The Sacramento Kings came into Cleveland as a team that had only one road win in fourteen tries. They were on the second night of a road back-to-back. The Kings were missing their second and third highest scorers. The Cavs were well-rested having not played since they lost to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night. Last but not least, the Cavs had the best player in the match up on their side. It didn't matter as the Cavs dropped another one.
The Cavs lost by a final score of 97-94, which leaves them with a 7-26 record. The Cavs broadcast team of Fred McLeod and Austin Carr were taking solace in the fact that the team is losing close games as opposed to being blown out on a regular basis like they were in seasons past. As promising as that is, the Cavs are still losing at an alarming rate. To put it into perspective, the 2010-2011 Cavs were 8-25 after 33 games. The Cavs have actually managed to regress in comparison with the first post-LeBron James team as far as wins and losses go. To make matters worse, the 2011-2012 Cavs were 13-20 after 33 games despite the condensed schedule. This season is one bad Kyrie Irving injury away from being a complete disaster. Simply put, this is not the sort of progress that Cavs fans were hoping for two years into the rebuild.
The biggest issue for the Cavs on Wednesday night was defending the paint. Without Anderson Varejao, Byron Scott is forced to reach deeper into his bench for big man help. Luke Walton played 18 minutes against the Kings. Many of his minutes came at the power forward position due to Tristan Thompson being in foul trouble for much of the game. Whenever the Cavs are short-handed and have issues with their starting power forward being in foul trouble, they do not stand much of a chance against a team with a guy as talented as DeMarcus Cousins. The volatile Kings big man was incredibly effective against the thin Cavs front-line. Cousins finished the game with 18 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot. DeMarcus Cousins was not the only King big man to give the Cavs trouble. Jason Thompson had his 9th double-double of the season by recording 19 points and 10 rebounds. The Kings scored 52 points in the paint.
There was once a point where the Cavs would be at an advantage if they found themselves in a close game with time windind down. In fact, Kyrie Irving was rated as the "most clutch" player in the NBA last year. Unfortunately, 82games.com has not updated their clutch stats for the current season, but the eye test has to show that Kyrie Irving has taken a step back in that department. Irving tripped over his own feet with 38 seconds left which led to a bad turnover. This set the table for an Aaron Brooks layup that put the Kings up by 4. Kyrie Irving did redeem himself on the following possession by converting on a 9 foot jump shot. That was the last time that Kyrie Irving would get a shot off before the buzzer sounded. It should be noted that he launched a three point shot from beyond half court that almost went in, but it would have probably been disqualified had he converted on it.
Byron Scott experimented with a new lineup. The sample size is small, so the results should be taken with a grain of salt. Dion Waiters looked better in his new role off the bench. The question is whether he looked like a better basketball player because he was more of a focal point on the second unit or because he was playing against a dysfunctional team. Waiters shot over 40% for the first time since December 22nd. Kevin Jones tried his hardest to become a Mark Titus trillionaire, but he did secure a rebound in his 6 minutes of play.
Shaun Livingston made his season debut for the Cavs. One thing that was very noticeable was how big he is. Livingston has never been a great shooter. He has only made 9 three pointers in his 341 career games. With the Wizards, Livingston attempted most of his shots from 16-23 feet away from the basket. Because he can't shoot effectively, it would be best for Livingston to take shots that are closer to the basket. It is likely that his knees are preventing him from doing so. It is early to say what kind of offensive player he will be for the Cavs, but one can see him playing a bit of a modern day Andre Miller role. I could be very wrong about this, but his size should allow for him to play with his back to the basket which can lead to him getting assists. Most of Livingston's assists were to 2 point field goals, so one can see a scenario where he can play off the ball with Kyrie Irving.
The Cavs travel to Charlotte to take on the Bobcats on Friday night. Even though the Bobcats do not have a single player as good as Kyrie Irving, they have a better record than the Cavs. Charlotte just snapped an 18 game losing streak against the Chicago Bulls on Monday. Tipoff is at 7:00.