receive that spot, especially with the East looking short at big men for the game.

5) Charlotte seemed to see some controversy on the foul on the final play that sent Kevin Love to the line.

I didn't see it that, Love was clearly fouled and there was still time left on the clock- no controversy in my opinion.

6) Kevin Love did more than just hit those pressure free throws, Love scored twenty-two of his twenty-five points in the second half and along with Allen, kept Cleveland in the game.

Love has a strong chance of winning the Sixth Man of the year and I would have given him next to no chance of winning that award before the season.

Cavaliers re-sign Jarrett Allen

    The Cleveland Cavaliers had a few goals in free agency and the trade market in the off-season to try to improve the team to one that could contend for one of the last playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.

I'm not saying I'm buying that, but a similar idea worked for the Atlanta Hawks last season so anything can happen but the chances of it happening improved when the Cavaliers retained restricted free agent center Jarrett Allen with a five-year contract worth one hundred million dollars.

Allen was essentially stolen as the Cavaliers helped Houston and Brooklyn work with the cap enough to make their James Harden deal and received Allen and the recently traded (to Minnesota) Taurean Prince for their help.

Allen's addition made Andre Drummond superfluous and he established himself as a solid foundational player as he averaged thirteen points and ten rebounds (actually 9.9) in 51 games as a Cavalier.

The 6'10 Allen protects the rim, shoots a high percentage ( 60 percent), runs the floor well, and although he doesn't shoot the three as the modern pivot does, Allen is at least smart enough to know what he doesn't do well and not force shots that he cannot make.

The question was raised before free agency began about the Cavaliers signing Allen and after drafting Evan Mobley from USC third overall, was could you put the two on the floor together at the same time.

I think that they can and the Cavaliers must agree.

Allen's skills as a more conventional (old school) center should allow Mobley, who plays the modern big man game to roam the floor as the power forward using his versatile skill set, so the two should mesh well together.

There are no guarantees that happens but there are few guarantees in any game!

Twenty million is far from inexpensive, but considering the forward steps in Allen's game and that he's only twenty-two, this is a market-value contract, and to re-sign with a bad team, it's fair.

The Cavaliers do have a glut of sorts at four and five with some tweeners that aren't true power forwards or centers with Allen, Mobley, Larry Nance Jr, and the fading Kevin Love, who should be bought out of his remaining contract or risk continuing his divisiveness in the locker room.

Combined with younger players at the end of the bench in Dean Wade and Lamar Stevens, it's not difficult to see that there may not be enough playing time to pass around with the roster in its current form.

The Cavaliers have made a decision on the core group of players that will take them back to the playoffs. Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Evan Mobley, and now Jarrett Allen will hopefully be part of the next playoff team.

You may have noticed that I didn't include Collin Sexton in the group and there is a reason for that.

I am saving that for an upcoming post.

Cavaliers trade JaVale McGee to Denver, Drummond to be bought out

  The Cleveland Cavaliers attempted to make several deals as the trade deadline approached, did manage to make one trade happen, but failed in their effort to assemble the one trade that they wanted to happen most.

Andre Drummond wasn't moved as the Cavaliers had hoped and the team has started to talk buyout with the veteran center, which is why teams that were interested, didn't trade for him (although there were teams rumored to be interested that couldn't match up under the salary cap) and will leave the Cavaliers allowing Drummond to walk without a return.

The Andre Drummond experiment didn't work out in the end after acquiring him at last year's deadline from the Pistons for a second-round pick, Brandon Knight, and John Henson, but it didn't really harm much other than Dan Gilbert's wallet- that was hit to a pro-rated tune of close to thirty million for Drummond's 2020-21 time in Cleveland.

Drummond didn't play badly, and although some may disagree with me, I didn't see the attitude problems on the court that others did.

Drummond was productive (17.5 PPG, 13.5 RBG), but watching the offense it's easy to see how Drummond's stats can be considered soft ones as he cannot score away from the post, and defensively, his hunger for rebounds can cause him to chase the ball and leaves the rim wide open

Drummond was redundant from the moment that the Cavaliers were able to involve themselves in the trade between the Rockets and Nets that ended with James Harden in Brooklyn.

When Koby Altman was able to add Jarrett Allen for Dante Exum and two draft picks (both acquired from other teams, not the Cavaliers' own selections), any interest in keeping Andre Drummond floated away.

