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Episode 169: Cavs up 3-2 on Raptors!
60 Plays1 month ago
Alex and Corey react to the Cleveland Cavaliers winning game 5 and now having a 3-2 lead on the Toronto Raptors. Alex went to this game and talks about his experience about being there live. We discuss Dennis Schroeder's heroics and the Cavs being able to do just enough to hold on for the victory. We also discuss the two road losses in Toronto and the adjustments the Cavs need to make for game 6. We wrap up with taking a look at the other playoff brackets around the league.
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Transcript
Cavs Regain Control with Game 5 Win
00:00:15
Speaker
Hey Cavs fans, welcome to another episode of the Cavs Pick and Roll podcast, NBA playoff style. I'm Corey, here as always with Alex.
00:00:26
Speaker
And Alex, we are in the middle of the first round. A lot has changed since so our last episode here. Game five just finished. The Cavs did win that game.
00:00:38
Speaker
We're in a bit of a dogfight here with the Toronto Raptors, Alex. Yeah, ah you know, we're we're playing that inferior inferior team from the north, and they're making a series out of it.
00:00:50
Speaker
They are. They are. And um the good news is is the Cavs were able to win game five. So they are somewhat back in control again in this series.
00:01:03
Speaker
with two games left and we'll talk about what do they need to do to close out this series.
Game 5 Atmosphere and Fan Experience
00:01:09
Speaker
But really we want to recap the last couple of games and um Alex, you were actually live and in person for game five.
00:01:19
Speaker
I did. I went to game five. It was awesome. That's awesome, man. And you got some swag. So maybe we start off with what swag did you get? Are we starting off with game five? We're not going to... We're going work backwards. I want to talk about a win. don't want to talk about the losses. Backwards works. yeah Yeah, like, so it was a whiteout, right? So everybody got these sweet...
00:01:37
Speaker
White calves shirts. If you're watching this episode on YouTube, I'm actually showing this stuff right now. who Who's all on it? Just just so they can. Oh, the core for the new core for right. Harden, Allen, Mitchell and that other guy, Mobley.
00:01:53
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. All right. Cool. They gave us those. They gave us these matching white towels. which you know everybody was swinging for the first three quarters.
00:02:06
Speaker
And then in the fourth quarter, they had to swing the these Let Them Know black towels. Oh, really? did they Did they pass those out in advance, or did they pass them out before right before the fourth quarter? like How did they coordinate that?
00:02:21
Speaker
So, yeah, everything was past was laying on the seat when we got there, but it would say on the Jumbotron. Swing the white towel, swing the white towel. you know and It was constantly showing... like you know red Red light, green light, follow the directions. yeah like in like Right before the game started, you know was like telling everybody to get your white shirt on for the whiteout. and showing do i A tutorial.
00:02:47
Speaker
A tutorial. yeah This is how you put your shirt on. This is how you be like a fan during the NBA playoffs. but It was showing um other... arenas where they had done like, you know, the color shirts and everyone was wearing the color shirt and like Cleveland, you're the greatest fans. And, you know, if you're going to beat these other fans, then you need to put your shirt on. And, ah you know, they're creative and how they motivated you this year. Yeah. Yeah. They were, uh, yeah, they were being, yeah, it was cool. It was fun.
00:03:18
Speaker
Oh, and then the other thing we got here were the little led bracelets that everybody wore they'd light up, you know, white, blue, red, yellow. They'd flash at different times during the game when a point was scored or when there was entertainment at halftime. or They would dim the lights and play some hype video and everybody's bracelets would start lighting up.
00:03:39
Speaker
Yeah, though they they had that at the game I went to. I'm sure they had it when you went to the Dallas game as well. um it looks It looks really cool when when they're all lit up at the same time and stuff. sos Yeah, it beats having everybody get out their phone and turning on their phone light and waving it around. Yeah, exactly, exactly.
00:03:58
Speaker
Well, that's awesome that you got to go to to a playoff game. What would, before we get into the game, what was your kind of sense on just the overall atmosphere, the crowd, the, um, you know, how did the calves do as far as, you know, um hosting, hosting an NBA playoff game at home?
Pre-Game Excitement in Downtown Cleveland
00:04:17
Speaker
Well, we got there, probably a little earlier than most people took the RTA downtown. um Went to, you know, walked into Flannery's, walked into to Barrio. Like, everything was packed. I'm sure. Went to a Southern Tier, got lucky, and got some seats at the bar.
00:04:37
Speaker
got it Had a couple beers. You know went to the game about 30 minutes before tip-off. Got in our seats maybe, you know, 20 minutes, 15 minutes before tip off. And the place was like pretty empty, like inside the arena. There was like nobody in seats. And I was like, man, this this game's tipped, you know, 725. The game's going to tip off in five minutes. And there's like nobody nobody in their seat.
00:05:03
Speaker
So... But it it did. it It filled up right right at tip-off. like it It was a packed house. And energy was ah you know was slow to get started, I would say.
