LeBron James Must Steady Cleveland Cavaliers and Tuesday NBA Takeaways
Following a two-week layoff, LeBron James returned to operating from a position of elite basketball acuity against the Phoenix Suns. His teammates just couldn't provide enough ancillary reinforcements to make his efforts worthwhile.
Subsequently, the Cavaliers dropped their sixth straight game with a 107-100 defeat in the desert, sending their record to 19-20 on the season. Cleveland has now lost nine of its last 10 games, dating back to Dec. 28.
According to ESPN Los Angeles' Arash Markazi, the Cavaliers' sub-.500 record doesn't bode well for their title hopes:
James was superb in 36 complete minutes, showing no signs of debilitation after resting to recover from knee and back soreness. He finished with 33 points (11-of-18 shooting), seven rebounds and five assists.
"I couldn't make those moves two weeks ago," James said, according to The Associated Press, via ESPN.com. "For me to come back and feel like myself again is pretty cool."
Truthfully, James did all he could. It was shaping up to be a vintage performance. But Kevin Love and a notoriously shaky defense couldn't provide enough stability to push Cleveland back into the win column.
Instead, Love finished the night with nine points and nine boards while shooting 3-of-11 from the field. And defensively, he was an unmitigated disaster. Specifically, Cleveland was outscored by 20 points with him on the floor, thanks in part to lapses in judgment like this (h/t CBS Sports' Matt Moore):
Consequently, head coach David Blatt chose to sit Love for the entirety of the fourth quarter, while James Jones, J.R. Smith, Mike Miller and Tristan Thompson all watched their minutes tick up.
As Bleacher Report's Ethan J. Skolnick noted, Love's relegation to the bench in crunch time is a trend we should get used to seeing moving forward:
Up until a competitive fourth quarter that saw Cleveland's defense scramble for loose balls and apply some more aggressive pressure, Blatt's troops were downright lackadaisical on that end of the floor.
Ball-watching, a general lack of synchronized movement and the absence of fluidity in rotations has torpedoed Cleveland into 26th in defensive efficiency, according to NBA.com, and those unbecoming characteristics doomed its hopes Tuesday night.
At their present rate, the Cavaliers are hemorrhaging 106.3 points per 100 possessions. Only the Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz have been worse.
Fortunately, settling for mediocrity isn't historically in James' nature. The following factoid from ESPN Stats & Info confirms as much:
And while a strenuous workload may not be what James' body needs as he looks to obtain some semblance of physical balance, leading by example in the weeks ahead will be imperative to avoid further denigration.
With a roster in constant flux that recently underwent a fairly drastic redesign in order to strengthen the team's position as a contender, James needs to operate as an on-court conductor of the highest order to ensure things don't spiral out of control.
If his performance Tuesday was any indication, though, feelings of panic should be quelled momentarily as his fresh legs seek to rejuvenate a team dangerously flirting with a trek into the Eastern Conference abyss.
The good news is James and the Cavaliers will play eight of their next 11 games against sub-.500 teams, including a nationally televised showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers at 10:30 p.m. ET Thursday evening on TNT.
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Mo' Buckets, Mo' Problems (for the Pacers)
The NBA: Where anomalous scoring outbursts by 32-year-old journeyman point guards happen.
In the most improbable display of volume scoring since former teammate Corey Brewer exploded for 51 points last season, Minnesota Timberwolves floor general Mo Williams dropped an NBA season-high and franchise-record 52 points (19-of-33 shooting) to go with a game-high seven assists.
As ESPN Stats & Info noted, Williams now owns the league's top-scoring mark by a cool six points:
The most staggering part of Williams' epic performance was that it came on a heavy dose of mid-range and three-point jumpers, according to NBA.com:
Williams' explosion came at the perfect time, too, as it handed the Timberwolves (6-31) their first win since Dec. 10.
Although Williams dominated the scoring column, Andrew Wiggins scored at least 20 points for the 13th time this season, while Gorgui Dieng chipped in 10 points, 10 rebounds, six dimes, three steals and two blocks.
