J.B. Bickerstaff | Cavs at Mavericks Post Game | 12.27.2023

J.B. Bickerstaff | Cavs at Mavericks Post Game | 12.27.2023

It take to pull this off um I mean guts it’s plain and simple um it was the ability to dig down and go somewhere when things weren’t going your way you know um we were struggling defensively in the first half but collectively we went out um and just found a way and you

Know you don’t do that without you know heart courage uh and fortitude you said this group just had to it took guts you had to dig down why why this group when you guys are so underman are are they able to find that I mean they’re committed to each other um I think

That’s the you know been the fun part um you know they just don’t want to let each other down they don’t want to disappoint one another and they love to compete and there’s a you know fire burning in them uh when they’re out there competing because they know the

Next guy or next to them is competing at that same level level so it’s like one guy just feeds off the other guy and next thing you know a spark turns to a flame uh and you look out there and there’s a collective unit of dudes are

Just getting after it what did Jared Allen show you tonight I mean he’s I mean he he’s Relentless um I mean it was it was impressive you know he was aggressive from the start um but it was a refusal to let us lose in so many different ways

We asked him to do so many things you know out there defensively he’s guarding on the perimeter then he’s got a rebound then got a switch then he’s got a trap um and then offensively we’ll put the ball in his hands and let him make the right basketball play and he finishes

With six assists um you know getting his teammates involved but then was able to find his also so um you know again I I can’t say enough about what jarett’s been doing um and he’s been carrying us was that kris’s best game this season I

Think it was you know the game of the moment um we needed him in that second half to find a way to produce buckets um you you know he’s one of the guys that we have left here that you know can ISO and create um on his own right now and

You know when you’re playing a team um that’s well coached like the Mavs you know sometimes your stuff is going to break down and you need a guy to go get one and I thought you know Carris was extremely timely um on the offensive end

For us and then had some you know steals or deflections late in that game put some pressure on guys defensively so I thought he was a standout as well how big was that reversal call on the charge for cares I mean it’s a good thing that we had you know our challenge available

To us um and you know it’s it’s a great reason to have that rule because those Block charge calls are probably the most difficult calls in our game so to be able to have the opportunity to review it uh and then give the refs credit um

For Having the courage to overturn it um you know it was Big Time For Us Isaac obviously had a big task in caran Luca second half he only had 10 points after scoring 29 and the first half what was the adjustment that was made what did

You see from Dean way and high schol that uh I mean this this was everybody uh we made the decision um you know to just try to get the ball out of his hands and we went to trap him more um force him to get off of it and then be

In rotations and see if you know the other guys can make enough plays to beat you so this isn’t about you know one guy um obviously we had a bunch of individuals take the challenge uh but you got to have a group effort to slow a

Guy like Luca down and I thought we did a great job of that in the second half one of the phrases we often hear is keeping the lines of communication open but talk about the honest communication you guys had to have with yourself tonight to battle back I mean

You I’m G to use the right words here you you can’t trick yourself right and if you’re not willing to have honest hard conversations uh you’ll lose trust and you’ll lack trust and it won’t allow you to do things like we did tonight right

If you have you know a bunch of guys who who you know aren’t willing to tell each other the truth um when we’re down like we were they split um but our guys are willing to tell each other the hard truth um you know communicate with one

Another uh and fix problems I think that’s where you get in trouble is if you don’t communicate small things just continue to build on top of it and become huge things but I think our guys did a great job of communicating their way out of it tonight anything else

Craig Porter J we’ talked about his offensive ability but I mean he had still he was blocking he was guarding how much have you seen him grow and how important is he to this group I mean it’s you you go back and you look at his

History and he led his team in every single category right so he knows how to play the game of basketball and he knows how to impact the game in a bunch of different ways um you know you give him the minutes and he goes out and it seems

Like he’s flirting with a triple double you know when he gets his opportunity so um you know he’s a Hooper and his journey you know the years that he’s spin in his maturity uh the places that he’s seen um just give him a Poise and a confidence to just go be himself and

He’s not trying to be anybody else um and that’s who he is you know he’s a stat sheet stuffer uh he’s a guy just with a high IQ who knows how to impact the game

Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff spoke to the media following a 113-110 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on December 27, 2023.