Chase Down Podcast Live, presented by fubo: Cavs Close Out the Pacers

Chase Down Podcast Live, presented by fubo: Cavs Close Out the Pacers

This crowd Rises to its feet slammed at home gar left wing free ball perfect Dar the lane lock the Bly p and Allen blocked the shot at The Rim Pow with the left hand and a foul welcome to chase down podcast part of the Cavs media family I’m your host

Justin Rowan the chase down is presented by fubo the official streaming partner of the Cavs watch over 350 channels of live sports and TV including bleet Sports Ohio without cable there’s no cost and no commitment try for free at fubotv.com Cavs the Cleveland Cavaliers come home after a twoin one road trip

Not the two I expected not the one I expected but they are back after what I would deem an overall successful road trip they have won the tiebreaker over the Milwaukee Bucks with their win over the Indiana Pacers and I’m winning today with my co-host Carter Rodriguez joining

Me Carter how you doing buddy doing good man busy busy day got a haircut much needed um voted I hope everyone voted today um uh you know Primary in local election day so uh uh you know uh always good to participate in democracy Justin ever heard of it in

Canada oh that’s crazy that you hadn’t heard of it it’s amazing um and the Cavs won a game that I thought they were going to lose and at the beginning of It kind of seemed like it was getting ready to kind of match the the pattern or the

Rhythm of some of their kind of uninspiring losses lately where the offense just kind of wasn’t clicking no one was playing with any particular force on offense you know ever since Donnie has been out the rim pressure has been quite poor a lot of kind of aimless

Probing from all the guards not just Darius but Darius also had a pretty nightmarish first half uh then Caris kind of goes on a personal run at the end of the second and then the whole team kind of wakes up uh in the third and fourth quarter uh plays an Indiana

Team that is uh really tough especially at home um uh they they played him really well they they close out the game on a a super well executed short roll pass from from you know Darius to Jarett to Isaac and the Cavs 10day signing in Marcus Morris has an unbelievable game

So uh you know it went from man are we just going to keep ping ponging back and forth and back and forth and by the way we still haven’t you know strung together a win streak still say technically yes still are doing that but you know again a 2-1 uh Road road trip

Still feels pretty good um and again the two games they won are not the ones I would have expected them to to win so all in all I feel pretty good uh the team still kind of needs to prove you know I still think they they kind of

Still owe us that big stretch but yeah I think beating a team that has played us very tough this year baiting them into our style um and just kind of EX out executing them down the stretch without anyone having a you know Morris is probably the only guy who had like a you

Know an uncommonly good offensive game as a scorer um yeah and I I thought they just kind of they fought and Claw to a win which they need to do when they’re this beat up yeah and I think last night was a prime example of just how helpful

Caris LeVert can be and and how valuable he’s been and why he should be in those six-man of the Year conversations because that’s what you want right you want games where when your starters don’t have it that your six-man comes in breathes life into the team energizes

Everybody I thought they came out of the uh out of half time and played a much much better game um I had tweeted in the first half basically like I didn’t think that darus or Jarett had been particularly good um I know Allen had some points at that point um but I

Thought his defensive positioning uh was a half second slow throughout the night you know missing at The Rim where some of that finishing hasn’t necessarily been there and Darius like it was just over dribbling without really a purpose and you know if you’re probing without intention what you’re doing is no long

Probing because you’re you’re you’re not creating an advantage you’re not getting the defense into rotation uh you’re you’re essentially loitering offensively and you know there were sometimes where uh there was those bailout possessions but I just like I thought it was so nice to see him go through one of those halfs

Where you know nothing’s falling the shots not really dropping you’re not creating an advantage offensively and then come out of the half scores two buckets assists on a quick eight points uh the playmaking was fantastic FC from him even though he didn’t shoot great in the second half that’s what I want to

See I when when he’s playing like that and he’s creating those advantages and he’s being assertive there is a floor to what he’s doing and he’s making everybody else better I can live with hot and cold shooting as long as you know he’s being a little bit more

Decisive and the the the offense overall has momentum because especially with Donovan out if he’s not doing that nobody else is yeah and at no point I don’t think did really have a great game he had a good stretch at the beginning of the third um for sure but everything

Else like NE even in the fourth quarter I don’t think it ever felt easy for him you know uh he was getting Jaylen Smith on him on switches and they were having to bring up a screener to help him get ahead of steam past him like it just

Wasn’t his night but like to your point the difference between an assertive decisive Darius even on a night where it’s quote unquote not his night is setting up guys um you know drawing attention uh he made a couple I mean he had seven assists three of them were like unbelievable highlight assists that