00:05:18
Speaker
i would say the crowd was into it, but nobody was really on their feet. It was hard to get into it. like I don't know. you you know it was it was that type of game where the Cavs struggled. There was a lot of Bad calls by the ah the officiating and the Jumbotron was really good about getting the crowd into it, you know, replaying those fouls in slow-mo and we had a good ah refs you suck chant going. i don't know if that came across the broadcast or not, but it was definitely loud and.
00:05:52
Speaker
That's awesome. lasted like it felt like the entire third quarter. I think we were chanting, refs, you suck. Because it was just one ticky-tack foul after another on one end of the court, and then the Cavs weren't getting the same calls on on our side, and it was...
00:06:07
Speaker
just glaringly obvious. I don't know if you got that impression, Corey, from watching it on TV. Yeah, it definitely, it it was a tense game because it was a pivotal game, right? The Cavs went up to, Oh, you know, the start off the series, they lose two games in a row.
00:06:25
Speaker
They're back home. You're expecting them to come out on fire, look like a completely different team, the team that we're all used to seeing again. And instead, they they kind of came out looking the same as how they did in Toronto, right? And um Toronto, you know, got ahead early, not not by a huge margin or anything like that.
00:06:44
Speaker
But it definitely wasn't a the Cavs flip the switch. So I can understand how it kind of took a bit for the crowd to to really get into it because there there wasn't a ton to to cheer about early on. Yeah, it was a slow start.
00:06:58
Speaker
ah The rap Raptors came out hot. The Cavs turned it over a couple of times. There was like nothing to cheer for for quite a while. Right. And it's not like the Cavs have...
00:07:08
Speaker
It feels like forever since they've gone on like a big run in this series up to that point. And just again, just I think there was a lot of nervous fans, if I'm being honest.
00:07:20
Speaker
um I think they're they're there, they're showing up and trying to do what they got to do. But at the same time, you got you got to give them something to cheer about. Right. it It was ah a bit of a grind of a game that, you know, for through most of it, Alex felt like it could have went either way.
00:07:35
Speaker
ah You know, there were some moments there I was like, I don't know if the Cavs are going to do this, if they're going to pull it off. And um at halftime, you know they go to halftime show and Charles Barkley is just just ripping the calves.
00:07:49
Speaker
he The first thing he says, is like, I want to apologize to America for picking the calves to make it out of the east. Oh, man. Oh, man. It was it was. So you don't get to see any of this when you're at the game. No, any of this. That's kind of why i was asking, like.
00:08:06
Speaker
You know, were you getting the sense that like the officiating was one sided because being there in person you know It's also like the influence right of being at the at the home team game. right like They're influencing everybody in the crowd that the calls are going one way.
00:08:23
Speaker
definitely didn't feel like you had that home court advantage when when it came to the fouls either. I bet the s ESPN broadcasters kind of glossed over it. Oh, yeah. They they they glossed over it i mean because they're you know there's hosting and Hosting a playoff game, right? Doing what they're supposed to be doing.
00:08:40
Speaker
But yeah, it was it was a tense first half and um nobody really got going for for the Cavs and they were able to hang around. But again, it's not the ideal way you wanted to come out in that game.
00:08:55
Speaker
And yeah, I think there was a lot of nervous fans as a result.
Lineup Changes and Game Strategy
00:08:59
Speaker
One of the interesting things you know that was different about this game than the previous two games that we lost was that we made a change to the starting lineup.
00:09:08
Speaker
yeah We have started Struess instead of Dean Wade. which didn't really seem to have much of an impact. No, Struis actually had his like worst offensive game in the starting line being in the starting lineup here, and and Dean Wade was about you know the the same, at least scoring-wise and and all that stuff. but Yeah, that was an interesting move. Also, Thomas Bryant got some run in this game.
00:09:36
Speaker
The odd man out in this game, which I thought was interesting, was Keon Ellis with some of the roster changes that that Kenny made. i don't know what your thoughts are on on those changes. do you think they they should stick or or what? But I do hope that he finds a way to get Keon some minutes because he is one of your best defenders,
00:09:58
Speaker
and it can cause some havoc out there. And again, it's just another body to throw at at a Scotty Barnes or an RJ Barrett or or whoever, you know, for a four or five minutes stint. But what did you think about the roster change, the the rotational change? Do you think that was the right call? Do you think he'll stick with that or continue to change it up?
00:10:17
Speaker
I kind of liked seeing um Thomas Bryant get put in. He was only he only got five minutes of minutes yeah game time. Yeah, it's almost kind of like, what's the point?
00:10:28
Speaker
But, yeah, they put him in. Thomas Bryant played well. He was, you know, he's that physical guy. He's ah kind of like that in that big perk role where he's just in there beating up their they guys in the paint.
