The Cleveland Cavaliers are playing with a new sense of energy, urgency you could even say. Following a six-game losing streak and a 1-7 record without LeBron James, the Cavs have turned things around in the blink of an eye with a new-found effort and energy level.
They’re having fun on the court again, and playing basketball doesn’t seem like a job to them anymore. It’s more like playing pickup ball to them, throwing alley-oops and jumping up and down and doing goofy celebrations together.
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That energy was clearly still there on Friday night when Cleveland flat out dominated a Charlotte Hornets team that had won seven of its previous nine games by a score of 129-90. The halftime score of 75-40 was the largest lead in franchise history leading into the second half, and their largest lead of the night was 49.
It was their fifth consecutive win, pushing their record to 24-20 on the season. They still sit in the fifth seed in the East, but the change of attitude and effort is something that will certainly help them climb the standings in due time.
NEW ADDITIONS KEY
The new additions of J.R. Smith, Timofey Mozgov and Iman Shumpert, who made his debut Friday and went 3-of-3 from the floor for eight points, have been huge in the Cavs turnaround at this point in the season.
Not only has Timo played an integral part on the defensive end, in the eight games with his new team, he’s averaging 10.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, up from averages of 8.5 points and 7.8 rebounds with the Denver Nuggets. Over his past three, Mozgov averaged 15 points and 12 rebounds, notching double-doubles in each of those three games.
J.R. Smith has probably been the third-best player on the team behind LeBron and Kyrie Irving since James’ return to the lineup.
The player who was supposed to be a “throw in” as part of the Shumpert trade has come out guns blazing, averaging 15.3 points per game on 43 percent shooting from the floor, and almost 40% from the three-point arc. Oh, and he knocked down 7-of-11 from three on Friday night too. Doesn’t sound like a throw in to me.
Shumpert is still an incomplete for now after only one game, but his debut was promising. He knocked down a couple of threes and looked very active on the defensive end, something Blatt and the Cavaliers still need plenty of.
What did stand out to me during the game was that David Blatt was able to use a lineup that didn’t involve a traditional point guard, thanks to Shumpert. Instead, he shared the floor with James, Mozgov, Tristan Thompson and Smith.
LeBron is able to man the point guard duties on the offensive end, while Shump can cover the opposing team’s point guard on the defensive end. This is something Cavs fans should get used to seeing, and even having Shumpert bring the ball up from time to time, mostly phasing Matthew Dellavedova out of the lineup.
With all the new guys on board and healthy, the Cavs are playing much better basketball. According to NBA.com, their offensive rating during the current win streak has leaped to 120.2 and the defensive rating has dropped to 104.1.
In the 39 games before that, their offensive rating was at 104.8 and the defensive rating was 106.3. Those are some pretty significant changes, and even though it’s over a small sample size, there’s still faith and belief that they can continue to play at such a high level.
It’s not just the offense that has changed, according to Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com:
“I think our confidence has definitely gone up and guys now believe that we are a team that can get stops,” center Tristan Thompson said after the Cavs trounced the Charlotte Hornets 129-90 on Friday. “I think our mindset wasn’t there before. I felt like people never felt us on defense. They knew we were good offensively, but defensively teams thought they could have their way against us. We’re changing that.”
[…]
“We are trusting each other in a big way,” forward Kevin Love said. “We have each other’s back so if somebody gets beat, the other guy is stepping up. If (an opponent) makes a pass, somebody is stepping up and taking that guy.”
Blatt is finally furnished with the freedom to be creative. He’s able to run specialized defensive schemes based on the new roster and it has instilled a long-missing edge.
The defense has been stifling throughout the win streak. They held Charlotte to 40 percent shooting, and are holding teams to just 43.5 percentduring that same streak.
LeBron James seems happy with the way he and his guys are playing as well, from Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com:
“This one stands out because of how well we played together as a team,” he said. “Obviously the 61 I had last year stood out as well, from an individual standpoint, but tonight everyone played great. Everyone felt a great rhythm and defensively we’re flying around, we’re communicating, we’re helping each other, and that results in us playing some really good basketball.”
[…]
“Right now, I feel like this is the team that I envisioned,” James said.
If James’ statement is true, things are going to get much, much better for the Cavs.
Watching them play over the past five games is like watching a completely different team. The style of play and confidence they have right now is off the charts.
David Blatt may just get to stick around after all, which should definitely be the case. Even though the Cavs have underperformed this year based on many expectations thrust upon them, this is how they turn things around. Playing with this type of energy, confidence and actually having fun together is what needs to happen for them to have continued success.
I’ll say it again: If I were a team in the Eastern Conference other than the Cleveland Cavaliers, I’d be very concerned about them come playoff time. It’s a whole different monster once May comes, and the Cavs have all the tools necessary for a deep run in the playoffs.
All stats via NBA.com.