Only Darius can throw um so I think it’s one of those things where you really have to watch the game closely because I think there’s a reason I was pretty frustrated and disappointed with darius’s first half performance and I wasn’t that disappointed with darius’s second half performance even though it

Wasn’t that much better I mean he finished 5 for 18 from the field for 13 points points and had five turnovers and seven assists again not a good game but like again it’s much more about his floor uh raising ability that I think we focus on

That I think we’ve been grumpy when it that’s been missing uh this year and and he did that in the second half so that that’s the kind of stuff you need to see especially if the if the scoring isn’t isn’t on point and like in general I I

Might I may accuse the whole team of this there was a lot of these you know in the first half I think there were a lot of sets where you just kind of saw them walting into the set you know they were running the play but no was anyone

Running at that decisively or hard no and you know guys like Nim hard and N Smith are are really cool Defenders uh in that way like TJ McConnell as well who my goodness I thought he was cooked cooked last year and he is back I am

Back to pining for this man um but those guys are so good at blowing up your you know when you half ass in action they are going to blow it up they are going to you know they’re going to burst in with you know you know throw throw their

Shoulders throw their hips and just knock you off balance and not yield an advantage you know there are teams where you can half walk through an action as long as uh the other team isn’t paying that close of attention you can yield a decent look I feel like those point of

Attack Defenders that were on Darius um and on Caris were not allowing that so credit to the Cavs they I thought they were you know walking into their offense um into their sets and walking through their sets early and they stopped doing that you know they scor 29 in the second

Quarter and 36 in the third and you know that’s those are the stretches that won them the game in the end so um I I I just really I I I obviously everyone would love them just to start well and like I’m sure that I know that’s a thing

They’ve talked about that they haven’t been doing as perfectly lately but you know I I’m still happy they found it rather than you know just not being able to get there cuz they don’t win the game and if they don’t find a way to you know

Up the ante a little bit yeah and I I think what we want to see is that sense of urgency because even prior to the Pelicans game you heard it was a consistent point of emphasis hey the pels they they had the longest winning streak in the NBA they’re the best first

Quarter team in the NBA over this period they get out to Great starts we want to get out to a better start that’s exactly what they did they they set the tone in that first quarter and and really put themselves in kind of pull position to

To win that game and it was funny I don’t want to spend a ton of time talking about the Houston loss because I think that’s one of those that you just kind of throw away um but I was in our Discord uh game threads prior to the

Game and as soon as I saw Houston wasn’t starting a big man I was like guys I feel terrible about this game I feel like this is one of those games where Houston’s just going to bomb away from 3 they’re going to get hot it’s going to

Be a weird night the cats Cavs are going to come out and run everything at at half speed and they’re just not going to take this seriously I got criticized immediately for for being a little too Doom and Gloom because I have been to Doom and Gloom lately and it was 100%

Right yeah it’s uh it there’s no way to say this without sounding like like an annoying like know- at all it just kind of feels like a lot of their losses this month have been March losses like you know like The Season’s long we’re beat up we expended

A lot of energy to to overcome the last injuries and playoffs are so close and like I just think there’s been a bit of a focus thing you know um which I that’s fair to say which you just see you see across the league it’s not an IT pointing out

That it’s common doesn’t mean it’s like a good thing you know but like I just have felt like you know I was watching that uh by the way 5:00 tips are awesome until you have kids then you’re they’re just you’re useless you can’t you can

Barely watch it but uh you know uh when when I when I was watching like it there was just I just immediately was like yeah this isn’t going to happen tonight like and uh and you know you going to have those games you have them all year

But especially at this time I feel like you’re extra susceptible to them yeah and the benefit of you know coming out flat and losing that game to Houston is we didn’t lose a playoff series to them last year so we don’t have to like pretend that we’re like really sifting

Through what happened and what could this all mean like I I I think win or lose when the cows have a rematch against the Knicks nothing that occurred in that last game is going to be applicable for that series like I just don’t think that there there’s any data

Points there but it’s frustrating because I understand that that it’s normal that you know that’s one of the challenges of this time of year but it is still such a tight standings race right like if you lose against Indiana man they would be in a tough spot this

Week like I I think this week you know you got Miami you got Minnesota and Miami again if there was a chance just kind of playing the schedule game if there was a spot that the Knicks would pass the Cavs it would likely occur this

Week like I I think the Cavs have been easier April after this road trip’s done and you know they they play a couple losing teams and whatnot and Knicks have a tougher finish to the season but if it’s going to occur it would happen this week and I I think the disappointing