00:10:42
Speaker
Absolutely. He had an assist. He had a turnover. He had a steal. I wish they would have kept him in a little longer because he was really getting fired up. I mean, he was in there flexing, oh yeah pushing the Raptors players around, like, you know, giving them some physicality right back that they were using against us. So I wish they would have kept him in there a little longer, even though, you know, he's not exactly a ah big scoring threat.
00:11:07
Speaker
Yeah, he he he he never really had a chance to get going with anything on either side of the ball. And no, not that you're going to your offense through him, but he he is capable of knocking down a three ball, especially in a pick and roll situation or something like that. If you're going to play him, I'd give him at least eight to 12 minutes um just to give the bigs a couple more minutes of rest. And like you said, just have another physical presence out there.
00:11:29
Speaker
um It'll be interesting to see what what happens there um if he continues to get that. you know, any playing time at all, um which I'm fine with. but But again, I do hope that Kenny finds a way to get key on some minutes um just again to have a little bit more of ah ah an elite defender out there just causing whatever havoc you can. I know he hasn't been great offensively in this series. That's not what we need him for. We need him to to play defense and and just be out there in that second unit.
00:11:59
Speaker
Yeah, I would have liked to have seen Keon Ellis get some minutes too, but ah there's just not enough minutes to give everyone. it is tough. It is tough. I could have seen him taking Dean Wade out.
00:12:12
Speaker
ah Dean Wade got 21 minutes. you know Could have split some minutes between Dean Wade and Keon Ellis. they also They also gave a lot of minutes to Jalen Tyson in this game, which they didn't in the last two games. And Jalen Tyson, he played well.
00:12:27
Speaker
um He looks good, ah you know, when you're looking at the box score. ah But he looked really uncomfortable out there.
00:12:38
Speaker
he you could tell he was nervous. He didn't seem to, you know, he would get the ball passed to him. And get a defender on him Then he, you know, kind of ran around dribbling it and like wasn't sure, you know, who to get it to or how to get it how to get the ball off of me. He just looked ah a little out of his element out there. So, you know, it's just something that's going to come with game time and and gelling with, the you know, Harden. Yeah, he's he. the The first two games of the series, if you if you remember when we recorded last, he he really struggled in both games, got in foul trouble pretty quickly. He actually has had his both his best games of the series, both in Toronto. He kind of woke up at Game 3, was able to do some things in Game 4, and you know look ah he he'll continue to stick with it. He's definitely playing better than how this series started, but yeah.
00:13:34
Speaker
need him to to continue just to contribute out there. one One thing that jumps out to me just from a minute standpoint that I'm that i'm not in love with, if I'm being honest, is is James Harden at 40 minutes.
00:13:47
Speaker
um Now he did score 23 points, nine rebounds, five assists. He's plus 10 in this game. Also had six turnovers. He's actually been uncharacteristically having some some more turnovers than than usual.
00:14:02
Speaker
And maybe that's where a couple more minutes could have been given to to a key on or somebody else. understand you got to have a point guard out there running the show. But the 40 minutes, man, for your oldest out of the core four is is more than what I would like to to see. That's not going to be sustainable doing that every game.
00:14:21
Speaker
Yeah. So the Cavs, you know, the Raptors outscore the Cavs in the second quarter, 40 to 29, go into halftime with with a bit of a lead, right? Nothing crazy, but but they are up on the Cavs.
00:14:36
Speaker
And, um you know, the Cavs come out the the second half, Alex. And what what did you see? um you know, the Cavs felt like they
Second Half Comeback and Key Performances
00:14:46
Speaker
started to wake up a bit in that in that third quarter, even though there was a lot of ticky-tack fouls, like you were saying, right?
00:14:52
Speaker
But what what stood out to you, if anything, after the half?
00:14:59
Speaker
ah They came out with more energy, that's for sure. um You know, it's. I don't know, they they they'd.
00:15:11
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know. I don't i don't really remember exactly. um There was a crazy halftime show. ah It was the ah dual, I'm trying to remember, dual...
00:15:25
Speaker
oh It was a balancing act. So it was a guy and a ah ah woman and he had like a pole on his shoulder for one of the the stunts and he put the pole on his head for one of the stunts and the woman would climb it and then she would...
00:15:42
Speaker
you know, do some balancing act on top of it. That was pretty cool. I don't know what the calves were doing, but yeah, the, the halftime show was, was pretty solid. How about, about the half court shot for 10 K anybody, anybody draw some rim?
00:15:56
Speaker
They had, their yeah, they had five people shoot, uh, for, to win 10 K. Um, the fifth, yeah, there was a few air balls. The last guy did hit it like off the,
00:16:10
Speaker
off the rim. Okay. Like it was close. Like it almost went in. Yeah. Well, what what I saw, Alex, was the Cavs. This was something else that that that Charles Barkley said at halftime is that the Cavs have no sense of urgency.
00:16:27
Speaker
They're not playing like they they are in a state of potentially you know throwing away this game and throwing away this series. they did so They did, to me at least, look like they they woke up a little bit, had a little bit more sense of urgency um coming out at a halftime, rightfully so, because man imagine if they would have lost that game, we'd be having a much different conversation right now, right?
00:16:51
Speaker
So the Cavs were able to to get back under control a little bit. It was still a back and forth. There there was never a a huge lead in this game. I mean, these last couple games have been a slugfest. There is no being up by 20 points or anything like that.
00:17:08
Speaker
um it's It's been a very back and forth series overall. Right. I remember there was a pretty good scuffle between James Harden and, RJ Barrett.
00:17:19
Speaker
Um, the ball went out of bounds near the Raptors bench and Harden walked over, picked it up and RJ Barrett took offense to that for some reason and tried to take the ball from him, knock the ball out of his hands and Harden pushed him away from him.
00:17:35
Speaker
And, ah you know, the bench bench bench is cleared. Yeah. Yeah, no, Harden harden isn't going to back down. and i don't know if he's necessarily gotten underneath the player's skin a bit because early on in the series, it it was Scotty Barnes um that he seemed to be you know throwing around like a rag doll somehow. I think Scotty Barnes was selling it on some of those um fall downs and stuff like that. but But in the games in Toronto, the fans booed Harden every time he touched the ball.
00:18:06
Speaker
So they're probably viewing him as like a dirty player right now. But I like that because you know what? Who else on the team is doing that? Thomas Ryan would if he was out there. yeah But Harden's the only guy that's, screw you, man. Like not backing down, you know?
00:18:21
Speaker
um and he And he is capable. He is big enough to knock down some of these guys. So I don't have any problem with it. Just don't do anything stupid, obviously. Right. Jeopardize. but um So how about We get to the to the towards the end of the game, and and one of the players we got to call out, one ah one of the heroes of this game, unlikely heroes and that you wouldn't have predicted is is Dennis Schroeder.
00:18:47
Speaker
Yeah. 21 minutes. Dennis Schroeder, yeah. 19 points. Yeah, he was lighting it up. um Man. He kept getting to the hoop. He just kept making good plays. He hit a couple three... No.
00:19:00
Speaker
Yeah, he hit a couple three-pointers, had a couple free throws, but... You know, he just kept ah kept driving and getting those really quick little layups and just kept doing it one after another. It was nice. He loves doing that. And I remember last year watching the playoffs. He he was on Detroit.
00:19:19
Speaker
And the one game I watched, he just he was kind of like that, just just real aggressive and just scrappy and just plays with the with with ah with an edge, with a confidence, you know.
00:19:30
Speaker
And when they're going in, that's that's great. He's usually one of those guys like, I don't know if I really want him to shoot it when there's Donovan Mitchell over there and James Harden over there. No, Sam Merrill's over there in that corner and you got Mobley down low.
00:19:42
Speaker
but it But it worked. And we needed it. We needed everything that he gave and in that game last night. So Donovan Mitchell gave him some love after the game as well and in the post-conference after the game. But Dennis Schroeder, man, came up big. And so did Mobley towards the end. Mobley struggled a bit the last couple games. Mobley hit some threes, um finished with 23 points in this game.
00:20:06
Speaker
um Mobley definitely gets a shout out as well for for a better performance in this game. Other than that, Alex, um you know, i i got to call it out.
00:20:20
Speaker
I got to call it out. ah Donovan Mitchell, I'm going argue, had another game, another bad game. He has struggled in this entire series. The man averaged, what, 30-ish points a game in the regular season.
00:20:35
Speaker
i think he's maybe broke 20 points once, twice, and it's just at the 20-point mark, 21-point mark, whatever. Yeah. What's going on with Donovan Mitchell, Alex? I don't think there's anything going on with Donovan Mitchell. I think that's the ah i mean that's the Raptors' game plan. They game planned around taking Donovan Mitchell out of the game. Every time he gets the ball, they double him.
00:20:58
Speaker
They don't let him do anything. They don't let him move. He can't get anywhere. you know They're screening him. They're constantly giving him hard picks. um Yeah, I mean, they're just taking him out of the game. He's trying to find a way to be effective, and he... You know, he's struggling to do that because they they game plan for him.
00:21:16
Speaker
Yeah. And and every team is going to do that that you're going to face in the NBA because he's in most cases the best player out on the floor. Right. Mr. Fourth quarter. Yeah. Mr. Fourth quarter. And that's where the other Cavs players need to be a little bit more consistent.
00:21:31
Speaker
Because all of a sudden, if you're doubling Donovan Mitchell and you got Max Struess or Sam Merrill or Jalen Tyson, whoever, waiting for that cross-court pass and knocking down some shots consistently, all of a sudden the defense has to adjust.
00:21:46
Speaker
Or if James Harden is is going off offensively, right the defense has to has to adjust. um Man, I... As a Cavs fan, i'm just I'm just itching to see Donovan Mitchell game.
