The Cleveland Cavaliers won the three-point shootout against the Charlotte Hornets 100-93. Can they continue this sustained success with long scoring droughts?
In what was a sloppy game, the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled it off.
There were scoring droughts, turnovers, blocks and lots of three-point shooting. The Charlotte Hornets have always been a tough matchup for the Cavaliers. Last season, the Cavs won the series against Charlotte 2-1, but every game was earned.
Former Hornet Jeremy Lin was unstoppable, and made Kyrie Irving look amateur during some of the games. But their inability to play 48 minutes led to the losses. Sunday, in their first meeting of the season, it was different.
The Hornets came in as the fourth-best team in the Eastern Conference at 6-3. Kemba Walker has finally found consistency with his three-point shot, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is proving how scrappy a player he is when healthy.
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However, it wouldn’t be enough against the defending champions.
It seems like LeBron James is reaching a new milestone in each game. On Friday, he surpassed 27,000 points and is now in 10th place.
He is only 274 points from tying Elvin Hayes for ninth place, according to CBS.com. It only made sense he came close to it against Hayes old team, the Washington Wizards.
James then surpassed Fat Lever for 23rd on the all-time steals list at 1,666 on Sunday, according to NBA.com. What milestone will he set next?
But enough about James. It was about Channing Frye and the bench coming through for the team.
The Cavs found themselves struggling on offense for the third game in a row. The open shots and opportunities are there, but they can’t knock them down. The bench has been one of the strengths of the team this year, whereas last season it was a weakness.
With the team struggling to score within the quarters, Frye and Iman Shumpert came in for energy, and they single-handedly kept the Cavaliers in the contest.
Shumpert–who is my early vote for Most Improved Player–went 6-of-9 from the floor and 3-of-5 from long-range.
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Frye went 6-of-12 from three-point range, and surprisingly added three blocks, the biggest one coming against former Cavalier Spencer Hawes.
The Cavs as a team had nine blocks.
They also shot 14-for-38 from three-point range, while the Hornets were 11-for-29.
The shots Frye made proves the point that I’ve made in previous articles. Those open looks will be there in every game. Ball movement, the Big Three and floor spacing will make it impossible for opposing defenses.
It’s up to the Cavaliers to realize it and apply it in every game–especially Mike Dunleavy.
He got the start for J.R. Smith and his struggles and indecisiveness continued. It’s been a slower acclimation to the team for Dunleavy than fans originally thought it would be. He doesn’t know where to be on the floor and is hesitant to take open shots.
It’s like watching Kevin Love try to fit in with the team during his first season.
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He didn’t know whether to play inside, outside or to just pass the ball. But during the middle of that season, it started to make sense to him. Hopefully the same thing happens with Dunleavy, just sooner.
In eight appearances, he’s only averaging 4.4 points per game. He’s averaging 16.1 minutes, which is his second-lowest of his career since his rookie season (15.9 minutes per game).
More production is obviously needed from him.
It was a good win against a top team in the East, but they will face a tough challenge against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday.
If they keep struggling on offense, have a lack of interest in consistent defense, and droughts, they will lose the game big against Toronto.
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They must correct those habits to continue their reign at the top of the conference.