Thing about dropping these games against teams you should win is you’re taking away that breathing room and as much as I like to see the Cavs in high pressure environment see how they respond in those situations make sure that you know hey the benefit of being in games that

Really matter is it’s really it feels great when you win those games the flip side is man you could make this so much easier on yourselves especially when you have injuries like you look at the last 12 games the Cavs are 1 in four against teams below 500 and they’re 5-2 against

Teams above 500 prior to that stretch the Cavs were 24 and two against teams with a losing record like twice as many losses against losing teams in that stretch than you had like the rest of the season combined like that’s that’s unbelievable yeah and I think it’s unbelievable in both directions one the

Cavs were like you know it’s it’s funny the Cavs have just kind of given us uh you know I think the way the season has gone almost kind of lays out why people are never going to be happy cuz they uh you know they are beating the snot out of

Bad teams uh had a couple you know couple close losses to good teams from you know January and February and everyone’s saying yeah well they’re taking care of of bad teams and that’s good but you know we really need to see them take care of some good teams then

Uh over the last like three weeks they’ve taken care of like six really really good teams and then lost all the bad teams and now everyone’s like well can we take the bad team seriously and I think it I think what’s important to note is if they do both they would never

Lose they would win 70 games and you know there’s a reason only the Celtics are going to win 60 plus this year is that nobody does both all the time so like I do think there’s I think there is a bit of a of a weird Whiplash for us

Because as fans we are watching a team that consistently took advantage of those kind of opportunities all all year just kind of fumbling a little bit as of late um so so like it feels like a departure But ultimately I do like I do think you just kind of want to see I

Think more than anything I think the Grump is probably because we just want to see them put together one more five six seven game stretch of really Elite play and I think that is a reasonable concern you just want to be playing your best ball going to the playoffs uh so

Again and like I know we’re kind of harping on the negative right now uh when the Cavs have won two of their last three and two of those wins were definitely tough and meaningful Road wins great wins y um but like I do think like it’s we really haven’t dove into

The uneven play this deep and I think I think that’s why because even in this Pacers game I think there was just some really uneven play it wasn’t just the Pacers were executing so darn well that we were and they were having a great night and we were having a mediocre one

To start I don’t think I think the Cavs weren’t playing particularly well so there’s there’s just a bit of that where they like they just have to uh I I think they just have to find that Rhythm but you know I just also think we probably should be careful about asking

To have our cake and eat it too oh for for sure and I you know I I think you’re right that at this time at this time of year just recognizing how important the the the schedule is right now how important each of these matchups are like you just want to see that

Consistency right like you want that little bit of Feelgood you you want and the two seed would be nice yeah two seed would be nice and you know in order for the cows to get the two seed because Milwaukee’s playing basketball they’re going to need to play more consistent

They’re going to need to deliver as consistently as Zoom does for us support for this podcast and the following message comes from Zoom half a million businesses Connect using Zoom a single platform for phone chat workspaces events absent video Zoom enables real time collaboration for teams around the

Globe Zoom how the world connects brother you haven’t done a zoom read 16 minutes into a pod before that was crazy I that’s as thrown off as I’ve ever been I I think I used to be a 15minute guy oh my not I I think I did it more frequently with the podcast

I’m G to be blessing for the rest of the podcast admin don’t admin don’t listen don’t listen to this Cavs admins don’t don’t cancel us Justin just used Justin used to be uh you know a 15minute adre guy and yeah you know not everyone has that kind of

Stamina no no they do not uh but part of the reason why the Cavs need to get some consistency now is obviously we’re still down Evan Mo still down Max dusu and uh we did get the announcement today from the Cavs that Don Mitchell will be

Re-evaluated in a week uh as a result of his broken nose not a big surprise or even that disappointing because I just kind of assumed he was going to be out with the knee so that’s going to give him more time uh we’ll we’ll see if we

Have mass Donovan in a little bit of in in the near future but hopefully it doesn’t keep them out too much longer than that we got the match up against Philly next Friday so that’s definitely one that I have circled where itd be nice to have him back um but like Darius

In particular I think we need him to continue to build in the right direction right like I I thought some of his recent games had been phenomenal I thought the Pelicans game like we talked about was his best game of the season and then the next two

After that just weren’t as effective and you know maybe some of it is just regression like he’s been shooting the cover off the ball uh recently that’s going to come back down to earth at some point you kind of hope that it doesn’t happen any in anyone individual game

But I still think what we saw in the second half against Indiana if he’s playing like that I feel better about the chaos chances because reminds me even of how Donovan played against the Pelicans where yeah he didn’t shoot well but I thought he was decisive and created advantage and and got the

