CLEVELAND: Twenty-one thoughts for 21 fourth-quarter points in Wednesday’s 113-102 win over the Milwaukee Bucks…
1. Nine games into his partnership with David Blatt, LeBron James sounded the minutes alarm. James was playing 39.1 minutes per night at the time, third-most in the NBA.
2. “That has to come down,” James said at the time. “For me, I don’t want to do that all year.”
3. What does that have to do with today? James played 34 minutes Wednesday on the second night of a back-to-back after logging 47 minutes on Tuesday. He entered the night averaging 37.3 minutes per game, the highest of his three seasons back in Cleveland.
4. The difference between those early days of the 2014 season and today, primarily, is James’ health. He went on a crazy diet the summer prior to returning and shed anywhere between 10 and 15 pounds. By January of that season, he had to shut down for two weeks because of knee and back ailments.
5. Now James continues to insist he feels terrific, just as he did all of last season. Lue had it in his mind to sit both James and Irving – thereby playing without any members of the Big Three again since Kevin Love remains out with a knee injury – but both Irving and Love convinced Lue they felt great and wanted to play.
6. Lue, however, wasn’t going to take James at his word. It wasn’t until his trainer, Mike Mancias, signed off on James playing that he agreed he could go. The result was another impressive victory on a night the Cavs were down two starters.
7. “We’ve got a good team and our Big Three are doing a great job of making sure everyone else is getting shots, getting touches and they’re playing well,” Lue said. “Tonight was a good win for us on a back-to-back which we normally struggle with on back-to-backs. I think our team heard about their length and their athleticism, how well they play us and they wanted to come out and make a point.”
8. Kyrie Irving all but confirmed that. Irving acknowledged he’d love to see the Bucks again in the postseason and is motivated every time he plays them because of the 118-101 whipping they dropped on the Cavs last month at Milwaukee.
9. “I hope, man. I hope. They’re a great young team. It would be great to go four games against them,” he said, perhaps inadvertently predicting a sweep. “I’m fired up to go against them every time now, for real. Ever since they kicked our ass in Milwaukee, it’s been personal and it’s going to continue to be personal.”
10. The short-term replacement for J.R. Smith will be DeAndre Liggins. Whether or not that changes long term depends on whether General Manager David Griffin makes a move.
11. It’s a safe bet Smith won’t be back until around the end of January at the earliest. In a worst-case scenario, he could remain out until close to the All-Star break. The Cavs aren’t releasing a recovery timeline until after his surgery, which hasn’t even been scheduled yet.
12. The Cavs obviously need reinforcements, both a ball handler and a big. Kevin Love is expected back Friday against the Nets, but they’ll still be dragging three dead roster spots for the time being in Mo Williams, Chris Andersen and J.R. Smith.
13. It’s likely Williams will eventually get bought out, which will free up one spot. And guys around the league are sure to be waived before Jan. 10, the day when all non-guaranteed contracts become guaranteed for the remainder of the season. But those guys usually comprise roster filler at the end of the bench. More useful veterans will surely be bought out of their contracts following the Feb. 23 trade deadline, but it’s safe to assume that even in a worst-case scenario, Smith should be back around then.
14. For now, Lue certainly isn’t panicking. He said before and after Wednesday’s game there is no rush to make a move despite the injuries.
15. “I told Griff take his time,” Lue said. “We’re a good team. And we don’t want to settle for just any point guard, we want to make sure that we have the right piece that we bring in here that could help us win a championship. That’s our goal. I mean, with Griff at the helm I know he’ll get something done. He always pulls out something magical, so let him to his thing and I just gotta to continue to coach the team with what I’ve got.”
16. Griffin, meanwhile, might be in the league’s concussion protocol today after he was sacked trying to give Matthew Dellavedova his championship ring prior to the game.
Matthew Dellavedova got his championship ring tonight and #DefendtheLand made sure to celebrate him pic.twitter.com/GYaylMwKdJ #NBA
— Davide Chinellato (@dchinellato) December 22, 2016
17. Much like they did with Timofey Mozgov last week, the Cavs rushed the court to maul Dellavedova during the ceremony and inadvertently sacked Griffin from the blind side.
18. Apparently Griff doesn’t have that internal quarterback clock and didn’t know to get rid of the ring. He looked like Cody Kessler/Robert Griffin/Josh McCown in fumbling the ring during the melee. Marketing chief Tracy Marek retrieved the ring and gave it back to Griff, who was nearly sideswiped a second time when a late-arriving J.R. Smith barreled in – cast and all – to hug Delly.
19. “A couple of guys got some shots in there, Tristan maybe,” said Dellavedova, who had his parents and fiancée here to witness it. “It was a special moment. It was good to see those guys. The fans here are pretty special and they've always supported me. I loved playing here. It was cool to come back."
20. The Bucks will be back again on Feb. 27. As for a playoff matchup? They’re essentially tied with Atlanta for the eighth seed, although it’s too early to start a daily standings watch. Interesting enough to keep in mind, however.
21. The Nets come to town Friday before that Christmas clash with the Warriors. Talk to you Friday from the Q.