Recap: Cavs 149, Nuggets 135 (or, Re-writing the History Books)
The Cavs cruised to a historic road offensive performance beating NBA Champion Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets 149-135 in the Mile High city. 149 points are the most a Cavs team has scored on the road in franchise history. Congratulations to the good guys!
How did the Cavs do it?
The Cavs made 23 threes on 48 out of 96 total field goal attempts from deep, with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell providing 20 attempts just themselves combined. The Cavs are now 6th in the NBA in 3pt attempts per game at basically 40. While the Cavs had actually decreased their three point rate for a time at the beginning of the season relative to last year, now the Cavs are chucking threes with abandon and draining them at a 40% clip, by far and away the best in the NBA. The Cavs are finally optimizing the offense for their two undersized guards but who happen to be two of the best jump shooting guards in the NBA.
Secondly, the Cavs had 40 assists in the game, with only 10 turnovers despite all the ball movement. The Cavs’ offense is poetry in motion, the ball never sticking and guys consistently making the best team play. Everybody knows exactly what their role is, and allow each other to shine. Even though the Cavs defense provided little resistance to the Nuggets’ offense, the Cavs were able to beat them at their own game. As Coach Kenny Atkinson says, it’s really due to the leadership of Donovan Mitchell that the Cavs are playing at a championship worthy level. This is the best regular season Cavalier basketball that’s ever been played since peak LeBron James and the 2008-2009 squad. If you don’t appreciate this Cavs team, you simply hate basketball.
“James” Dean Wade the missing link?
The Cavs had to start “James” Dean Wade due to the injury to Isaac Okoro, and he delivered with one of his most complete performances of his career, especially on the offensive end with elite 3pt shooting and tying a career high in assists for a game with five. What most people don’t know about Wade, unless you’re the captain of the Wade Agenda, is that he was close to an elite wing playmaker his last two years at Kansas State. His college statistical profile pops with surprising production, and this is probably what POBO Koby Altman astutely picked up on when he signed him as a UDFA. Here’s to another Koby Altman apology form signed by yours truly.
While Dean Wade isn’t as talented as Isaac Okoro on offense, Wade’s trump card over Ice is his ability to defend larger wings, rebound, and defend UP positions on switches. On the court Okoro really juices the offense instead of the defense, with the Cavs’ defense performing better when he’s off the court (Cavs defensive rating is 3.7 points better per 100 possessions without Okoro according to pbpstats.com). Granted it’s also Sam Merrill’s defense that’s criminally underrated and the reason why Okoro’s splits look worse than they actually are when the numbers are contextualized. But at the end of the day, don’t be surprised if Coach Atkinson goes defense first with Dean Wade when April comes around and if no changes are made to the current roster. With Wade on the court this season, the Cavs defense improves by 5.5 points per 100 possessions, turning the Cavs into an elite defensive team.
Eulogy for Denver?
Nikola Jokic is having another MVP level season, yet the Nuggets are fighting to stay out of the play-in… what gives? Well, basically there’s been a steady erosion of talent off the roster since the 2023 NBA championship as well as an inability to re-create the franchise changing non-lottery pick of Jokic to keep the pipeline of young talent going. Will they make a move? Can they make a move? Does Jokic ever make a trade request? Will they move any of their core four? These concerns can all be erased with another playoff run where Jokic can exert his will over the game in a more intense way. But until then, the concerns mount…
Next up, an old nemesis
The Cavs will take on the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco in a game that has all the makings of a marquee affair. GSW is fighting to survive in the West and is on a current 3-7 losing skid, while the Cavs can make another statement to the NBA regarding their dominance even against the West’s best. The Cavs will receive the Warriors best shot, so the Cavs will need a consistently great effort Monday night to come out victorious… Go Cavs!
PS, Tower City >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Jokic
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