What We Learned: Cavs vs Clippers
The Cavs were the dominant team again on Thursday night. They showed the Clippers and the rest of the NBA just how good they can be. The Cavs won 105-94. Here’s what we learned from our 12th straight win.
• The Cavs came make 33-17 teams look awful. The Clippers couldn’t do anything right today, and the Cavs couldn’t do anything wrong. The Cavs controlled every aspect of the game. I love how the Cavs got out to an early lead and never looked back. In the past the Cavs would get out to leads like this, and then let up. They didn’t do that on Thursday night and that’s why they were able to cruise to such a lopsided victory.
• It’s always a good day when LeBron plays under 30 minutes. The King spent almost as much time on the sideline as he did on the court. In the time LBJ did play he dominated. LeBron finished with 23/9/3. LeBron has played great basketball since his return to the lineup. What has been more impressive than his play on the court has been his leadership. He’s leading the way for the Cavs in a way he wasn’t doing earlier in the year.
• The Clippers are sore losers. No one likes traveling across the country and getting embarrassed on national TV like the Clippers were. Their attitudes were however more embarrassing than their play. There’s no excuse for having 5 technical fouls.
• The bench got outscored by 20 in the 4th quarter. Not exactly a great finish by our bench there.
• You have to get to the Q early. LeBron and the rest of the Big 3 didn’t play the entire 4th quarter. If you want to see good basketball, get to your seats early.
• The Cavs could easily win 15 straight games. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but the Cavs have easy opponents coming up in the Pacers, Lakers, and Heat. I’m not saying the Cavs can’t lose these games, but we would all be surprised if the Cavs’ winning streak was ended by one of these teams.
• Kevin Love can be the top scorer. We’ve all been critical of Love’s offensive game recently, but he showed us tonight that he can still score. Love finished with 24 points and 9 boards while only playing 3 quarters. Love is at his best when he is getting touches on the elbow, and that’s what he was getting on Thursday night. We all know he’s an excellent 3 point shooter, but he’s at his best when he’s scoring in the post. Hopefully the Cavs can continue to keep giving Love low post touches.
The Cavs will be back in action on Friday night against the Pacers.
Jackson Flickinger
Pic credit cleveland.com
