r/clevelandcavs

It is game day, let's talk all things Cavs:

• Players
• Matchups
• Predictions
• Discuss anything else but as always, keep it civil.

Go Cavs and #LetEmKnow!

Truly feels like this after game 1. Next to no one was picking us to win the series even before that game, and we sure as hell haven't convinced anyone else to take us seriously after that meltdown.

But if any team has shown resiliency, it's this one. After back to back dog fights going the distance in the first two rounds, they've shown time and time again that they have the capacity to change their game plan and respond. I'm still encouraged after Don and the team adjusted from games 6 to 7 against Detroit, and even at the lowest points this playoffs (Toronto game 4, going down 0-2, losing game 6 at home), this team has not quit or folded under the pressure.

The mission was always to just take one at their house, and we were 7 minutes and an all time bad coaching performance away from doing that on our first try. It was a gut punch, but this team has shown they can take it and hit back. So give me the Cavs in 7.

That's pretty much it. This loss is 100% on Kenny. I don't care what happens from here on out, he should not have a job next year. There is absolutely no excuse for his bullshit in the 4th quarter.

Yes, Harden played like ass and got killed by Brunson. Guess what? It's the coach's responsibility to recognize that and make adjustments accordingly. Same thing goes for Don, he went quiet and got shut down. Call a time out and make a god damn adjustment Kenny! Our guys are tired and might not play at 100% for the entire game. It's the coaches job to recognize that and adjust!! It's really not that hard.

You could literally put any other person in his shoes for the 4th and they would have done a better job coaching. That's the truth. It's so bad he should be investigated for throwing the game. It's so bad it seemed deliberate. There's no way a professional coach in the NBA could be that shitty and clueless and blow a lead like that in the ECF for cryin out loud.

Us Cleveland fans have endured our fair share of shitty losses over the years, but I don't think I've ever been this pissed about a loss until now. My blood is still boiling. I'm just completely dumbfounded as to how our coach is this clueless. He just sits there and watches a 22 point lead evaporate and literally does nothing. I think even Brunson was shocked, because he's never played against a coach as shitty as Kenny.

I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to trust Kenny moving forward, and I think that is 100% warranted given what we saw last night (and what we saw during the regular season and the Detroit/Toronto series). The Cavs could be up by 50 pts tomorrow with 5 min left and I'll still feel the anxiety. It really shouldn't be like that lol. I'm sure there are plenty of people on here that will disagree with me, but I hope KA gets launched into the sun this offseason.

I think all the emotions from that terrible loss adding up with the whole world seemingly rooting for NY as they always do just really blinded me from the facts. The facts are that we were up 22. It’s clear to me that we own those bums. We are the better team and I have no doubt. Everyone in the media and world acting like it’s an easy series for the Knicks but they were shaking in their boots before the comeback. We are taking this damn series!

We will be playing with 9 time outs next game as apposed to the Knicks 7.

If Kenny decides to play 5D checkers we could have 10-11 time outs to work with by game three.

Last night’s collapse was brutal, but let’s keep it real — we weren’t playing clean ball even before blowing that 22‑point lead. That kind of meltdown isn’t happening again.

The Knicks came in rested and fully prepped. We just survived two straight 7‑game slugfests and still didn’t look nearly as tired as everyone expected. That alone should tell you what this team is made of. We’ve been counted out before — remember Game 2 vs Detroit? Same story

Right now it’s Cavs vs everybody. People swear we don’t belong here, and it kills them that we’ve gone the distance *twice*. Whether you’ve been here forever or you followed Don, Harden, and JA to Cleveland — stand on all 10. Keep every receipt. Knicks fans are gonna be loud, but we’re built for the long haul..

**TL;DR** The movie just started and it’s about to get better….trust.

I’m usually the most pessimistic when it comes to ball; but I just can’t believe the attitude in here. The loss hurts. I was pissed. But it’s one game. And this is not the worst way to lose a conference finals Game 1. Getting blown out from the get go would be a lot worse in my eyes. Getting exposed for deficiencies in game 4 or 5 is a lot worse. We didn’t get flamed by Clarkson end of the game. It was Jalen Brunson, considered the 3rd best player left in these playoffs. We were down 0-2. We blew a game with multiple leads and lost in OT in the first round. Let’s hold off on the doom. Let’s wait and see how we handle Game 2.

