Daily NBA Fix: The Cleveland Cavaliers Are Digging Themselves Out

Tyronn Lue made his first real move as the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach by refusing to bail out his players with a timeout against the Indiana Pacers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers had just blown an 11-point lead and were tied with the Indiana Pacers at 67-67. So what did rookie head coach Tyronn Lue do?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"“They were looking for me to bail them out … but I wouldn’t call a timeout,” Lue said. “I wouldn’t even look at them. I was like, ‘Y’all dug this hole, now get out of it.’ Guys stuck together and we continued to fight in overtime and won the game.”"

It worked out and the Cavaliers won 111-106, partially thanks to the Pacers being able to run a decent play at the end of the game and overtime. Part of that blame fell on Myles Turner, a rookie that showed moments of greatness by blocking a LeBron James dunk and moments of obliviousness by not setting a pick for Monta Ellis on the final play of regulation.

That was a moment where Pacers head coach Frank Vogel shouldn’t have been as hands off. He admitted as much after the game.

But either way, the game was more about Cleveland righting the ship (despite being 1st in the Eastern Conference) than the Pacers miscues. The fact of the matter is the Cavaliers have to get better. They have to be good enough to compete with the Westen Conference’s best teams — something they can’t do at the moment. It is a strange situation to be in when you are in first place in your conference but you’ve buried yourself under an avalanche of bad press and the fact the West has markedly better teams.

Net rating doesn’t mean everything, but Cleveland is nearly eight points worse than the West’s best two teams in the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. They trail both teams (and the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers) in effective field goal percentage and ninth in the league in clutch field goal percentage. which is defined as the last five minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime in games of five points or less. It should be noted LeBron James is ranked eighth in clutch field goal percentage of players who take at least two shots in that time, but the Cavaliers need more than just LeBron.

As we saw last year in the NBA Finals, LeBron James can win you two games in the Finals even against the Warriors, but he needed more help than just Matthew Dellavedova.

We know Cleveland is talented, that’s not in question. But Tyronn Lue and LeBron’s task are now making sure the Cavaliers start coming together as a team because if they don’t, the West will win again.

Westbrook Gets His 7th Triple-Double

Yes, there were other things going on in the NBA last night other than the Cleveland Cavaliers. Russell Westbrook got his 7th triple-double of the season in an 114-98 win over the Washington Wizards.

Though the Spurs and Warriors are the front-runners in the Western Conference, it should be noted that in all the metrics I used to show their superiority over the Cavaliers, the Thunder find themselves in those top four spots more often than not.

It is still hard to see them getting past Golden State and San Antonio, but any team with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant has a chance.

The Pistons Serve Up Dinner

I really don’t have much to say about this play other than… damn.

Keep in mind this wasn’t in some blowout, the game was within 10 points in the third quarter when Brandon Jennings threw this off the glass, in traffic to Andre Drummond. This was a trick shot and a beautiful assist in the middle of a game.

Detroit went on to win 105-100.

Just keep this play saved for when someone tries to argue that college basketball is more skilled than the NBA.