Defense in rotation and made everyone better that’s what we need from Darius and you know you just kind of trust at this point that the shot is eventually going to drop yeah I I think uh obviously he’s very very important um I I think that you know Jarrett is just as

Important Jarrett I think post break has just kind of seemed not his best you know not bad by any means but not his best um you know just a few of those like kind of head scratcher plays I thought he played much better in the

Second second half as well I do want to ask because I Adam eatting in the chat just said uh who’s back first Tru Moy Wade or Mitchell and like I don’t know I don’t know the answer to that question but I do I was it did make me uh think

Uh in the n Donovan Mitchell division because you know we know he’s the answer uh who who who do they miss the most right now between stru Moy and Wade I think Evan um stru is an easy answer too just because he’s been such kind of a A plus minus darling for them

Um but I think Sam’s been playing better recently and you know you’re you’re getting enough production out of the wing that I just feel like when you look at how Jared Allen has been playing recently I think he’s been a little overtaxed like I think he’s been asked

To do so much defensively um you know starting George dang makes the most sense in terms of who’s available but it does put a big heavy burden on on his shoulders um I believe um since the All-Star break they have a 116 defensive rating when Yang and Allen are sharing

The floor together and if you look at Allen’s defensive rating alone uh over that time it’s 113 total so you know the the defense with Al on the court without Nang is obviously considerably better but I just feel like he’s been kind of worn down as a result of that and not

Having Evan Mobley particularly in this time without trist and Thompson as well I think that it has been a difficult thing for the Cavs and you know if there was one that I could get back on the court I I think it would be Evan because I think him rediscovering a rhythm prior

To the playoffs would be the most important out of all of these guys yeah I it’s funny I think Evan’s probably the right answer for all those reasons you said but my brain did go to stru first um I just think they sometimes miss his seriousness you know like I

Kind of I I kind of grumped at the team in the first quarter against the Pacers for kind of walking through sets not a problem with Max stru that guy’s going to go 200% at all times um I just think his professionalism really sets an

Example you know you see a guy like that sprinting that hard off every screen fighting that hard on every switch etc etc like I think that kind of stuff is such a good tone Setter for the team and I think there’s a reason he’s been kind of our plus minus darling even

When he hasn’t shot well or or scored well uh I think it’s that kind of seriousness that he he he brings to that that group and all the groups frankly so i’ lean towards I think you’re right that it’s Moy but like I’m surprised at how much I’ve missed struce given that

That our other Wing players are not playing poorly yeah yeah Isaac’s been playing very well uh still I thought you know even though Tyrese halberton is in a slump right now and has been for some time um I thought aoro did a good job making him uncomfortable uh generating you know

Um turnovers and other kind of uncomfortable possessions from him I I just thought that he did a good job overall and um you know obviously having Marcus Morris step up in the way that he was unexpected but you can just kind of tell the benefit of getting a veteran in

There and I I thought it was fitting uh that his first game came against Indiana because you know that’s that’s the reason why he was on the buyout Market to begin with he had been playing well for Philadelphia he was playing about 17 18 minutes per game for them shooting

40% from three and the reason he had to move was as the salary filler for Buddy heel right um Indiana wanted to to shed some salary buddy healed to in uh the Sixers obviously has helped improve them and it put him in a situation where you

Know he he gets moved to the Spurs and gets bought out and I’m just I’m thrilled because I I don’t think bi guys are someone that you really expect to move the needle or or make a big difference uh if you can get one win out

Of them uh I I think that’s a win ding um and you’ve got that already and you know listening I know he signed a 10-day contract but from his comments uh pregame with Serena he was talking about uh being excited going going on the playoff run with the Cavs and whatnot

And I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s spending that the rest of the season in Cleveland um but I think he gives you what you’ve been talking about for a while which is that pumpkin insurance and you know having another veteran that you can trust that’s been through the

Playoffs that has a relationship with JB bicker staff at that backup power forward position is so damn important because you know he can shoot you know he’s going to compete on defense he’s going to be in the right spots and just like the the veteran Savvy like there

There’s not going to really be a record scratch with them he might take some pull-ups that you wish were a three-pointer um but I just think he’s going to be decisive on the court and when you talk about some of the struggles that Cleveland has had in

These Houston and Indiana games it’s a result of not being decisive right it’s going a half second slow and I just don’t think that he’s a player that plays at that speed yeah well it’s funny when I posed the question you know who do we miss most

Uh or I’m sorry Mobly stru or Wade the reason it’s not Wade is because you know is because of the game Morris turned in uh last night where you know again it’s interesting because you look at Morris and he kind of feels like something of a