TO EVERYONE HATING ON THE PLAYERS AND KENNY: FUCK YOU! WE HAVE TO SUPPORT THE CAVS : MITCHELL IS ELITE, ALLEN IS ELITE, HARDEN IS ELITE AND EVAN MOBLEY IS TOO! EVERYONE DOUBTED US AGAINST THE PISTONS BUT WE PROVED THEM WRONG. LETS DO IT AGAIN! WE HAVE TO LET EM KNOW!!!!!!!!!!

I understand he got into a scuffle against Detroit and lost his head, but it's a new series where he can absolutely play a role against the Knicks. He was a bright spot in a shoddy regular season, and now he can't get any PT? I get that Kenny has an infatuation with Dennis that I just don't get, but fine. To play Keon over Tyson is malpractice.

In real time I was really angry with harden getting cooked and taking terrible shots. Make no mistake Harden was really really bad. He's also 37 years old, played 14 straight playoff games in less than a month total and kenny rode this man 14 straight minutes of gameclock and never called any timeouts to let him rest.

James isnt gonna ask to come out, hes not gonna say he needs a breather. Up 22 you give him a rest and put your best defenders is. This was an egregious coaching performance. I would not let kenny coach another game, i seriously would not.

#Summary

Team	1Q	2Q	3Q	4Q	OT1	Total
NYK	23	23	23	32	32	115
CLE	16	32	35	18	18	104

Status	Game Clock
OT :00.0	00:00:00

#Box Score

P	Name	PTS	REB	AST	+/-	FGM/A	FG%	2PM/A	2P%	3PM/A	3P%	FTM/A	FT%	DREB	OREB	STL	BLK	PF	TOV	MIN
SF	O. Anunoby	13	5	2	15.0	2/9	22.22%	1/3	33.33%	1/6	16.67%	8/10	80%	5	0	1	0	3	1	34:16
PF	J. Hart	13	7	4	-23.0	5/11	45.45%	4/6	66.67%	1/5	20%	2/2	100%	7	0	1	0	3	2	30:29
C	K. Towns	13	13	5	13.0	6/14	42.86%	5/9	55.56%	1/5	20%	0/0		9	4	1	1	4	7	40:20
SG	M. Bridges	18	5	1	12.0	7/11	63.64%	5/7	71.43%	2/4	50%	2/2	100%	5	0	2	0	3	3	42:17
PG	J. Brunson	38	5	6	15.0	15/29	51.72%	14/23	60.87%	1/6	16.67%	7/10	70%	5	0	3	0	5	3	46:23
B	M. McBride	0	2	1	5.0	0/1	0%	0/0		0/1	0%	0/0		1	1	0	0	5	0	16:44
B	M. Robinson	4	6	1	-8.0	1/3	33.33%	1/3	33.33%	0/0		2/8	25%	2	4	2	0	1	0	14:03
B	J. Clarkson	3	2	0	2.0	1/3	33.33%	0/2	0%	1/1	100%	0/0		2	0	0	1	2	1	16:29
B	J. Alvarado	4	1	0	-1.0	2/3	66.67%	2/2	100%	0/1	0%	0/0		1	0	0	0	0	0	6:32
B	L. Shamet	9	1	0	25.0	3/4	75%	0/1	0%	3/3	100%	0/0		1	0	0	0	0	0	17:21
B	P. Dadiet	0	0	0	0.0	0/0		0/0		0/0		0/0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0:00
B	M. Diawara	0	0	0	0.0	0/0		0/0		0/0		0/0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0:00
B	A. Hukporti	0	0	0	0.0	0/0		0/0		0/0		0/0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0:00
B	T. Kolek	0	0	0	0.0	0/0		0/0		0/0		0/0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0:00
B	J. Sochan	0	0	0	0.0	0/0		0/0		0/0		0/0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0:00
-	Totals	115	65	20	0	42/88	47.73%	32/56	57.14%	10/32	31.25%	21/32	65.63%	38	9	10	2	26	17

