Dribbles: Cavs’ Valiant Effort Goes Clank At The End, But That’s Just Life In The NBA Sometimes

Random dribbles following the Cavaliers’ 109-108 toughie of a road loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. …Darius Garland, Georges Niang, Cavaliers, Cavs, Fred VanVleet, Rockets, NBA

1. This one featured tons of storylines, but it all boiled down to Darius Garland shooting free throws to try to win the game.

2. He made just one.

3. Garland was fouled on a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left. The Cavs trailed by two (109-107). It was ruled a flagrant — meaning not only was Garland owed three free throws, but the Cavs would get then get the ball.

4. Ideally, they would have had the ball with a one-point lead, and only 2.8 seconds to go.

5. It didn’t work out that way, as Garland missed the first two before making the third. So the Cavs had to try to get a game-winner off the inbounds. Donovan Mitchell‘s well-defended shot fell short.

  1. Them’s the breaks, as they say. And the Cavs (36-7) sort of let this one get away. But they also had no business being there at the end. They trailed by 13 points in the fourth quarter.

7. Then came a 19-0 run and six-point lead. Then came two 3-pointers from Rockets guard Fred VanVleet, who was unconscious most of the night. Then came Rockets center Alperen Sengun tying it at 107-all near the basket. After the play, Sengun angrily shoved Jarrett Allen to the ground.

8. It was very clearly a “hostile act.” The officials went to the replay center to confirm. They were told not to call it that way. In fact, it somehow wasn’t even a foul at all.

9. Didn’t LeBron James go off on the replay center after a Lakers loss last year? Now we know why. The idea is to get calls right 100 percent of the time after review. Yet the officials still really blew it. 

10. Anyway, the Cavs had their chances. Garland entered the night as a 90-percent shooter from the line. He went 3-of-8 in this game. How that happened … well, you can’t really explain it. Honestly, sometimes the shots just don’t drop.

11. So yeah, he just missed. There’s no need to burn down the house or rip the man. “He’s carried us all year,” coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters after the game. “I love the guy.”

12. And if you’re a Cavs fan, you should love Garland, too. He’s been remarkable all season. He gets to wherever he wants on the floor. He hit a massive long-distance three moments earlier to give the Cavs a fighting chance. He’s been doing it all.

13. Without Garland, the Cavs aren’t even in this game and they certainly aren’t setting franchise records for victories game after game. We all should be well aware of that by now. Garland is having the best year of his career, an inspirational season that is making the organization proud. Missing some free throws isn’t about to change any of that.

14. And yes, the Cavs were down 13 with about 11 minutes left in the game. Yes, they went on a 19-0 run. Yes, they were fighting off the physical Rockets (29-14) and the referees, who seemed to be auditioning for starring roles in “Three Blind Mice.” Most teams would’ve folded.

15. Atkinson offered perspective. “I loved how we fought, I loved our resiliency, I love this team,” he said. “It’s the NBA, so no regrets. Tough loss.”

16. What Atkinson also could’ve said is the Cavaliers went on the road, against a really good team, and almost pulled it off, without injured starter Evan Mobley (calf), as well as key reserves Caris LeVert (wrist) and Isaac Okoro (shoulder).

17. This was a gutsy performance. It just came up short. As Atkinson said, you’ll have that sometimes during an 82-game season. “We seemed like we were running out of gas,” he added. “Then we found our reserve.”

18. Basically, these Cavaliers are different and they showed it again. Given that there are 39 games to go, they could have just as easily folded and thought, “On to the next.” But that’s not who they are.

19. Garland paved the way with 26 points and five assists. Mitchell added 19. Allen was magnificent in scoring 17 and snaring 13 rebounds, despite the Rockets’ constant shoving near the hoop. Ty Jerome was brilliant off the bench with 18 points, four boards and three steals.

20. VaVleet led the Rockets with 26. He was 7-of-12 on threes. Houston entered the night 28th out of 30 in 3-point shooting. But they made an uncharacteristic 44 percent in this one. It’ll be real interesting to see if they can come anywhere close to that in Cleveland on Saturday.

21. That’s right, the teams meet again to close out the week. The Cavs will have to visit the Philadelphia 76ers first (on Friday). The Rockets don’t play again until they come to Cleveland.

22. So, yeah, tough loss. It’s easy to blame Garland for missing free throws, but whatever. No biggie. The Cavaliers are in great shape, and while they didn’t finish the job here, they came incredibly close. On to the next.

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3 COMMENTS

  1. Better this year, but Cavs have a ways to go to shake their soft-ish reputation.

    OKC pushed us around. Would have loved to see TT get in that game for meaningful minutes.

    He’s been playing meaningful minutes since, good move by the coaching staff to get him in the mix. Hope he can stay involved through the season.

    On that same note however.. will PJ Tucker play in the NBA again? Wouldn’t mind seeing Cavs add him as an additional big. At this point, physicality-wise, I’d consider Dean Wade more of three than a four. Adding Tucker to bang down low, and clear space for our guys, would give us four competent bigs for the playoffs. Plus he can knock down threes.

    A strong steady veteran backup PG wouldn’t hurt either. Love what Ty Jerome provides. But would love to add experience and strength / athleticism to the backup PG spot, if there is space, before the playoffs.

  2. Would LOVE for Cavs to ADD a real BIG to bang around. Whenever Allen or Mobley goes out, for just a game or portion thereof, you can feel the loss.
    Later, in the playoffs… the other teams will attempt even more so to gain fouls on the interior “big two” & if fouls accumulate, & they will, someone has to sit.
    D-wade helps as much as he can but he’s not only quite soft, but his 3-ball has diminished greatly lately! Shot’s almost has disappeared, so much so, methinks the confidence has left the building sometimes. Yeah, he sinks one once in awhile… but it just ain’t what it was at the beginning of the season.
    Tristan’s a good banger, but with 7 footers, he’s going nowhere getting either rebounds or blocks, just keeping them at bay a couple feet. That’s the team’s Achilles heel. Allen & Mobley, together DO well, but without one or the other, they suffer a bit, for just small periods. If it’s longer, or a whole game, or in this case several games, the inside “domination” eventually disappears.
    Need some help here to achieve that last two tiers.

  3. Sengun was throwing elbows all over the place. HThere were at least 6 times when he hooked the defender with an elbow. It was blatant, obvious and was only called once. I wish we had a big that would retaliate and show that guy he can’t do it to our team.

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