00:22:02
Speaker
um Man, I just want to see him have a 30-point game and and and just go off and remind everybody that, hey, he's still the best player on the floor. And it just it's it's been hard to watch watch him struggle and and understand they're going to throw everything they got at you. hey...
00:22:21
Speaker
but hey Legacies are on the line, man. yeah Find a way, find a way to be effective and help this team just get out of round one.
Importance of Winning Game 6
00:22:31
Speaker
Jeez. Because we're still we're still not we're not in the clear by any means, Alex.
00:22:35
Speaker
They need to win one in Toronto. i mean They need to win game six. Yeah, if they could win game six in Toronto, if Mitchell could have a big game, it would go a long way to just building some momentum, building some confidence.
00:22:47
Speaker
Absolutely. They need to do it. Absolutely. Around the NBA, there's some games that that are kind of already wrapped up or getting close. And Alex, that's what the New York Knicks just did to the Atlanta Hawks. They spanked them.
00:23:00
Speaker
my I got a text from my my older brother, and it's the score of this game. It was like seventy two to twenty five in the second quarter with a few minutes left before a halftime.
00:23:12
Speaker
In Atlanta, the Knicks win this ballgame 140-89. Do that math, whatever that is. It's a lot. and they And they win that series on the road. And you know what? they're all They're all pumping their chest, holding their heads up high right now because that series, ah same as the Cavs, turned into a little bit of a dogfight.
00:23:34
Speaker
And the Knicks just showed them who's the better team and kind of just reminded the rest of the league and certainly the East that, hey, we're still a serious team. in this bracket. Man, if yeah if the Cavs can do the same thing Friday night in Toronto, yeah, Cavs would have to come out hot. You know, they got to you got to break their spirit early yes and let them know that the series is over. this And this is where I want the Donovan Mitchell game.
00:24:02
Speaker
And I want that to be part of how we we send that message because, um man, I just want to see him go go off as well. So before we move on, i know we just moved ahead a little bit, but anything else, out Alex, from this game, the Cavs do hold on for the win. Toronto kind of went ice cold at the end.
00:24:26
Speaker
oh I also didn't mention Brandon Ingram leaves this game with an injury, did not return. He is listed as questionable, did not seem to slow down the Raptors at all from an offensive standpoint.
00:24:39
Speaker
Ingram has kind of struggled in this series in general. He had one good game. um But man, it feels like the Cavs need to take advantage of potentially Ingram not being back or Ingram continuing to struggle offensively, um you know, in game six. But anything else, Alex, that you can think of? You said there was some interesting antics after the game, after the win.
00:25:06
Speaker
Anything oh calves and Raptor sands, anything juicy? Oh, not, I mean, there were some Raptor fans there. They'd show them up on the jumbotron and we would all boo. And, you know, they did that kind of thing. That was fun.
00:25:19
Speaker
Um,
00:25:21
Speaker
No, not too much. After the game, we left the game. We hung around for a little while. Uh, I mean, the crowd was just amped up and pumped after the win, right? Everybody's, you know, leaving the, the arena chant, you know, there was a go calves chant going. There was a, uh, a dog pound chant going, lots of barking. Uh, yeah, it was, it was great. There was, uh, it was a lot of fun. We went straight from the game to, uh,
00:25:48
Speaker
Here we go. We walked over to Wild Eagle Saloon. Nice. And got some beers, ran into a couple guys there. Ran into this guy, Joe, at Buff Blaston on Twitter. He's a world poker tour player from Columbus.
00:26:07
Speaker
It was a pretty cool guy. Had some good conversation with him about the Cavs. And his favorite player, Chris Paul. Interesting. Yeah, we ran into this Joe and Jeff. we played We played some, ah oh what's the what's the game? The Slider Table we you got the weights.
00:26:26
Speaker
oh Oh, it's like weights. It's kind of like shuffleboard, but mini bar shuffleboard. So we played that a little bit. Yeah, yeah that's that's pretty much it. Then we caught the RTA back. Nice. Awesome.
00:26:38
Speaker
Yeah, it definitely feels good with that with that being a win, especially at home. Glad to hear the crowd was amped up. And ah you know now now the Cavs just need to be ready for that series shifting back to on the road.
00:26:51
Speaker
So let's let's kind of quickly talk about the two road losses in Toronto.
Cavs' Missed Opportunity in Series Lead
00:26:57
Speaker
um Pretty ugly basketball from the Cavs. um Cavs struggled offensively, Alex, and they weren't able to really...
00:27:08
Speaker
stop Toronto either. And game four was one of the ugliest games I've seen in a long time. Both teams struggled offensively very, very bad. It was very low scoring at the half.
00:27:21
Speaker
And the disappointing part of that game is the Cavs were never out of it. And they managed to Gain the lead a couple times in the second half.
00:27:36
Speaker
And they had about a five point lead with about four minutes left in the game, which, you know, in today's and NBA four minutes is is a long time. I understand that and respect that.
00:27:47
Speaker
But man, I'm watching the game. Wife and kids were sitting on the couch. The game goes a timeout. And I said, guys, the Cavs are going to win this game. It just it just felt like, okay, right.
