- In overtime, the Marc Gasol hit a 7-footer, Zach Randolph hit two free throws and a tough 17-footer, and then Lionel Hollins attacked Shaq on his last two possessions. First, he used Gasol to back-screen Delonte, and Shaq didn’t get above the screen, giving O.J. Mayo a look at a three. (Although Mayo deserves many props for hitting that one.) And on the Grizzlies’ final possession of the game, Shaq correctly sagged back when Mike Conley came on the pick-and-roll. Then he bit on a nice pull-up fake from Conley, got left at the free-throw line, and watched as Conley laid the ball in, as JJ Hickson rotated off of Zach Randolph too late to stop the shot. Not a great crunch-time defensive showing from the Cavs’ new starting frontcourt, and you hope Andy fouling out down the stretch will be a rare occurrence.
- The three new starters: a combined -31 in 75 minutes. The three starters from last year they replaced: +19 in in 85 minutes.
- The Cavs, as a team: 18 assists to 20 turnovers. That’s not going to get it done.
via Recap: Grizzlies 111, Cavs 109 (Or, Caught In a Bear Trap Game) « Cavs: The Blog.
Krolik runs down the Cavs’ whoopsies last night, with some interesting notes on the rotation and the Big Defensive Liability.
LeBron’s tenacity was crazy last night. Krolik criticizes the team for just standing around and watching LeBron, but even then, he points out that he had a TS% of 70%, scoring the last 13 points for the Cavs. I actually took a break towards the end of the game and Paroxi-wife asked me who I thought would win the game. Immediately, I said “Probably the Cavs by eight after free throws. LeBron’s so good that when they get into a tight game down the stretch, he can literally get you points everytime down for a finite number of possessions.” And that’s pretty much what happened. The only reason the Grizzlies won was because the executed with the ball first. They got into position to win with their defense, but the only way you beat LeBron in that scenario is by scoring with the ball last, which effectively they did, not counting LeBron’s desperation three (which I half-expected him to hit).
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