What We Learned: Cavs vs Warrriors
The Cavs lost another one without LeBron last night. It’s easy to get down on the Cavs right now. Even when they play good, they still find ways to lose. But today I’m going to try to be positive. There are a lot of things to like about the Cavs right now and I’m going to point some of them out. So here’s what we learned.
• J.R. Smith can score. We knew that already, but it’s good to see him actually do it. He led the Cavs with 27 points. That’s why the Cavs brought him over here, to score in bunches. They need someone to score with consistency off the bench, and that’s exactly what Smith can do. His 27 points in this 2nd game are more points than Waiter’s put up in a single game all year in Cleveland. I’d like to see Smith have nights like this , but I’d like to see a lot of 15-20 point nights from him. Larry Hughes would occasionally give us 30 point nights back in the day, but he wasn’t a good scorer, efficiency wise. Most games he’d score around 10 points and take a ton of bad shots. I’m not comparing Smith to Hughes, I’m just pointing out that scoring 27 points doesn’t mean he’ll do this on a nightly basis. Having said that I like what I’ve seen from Smith so far. Keep it going J.R.
• Mozgov showed us what he could do. He didn’t play his best game and you couldn’t expect him too, but he did show us some good things. We now have a legitimate center, which was this teams glaring weakness. I expect him to play better as he gets adjusted to playing on a new team. I’m excited to see what he brings to the table.
• The Cavs were in this one all the way until the end. This game was similar to the game against the Rockets earlier this week. The Cavs were good enough to hang around, but they weren’t good enough to win. They showed us they‘re a good team, but they’re one piece short. The good thing is that one piece is LeBron James and he’s coming back in a week. Add in Shump and we should be set!
• It’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish. The Cavs are significantly better than they were at the beginning of the week. They improved in all the areas they needed to improve in. We’re now significantly better on perimeter defense with the addition of Shumpert, we have an inside presence on both ends of the floor with Mozgov, and we have instant offense off the bench with Smith. The Cavs are coming together. LeBron will come back soon and I fully believe he will play great with these guys. Don’t get down Cavs fans. They don’t give NBA championships for the team that played the best in January, they give it to the team that plays the best in April, May and June. The Cavs have a great team and I expect them to play great in the playoffs. I personally am excited for this team. I hope you are too. Go CAVS!
@CST_JacksonF
