caught the game on tape delay. may be my last C's game if I can't get a viable stream (no ESPN and some of the options offered by other helpful posters still seem to freeze/buffer) or they don't make the finals.
observations:
- Al and Jaylen were huge for us.
- Tatum and Rozier need to improve their D. Tatum has to stop flying by anyone who head fakes on the 3. takes him out of the play and the man just has an open lane to the hoop. Rozier was just out of position a lot and was getting driven right by too often.
- Morris came up big on D and was much better on the boards. Offense was better too
- Baynes didn't produce much except against Thompson. Thompson doesn't have the ability to drive with the ball in his hands so he seems to be the only Cleveland big he can body up down low.
- Smart needs to quit jacking 3's. one open shot a game I can live with but not what he was hoisting today. missing wide open ones.
- Cavs didn't play good D but I would expect that to improve somewhat. would also expect their shooting to improve, particularly on the open shots they missed. If C's continue to drive to the hoop over shooting jumpers, they should continue to be able to outscore the Cavs.
- Cavs got a generous whistle in some stretches. Think it'll get more generous next game and the rest of the series to make sure it stays a competitive game and series.
bottom line, C's gutpunched the Cavs and they weren't expecting it. The Cavs looked like they were expecting last year's Celts. Still think the C's are the better team and will pull this out but I expect Lebron to come out really motivated to return the heavy hit they took today.