LeBron James, Cavaliers Finally Meeting Expectations and Monday NBA Takeaways
On a night when England's first couple set the Barclays Center abuzz, it was an American royal—basketball his born domain—who stole the spotlight.
Buoyed by a measured but powerful performance from LeBron James (18 points, seven assists and four rebounds), the Cleveland Cavaliers easily dispatched the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night, 110-88.
Tasked with impressing a visiting Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, James and his gang delivered in spades, carving up Brooklyn's defense with a signature slew of savvy passes, punishing drives and deliveries from distance.
James wasn't the only one eager to entertain: Between the locked-in Kevin Love (19 points on 7-of-14 shooting) and a season-best Dion Waiters (26 points on 11-of-21 shooting), the Cavs again served serious notice that their once-steep learning curve is quickly coming to a crest. Waiters provided postgame comments on his performance, per Fox Sports' Sam Amico:
But Waiters' wizardry was merely the tip of what turned out to be perhaps the night's sneaky-biggest iceberg—the Cavs' bench. ESPN's Dave McMenamin noted the turnaround performance:
Despite playing Cleveland to a near standstill during the first half, Brooklyn—without both Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson—eventually succumbed to Cleveland's offensive onslaught.
At the center of it all was James, who burst out of the second-half gate the way only a conquering King could: cold, decisive, devastating in his tactics, illustrated in just the first three minutes, per The Brooklyn Game's Devin Kharpertian:
The third-quarter count: a 35-18 Cleveland stampede, punctuated by a pair of pretty alley-oops from James to Tristan Thompson, both in plain view of the visiting Windsors.
Matters all but in hand, the third-quarter break gave all in attendance a taste of aristocratic diplomacy—American-style, courtesy of Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch:
But such courtly charms weren't without their disarming counterweights. To wit: One night after Derrick Rose became the first NBA player to offer his support for the family of the slain Eric Garner—whose case has sparked scores of protests throughout the country—a number of Nets and Cavs players, James included, followed somber suit, sharing heartfelt comments, per Bleacher Report's Howard Beck:
Monday's win marked seven straight for the streaking Cavaliers, who leapfrogged the Chicago Bulls into fourth place in the East while taking sole possession of the Central Division.
The night's monarchical majesty aside, the win was hardly a coronation for the Cavs. As was the case during James' first go-round with the Miami Heat, Cleveland's season promises to be quite the roller coaster indeed—statistically as well as psychologically.
Earlier in the season, it was the Cavaliers defense that many believed loomed large as a potential Achilles' heel. Despite the small sample size, the recent returns have been beyond encouraging, illustrated by the stats, via David Zavac, and head coach David Blatt's comments, via Amico:
As it stands, the Cavs have a chance to pad their progress a bit further: Of the team's 13 games between now and the new year, eight of them will be played in the friendly confines of Quicken Loans Arena. Meanwhile, only four come against opponents with a record of .500 or better.
Between the pomp of Britain's finest and the proud protests over still-raw wounds, Monday night had the potential to be exactly what Coach Blatt would just as soon avoid: a distraction from the task at hand.
Instead, and setting aside his own beliefs on the latter matter, James once again played a part that's come to suit him well: calm eye that always seems bigger than whatever storm hovers above.
Monday Takeaways:
So…Much…Bledsoe…
We don't know the exact makeup of the pantheon of bittersweet basketball feats, but we're pretty sure notching a triple-double in a buzzer-beating overtime loss is pretty high up there.
That's exactly what unfolded in Los Angeles, where Eric Bledsoe's blistering 27-point, 11-rebound, 16-assist performance was, sadly, authored in vein.
Ouch. Blake Griffin, you are a bad, bad man. You can't just go get 45 points and nail a game-winning three. That's just selfish.
The Los Angeles Clippers' 121-120 win made it eight straight for L.A., which improved to 15-5. For Bledsoe and the Phoenix Suns, meanwhile, Monday was all about moral victories.
Which, so long as we can get, like, seven more of these come next spring, is just fine by us.
Hawks, Dubs Keep Rolling
The Cavs may have led Monday night's tome, but they're by no means the only ones on a roll.
We begin with the Atlanta Hawks, who rattled off their seventh straight win in fine fashion, filleting the answerless Indiana Pacers 108-92.
Yeah, all right, that's one way to brag about it.
Mere months removed from barely sneaking into the 2014 playoffs, the Hawks have ridden one of the league's elite offenses straight to the top of the Eastern Conference crop. More impressive still, they've done it despite Al Horford's thus-far-pedestrian play. But after logging 25 points and eight boards in Monday's win, don't be surprised if Big Al starts to turn things around.
Formidable as the Hawks have been, though, no NBA team can rival the basketball absurdity that is the Golden State Warriors—holders of a franchise-record 13 straight after dispatching the Minnesota Timberwolves, 102-86.
How impressive have the Dubs been? It's gotten to the point that Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combining for 42 points or Draymond Green racking up yet another double-double (to go along with a team-high plus-22) barely even moves the emotional needle. Per GSWStats, this is the 47th time these guys have combined for at least 20 points in the same game:
Le yawn.
Ladies and gentlemen, the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors: so great they'll make you numb. Now that's a slogan.
A Royal Pain
Going to the funny-bone bullpen a bit early Monday night!
This either belongs in the Museum of Modern Art or some fourth-dimensional black hole made of fire and endlessly emptying machine guns, never to be seen again. We can't decide which.
Kevin Garnett as Kevin Garnett in, Kevin Garnett: I Am Kevin Garnett.
Rap-scallions
Part of the journey between lottery loser and genuine contender involves winning in ways you weren't able to before.
For example: Last season, the Toronto Raptors were a lousy 1-6 in overtime games. That, in case you don't have your calculator handy, is bad.
Monday's 112-107 extra-frame win over the Denver Nuggets doesn't mean Toronto's overtime woes are over. But it's certainly a start.
The moral victory hardly came easy: After leading for most of the first three quarters, Toronto found itself down five with less than three minutes remaining in the extra stanza.
The old comeback box—a must-check for any true contender—is a characteristic of the Raptors, per Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun:
In what's become something of an early-season theme, Toronto's bench—led by the always-dangerous Lou Williams (26 points) and the heady-steady Patrick Patterson (19 points)—was very much the difference, particularly in light of Kyle Lowry's struggles (13 points on 3-of-13 shooting) and DeMar DeRozan's large-looming absence.
We won't know the true cut of the Raptors' jib until DeRozan returns to the fold, possibly by the New Year. Still, credit Toronto for not letting one early-season dinger keep it from holding ground atop the Eastern Conference fold.
Wonder Wall
On the surface, there was plenty to applaud about the Washington Wizards' nail-biting 133-132 double-overtime win over the Boston Celtics.
You could start with the score itself, by far the most points between any two teams this season. Or perhaps with the slew of incendiary performances (seven players tallied 19 points or more); or Boston's bench tallying an absurd 82 points; or the manifold big moments.
Sometimes, though—assuming we're lucky enough to notice—sports are about more than mere minutia. Monday night was one of those nights. ESPN's Michael Wallace describes the touching postgame moment for John Wall:
The girl in question is six-year-old Damiyah Telemaque-Nelson, who passed away Monday following a long battle with lymphoma. After first meeting last year, Wall and Miyah became friends. At one point, Wall even arranged for Miyah to meet another hero: pop star Nicki Minaj.
But for as stirring as Wall's on-court tribute was (26 points, 17 assists and seven rebounds), it was what happened after the buzzer that cast into stark relief just how much little Miyah meant to him.