Drummond is reported to be headed to the Lakers, although the Nets have also been mentioned among a few other teams with interest.

Cleveland had to be pleased with JaVale McGee's play this season.

McGee didn't sulk, always hustled, and had they decided to keep McGee with an attempt to re-sign him at the end of the season (McGee will be a UFA at the end of the season), I wouldn't have complained.

McGee averaged eight points and five rebounds and turned himself into an asset that a contender (such as Denver) would be interested in trading for.

Cleveland received center Isaiah Hartenstein and two future second-rounders in return for McGee.

I know I could be considered "old-school", but I always wonder why these second-rounders are considered so valuable although I can answer my question as they help make trades with the needed minutia under the salary cap.

I do get frustrated with how those choices are eventually used as so many teams select players from outside the United States and a large chunk of the time never even come to a camp as their rights are more valuable to be shuttled from team to team in trades.

The second-rounders are one "protected" although the protections haven't been released to my knowledge, in 2023 and an unprotected in 2027.

Cleveland did acquire one player and in what is a mild surprise in these types of trades, the player is one that the Cavaliers are going to keep around and see how he fits in the overall picture.

Isaiah Hartenstein is a seven-footer that will be given a chance to see what he can contribute as a backup center to Jarrett Allen.

Hartenstein is from Germany and was taken by the Rockets in the second round of the 2017 draft, but did not arrive in the NBA until the following season at the age of 20.

The now 23-year-old center played two seasons with Houston before being released in the off-season and signed with Denver.

In thirty games for the Nuggets, he averaged just over three points and just under three rebounds a game.

In Hartenstein's three seasons in the league, he has played in only eighty-one games, so he's one game away from playing an entire season but took almost three to get there.

Hartenstein isn't a three-point shooter as he has made exactly one three-pointer in his entire career and for this season, he is shooting thirty-eight percent from longer than three FEET!

Hartenstein doesn't look like a standout or someone to build around, but at 23 and the Cavaliers needing a backup big man to replace McGee, he's worth a look for the rest of the season, but I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't around next season for Cleveland.

Hoping to finish my tribute to Joe Tait today, we have a tribute post coming soon and a preview of the one fight for the boxing challenge this Saturday.

Undermanned Cavaliers top Bulls 103-94

     The Cleveland Cavaliers lost leading scorer Collin Sexton before the game due to a gimpy hamstring, so it could be expected for the Cavaliers to struggle on Trade Deadline Eve in Chicago against the Bulls.

Instead, the Cavaliers received excellent games from the other three top players on the team and surprised the Bulls 103-94.

Darius Garland finished with a near double-double with 22 points and nine assists, Jarrett Allen also barely missed the same feat with 19 points and nine rebounds, and Larry Nance Jr. did manage to pull off a double-double by scoring fourteen points and plucking fourteen rebounds.

Cleveland improved to 17-27 with the win as they deal with the trade deadline tomorrow, the next three games in the west against Los Angeles (Lakers), Sacramento, and Utah and six of the next seven games are on the road.

Swashbucklings

1) Just as the Cavaliers started a seven road games of the next eight-game swing is not the best time to lose your highest scorer, but it was nice to see players stepping up to try to make up the difference.

However, the next three games are all against better teams than the Bulls, and should Collin Sexton miss those games, it's going to take efforts such as these to have even a chance of winning.

2) I haven't been writing as much about the Cavaliers, but I've been watching.

Larry Nance Jr might be the player that if Cleveland placed every player on an available to acquire list that most teams would want first.

Nance has improved his shot and passing and while he may not be the best player on a team, he would be the one player that can help any team.

3) I also wonder about Darius Garland.

On nights like tonight, I think Garland could be a fine player, but he lacks consistency and there are still plenty of questions on a Garland/Sexton backcourt over the long term.

4) If you had to trade either Garland or Sexton, which would you choose?

Sexton's the better player by conventional numbers, but he might be one of those players that scores a lot of points on bad teams and he still hasn't proven that he can settle into a system without the ball.

Garland's shooting has improved, but you still wonder if he isn't a tweener that doesn't shoot well enough to play the two-guard and yet isn't a true point.

5) I doubt the Cavaliers will do very much by the trade deadline.

I think JaVale McGee is the most likely to go, although far from a sure thing and there has been some talk around Cedi Osman.