00:27:59
Speaker
there's There's only couple minutes left. All they got to do is is is get a score to get a stop or two. All of a sudden we're up nine, 10 points. Then they got to start playing desperate. Then they got the fight like it's it's going to happen. We're going to win this game. We're gonna be up three one. I was getting all excited.
00:28:16
Speaker
And then the game just kind of continued to slip away, and and they lose this game. And that was such a frustrating loss and such a defeating loss because the Cavs had an opportunity.
00:28:27
Speaker
And again, Alex, up 3-1 versus 2-2, that game you went to would have been closing the series out, right? Yeah, yeah. It was... Man, I was glued to the TV watching game four because, like you said, up five, four minutes left.
00:28:43
Speaker
Four minutes is an eternity and in the NBA. yeah But I can't believe we let that game slip away. we I mean, they they just couldn't get any offense going at all. They couldn't stop. The the Raptors just started making everything.
00:28:57
Speaker
It seemed have felt like just, ah man, yeah what that sucked. And you had, you had some bad performances here. Matt, Max Strews could not get going offensively. scores one point. Keon Ellis, he he only played a couple minutes. Didn't do anything for you. Right. Offensively, Jared Allen, another guy we need to talk about.
00:29:18
Speaker
Grab 15 rebounds, which is outstanding. Offensively though, struggled, only had three points. Points from Dean Wade, eight points from Mobley. Like that's unacceptable. I'm sorry. You can't have, you can't have Evan Mobley and single digit points. Yeah.
00:29:32
Speaker
and And that's another thing, too, is i have to go back and look at the first two home games, but Another thing that I'm waiting to happen along with the Mitchell kind of just game is is a twin tower game, man. Give give me an Evan Mobley, Jared Allen, double digit scoring, rebounding game as well.
00:29:51
Speaker
and And show me how we lose that, right? Because we don't typically lose when when Jared Allen is 15 points and 14 rebounds or something like that. So he's another guy we got to find a way to get going.
00:30:04
Speaker
And it shouldn't be that difficult to do when all they got is Jakob Hurtle in the center. like why Why are they not just feeding the big guys constantly? Jakob's gotten more aggressive as this series. He dunked it one time. like That's huge, Alex. They were talking about on the broadcast how he never dunks it.
00:30:20
Speaker
Um, and, um, yeah, you, you, you look at that matchup and you would think, man, Alan should be taking advantage of that matchup and Scotty Barnes to his credit. Uh, maybe I undervalued him a bit before this series started. he he, he has been a beast in this series, but I still feel like mobile. He should also be getting, should be eating more than what he, he did in, in Toronto, at least in those games.
00:30:45
Speaker
He kind of let up. He kind of just wasn't as aggressive and and let Scottie get the best of him. He cannot do that. He cannot do that in game six. Otherwise, there will be a game seven back in Cleveland on Sunday.
00:30:57
Speaker
You're reminding me of one of the most frustrating things of sitting there watching game five in person was the lack of perimeter defense. yeah Raptors players were constantly at the three-point arc.
00:31:10
Speaker
with no one near them, like constantly, constantly had wide open threes. And we never had any art. We, you know, their perimeter defense was so much better than ours.
00:31:22
Speaker
I don't know. We were just, you could see like all five of the calves players just crowding the paint. And Raptors players all around the three-point arc, like just open shots. It's like, yeah what the hell is going on? What are they doing? It's just sitting there, possession after possession. i was like, wide open from three again, wide open for three. so and And that's the frustrating thing, Alex, in in this game four is Toronto was ice cold from the three-point line, only four for 30 in this game. The Cavs were 10 for 40.
00:31:52
Speaker
I mean, just think about it for a second. If the Cavs actually, in either one of these games, scored offensively how they are accustomed to scoring, I don't know what their average was for the regular season as far as points per game. Definitely north of 100, right? Probably around the 115 mark, 120 mark. Just imagine if they just would have had a normal game. They would have been the York Knicks. They would beat Toronto by 30-plus points.
00:32:20
Speaker
because Toronto struggled in this game, and it's so frustrating the Cavs were not able to take advantage and and let that game slip away. For sure. I mean, we're a team with a bunch of really good three-point shooters that can't make a three in the postseason.
00:32:37
Speaker
You had ah you know Max Struess, 0 for 5. ah ja Jalen Tyson was lights out from three most of the season. He only shot one three-pointer and missed it.
00:32:50
Speaker
Keon Ellis shot one and missed it. mitchell Mitchell, four for 12. Jeez, four for 12. Schroeder, 0 for 2. you know like he was trying to find a waiting six He was trying to find a way to get going. and He just...
00:33:05
Speaker
Mobley shot three three-pointers and missed all three of them. Stop it, Mobley. Yeah, exactly. so you know Definitely, you can't you can't go back to Toronto and have a repeat, really, of either one of these games. and If the Cavs, again, play as they can, i feel like they can they can win. They can win on the road and and close out this series.
