Tag Archives: Cleveland Cavaliers

Cavaliers take on Bulls in Chicago Wednesday

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The 16-27 Cleveland Cavaliers begin their four game road trip in Chicago as they take on the 19-23 Chicago Bulls.

Both the Cavaliers and Bulls are coming off losses and are looking for wins to get back into the conversation about the bottom of the playoff picture. Cleveland lost to the Kings by 14 points Monday while the Bulls were blown out by the Jazz by 25. Considering that both teams are not particularly good it could provide an intriguing matchup.

Kevin Love, Matthew Dellavedova, and Taurean Prince will miss Wednesday’s game.

Chicago is scoring and giving up about the same amount of points per game, 113.5 and 113.9 respectively. The Cavaliers do not score as much (104.1), but give up two points less per game on average (111.9). The difference is not bit and in the end should not play a large factor in the final result.

The Bulls are a middle of the pack team when it comes to three-pointers, a bit of a step from the Cavaliers league-lowest numbers in attempts and makes per game. Chicago attempt 34.3 threes per game (18th) and make 13 per game (14th). That’s almost four more makes per game, more than enough to be the difference in the Cavs scoring average.

Zach LaVine leads the Bulls in points (28.2) and assists (4.9) per game. LaVine is clearly the Bulls most potent offensive player and can give opposing teams headaches. Lauri Markkanen and Coby White provide complimentary scoring options for LaVine with 17.7 and 15.2 per game respectively. LaVine is Chicago’s assist leader, but there are several players in the four assist range. Tomas Satoransky with 4.8, White with 4.7, and Thaddeus Young with 4.4 per game. The Bulls have plenty of players who can find their teammates for open baskets and that can prove problematic for the Cavaliers defense.

The game is scheduled to tip-off in Chicago at 8:00 P.M.

Cavs not interested in JaVale McGee buyout

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A buyout does not seem to be on the table for the Cleveland Cavaliers and their back up center.

The future of JaVale McGee with the Cleveland Cavaliers is not certain, but there is one thing that has become clear as the trade deadline approaches. The Cavs do not intend to buy out their back up center. A report from Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com suggests that the team has no intentions of buying out McGee. Going as far to state that their plan is to either keep him or trade him.

JaVale McGee has been somewhat of a interesting addition for this version of the Cavs. McGee is obviously not a star, but has filled an important role for this team. That role being the veteran backup center that can provide quality minutes off the bench. McGee and his contract are both moveable and he could fill the same role for another team. That is if that prospective team offers something in return or the Cavs acquire another center through other means.

In 33 games JaVale McGee is averaging 8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 0.5 blocks in 15.2 minutes of play. This is solid production that any team would take from a backup center on their roster.

Cavaliers end home stand with 14-point loss

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The Cleveland Cavaliers were not able to end their home stand on a positive note as they lost to the Sacramento Kings 119-105.

Coming into the second game of a back-to-back the Cleveland Cavaliers were already at a disadvantage. There was a considerable chance that things would not go the Cavs way and that is just what happened. A combination of facing a fresh team plus their rival the 3rd quarter did not result in a positive outcome.

As per usual this season, the 3rd quarter was problematic for the Cavaliers. Cleveland was outscored 27-17 in the 3rd and that included a 15-0 run by Sacramento. Considering the Cavs only lost by 14, that played a huge role in the final result. The Cavs were just never able to recover from that scoring drought and this has been a recurring theme this season.

Cleveland’s surprising leading scorer was JaVale McGee. McGee finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds on 6 of 9 from the field. The most unexpected part of his performance was his perfect 6-6 from the free throw line, nobody could have predicted that.

SexLand both went 6-15 from the field as Darius Garland scored 17 points and Collin Sexton scored 15. Garland made 2 of 4 three-point attempts and 3 of 4 free throws while Sexton was 0-3 and 3-3 respectively. Sexton actually had more assists on the night than Garland (7-2), a bit of a rarity for the Cavaliers guards.

One of the more interesting story lines over the past few games has been the increased role of Dean Wade. Wade played 23 minutes and finished with 11 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals on 5-10 shooting (1-3 3PT). It appears that Wade is carving out a role on this Cavs team. With the trade deadline approaching that role could grow if a few moves involving big men are made.

The Cavaliers begin a four game road trip Wednesday in Chicago.

Possible Jarrett Allen extension and other suitors

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The Cleveland Cavaliers could hand the young center a large contract extension this summer, but there will be other suitors interested.

It comes as a surprise to no one that the Cavaliers would want to extend Jarrett Allen. Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com mentioned that a possible extension could reach and possibly surpass $100 million. That’s a large sum of money to commit to one player on a team that is far from contention. With that said, an extension for Allen would help solidify the core of the Cavs moving forward.

One other thing to consider is that this dollar figure is more than double of a prior extension offer from Brooklyn. The Nets reportedly offered Jarrett Allen $48 million over four years and nothing materialized. Allen was eventually sent to Cleveland in the deal that saw James Harden land in Brooklyn. Tracking the numbers heard and reported will be important as extension talks proceed. An Allen extension could really be on either side of that $100 million number.

