Before the season started, Saturday night’s game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs was one of the games we circled on the calendar. It’s fun to watch any time LeBron James goes up against the Spurs, especially with his familiarity with going up against them in June.
We figured it’d be a showdown of two of the top teams in the league…we were correct. We assumed it’d feature firepower on both ends. With Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving rejoining James on the floor, the Cavaliers have proven to be that much more formidable when the roster is fully healthy. The addition of LaMarcus Aldridge combined with the emergence of Kawhi Leonard has the Spurs looking like one of the most dominant teams ever. So once again, we were accurate.
But we also thought that with all the talent on the floor, it might come down to the meticulous coaching chess match between future Hall of Famer Gregg Popovich and second-year coach David Blatt. That’s where we got it wrong.
Blatt was unceremoniously relieved of his duties last week due to the lack of synergy on and off the court, which is a direct indictment of the head coach, for better or worse.
Now all the focus shifts to Tyronn Lue, who’s started 3-1 since assuming the head coaching position. Following his first game at the helm, he called out his team for not being able to play at the quickened pace he envisioned due to a lack of being in proper shape.
That’s alarming. With the mantra being title or bust, how could a team not be in good enough shape in January?
But since that 96-83 national TV loss last Saturday to Chicago, the Cavaliers have won three straight games heading into this potential Finals preview (although the defending champs are laughing at this very sentence).
Friday night’s win in Detroit was particularly impressive for the Cavaliers because it reified the new philosophy Lue has brought to the table. He’s preached sacrifice. He’s said he wants the selfish notion of enhancing singular brands to be quelled. The only brand that anyone should be worried about is that of the team.
In Cleveland’s 114-106 win over the Pistons, the James/Irving/Love Big Three all scored 20 points in the same game for the first time this season. We know they’re all capable of putting up phenomenal individual numbers on that end of the floor. LeBron did it during his first stint in Cleveland. When he departed for South Beach, Kyrie did it wearing the wine and gold. Love did it in Minnesota. But none of those situations resulted in championships.
Things appear to be stabilizing in “The Land,” but Saturday night presents a much bigger test at home for Lue’s Cavaliers against the NBA’s No. 1 defensive team. They’re not too shabby offensively, either, ranking No. 1 in average point differential (+13.9) and field goal percentage (49 percent), No. 2 in three-point percentage (38 percent), and No. 3 in assists per game (25.3). San Antonio is a different animal, and LeBron personally knows that.
Both the Cavaliers and Spurs were recently mauled by the Golden State Warriors, so both teams must be relishing the opportunity to make a better statement in another hyped-up matchup. But this is undoubtedly a bigger game for Cleveland, who’s at home and looking to get its first signature win under Lue, not to mention get some revenge for the loss in San Antonio a few weeks ago.
What a win this would be for Lue and his crew.