Bridge between at his best he kind of feels like something of a bridge between Nang and uh in Wade where Wade is by you know Nang is uh is clearly a much better better shooter than Morris over over the length of his career um Wade I think

Right now is a better Defender than Morris you know there was a time where Morris was a really really great defender but I think as he’s aged Wade definitely is that guy Morris does feel like a bit of a middle ground there where you get some a little more

Shooting a little more consistent shooting he’s just under 38% for his career from three um not on crazy volume but he definitely can shoot um but he also can provide that physicality some switch and defense um the other thing that I that I like that he brings it’s

Funny because it’s not an efficient shot it’s probably one that you don’t want all the time wasn’t it kind of nice to see one of the Cav spacers be able to pump drive and hit a midi you know like like a very flowing shot that just felt

In Rhythm um like there’s just not a lot of that on the team and obviously you don’t actually want too much of that really you know the numbers have born out you really only want your star players taking mid-rangers but in the postseason like or in in a tight

Contested game where it’s just too hard to get consistently good shots like just having that in the the back pocket was kind of nice to see obviously I want him taking a lot more threes than I want to see him taking twos but like that was

Nice to see and was it was a noticeably different thing for the guys who play the 3 four for the Cavaliers cuz they there just not really a shot a lot of those guys take even stru typically doesn’t take midies he’ll take it from

Three or he’ll go all the way to the ba basket so when you are wide open on a 12 or 13-footer it’s okay to take that you know um and you know so it it was nice to see that overall obviously he’s not going to shoot 80% from three guys so

Like I know I’m such a hater so if you if you think that like if you if you feel like there’s been some silver bullet found I would probably challenge that um but ultimately they have a lot more depth there and a guy who in playable depth at

The end of your rotation seems good I I sure hope to see him he him locked up through the end of the year I was surprised frankly to see it was a 10day um y because I I I think that it’s got to be cap reasoning that people smarter

Than us no maybe you know who knows who who knows um uh but ultimately I I just was I wasn’t crazy bullish on Morris as a buyout guy I know he was on the top year list I was kind of more interested in the in some Tristan insurance at the

45 um But like after seeing that I mean how could how could I not change my mind uh to your point signing an end of bench buyout guy at the end of the year um if it yields one win it was a good signing and I think I don’t think they win that

Game if he doesn’t shoot the cover off the ball play good defense and not mess up which is really hard to do in a new setting so really really excited for Morris and I know that conversations are going to be move very quickly into like long-term rotation talk of like where is

He going to fit in if he gets signed to to an end of year deal I don’t really want to have that conversation yet I want I want to get let it breathe he’s going to get time to play right now that’s the reality um I don’t think

We’ll be seeing Evan until the end of the month at best obviously I’m guessing so you know if he shows up tomorrow great uh aggregate Carter please yeah aggregate me uh but uh you know I think he’s going to get time to get run um and

What he does with that run I think is when we’ll start having those conversations yeah and you know I do think he brings similar to Max’s seriousness all the time right like I I think that that’s another good thing to to have you know that he’s got a

Reputation for being a tough player not someone that I’ve always loved to play against which means you know that’s a perfect formula for someone that I’d love to have on the team um and you know we’ve given him credit obviously deserves it I excited to see what he can

Bring having another option I think is valuable um but we should also give George Nang credit because he also played very well five of eight from the field um has been shooting very well since the All-Star break you uncovered a heck of a stat in the Discord buddy

About George dang was that that he’s the most efficient isolation player on the Cavs this year it sure is yeah he’s uh he’s averaging a point per possession in isolation which is just over uh the 0.96 that Donovan Mitchell has uh frequency a little bit lower but actually Carter so

If you complain the next time he slow walks a guard to the paint you can you can shove it that’s that’s a bucket every single time um at least half the time one point per possession that actually did change after last night’s game because I I was looking that up uh

As I was getting ready to say this uh we now have a new qualified member of the Cleveland Cavaliers that’s ahead of him which is Jared Allen Jared Allen is now at 1.05 points per possession he’s he’s now had enough isolation possessions that he’s on come get your crown George take it

Back uh but I I just feel like he’s been so much more confident shooting the ball I feel a lot better every time the shots going up I just feel like again he’s been decisive he’s getting into that Rhythm um so he’s got his speed under

Him a lot more on these threes even though they’re going up crazy fast but he’s set you know some of these like half jog pull-ups those are just tough man you know um I feel like he’s he’s had his feet under him a little bit better and you know that three-point

Percentage is creeping up he’s not going to get to 40 this year I just don’t think there’s enough time at this point um unless he goes on an Absol abute heater which you know be my guest George be my guest you can if you want I’m not