---

P	Name	PTS	REB	AST	+/-	FGM/A	FG%	2PM/A	2P%	3PM/A	3P%	FTM/A	FT%	DREB	OREB	STL	BLK	PF	TOV	MIN
SF	E. Mobley	15	14	3	-6.0	6/16	37.5%	4/8	50%	2/8	25%	1/2	50%	13	1	0	3	2	3	40:08
PF	D. Wade	10	5	3	1.0	3/5	60%	0/0		3/5	60%	1/1	100%	3	2	0	0	0	0	29:18
C	J. Allen	10	7	3	-10.0	3/6	50%	3/6	50%	0/0		4/8	50%	1	6	1	1	3	1	35:21
SG	J. Harden	15	4	3	-6.0	5/16	31.25%	4/8	50%	1/8	12.5%	4/6	66.67%	3	1	1	1	5	6	42:04
PG	D. Mitchell	29	5	3	-13.0	12/23	52.17%	8/12	66.67%	4/11	36.36%	1/1	100%	5	0	6	1	5	4	40:39
B	M. Strus	8	2	1	-11.0	2/6	33.33%	0/0		2/6	33.33%	2/2	100%	1	1	1	0	5	3	25:16
B	S. Merrill	12	1	2	-17.0	4/9	44.44%	1/1	100%	3/8	37.5%	1/1	100%	1	0	1	0	5	0	28:15
B	D. Schröder	3	0	5	1.0	1/9	11.11%	0/5	0%	1/4	25%	0/0		0	0	1	0	3	0	18:25
B	K. Ellis	2	0	0	6.0	0/0		0/0		0/0		2/2	100%	0	0	0	0	1	2	5:27
B	T. Bryant	0	0	0	0.0	0/0		0/0		0/0		0/0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0:00
B	L. Nance Jr.	0	0	0	0.0	0/0		0/0		0/0		0/0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0:00
B	C. Porter Jr.	0	0	0	0.0	0/0		0/0		0/0		0/0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0:00
B	T. Proctor	0	0	0	0.0	0/0		0/0		0/0		0/0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0:00
B	N. Tomlin	0	0	0	0.0	0/0		0/0		0/0		0/0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0:00
B	J. Tyson	0	0	0	0.0	0/0		0/0		0/0		0/0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0:00
-	Totals	104	55	23	0	36/90	40%	20/40	50%	16/50	32%	16/23	69.57%	27	11	11	6	29	19

#Officials

Name	#
James Capers	19
JB DeRosa	14
Scott Foster	48
Ray Acosta	54

#Location

City/State	Arena	Attendance
New York, NY	Madison Square Garden	19,812

A blow out is less devastating than a loss like this but atleast you can learn from it. We had things that worked to get that lead all while not really shooting our best to get there in the first place.

I wouldn’t call that lead we took a Cavalanche kind of game it was more of a slog and a surprise we were up. We weren’t shooting lights out but we did play good defense and were getting a ton of good shots that weren’t going down.

The fourth the Knicks started hitting shots and finding the matchups they wanted. We gave it to them and yes that’s inexcusable, But it is fixable.
Coming back home 1-1 or 2-0 is what we expected. That doesn’t change after this game.

The clock management was horrible.

They gave up the soft switch for like 4 straight minutes. An extra 5 seconds of resistance every play removes ~2 to 3 possessions from the game. But they were damn near preswitching Harden ON TO Brunson, allowing them to attack very early creating more possessions in the game.

brunson beats his guy very often no matter who it is. it didn't take blowing that lead to know that harden couldn't stay in front of him. the fact that they gave up that switch so easily every single time is coaching malpractice. if he gets it after another ten seconds of work, that's fine. but they gave it up right away, letting him attack whenever he wanted

Even on offense they were going too early at times, which makes no sense. if you're trying to bleed clock, you have to commit to it.

The Knicks got EXACTLY the right amount of possessions to tie but only because they ALSO decided to finally help off the corners up six with 1:15 left when the Knicks realistically would only get 2 possessions with that amount of time.

Down 6, how is the only way they tie it with that amount of possessions? By two three pointers. Which they gave up because THAT'S when they decided to send help

If they just kept allowing the switch, Brunson could have been funneled into 2pointerd and the Knicks would need 3 possessions to tie which only would have been possible if they also forced a live ball turnover.

At that point they deadass should have left Harden on an island to try to bait Brunson into taking 2s because there wasnt enough time for them to get 3 possessions to tie with 2s

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. 🏀