Horford's First Career Triple-Double Propels Hawks to New Heights
The Atlanta Hawks decided it was time to bring the Philadelphia 76ers back down to earth, thumping the high-profile rebuilders 105-87 at Wells Fargo Center.
Al Horford recorded his first career triple-double in the win, totaling 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in 29 minutes to hand Atlanta its 23rd victory over its last 25 games. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Hawks had never won 23 of 25 in the history of the franchise.
Atlanta has also won a franchise-record nine straight road games, according to the team's Twitter account.
The Hawks also amassed 34 assists on 42 made field goals. Owning the league's top assist percentage entering Tuesday's tilt, according to NBA.com, Atlanta should now be considered the gold standard for ball movement, as Bleacher Report's Adam Fromal noted:
Meanwhile, the Sixers watched their two-game winning streak crumble as they shot 40.8 percent from the field and 36 percent from three. Michael Carter-Williams was relatively steady with 20 points and nine rebounds but committed five turnovers while doling out just four assists.
However, backup point guard Tony Wroten was forced to leave the game with a right knee sprain and did not return. According to NBA.com's Max Rappaport, head coach Brett Brown does not expect Wroten to travel with the team for Wednesday's clash with the Toronto Raptors.
Tyson Chandler, League Office on Line 1
The Dallas Mavericks outlasted the Sacramento Kings 108-104 in an overtime thriller, but Tyson Chandler will soon be $5,000 lighter in the wallet after an egregious flop successfully fouled DeMarcus Cousins out in the fourth quarter:
Despite being forced to the bench after 40 minutes of playing time, Cousins was downright dominant, totaling 32 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists and two steals. According to Basketball-Reference.com, Cousins joined Kobe Bryant and LeBron James as the only players to go for at least 30, 10 and nine this season.
As for the triumphant Mavericks, Rajon Rondo (21 points, seven assists, four steals) and Monta Ellis (28 points, 10 assists, four steals) led a ferocious Dallas charge that saw all five starters finish in double figures.
Stephen Curry Is Still a Cheat Code
Poor Dante Exum. If only we could have warned him. Matched up against Stephen Curry in the third quarter of the Golden State Warriors' 116-105 takedown of the Utah Jazz, Exum was put in a modified spin cycle of sorts by the league's preeminent ball-handler:
En route to finishing with 27 points and 11 assists, Curry became the first player this season to exceed some gaudy benchmarks in three consecutive contests, according to the Warriors on Twitter:
Led by Curry's deft touch, the Warriors went on to outscore the Jazz 44-27 in the game's third quarter after things were knotted up at the half, as noted by GSW Stats:
Wade Goes Down, as Do Kobe's Shooting Percentages
Dwyane Wade was forced to leave the Miami Heat's 78-75 win over the Los Angeles Lakers with a mild left hamstring strain after posting four points, five rebounds and five assists in 15 minutes, according to the team's official Twitter account.
On a forgetful night that saw the Lakers shoot 31.5 percent from the field, Kobe could not establish any sort of rhythm, mustering 12 points on 3-of-19 shooting, including 2-of-9 from three.
Miami has now won three of its last four games and sits 1.5 games back of the sixth-seeded Cavaliers.
Washington Finally Slays San Antonio
John Wall put his vast array of offensive weaponry to work, tallying 25 points and eight assists as the Washington Wizards defeated the defending-champion San Antonio Spurs 101-93.
According to NBA TV, Washington had lost 17 straight against the Spurs prior to Tuesday's victory:
With the win, Washington is now 9-5 against the Western Conference and sits a half-game up on the Toronto Raptors for the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed.
As for the Spurs, they're just one game up on the eighth-seeded Suns following Phoenix's win over the Cavaliers, although they did receive a minor silver lining in the form of Tim Duncan's 11 points and 12 rebounds. NBA on ESPN highlighted Duncan's record-breaking performance:
