Point Blank – May 23
The James Gang Rode Again, with a new posse (Playoff Passages - #32, cue more great old Joe Walsh)…On Continuing with Corey K, and projecting the proper Astros orbit…
Cleveland 94 Atlanta 82
Atlanta was terrible. The Hawks did not move the ball on offense anywhere near their usual pacing, with far too much one-on-one play. On defense it appeared that they kept looking for Kyrie Irving, failing to recognize that other Cavalier faces were on the court. That is something that does have to be acknowledged into power ratings adjustments, for at least two more games, the barometer steadily dropping on that bunch over the past month. But that should not be the top takeaway from Friday night.
Gosh, LeBron James was good.
Yes, the James Gang tie-in has already been used here (for newcomers, some truly great Rock and Roll was being created a little while ago not too far from where the Cavaliers call home). But off of last night’s performance, it is time for a full album as your background, because this one really was “The James Gang Rides Again”.
Stephen Curry and James Harden were magnificent on Thursday night. They made big plays throughout, and showed every bit of why this season’s MVP voting went the way that it did. Last night James was better than that, and showed why he is still the best player in the sport, and perhaps the best ever (there will be a take on LeBron vs. Michael Jordan coming up during the Finals). The numbers were good enough - 30 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists; but they will will not ring bells. It is the command he had of the game, that you had to see to understand. Considering the cast he was working with, and it was sublime.
Go back to January 5 for the proper perspective. Cleveland was without James and Kyrie Irving in an ugly loss at Philadelphia. J. R. Smith played for the Knicks that evening. Iman Shumpert had not played since December 12, though still under a contract with the Knicks. Timofey Mozgov helped Denver to beat Minnesota. Last night they were Cavaliers, and a lineup that had never started together, one filled with journeymen (Shumpert, Mozgov and Matthew Dellavedova will not rise much above that), went out and played superbly, dominating play in a third quarter stretch that break the will of the Hawks, long before injuries took some of the bodies away. That is the impact that James can have.
When a group starting together for the first time needed an early spark to get settled in, James aggressively took the ball to the basket. As the confidence of the others grew he became a distributor. And he vocally directed play throughout, even when on the bench. The +/- will show a +20 in the 38:58 he played, which naturally means -8 over 9:02 when he sat out, but take the latter with a grain of salt – it was a 7-0 Atlanta close-out after he sat down for the last time.
Yes, there was appearance of a little roulette involved, some sizzling three-point shooting by the Cleveland supporting cast. But when you go back and review those shots the telltale sign was how wide open they were. Even with new faces in the rotation the Cavaliers spaced the floor so well on offense, and the Hawks were continually late in their rotations. Tristan Thompson was major both defensively and on the boards, with the chart on the Cleveland defense in the games he and Shumpert have started continuing to shine.
So what next? Sunday brings challenges first because of the injuries. If you are David Blatt, do you intentionally sit Kyrie Irving again, so that he can get some extended rest that can matter before the Finals? What will the story be for Al Horford and Kyle Korver? DeMarre Carroll tried hard, but was ineffective, and is that his lot for the remainder of the series? Much of that will be sorted through in tomorrow’s Point Blank, but between now and then there will also be thoughts of the will of the Hawks. They did not take a punch well on Friday; the question now becomes whether they were knocked down, or out.
In the Sights…
Well, our Corey Kluber party did not last long. Imagine a guy 1-5/3.79, with his team 1-8 behind him, now laying -215? A Canadian tooney will not even return a full looney. But as noted at the start, there will be an attempt to stay in play throughout what can be an extended run, the fundamental handicapping logic being that cashing enough tickets through a cycle can overcome shrinking value on the individual legs of the race. It is also an issue of money management, in terms of reflecting the relative merits of each wager. So this afternoon it will be about two-thirds of a unit on #976 Cleveland Run Line, which will produce a small underdog return. It should produce more, but such is the market that is (probably some of you guys out there helping to ruin it). But it is not just calling Kluber to continue his surge; it is also taking advantage of overall team timing, the Tribe now on a four-game win streak, and with six multiple-run wins over their last 10 games.
And there is a flip side. Anthony DeSclafini has only managed 24 innings over his last five starts, every one of those games at 16.2 PPI or higher, and that not only means a chance for the Indians to be productive against his lack of form, but there is again that ABC (“Anybody But Chapman”) bullpen issue. All Cincinnati relievers except Chapman have worked at a 5.89 clip this season, and there will be multiple innings from that group in this game. There is not great value for this ticket, but enough to stay on the horse.
There is another horse worth riding again, #968 Detroit. The set-up there was discussed first in Thursday’s post-column thread, and then in yesterday’s “In the Sights…” take (full archive at the bottom of the page). I believe the Astros are indeed much improved, enough to stay in contention this season, but their 12-4 road opening was not going to hold up. And neither is the current 12-6. A team that has to rely on HRs for far too much of the offense will struggle again in that category against ground-baller Kyle Lobstein. Meanwhile Lance McCullers has excellent stuff, but is quite raw, laboring to a 19.9 PPI in his Major League debut vs. Oakland, and may not be ready for this stage yet. McCullers has never thrown a pitch at AAA, and was promoted after only four starts at AA. The Tigers are being sold short for the third straight day.
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