What We Learned: Cavs vs Wizards
The Cavs showed no signs of rust in their first game back from the all-star break. They blew out the Wizards on their home court 127-89. The Cavs left no doubt on Friday night who the better team was. Here’s what we learned from the win.
• The Cavs can overwhelm teams with their 3 point shooting. The Cavs were 14-33 from behind the arc on Friday night. Cleveland isn’t a 3 point shooting team, but when they have the long ball working they are nearly impossible to beat. The Cavs have so many different ways of beating teams, and that is why I believe they can win it all this season.
• The Kyrie Irving and John Wall rivalry never disappoints. Wall and Irving have been compared to each other throughout their career. They both came out of school around the same time and have similarities in their game. I believe both players take a head to head matchup like this personally. Irving finished with 25/7/2 while Wall finished with 18/9/5. Wouldn’t you like to see these two go at it in the playoffs? I know I would. This has the possibility to be one of the best head to head rivalries in basketball for years to come.
• LeBron can be the game’s leading scorer, and only play 25 minutes. LeBron sat out much of the 2nd quarter because of foul trouble and left the game earlier because of the score, but he still finished with 28/6/5. He is becoming comfortable with this team. It isn’t like the beginning of the season where he had to will the Cavs to victory. Now he just goes out there and plays his game, and he’s enjoying every second of it. He was right when he said this team has the pieces to win a championship this season.
• Kevin Love is still struggling on defense. Love let Wizards power forward Nene score 18 points on him. There’s no excuse for that. Love has a problem with carrying a poor night offensively over to the rest of his game. If you want more proof of that look at the game against Indiana on February 7th. I can accept an off shooting night, but I can’t accept him carrying that over with him on the other end of the floor. Games like this show me Cleveland needs to sign Glen Davis.
• Iman Shumpert’s role will continue to grow. I believe Shumpert will be a starter by the time the regular season ends. He played 22 minutes in the win on Friday night. I love the defense and 3 point shooting he brings to the floor. He shot 3-6 from behind the arc and finished with 12 points. The biggest part of his game is his defense and he finished with 3 steals. He’s giving us exactly what we need from the 2 guard. It’s just a matter of time before he’s inserted into the starting lineup.
• The Cavs can beat a top Eastern Conference team by 38 points. They completely dominated the Wizards on Friday night. They showed us that they can be unstoppable when they are at the top of their game. I also like how they were able to do this on the road. Cleveland will have a tough time getting the 1st seed in the East. They’ll have to play in hostile environments to win the championship. They showed us on Friday night that they are comfortable with doing that.
Player of the Game: Kyrie Irving
This was a no brainer. He finished with 25/7/2 and won the head to head battle with John Wall. That’s enough to be the player of the game in my book.
The Cavs will be back in action Sunday afternoon against the Knicks
Jackson Flickinger
pic credit Cleveland.com