A doctor but uh but you know he’s at 37 uh so he went from having like an an objectively bad three-point percentage for the first like 40 50 games of the Year to you know this which is a Solid 4 45% since the All-Star break yeah like

That is that is an objectively good number um especially in a set setting where the Cavs need way more of him than I think even George plan Planned planned on them needing him so like if he is the if he’s shooting 40 to 45% from three

Off the Bench in 15 to 20 minutes a game you know that spot’s pretty secure man uh you know he’s I think he’s a little over taxed right now you can see it on some of these defensive possessions where he and Jarrett are you know having

To clean up a lot um but you know in a in a healthier role for him like you can’t help but feel like a a corner has been turned in terms of comfort level yeah and I just think I said it even when he was struggling it’s important

That he has among the most playoff experience out of anybody on this roster like that it’s just you’re going to feel better about his ability to have his game translate to the playoffs and I just feel a little bit more secure having another option there at that position at the backup power forward

Spot Isn’t it nice how many options we have now you know like uh honestly it’s the biggest question mark from a team building standpoint like I feel great about the guards I know people focus on the wings but honestly that hasn’t been a factor this season right like Max stru

Has done a terrific job um Isaac Oro has done a terrific job Carris LTA has done a terrific job like all three of those guys are giving you two-way impact okoro has grown into enough of an offensive player where you can say that Max has improved defensively enough where you

Can say that Carris Levert has been committed on the defensive end like I just feel feel okay about the wing rotation the big question comes with who’s going to be that four when you’re staggering the two bigs because we know core for on the court together they’re

Going to play well what’s it going to look like when you have the different pairings and just having another veteran option that has that playoff experience just makes me feel better about the amount of levers that JB has to pull right yeah and the other thing doesn’t

Mean it’s all going to go well but having those viable options I think is important and makes it easier for us to analyze what’s happening on the court compared to last playoffs yeah the other interesting thing about Morris uh in terms of you know reinforcing that depth

Is it does allow you if the wings are having a bad series you know if you’re if you’re not getting much out it if ice is having a bad series or streu is having a bad series you can go double big a little easier or I guess

Technically triple big if you want to play Wade if you want to have Wade or Morris play the three uh or you know or or put Nang out there uh with with either of those guys and have him just guard you know the lesser the smallest

Threat on the other team you know so like I I just think you have a little bit more lineup versatility you know and and Marcus Morris is by the way no no playoff slouch he’s played in 12 Series in his career uh six and six so uh per perfectly 50/50 per basketball reference

In those series um uh but you know this is a guy who’s made one Western Conference Final and one Eastern Conference Final in his career like he’s made runs himself and has played significant minutes in those uh in those series he he averages 13 points and five

Boards uh per game in the postseason shooting 40% from three so yeah um I just think they again it’s about optionality like yes you want you want eight can’t miss bullets in your chamber I think most teams don’t have that luxury and I think so like the fact

That if the Cavs are going into the postseason and uh and Caris is having a rough series you can try Sam if uh ice is having a rough series you can give more minutes to Max or you can or you can upshift and play Dean if Dean if

Dean can’t hit then you play Morris if if Nang can’t hang on defense you play mine like you just if if if Moy or Allen aren’t having a good series and the double big lineups aren’t working you can downshift like I just think optionality is the name of the game in

The postseason again I still want to see their fast ball be fast um and and and that which we just might not get a chance to see uh based on the injury timelines they have but uh but in the end I do I do think the optionality here

Is important I don’t think they picked up a potato here like they didn’t just get a ro into bench roster guy like Morris I think can still play um and it’s just going to be a matter of is he going to be able to play if if he gets

Picked up long term with all these other guys but the optionality is exciting yeah I’m actually happy that you brought up the idea of him and like Wade playing together if you want to go big or you know you could in theory play him at small forward along with Moby and

Allen if you like you really need to go out there and get stops and you know you’re you’re going up against a team like Boston that that has those tall wings like I think that that’s you know a viable option I saw you know uh Sixers fans were were hoping that they they

Could bring him back uh but I think he’s lost to step on that end I still think Wade is a better big Wing Defender than Morris at this point in his career but like he’s not a Turn Style and that does matter just working hard and being

Physical goes a long way and you know with Wade some the questions are more is he going to stay healthy is you know is the confidence going to be there in the playoffs he cuz he hasn’t really had that that playoff experience yet right so that’s just another option that you

Can go to but I I just just like that you mentioned that as a concept because with the injuries that the Cavs have had like I love to think through all the different lineups and the combinations that you can have and my mind hasn’t gone there yet because we just haven’t