00:33:30
Speaker
um they just They just need to do it, man. Yeah, it's the ah the the magnets they have on the rim. yeah Right. Right. So game three, i mean, a little little bit of the same story, a little bit different as well. But I mean, again, the Cavs just struggled.
00:33:48
Speaker
it It was, ah to be fair, it was a close game. It was a back-and-forth game um until really midway through the fourth quarter. the the Raptors really started to open up the game, outscore the Cavs by 20 points, and and and win the game by double digits as a result.
00:34:06
Speaker
um by that point there was five, six minutes left in the game and and as they started to pull away and the Cavs just kind of seemed to to turn the lights off and kind of kind of threw in the towel at that point.
00:34:17
Speaker
Yeah, ah I mean that fourth quarter, yeah, it was a close game up to the fourth quarter and then yeah the Raptors just completely took over. ah Jameson Battle checked in. I was like, who's this battle guy? And he just nails three or four three-pointers one after another and it's like,
00:34:35
Speaker
It's over. You know, we're not catching up. Everything you threw up was going in. it it was pretty amazing, actually. um it was definitely um a momentum shift for sure. And just, again, you're you're right there. So, like, in both games, even though the Cavs didn't play great basketball, they didn't play the Cavs basketball that we're accustomed to seeing, they were right there in both games until they
Road Game Confidence and Playoff Implications
00:35:02
Speaker
weren't.
00:35:02
Speaker
right And in both scenarios, they they were in it going into the fourth quarter. right So that gives me some confidence, at least. If the Cavs can play a complete game, they're going set themselves up and be in a good position. but um that the The concern I have, Alex, with those two losses, the biggest concern is, do do I think the Cavs make it out of this series? Yes.
00:35:29
Speaker
Even if it's a game seven, I think they make it out of it. But what worries me is it goes to game seven, you win that, great. You'll feel good about yourself, but you haven't won on the road yet.
00:35:42
Speaker
You haven't won a road playoff game yet. That's another reason why I want to see them close it out in game six, because just that experience, we'll call it, of of understanding how to win in another team's building. Toronto has a great fan base.
00:35:58
Speaker
They really do. they're They're amped up, man. They're amped up. And so it can't be an easy environment to play in. But guess what? no teams and No teams arena is going to be an easy environment to play in. right If you go you go win this series and you go play Orlando or Detroit, whoever wins, guess what? Their fans are going to be amped up too. So the Cavs need to prove to themselves that they can win on the road, which again would just be another huge reason to to close it out in Toronto.
00:36:26
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I hope so. I just can't stop thinking about those battle three-pointers now from game three. just what what what it what it that What did that guy do in game five? Yeah, he checked in in the fourth quarter, and game five immediately comes in, hits a three-pointer, and I'm like, oh, God, here we go. yeah But then that was the only three-pointer he took.
00:36:47
Speaker
okay So they either shut him down or I don't know don't know what happened there. So I know I babbled a bunch. We talked about a little bit. um So now this series shifts to game six in Toronto.
00:37:02
Speaker
Alex, anything else that you think they need to do um to to to secure that victory?
00:37:11
Speaker
I think they just got play some perimeter defense and feed the big men. I think that's that's really just key. you know They're going to game plan around Donovan Mitchell and doubling Donovan Mitchell. And when Donovan and Mitchell is doubled, he needs to find the open man. He needs to pass the ball.
00:37:31
Speaker
Because so many times in that game, game five that I was just at, you know They double Donovan Mitchell, and he just gets pinned, stuck with that ball, and he makes a bad pass out of the double team, or he passes it to some other someone else that's got a defender on him instead of getting it to the open man.
00:37:50
Speaker
so Yeah, I i agree. um Take advantage with with with your big man big men. And also, one thing that I'm starting to notice is when Harden gets the ball, it's like a clear out.
00:38:07
Speaker
It's an iso. It's him doing a bunch of dribbling, trying to make a move. And remember when he first got traded to the Cavs? And he has this this history. This is like...
00:38:17
Speaker
He can play with any big man, right? He made Clint Capella look like a stud and get big contracts. And every every big guy plays with, he just he's he's able to find them, right? And he was doing that when he got traded here very early on um but with Jared Allen and then when Mobley came back from his injury so on and so forth. I feel like we've gotten in away a little bit from using Jared Allen, Mobley, with Harden, pick and roll action, and it's just iso ball, everybody else clears out, and let's just hope that Harden draws a foul or hits a shot or or maybe makes a good pass at the end.
00:38:52
Speaker
So if they could do that as well and and force some matchups some matchups you know as the D switches or or tries to combat that, I think the Cavs can take advantage of that as well. And it's really where Harden's strength is at.
00:39:05
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, a lot of the stuff that they were doing in the regular season just isn't working in the playoffs. ah You know, the foul baiting, the the. Chucking the ball up and throwing your head back and hoping you get the call that that Harden does, like every time he takes a three-pointer.
