There’s no denying the fact that the Cleveland Cavaliers got exactly what they needed last night.
Coming off a tumultuous week in which coach David Blatt was fired despite the team being in first place, the Cavs certainly appeared to be a bit out of control. A sloppy loss to the Chicago Bulls and an uninspiring victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves wasn’t exactly the start fans were hoping for after assistant coach Tyronn Lue took over for Blatt.
So, though last night’s bout against a bad Phoenix Suns team certainly seemed like it would be an easy win, it was a bit difficult to assume Cleveland would just roll. A shaky start to the game did the Cavs no favors, as they were only up five at halftime. Throughout Twitter, fans were wondering how long it would take for this team to look functional again.
After the game, these questions and concerns died down a little bit. Though a 115-93 win over Phoenix is hardly a game-changer, the way Cleveland took over in the second half certainly looked like a preview of what’s to come once the team is fully adjusted to Lue’s new up-tempo offense.
The Cavs took the court in the second half of last night’s game looking like a completely different team. The players seemed energized, the defense quickly improved and suddenly everyone was running and gunning like there was no tomorrow. Suddenly, a team which looked very sluggish and (in Lue’s own words) out of shape was now creating plenty of fast break highlights on its way to a blowout.
Additionally, ball-movement – a concept which had been ignored more often than not by the Cavs this year – returned with a vengeance. This was apparently thanks to Lue showing his players how much better the team shoots when they’re moving the ball, a message they appeared to hear loud and clear. Overall, Cleveland finished the night with 34 assists, a welcome sight compared to the isolation-ball the team had been playing on offense as of late.
Digging deeper than just the overall success the team had last night, you can really start to see how this shift in pace can benefit Kevin Love.
Love had been struggling as of late, but he went on a tear against the Suns. Finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds, he was once again playing with the aggression he was showing earlier in the year. Though one game is a small sample size, Love being one of the game’s high-scorers was definitely a sight for sore eyes.
Now, obviously one win against a bad team doesn’t automatically mean the Cavs are about to go on a tear. There’s still work to be done in order to make this up-tempo offense fully operational. Additionally, Cleveland still leaves a lot to be desired defensively, as Phoenix shot 47 percent for the night. Quite frankly, it wouldn’t stun me if Cleveland still ended up laying an egg against the San Antonio Spurs Saturday night.
That said, the Cavs needed to show some progress under Lue’s new strategy just for some assurance this transition could work, and that happened last night. As a result, for the first time in what feels like forever, the Cavs actually seemed like they were having fun. For a team which appeared to be just going through the motions for most of the season, this is one heck of an accomplishment and is something fans would certainly like to see more of.