I'm sure they will try to get anything for Andre Drummond and if anyone had any type of interest in what's left of Kevin Love, the Cavaliers would likely pay them!

6) What I found most interesting came from Sam Amico at FortyEightMinutes.com, but speaking to another general manager (nameless) about which of the Cavaliers young players that he would be interested in acquiring.

https://twitter.com/AmicoHoops/status/1373698856458850304

That makes me wonder about just what Koby Altman's plans for the team are and could the team decide that Altman's plan isn't working and clean house? 

Cavaliers gain revenge- Trim Timberwolves 100-98

    Jarrett Allen scored 23 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and blocked five shots in his first start as a Cleveland Cavalier as the Cavaliers avenged their loss in Minnesota with a 100-98 victory over the Timberwolves in Cleveland.

Collin Sexton finished as the team leader with 26 points, while Darius Garland scored 19 points and dished out 11 assists for the victorious Cavaliers.

Cleveland improves to 10-11 with the win and will host the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday.

Swashbucklings

1) Jarrett Allen was tremendous in the victory with his numbers and he makes me feel very confident in the Cavaliers' future at center and in the event that the team trades Andre Drummond before the end of the season.

2) Andre Drummond missed the game with a "sore back" to allow Allen to receive the start. 

Drummond did receive a pounding in Minnesota Sunday evening, and this could be a load management issue, but I also wonder if Drummond's trade talks are starting to warm up a bit?

3) The most exciting play of the game came when Darius Garland lobbed the ball up with Jarrett Allen leaping from midway up the lane to grab the pass and slam it through the net with one hand for the dunk.

That play had me up and cheering from the couch!

4) Jarrett Allen has similarities to Andre Drummond, but there are differences.
Allen is far better at the pick and roll game than Drummond and he is more versatile in the lane as too.

Allen can play a bit farther from the basket and doesn't take up the type of space in the lane that Drummond does, which opens the lane for...

5) More drives and drive and passes for Collin Sexton and Darius Garland.

Allen's game is more modern than Andre Drummond, who is more of a traditional big man, and that allows the smaller playmakers like Sexton and Garland more space to operate.

That also results in more ball movement with everyone involved in the offense rather than standing and around and watching in isolation.

6) Every game even against bad teams like Minnesota is a grind right now.

Larry Nance Jr, missed another game with wrist soreness, Kevin Love remains on the injured list, and without Andre Drummond, Cleveland is very vulnerable with three of their top big men not on the floor.

Foul issues or another injury make every game treacherous inside for Cleveland and there are no gimmes at this time as their 1-1 record vs the lowly Timberwolves show.

Cavaliers cut down Nets again!

  Collin Sexton scored 25 points, Jarrett Allen scored 19 points in 19 minutes. and Andre Drummond and Larry Nance Jr. each posted double-doubles as the Cleveland Cavaliers moved above .500 with a 125-113 win over the Brooklyn Nets at Rocket Fieldhouse.

The win gives Cleveland a surprising two-game sweep of the two games against the Nets and pushed the Cavaliers into third place in the Central Division.

Cleveland improves to 8-7 on the season with their next game against the Celtics in Boston Sunday night.

Swashbucklings

1) The Brooklyn Nets entered these two games in Cleveland, with tons of hype about the new "Big Three" and they left town with questions, and watchers were impressed by the surprising Cavaliers with their effort and their team play.

2) Kevin Durant didn't play for the Nets and that likely was the difference between the double-overtime game in the first of the two games and the twelve-point loss in the latter game.

Brooklyn is holding Durant's playing time down as he rebounds from the Achilles injury that caused him to miss last season and with  Durant playing fifty minutes in the double-overtime game, it made sense for the Nets to give Durant the evening off.

3) The difference in this game was the third quarter when the Cavaliers moved a one-point halftime lead to a fourteen-point margin starting the fourth.

J.B. Bickerstaff's preaching of a team-first, move the ball and keep scrambling system of play simply rubbed Brooklyn into submission.

Imagine in a geological fashion- rocks change their shape due to two things, constant pressure and the never-ending passing of time.

That's how the Cavaliers are winning some of these games- pressure and time.

4) Dylan Windler returned to the lineup after breaking his hand in the Cavaliers opener.

Windler missed all of last season due to injury and broke his hand in game one.

Windler hit both of his shots, each from three-point distance to finish with six points in sixteen minutes of floor time.