Been healthy right like there’s just it’s the most frustrating aspect of what we’re going through right now with the Cavs is you’re just not getting this time together at such Time of the Season yeah it it’s it’s so damn frustrating um like even it was funny cuz I saw you

Know that that record that ESPN threw up which was the the cows have the best record in games decided by five or fewer points 10 and four and I was like man that’s that’s wild like that doesn’t really line up with with the clutch data and whatnot have you ever tried going

Through and this is real sicko stuff I just had too much time on this weekend I had a long weekend I was trying to find out what our clutch record was in games were all four of the core played so I had a spreadsheet where I put yes and no

I put every individual play game logs in I was trying to find which ones we’ve all played and filtering the clutch data by those dates did you know if you have a game where it is 445 in the fourth quarter and you cut the lead to four and

Your opponent hits a three and you never get back within um five points that is still counted as clutch loss like there was games where you had a zero O rating and a 200 defensive rating in the clutch and it was because you had like a

Fraction of a minute and a bucket was scored and that was it like so I I never really realized that about the clutch data but it is just useless but I did find that it’s interesting that you know Cav 10 and four best record in the league in those games in those games

Decided by Five Points I I thought that that was interesting data but even despite that I still feel like there’s so much room for growth uh when it comes to the Cavs and the clutch like I still feel like Darius is getting a little bit too rushed in some of those spots um

He’s going to need to be better in those spots uh Donovan sometimes gets a little too ISO ball heavy like there’s so much that I I want to learn and growth that I want to see with this roster fully healthy in the clutch it’s just frustrating that we don’t have that but

What we do have is some interesting matchups this week with with two games against Miami and obviously the re match against Minnesota Justin you got boxes full of Pepe I got boxes full of Pepe baby on the door and said Carol uh yeah sorry I had to make fun of

You for that outrageous spreadsheet exercise uh truly too much time we got to get you we got to get you some fresh air brother yeah and I I’m not reacting because it was just all good information so instead I’m just going to make fun of you uh I I

Don’t have anything to add I just wanted to make fun of you uh but yeah I mean looking ahead to this week I do think this is just back to the hey take care of your business like this Heat team is beat up um this Minnesota team is is a

Huge challenge though so you know I I I think again you you might be ping ponging again uh but like ultimately the to your point this is the spot where if you’re going to get caught you might get caught but it’s also the spot where if

You out if you win this stretch if you outplay the miamis of the world and and and you if if they win these next three uh cuz again Miami is pretty beat up uh go at least going into tomorrow’s at matchup you are sitting very pretty because you got two Charlotte games uh

Right in front of you and again it must be reminded that Milwaukee has I think the fourth hardest schedule remaining I think they still have three matchups against Boston left yeah like that’s not they’ve got they’ve got two but they also play Orlando twice they they play

The next like a desperate Lakers team at New Orleans like yeah at OKC like and because the entire standings race with the exception of Boston is so bananas no one’s going to be shutting down near the end of the season no one like they’ve got two games

Against Orlando at the end of the season Orlando is fighting for damn near homec court advantage uh you know they’re only one game back of the four seed so like every there just are no gimmies on that schedule right now the Cavs have three games left against Charlotte so I just think you

Look at the you look at the upcoming schedule and I do think this might be the week where you go they either they either let go of the the the the rope and got caught or they just took care of business so damn well and now they are

The favorites to to up that two seed uh and and have home court in the first two rounds of the playoffs and play a play in team realistically you you can get the 2C back tomorrow like if you take care of business against Miami um Milwaukee’s playing Boston they lose

That game and the Cavs win we the TC because we’ve got the tiebreaker right like you I don’t love your energy you know talking about Charlotte like I just kind of see the the rule is I’m just saying in terms come back the Cs lamelo Ball’s going to return and when you look

At the record against losing teams those are not the games we should feel good about we should feel great about this week because we are playing nothing but winning teams um but you’re right Miami’s banged up uh looking at the entry report for tomorrow Tyler hero out Duncan Robinson obviously Josh

Richardson’s out for the season Uh Kevin Love is out so uh he will not be making a return to Cleveland this season and then you also got Nicol yovic who’s questionable as well as Jimmy Butler uh so we’ll see who’s available as I said everybody returns against the Cav so

Jimmy’s going to return on Wednesday and then looking ahead to next Friday against Philadelphia that will be the Joel embiid return game obviously we will also be getting LEL ball back because that’s just the way the universe works I’m sure but the reality is if

