RSS
Game 75: 76ers at Cavs
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (48-27) 87, PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (18-56) 86
Quicken Loans Arena
Sunday
Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7
TV: Fox Sports Ohio
1. We're into the home stretch of the season. The playoffs are only a few weeks away. There are only seven games left in the season. The Cavaliers still need to clean up a few things. No. 1 on my list is ball movement. When they share the ball and bodies move, rarely does this team lose. When one certain player stands at the top of the key, pounding the basketball, and then tries to make something happen with :02 on the shot clock, they are largely ineffective. That mystery player wears No. 23. Most of the time, he's the best player on the planet. When he plays isolation basketball, he's brought closer to the pack.
2. The Cavs shot just 38.8 percent from the field on Sunday. It was a terrible display of basketball, just hours after one of the best games in the building all season. I'm talking about the NCAA tournament game between Kentucky and Notre Dame. What a game. The same couldn't be said of the Cavs-Sixers.
3. The Sixers refused to go down easily. No one told them they are supposed to be one of the worst teams in the league. Part of that could be the leadership of Coach Brett Brown, a fiery guy from Down Under. They have the least talented roster in the NBA, yet continue to play hard. The Cavs won the season series with the Sixers, 2-1, but it wasn't easy. The Sixers have now lost five of their last six games to the Cavs, including their last four at The Q.
4. The Cavs have won 16 in a row at The Q. Their schedule after the All-Star break has been borderline ridiculous. Most teams would have crumbled under that kind of strain. The Cavaliers just got better. This was the start of a three-game homestand. Games against Miami on Thursday and Chicago on April 5 follow. They only have two more road games this season.
5. The starting unit of LeBron James, Kevin Love, Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Kyrie Irving have yet to lose a game at The Q since it's been together.
6. The Cavs are 29-7 since Jan. 15. In that span, they have the best record in the NBA, best road record (13-7) and top record against the Western Conference (14-1). Their point differential is also tops in the league (+10) during that stretch.
7. You're not supposed to get hurt when the team honors you with a bobblehead, but that's what Love did on Sunday. In the last three games, he hasn't been as reliant on the 3-point shot. He's gone down in the post and scored. He said he doesn't view himself as a "stretch 4." He wants to be known as a post player who can shoot. Then play like it.
UP NEXT: Miami, Quicken Loans Arena, 8 p.m. Thursday
STARTERS
SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Luc Mbah a Boute (6-8, 230)
Quicken Loans Arena
Sunday
Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7
TV: Fox Sports Ohio
1. We're into the home stretch of the season. The playoffs are only a few weeks away. There are only seven games left in the season. The Cavaliers still need to clean up a few things. No. 1 on my list is ball movement. When they share the ball and bodies move, rarely does this team lose. When one certain player stands at the top of the key, pounding the basketball, and then tries to make something happen with :02 on the shot clock, they are largely ineffective. That mystery player wears No. 23. Most of the time, he's the best player on the planet. When he plays isolation basketball, he's brought closer to the pack.
2. The Cavs shot just 38.8 percent from the field on Sunday. It was a terrible display of basketball, just hours after one of the best games in the building all season. I'm talking about the NCAA tournament game between Kentucky and Notre Dame. What a game. The same couldn't be said of the Cavs-Sixers.
3. The Sixers refused to go down easily. No one told them they are supposed to be one of the worst teams in the league. Part of that could be the leadership of Coach Brett Brown, a fiery guy from Down Under. They have the least talented roster in the NBA, yet continue to play hard. The Cavs won the season series with the Sixers, 2-1, but it wasn't easy. The Sixers have now lost five of their last six games to the Cavs, including their last four at The Q.
4. The Cavs have won 16 in a row at The Q. Their schedule after the All-Star break has been borderline ridiculous. Most teams would have crumbled under that kind of strain. The Cavaliers just got better. This was the start of a three-game homestand. Games against Miami on Thursday and Chicago on April 5 follow. They only have two more road games this season.
5. The starting unit of LeBron James, Kevin Love, Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Kyrie Irving have yet to lose a game at The Q since it's been together.
6. The Cavs are 29-7 since Jan. 15. In that span, they have the best record in the NBA, best road record (13-7) and top record against the Western Conference (14-1). Their point differential is also tops in the league (+10) during that stretch.
7. You're not supposed to get hurt when the team honors you with a bobblehead, but that's what Love did on Sunday. In the last three games, he hasn't been as reliant on the 3-point shot. He's gone down in the post and scored. He said he doesn't view himself as a "stretch 4." He wants to be known as a post player who can shoot. Then play like it.
UP NEXT: Miami, Quicken Loans Arena, 8 p.m. Thursday
STARTERS
SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Luc Mbah a Boute (6-8, 230)
PF Kevin Love (6-10, 243) vs. Nerlens Noel (6-10, 220)
C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Furkan Aldemir (6-10, 240)
SG J.R. Smith (6-6, 220) vs. Robert Covington (6-9, 215)
C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Furkan Aldemir (6-10, 240)
SG J.R. Smith (6-6, 220) vs. Robert Covington (6-9, 215)
PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Ish Smith (5-11, 175)
INACTIVE LIST
Cavs - C Anderson Varejao, G Joe Harris
Sixers - C Joel Embiid, G Tony Wroten
OFFICIALS
Tony Brothers, Eric Dalen, Mark Lindsay
Sixers - C Joel Embiid, G Tony Wroten
OFFICIALS
Tony Brothers, Eric Dalen, Mark Lindsay
posted by Anonymous at
9:23 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home