Game 1 Thoughts: What I liked and what I didn’t.
What I liked:
-Frobley’s defense on KAT neutralized the supposedly reinvented Knicks offense. KAT averaged 8ast/2TO in his last 3gms. He had 5ast/7TO last night. Evan can contest Kat’s 3-pt , deny him passing lanes and stunt his dribble drive. But it’s the wrinkle of having JA protect the paint that shutdown a LOT of the Knicks off-ball actions that worked so well against other teams. Cavs have the right personnel to deal with that.
-Donovan Mitchell playing aggressively AND smartly feeding the open man. We’ve seen plenty of games where Mitch came out like he was shot out of a cannon and light it up. But the past couple games he’s demonstrating some real evolution: Foot on the gas while keeping his head on a swivel and feeding the bigs. He was overall terrific. He deserved to have the ball down the stretch w/ James off-ball or off the court altogether.
-Sam Merrill’s off-ball movement + Dean Wade sinking open 3’s/Knicks could not handle that. Strus had a bad box score night but his movement created plays. We can score when we remember who we are. And these 3 are the heart of that. They always bring it.
-Mitchell Robinson rendered ineffective: If you were fearing a repeat of the lights being too bright, you feel better after that game. Robinson was particularly exposed by the movement and screening I mentioned above. Movement shooters roasted him and Hack a Shaq (39% Career FT shooter) made him a non factor.
-A Keon Ellis sighting. He’s not a savior but deserves a look. Predictably he racked up a couple fouls quickly and had a clumsy TO. But he’s coming in ice cold. I am hopeful he can have an impact. He and Tyson are two wild cards. 40% 3-PT shooters + switchable defenders. We may have met our limit if we can’t tap their talents.
-Just a good overall team effort literally for 3+ quarters. I felt confident that we are in fact dead even with the Knicks and can win this series. Especially if we pulled this off and went up 1-0…but that wasn’t to be.
What I didn’t:
-Schroeder is so frustrating game to game. It’s a shame we are so dependent on him, frankly. He missed way too many layups and wide open shots. If one of those goes, we win. His inefficiency was very damaging. Without diving too far into this, the Cavs’ reliance on him seems a bit contradictory. It’s like Kenny wants to play with pace and space (his offense) but obviously we can’t count on 36yo Harden to keep up with that let alone initiate it. I know people have their issues with both, but this does seem like a strange marriage in terms of philosophy.
-The Cavs clearly started slowing their offense down in the 4th Quarter. Letting the ball roll, doing anything they could to drain the clock and “escape” w/ a win. To no one’s surprise, Harden was especially guilty. I WAS surprised to hear so many of the players criticize their offense when the defense was so egregiously awful, but it’s a fair point. If we had continued to run our offense, push the ball, make offense/defense substitutions, or hell CALL A TIMEOUT and draw something up for a score, that’s one other way we could’ve avoided humiliation. Harden on Brunson was far from the only thing that warranted being addressed.
-Harden had an awful game (if you haven’t heard.) But the Cavs as a team and a coaching staff need to protect their 36yo vet who is coming off two highly physical 7-Game battles. He obviously couldn’t guard Brunson at that stage. I get annoyed when people claim that’s a lack of effort. He physically couldn’t guard him. He was gassed and looked like he had cinder blocks for feet. Which is why you’d hope someone would take him out purely out of pity. Kenny should have pulled him. But some of the switches were also unnecessary. At least 2-3 of them could’ve been prevented if Wade/primary defender forced over the screen. The Knicks weren’t pressuring the Cavs into those switches. The players bear some of the blame as well.
-Couldn’t at least 3 of those Harden-run plays been initiated in the hands of your true superstar? The one having a good game? Even if you insist on Harden as your main ball-handler, they can’t have him dribbling the clock to down to his own stepback grenade and the ball never touch Mitchell’s hands. Hell they never even looked in his direction. Inexplicable.
-Obviously Kenny needed a timeout (or two) earlier and even another one to get things back in order. I am not excusing it at all, but I also have to wonder…did the coaches or players…ANYONE say, “Hey we need to get this stopped NOW.” Does Johnnie Bryant command that respect? How about Mitchell? Is there anyone Kenny would listen to?
Onto Game 2…
-I wouldn’t expect the Knicks to shoot as poorly as they did. That’s my primary concern going into this. If the mental toll from Game 1 is going to show, it will reveal itself during the Knicks 1st big run of 10-0. If they are splashing 3’s, it could get ugly.
-But at the same time, there is no reason for it to get ugly. I did see good things offensively and defensively that suggest we matchup well with the Knicks and can compete. But the edge mentally is substantial and palpable, even to observers at this point.
-Despite Kenny rightfully being roasted right now, I’ve been impressed with our coaching staff’s ability to make adjustments and solve problems in a series. That’s why stealing one in NY is so critical. The longer this goes, the more it favors us. The best thing about the playoffs is as long as you’re alive, the opportunity for redemption remains. Let’s see what they can do.
Go Cavs. 🏀