5) Jarrett Allen scored nineteen points in nineteen minutes off the bench and had several impressive dunks.

The most impressive was when Allen took a pass from Collin Sexton, took a step toward the basketball, and with one hand slammed the ball into the hoop over former Cavalier Joe Harris.

I think Allen is going to get even better as his familiarity with the team grows and his team may look back at his acquisition as being one of the better trades in team history.

Cavaliers enter James Harden trade, land Jarrett Allen

      The Cleveland Cavaliers often have a way of working their way into trades that you wouldn't expect them to be involved with and once again, the Cavaliers managed to wiggle their way into a major deal as Cleveland traded away injured guard Dante Exum and the first-round pick in 2022 that the Cavaliers acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks and the Cavaliers 2024 second-rounder to the Brooklyn Nets.

Coming to Cleveland will be center Jarrett Allen and forward Taurean Prince, both coming from the Nets.

The 22-year-old Allen is the prize of the deal as the 6'11 center is a consistent young big man that has averaged around eleven points and ten rebounds in the previous two seasons and thus far this season.

Allen shot 65 percent last season and is shooting 67 percent this season from the floor.

Allen also averages a block and a half a game and gives the Cavaliers a rim protector on defense that is different from what Andre Drummond brings.

Drummond is a physical banger that blocks shots with anticipation, while Allen is more of an athletic center that gets off the floor higher and faster.

Allen doesn't quite have the offensive game that Drummond has but at 22 is still capable of growth as a player so don't rule that out.

So in a nutshell, Allen's not quite at the level of Drummond right now, but he could post similar numbers eventually.

The problem with Allen is that he is a restricted free agent and while the Cavaliers will be capable of matching any offer, Cleveland may have other franchises bidding up the cost of keeping Allen in the fold.

Allen seems to fit with the Cavaliers young core and his arrival makes it very likely that the team will try to move Andre Drummond by the trade deadline in order to get something back for the soon-to-be free agent big man.

Javale McGee could be the first to leave though as McGee's early-season play has boosted his trade value to a contender looking for a big man to play fifteen minutes a night. 

I would imagine that the Cavaliers are shopping McGee already because even as injury-strapped as the Cavaliers are right now, the minutes for three centers (Drummond missed the loss to the Jazz with a sore Achilles) aren't there for all three to receive the playing time that they need.

Taurean Prince is a small forward that was selected by the Jazz (and quickly traded to the Hawks) with the 12th overall pick in 2016 out of Baylor.

Prince is a 6'7 tweener that can play either forward but is better offensively at the small forward position that he played in Atlanta.

The Nets tried to use him more at the four and his numbers dropped off in every category and only shot 37 percent from the floor with Brooklyn last season.

Brooklyn cut Prince's floortime further this season from 29 minutes last season to 18 in 2020-21 and some of this may be due to his less than average defense, so Prince will have to either improve or be covered for on the defensive end.

Second unit players are a little easier to help. so Prince will likely play more with the reserves rather than the starters.

Brooklyn signed Prince to a two-year contract for 12.2 million this year and 13 for next season, which seems to be a large overpay for a guy playing less than twenty minutes a night.

Prince will be given a chance to earn more playing time with the Cavaliers and could increase his value for a team looking to clear salary-cap space for next season.

Prince isn't a bad player, but he's a player with raw skills that hasn't progressed as a player, but he's still only 26 and it's not too late for him to develop, but for now, Prince is a player that is good in the open floor, has trouble dropping his shot and is below-average defensively at an above-average cost.

To make space for Allen and Prince, the Cavaliers released center Thon Maker and recently signed guard Yogi Ferrell.

Maker averaged 3.8 points and 2.3 rebounds in eight games for Cleveland, and I liked what I saw from him in his limited chances.

Sadly, even at 23, Maker might be a player that isn't given the chance to develop his skills and is caught in limbo- too strong for the G-League, not refined enough to play a lot in the NBA.

Farrell signed over the weekend and played in the Cavalier's losses to Memphis and Utah, scoring ten points against the Jazz and nine against the Grizzlies.

I would not be surprised to see the former Sacramento King return to Cleveland in the event of future backcourt injuries.

The New Jersey Devils drop the puck for their opener tonight, if I have time later I may do a preview of a season that should not be to the Devils' advantage.