CLEVELAND: Twenty-three thoughts for 23 first-quarter points in Wednesday’s 106-94 loss to the Chicago Bulls…
1. One of the underlying themes throughout the first half of this season is how well the Cavs have managed to play without a backup point guard Ty Lue trusts. LeBron James’ presence can cover many sins, but this was one of those nights when the lack of a veteran ball handler was glaring.
2. The Cavs only committed 15 turnovers, which is not an exorbitant figure for an NBA game. But the Cavs had eight turnovers and zero assists in the fourth quarter Wednesday with Kay Felder, an actual point guard, on the floor for more than nine minutes. Yet despite all that, somehow they still were within one point with 6:48 to play in the game.
3. It isn’t just someone who can bring the ball up and run pick-and-roll or get the offense into a set. They lack another creator who can get quality shots for others. Felder has shown some confidence and considerable improvement the last few games, but no one is ready to anoint him the answer. As a second-round pick, Felder barely has his own nose above the NBA waters right now. He can’t be expected to consistently set up others.
4. For as well as the Cavs are constructed – and this roster is a proven juggernaut when whole – it remains one-dimensional. It’s primarily a roster of shooters who do little else.
5. What makes the Golden State Warriors so dangerous and so difficult to defend is so many guys who can dribble, pass and shoot. The Cavs do not have that luxury. The facilitating falls primarily on James and Kyrie Irving to get other guys their shots.
6. Kevin Love grew into a great passer in Minnesota who could hit guys cutting to the basket. He averaged 4.4 assists his last year with the Timberwolves, but hasn’t exceeded 2.4 per game in any of his three seasons here.
7. The Cavs are a roster of shooters. It’s the job of James and Irving to drive and kick to guys like Love, Channing Frye, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Richard Jefferson. But when those other guys have to put the ball on the floor and look for their own shots, that’s when this team runs into problems.
8. The Cavs managed just 13 assists against the Bulls. James had seven of them. Asked if this game exposes the need for a backup point guard, James said that was obvious from the first day of training camp.
9. “We don’t have a reliable, veteran backup point guard,” he said. “Kay’sin the process of learning on the fly. He’s a rookie and is going to have his mistakes. It’s tough on him because we’re a franchise trying to win a championship. He has to have a fast-track mind. But we don’t have a backup point guard. Us having 13 assists tonight is not who we are. I had half the team’s assists and that’s not good for our team because we’ve got guys who need the ball in their hands and put the ball in the right position and the right spots for them to be successful. It’s tough for us.”
10. Maybe it was the cold medicine or the general aches and pains. Maybe it was the frustration of pulling within a point only to see it slip away. Maybe it was losing to good buddy Dwyane Wade again. Regardless, James seemed frustrated by the lack of bodies along with the lack of ball handlers.
11. James said he had the usual aches and pains that accompany being sick, he didn’t have his usual wind (or his usual burst). It wasn’t announced he was playing until about 15 minutes prior to tip-off, but he made it clear in his mind he always believed he was playing. “If I can walk, I can go,” he said. That isn’t the case with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
12. Irving has missed three games now with a hamstring issue that no one thought was serious and Lue continues to insist isn’t serious. But he’s also not offering any guesses as to when Irving might be ready to play. He did say he hopes Love will be available despite his condition worsening in the 48 hours since Monday’s game against New Orleans.
13. Love has needed IVs, but not a hospital. Irving hasn’t needed an MRI. But when asked if now is a good time for the longest road trip of the season, James made it clear that’s dependent on whether Irving and Love will play or whether he’ll be playing alongside Jordan McRae and Felder again.
14. “I don’t know ‘til we know who’s active,” James said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be a good time or not until we know who’s active and who’s playing. See what happens.”
15. Jimmy Butler was terrific in the fourth quarter Wednesday. He scored 14 of his 20 points, including 10 straight for the Bulls during one stretch that included a taking a critical charge from James.
16. James looked whipped, exhausted and he just turned his ankle as he hobbled off the floor with three minutes left in the third and the Cavs down 13. The game appeared over. Yet somehow they fought back to close within 88-84 with 8:49 to play.
17. James took the ball and attacked, scoring on consecutive possessions. He scored on the next possession, too, but was whistled for a charge after running over Butler. James said it was the right call, and it perhaps turned the game. Instead of the Cavs taking the lead, Butler nailed a huge 3-pointer at the other end to extend Chicago’s lead to 92-88. The Cavs never did pull ahead again despite leading by 13 in the first half.
18. “He's coming at you full speed, that's the right play to make,” Butler said. “It could go either way, obviously. You've got to brace yourself. I got all my pads here somewhere. We've got all of that for a reason.”
19. Butler said Dwyane Wade, playing on a swollen left knee, told Butler to win the game in the fourth quarter. So he did.
20. “(Wade) came to me and was like, ‘win the game.’ So I guess a switch cut on,” Butler said. “I knew I was going to have to do that in the fourth anyway, but with him telling me that, you can't let D-Wade down. He's been doing it for years. It was my time to step up.”
21. This was the first time in more than a month that the Cavs lost a game James played in. Now is hardly the time to sound the alarm. But with a grueling six-game trip ahead and the availability of guys like Irving and Love still unknown, James acknowledged these are the points when the season can wear guys down.
22. “It slows our process down just a little bit. We’re not able to practice the way we would like to,” James said. “We’re already a team that don’t practice much and now we only have eight bodies, it’s even harder for us to get better every day on off days. That’s the part for me that kind of eats me alive. I’m all about putting in the work when no one is around and we can’t do that right now.”
23. The West Coast trip starts in Brooklyn because it makes perfect sense for a West Coast trip to begin on the East Coast. Talk to you Friday from Barclays Center.