This team wants to like and this is what it kind of comes down to is like if the team wants to be the two seed they’re going to have to win games that they games like this they’re going to have to get hot um and like so like you can make

Jinx jokes all you want I just think it’s like a matter of like hey how serious are you about this push um podast you said now that we’re getting healthy and I was knocking on wood and then Donovan’s you know that Jinx I’ll take but uh but otherwise I do

Think like you know ultimately this is a matter of like if you’re not going to win those games then you just weren’t going to be a two seat and that’s not always a disaster you know again I wouldn’t have expected I if you had told

Me in uh you know mid December that we’d be fighting for the two seed I’d be like what an amazing run we’ve had what a great season like so be wondering how injured everybody else got basically which kind of did happen but uh uh but you know I think

Ultimately it’s not a disaster if they don’t get the two seed but I do think they have a very very legitimate path that if Milwaukee opens up the door and like it wouldn’t even be a big failure if Milwaukee went you know Milwaukee’s played 68 games they got four 14 left

Like man like eight of those are really tough and like could be losses like like if they if Milwaukee played 500 ball the rest of the way I wouldn’t think that would even be a condemnation of Milwaukee that’s how tough some of those games are so yeah you know we we’ll see

What the Cavs can do but an opportunity is in front of them undoubtedly yeah I totally agree and it’s funny because when you say these are the games they need to go out and win those have been the games they’ve winning right like those games that hey

You got to go out and you got to steal one against Boston you gotta win against Minnesota and New Orleans like those are the games they’re winning now they just got to you know combine that with taking care of business and you know none of this is going to be straightforward guys

Are are still going to be you know asked to do more than normal they’re going to be overtaxed you can see it on ja I think more than anybody um but you’re going to need those guys to step up like Darius more than anybody else he needs

To be better and he’s been these last two games he needs to be more like the darus that we saw against the Pelicans and against the Wolves right like he he’s been trending in the right direction but that’s why I said after the pels game hey I’m not treating this

As okay everything’s fixed I’m just taking this as another step in the right direction you know you sometimes you take th those little steps back back home against Miami kind one of those crucial games like you take care of business against Miami like you can

Basically seal them in the play in or or you can prevent them from advancing and being in that mix to to compete for home court because you know even though they are down at eth it is so tight in the standings that they’re still in that mix

For the you know crazy is normally at this point like for example just as like looking at of Miami they’re they are three games back of uh of Orlando in the Five Spot indies’s only 2 and a half normally that close the percent like with this close to the end of the

Season two to three games back is an enormous Delta you know one that the odds would say is unlikely to be covered I feel like this year all bets are off like I feel like we could see both these conferences with how freaking packed they are you know the West similarly

Like it’s there’s three games between four and like nine at this point uh that’s not true I’m exaggerating but you get what I’m saying uh I I feel like we could see if we took a screen out of the standings today all about we could see

Four or five different swaps by the end of the year and normally these things are kind of set and you know maybe one or two series might flip I think there could be massive shifts as teams get healthy uh as other teams play difficult stretches of schedule because the

Competence across the league is just so high right now yeah I’m I’m really interested to see how that first quarter goes uh for the Cavs against Miami because that’s a team where where you do not want to give them confidence I you would expect that the the Cavs are going

To have a healthy respect for Miami given everything that that team has done um obviously you had the the one game uh against Miami earlier this year that did not go well uh where where hero and Bam were out but they still won by 30 obviously that was like a three and four

You just went to OT uh on the road in Philadelphia and got that big emotional win so that made a little bit of sense that’s not the situation here they’re just as banged up as you are you got to go out there and win like that’s not a

Team that’s playing well even if they get Jimmy Butler back um you you still have to feel good about the Cav having enough to to go out there and win that game but you’re going to have to earn it SPO is going to throw some weird stuff

At you you’re going to need to do problem solving on the fly so I’m very very interested to see how that goes and uh we’ll be going live after that podcast as well so uh excited two nights in a row lucky you guys you know we’re we’re we’re getting weird with it this

Week we’re we’re doing two nights in a row so we will be going live after that game hopefully it’s a Cavs win and the Cavs are back in that two seed so fingers crossed there knun wood whatever superstitions you have make sure that you are following through with them big

Thanks to everyone that tuned in Live on YouTube make sure you like And subscribe click the notification Bell so you know when we’re going live if you’re listening via podcast and you want to support us leave us rating leave a review subscribe unsubscribe resubscribe and help cook those books if you want to

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The Cavaliers clinched a tiebreaker over the Bucks with a gusty win against Indiana on Monday night. Justin and Carter dive into how the Cavs perform in close games, Marcus Morris’ debut, and much more!

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