00:39:21
Speaker
That's not, you know, he's not getting any of those calls anymore. No. And yeah, yeah. I mean, he's known for getting big men involved, but he hasn't been doing it in these playoff games. I don't know why.
00:39:32
Speaker
Right. That's infuriating seeing him dribble out the shot clock and then. you know hopefully bailing us out with a three, but a lot of the times he doesn't, and that's why he's got you know seven, eight, six turnovers turnovers right each game.
00:39:47
Speaker
He's averaging almost as many turnovers as he is assists. Right. He's definitely been been less efficient um in this in this series compared to what we saw in the regular season. and again, it's more intense. I get that.
00:39:59
Speaker
Teams are going to adjust. They scout you, but you have to adjust as well. Yeah. I think overall, though, the Cavs just need to play a complete game of basketball. Both sides of the court, both sides of the ball, right? If you play a complete game on both sides of the floor, you will put yourself in a great position to win this game.
00:40:20
Speaker
So we'll see, Alex. We'll see what version comes out. Is it going to be the version of the Cavs that we've seen the last couple years of kind of in the moment shrinking? Or are they going to come out, be aggressive, throw that first punch, and and not look back? So I'm excited. Friday night basketball, man, going into the weekend. What more can you ask
Updates on Other Series and Potential Opponents
00:40:40
Speaker
for?
00:40:40
Speaker
Yeah, probably when this episode comes out, it'll be Friday morning. Yep, yep. So before we wrap up, Alex, I do want to do quick a quick look around the NBA. It's another playoff series. We already talked about the Knicks smoking Atlanta in Atlanta. They win that series. They will move on to the second round.
00:41:00
Speaker
Interesting. The Boston Celtics and the 76ers are about to wrap up their game. There's two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Celtics down 14.
00:41:11
Speaker
76ers are about to tie that series and they're about to go to a game seven, Alex. Wow. Back in Boston. so I would have never thought that. We do love that, right? Although I'll put my money on Boston if I'm betting, but you know who would have thought that they would be in a seven game series right now?
00:41:30
Speaker
um ah So that's the other series in the East. The Nuggets and Timberwolves are battling right now. That's a 3-2 series with many up. it's It's a one-point game.
00:41:42
Speaker
And the the Lakers could not close out the series against the Rockets last night. I did watch a little bit of that game as that was on right after the Cavs. And they're going to game six tomorrow.
00:41:55
Speaker
or Yeah, Friday night as well, Alex. So is is there any other series? I don't know, man. It feels like the the series in the East are the most interesting because it it it affects the Cavs' path potentially.
00:42:08
Speaker
Orlando giving Detroit some some issues, right? They went up 3-1 on this series. Pistons get the win. But that's been a back and forth series as well. And if the Cavs do make it out of this first round, we obviously play the winner of that series.
00:42:25
Speaker
i don't know how much you've been paying attention. do you have a preference on on who you would want between the Pistons or the Magic?
00:42:34
Speaker
I think we match up better against the Pistons, just like, you know, Orlando seems to be matching up pretty well against them. Yeah. I think Orlando's quite a bit more scrappy than the Pistons are.
00:42:48
Speaker
Orlando is definitely a little more of a fiery team. Yeah, it would be fun to see, ah you know, be in a series against old old coach JB and Karis Levert's over there. Right. So, yeah, it would be a fun series, entertaining series.
00:43:07
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I would prefer to play Detroit, but I i don't know if Detroit's going to able pull it off. Yeah, I don't know either. i don't know either. and um I feel like the Cavs, not that this matters, but I feel like the Cavs, at least in the regular season, and I'll even argue for the last year or two now, have have seemed to have both of those teams' numbers.
00:43:27
Speaker
Both those teams seem to struggle against the Cavs. um So hopefully that would carry over into a playoff series against either matchup. But The Cavs got to get there first, right? So won't look too far ahead.
00:43:40
Speaker
ah But it is interesting to see how some of these other series are playing out. And um nobody nobody, nobody just took care of business. nobody's Nobody's the Oklahoma Thunder over here in the East, Alex. Nobody, nobody's swept.
00:43:52
Speaker
Nobody won in five. Everybody's in ah in a dogfight right now. So it makes me feel a little bit better as a Cavs fan. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. All right. Well, there it is, Cavs fans. Let's go ahead, Alex, and wrap up this episode of the Cavs Pick and Roll podcast.
00:44:08
Speaker
want thank you, Cavs fans, as always, for tuning in and listening. And Alex, let them know where they can follow us and connect with us. Follow us on x at Cavs Pick and Roll. Shoot us an email, cavspickandroll at gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr.
00:44:23
Speaker
Watch this episode on YouTube. Leave us a like, subscribe, rating, review. We'd appreciate it all right, Cavs fans, there it is. We'll talk again soon. Peace out, Cavs fans.