Something that the Cavs need to be aware of is that other teams may pursue Jarrett Allen. A report states that the Pistons, Raptors, Spurs, and Wizards will pursue Allen as he enters restricted free agency. If Allen does sign an offer sheet with another team Cleveland can match as long as they make a qualifying offer beforehand. With how the Cavs appear to value Allen, this seems to be a given.

With the trade deadline approaching the Cavaliers could make some trades or buy out other players as they transform their roster. Either way, Jarrett Allen appears to part of their immediate and long term future.

Cavs sign Quinn Cook to second 10-day contract

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Cleveland is signing the veteran guard to a second 10-day contract.

Quinn Cook will be extending his stay in Cleveland per reports. The Cavs are signing the 27-year old guard to a second 10-day contract.

The original deal expired Sunday and Cleveland has apparently seen enough to warrant a second. Quinn Cook has appeared in four games for the Cavs and is averaging 5 points, 2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 12.8 minutes per game. Cook has not played in the last two games and the three games in which he saw more than 3.5 minutes of time on the court resulted in losses. Cook’s 3 minutes and 20 seconds of playing time came in the Cavs win over Boston last week.

Anonymous GM: Young Cavaliers of no interest

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A quote from an anonymous general manager stated that they would have no interest in any of the Cleveland Cavaliers young starters.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have not exactly been a good team this season so when an anonymous GM was asked about hypothetical interest in any of their young starters, the lack of interest is hardly surprising.

According to Sam Amico, he asked a GM about the Cavaliers starters and received the following response.

“Nah. Not really. Why would I?”

There could be some nuance behind this, such as not wanting to part ways with the required trade package, but let’s take this comment at this surface. This seems pretty damning. Granted the situation of that team is unknown and may not need young players. That team could be in the market for veterans to fill out their roster. However, there are some concerns about what the ceilings of some their players are. There are also should be concerns about whether or not these players are truly the future of the Cavaliers.

Those players are Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, and Isaac Okoro.

There is hope and potential for this group, but the fact of the matter is that right now they are not a good basketball team. This group is not consistent and more often than not the team plays an ugly brand of basketball. Things could change and they could become a much better group, but this is just where they are right now.

Sometimes the Cavaliers provide excitement and the potential of this group is on display. The fact of the matter is that the team has a winning percentage that would be an above elite batting average in baseball. The GM who made the comments is not necessarily the authority on player evaluation and his opinion of those players can change over time. As of now, there is a reason the team continues to be stuck in the spiral of suck they have been in since LeBron left for a second time, poor evaluation and team building. It is important for a team to consider the evaluations of people outside an organization. Too often teams fall into the trap of only listening to themselves and that is the fast track to irrelevance. And that is where the Cavs are right now, irrelevant.

Cavaliers take on Kings in final game of home stand

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The Cleveland Cavaliers have a chance to win three of four games on their homestead as they take on the Sacramento Kings Monday.

On the heels of their 116-105 win over the Raptors, the Cleveland Cavaliers can finish their home stand with a winning record Monday if they come away with a win against the Sacramento Kings. Sacramento comes into the game 5-5 over their last 10 games and is on their last game of their road trip while Cleveland is also 5-5. The Kings are scoring 114.5 PPG and giving up 119.6 and the Cavs stand at 104 and 111.8 respectively.

Both the Cavaliers and Kings are towards the bottom in three-point attempts and makes. Cleveland ranks 30th in both categories with 9.5 makes on 27.8 attempts per game. Sacramento’s 11.9 makes and 33 attempts both rank 22nd. When it comes to the deep ball, neither team seems willing to take a high number on a regular basis and when they do, they do not make them at a high clip.

The one player the Cavaliers will have to focus on defensively is De’Aaron Fox. Fox leads the Kings in scoring (23.7) and assists (7.5). Sacramento’s offense runs through Fox and any chance of defeating them starts at slowing down the fourth-year guard. Buddy Hield and Harrison Barnes are complimentary scorers with 16.8 and 16.4 PPG respectively. Hield and Barnes can score if needed, but not at the level as Fox.

A win for the Cavaliers tonight would be a big confidence booster. Cleveland has been up and down this season, with a lot more down than up. Coming out victorious Monday could lead to a productive trade deadline. A loss on the other hand could result in another disappointing set of trades.

Sexton’s 36 carries Cavaliers past Raptors

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The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the visiting Toronto Raptors 116-105.

There are some nights when a player rises above everyone else and can carry a team to victory. That just happened be Collin Sexton for the Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday night. Sexton scored a game-high 36 points, including 23 in the second half to propel the Cavs to victory. Young Bull went 13-24 (6-9 3PT), and 4-6 from the charity stripe. Sexton also added 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals to his final line. This was a huge boost for a Cleveland team that did not look very sharp early in the game. Sexton was able to put things together offensively and help the Cavs win their first of back-to-back games at home.

