Cleveland Cavaliers Lose Without LeBron James
The Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Indiana Pacers 103-93 without LeBron James. Is it time for the Cavaliers to get used to players getting rest on back-to-backs?
It’s definitely time.
It’s time that the Cleveland Cavaliers as a unit get used to some of the starters getting rest during back-to-back games this season. Some fans hate the idea and probably panicked after the lost to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.
In the words (or letters) of Aaron Rodgers, R-E-L-A-X.
There’s nothing to worry about. The San Antonio Spurs are notorious for benching their stars during the season and letting the bench and young players get playing time.
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In 2014, it paid off for the Spurs in the playoffs and in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. They won the Finals in five games against a team that had no answer for their attack, players one through 12. Patty Mills was just as effective as Tony Parker and so on.
Coach Tyronn Lue is trying that same approach with this young Cavaliers team. According to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, Lue is planning to limit LeBron James‘ minutes even more after the All-Star break. He’s currently averaging 37 minutes a game.
That’s 1.4 minutes more than the 35.6 he averaged last season.
In the long run, it will make Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and J.R. Smith–who missed his third game– work harder and push them to consistently play at a high level without depending on James.
After the loss to the Pacers Wednesday, the Cavaliers are 4-16 without James since he returned to Cleveland in 2014-15. That’s unacceptable with the overall talent and depth on the team.
I would never say Lue wasn’t trying hard to win, but it felt like an afternoon preseason game in September. Chris Andersen played for the first time since Oct. 29 against the Orlando Magic. Kay Felder and DeAndre Liggins made appearances as well.
Felder continued to show signs of progress as he finished with nine points. He’s learning to adjust his game against bigger defenders.
He’s only able to slash to the hole right now, but once he gets his shot going, he will be a serious threat off the bench.
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Mike Dunleavy didn’t play in this game. If anybody needs a mental break and a confidence boost, it’s Dunleavy–and Lue understands that.
Since scoring 11 points against the Houston Rockets on Nov. 1, he has struggled terribly from three-point range and overall.
He will have a chance to redeem himself on Friday against the Detroit Pistons.
The Cavaliers continued their trend of being a three-point shooting team. They went 11-of-30 from three-point range. The Pacers went 10-of-28. Channing Frye continued his solid start to the season.
He didn’t go 6-of-12 from long-range like he did Monday, only going 2-of-8, but he did all the little things to help.
Love, who is one of the best power forwards in the Eastern Conference this season, showed his dominance with Irving within the offense, but it wasn’t enough against the attack of Paul George and Jeff Teague.
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Turnovers were also an issue for the team. The Cavaliers had 18 of them compared to 10 with the Pacers. There wasn’t much ball movement and spacing either.
This was the most one-on-one I’ve seen the Cavs play all season. James would usually initiate the offense, but it was Irving who had the wheel. He’s better suited as a scoring guard rather than a facilitator and it showed.
The Cavaliers are going to have to bring the same consistent intensity that they have with James when he’s not there. They can go toe-to-toe with any team in the NBA.
They can’t have letdowns and become the same old Cavs by struggling when he rests.
This isn’t a team with only Larry Hughes and Donyell Marshall as offense anymore. It’s a deep, talented roster with smart, tough players and they’re going to have to continue to play like that when their teammates aren’t playing.
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The approach to the bigger picture will be worth it in the end.