Sexton was not alone, Jarrett Allen also contributed to the Cavaliers victory. Allen made 4 of 8 field goals and 9 of 11 free throws as he scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. This was the type of performance the Cavs expected when they acquired the big man earlier this season, a complimentary scoring option and force on the boards.

The other half of SexLand also played a factor. Darius Garland made 5 of 10 shots from the field, his only three-point attempt, and went 4-7 from the line as he scored 15 points and finished with 6 assists. Good things happen for the Cavaliers when Garland is finding his teammates and that was the case Sunday.

One of the more surprising performances was that of Dean Wade. Wade was perfect from the field in the first half and finished 5-8 (4-7 3PT) while making both free throw attempts while scoring 16 points off the bench. Wade played some crucial minutes off teh bench and helped provide another option for the Cavaliers to turn to on offense.

It’s a short turnaround for the Cavaliers as they return to action Monday night hosting the Sacramento Kings. Cleveland has a chance to win three of four games on their home stand with a win tomorrow.

Cavaliers host Raptors at home Sunday

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The Cleveland Cavaliers continue their home stand as they will play host to the visiting Toronto Raptors.

Perhaps the Cleveland Cavaliers can harness some of their momentum from their late-game rally in their loss on Friday and use it on Sunday night when they host the Toronto Raptors. This will be the first of three meetings between the two teams. Toronto comes in losers of seven straight and nine of their last 10. Meanwhile the Cavs have lost five of their last six games.

Like Cleveland, Toronto is having a down year and are not living up to expectations. The only difference is that the Raptors by far have more talent on their roster and are closer to playoff contention than the Cavaliers are. There is a way for Toronto to figure things out and right the ship. Unfortunately this does not apply for Cleveland and their trajectory.

Toronto features a relatively balanced offensive attack with three players averaging at or near 20 points per game. Pascal Siakam leads with 20.1 while Fred VanVleet averages 19.8 and Noram Powell chips in 19.6 of his own. Kyle Lowry also makes an impact with his 17.6 points per game, but it is his 7.5 APG that makes a difference. VanVleet is second on the team with 6.6 assists per contest and Siakam averages 4.8. The Raptors offense is truly a shared load and a collaborative effort. It is not necessarily the performance of one, but the contributions of all for the Raptors.

It will not be easy for the Cavaliers on Sunday even though they are facing a struggling Raptors team. Cleveland is a clear step down talent wise which will make it difficult to compete from start to finish. The Raptors average and give up nearly the same amount of points per game (112.4-112.2) while the Cavs are outscored by over eight points per game (103.8-111.9). From this perspective the outlook does not look great for Cleveland by any means, but stranger things have happened including the Cavs recent win over Boston.

The game is scheduled to start at 7:00 P.M. Sunday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Rally falls short as Cavaliers lose 116-110 to Spurs

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The Cavaliers attempted to rally late against the Spurs, but San Antonio was able to hold on to hand Cleveland a 116-110 loss.

The Cavaliers had a chance to accomplish something that has not been common for them this season, winning consecutive games. Cleveland held on to defeat the Boston Celtics Wednesday and were looking to add win consecutive games for the first time since February 23rd through March 1st, a four-game winning streak. However a winning streak was not in the cards as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Cavaliers in their first of two matchups on the season.

At one point the Spurs held a 22-point lead over the Cavs and at that point things appeared to be heading towards a blowout. It was then that Cleveland put together a rally to show that they wouldn’t just roll over and take the loss. The Cavaliers were able to cut the lead to four, but the problem was there was only 8.9 seconds left in the game, they simply ran out of time. Perhaps if Cleveland would have found that offensive mojo earlier in the game the result may have been different, but alas it is another loss for the Cavs.

SexLand scores big for Cavaliers

Darius Garland had a career-high 29 points along with 8 assists on the night as he was a key figure in the comeback attempt. The other half of SexLand, Collin Sexton, also scored 29 points while grabbing 5 rebounds. Garland made 8 of 16 field goals attempts (2-4 3PT) and all 11 free throws while Sexton went 12-25, including 3 of 6 from deep and 2-3 from the line. The fact that SexLand scoring more than half the teams is impressive, but that may also say a lot about some of the supporting cast.

Allen defining his role

Jarrett Allen was the third Cavaliers starter eclipse double-digit scoring as he finished with 15 points and rebounds. Allen went 6-8 from the field and made 3 of his 4 free throw attempts. The Cavaliers big man appears to have carved out a defined role for this team and that is very important moving forward.

Surprising contribution off the bench

It is not every day that the Cavaliers get a surprising performance off the bench, but that is what happened Friday night as Lamar Stevens scored 15 points in 17 minutes. Stevens was Cleveland’s leading bench scorer and was able to make an impact when needed. The 23-year made 4 of 9 shots and 7 of 8 free throw attempts, a recurring theme for the Cavaliers in this game.