James Harden Takes Over as Cleveland Cavaliers Take Down Shorthanded Philadelphia 76ers

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On today's show, the calves take down the sixers with what I would call a professional

effort on Monday night.

We'll discuss that.

Plus, James Hardens, take over in the third quarter.

That's all straight ahead on this edition of Lockdown Caves.

You are Lockdown Caves, your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast

Network, your team, every day.

Hi again, everybody.

My name is Deany Cunningham, and I cover the Cleveland Cavaliers over at my sub-stack,

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On today's show, we'll talk about the Caves taking down the Philadelphia 76ers.

James Hardenster, Quarer Takeover of this game.

Some role players that stood out to me, and the way that I think the playoff rotation

is starting to shape up.

But the Caves ultimately get a 115 to 101 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday evening

inside Rocket Arena.

This was a game that was not as close as the final score might indicate.

The Caves led by as many as 25 points did not think that they really did anything well

in the fourth quarter.

They gave up 35 points in the fourth quarter.

The deep bench reserves got out scored by eight points in the final four minutes of this

game.

That certainly colors the final score.

I did think too that at the start of the fourth quarter, like the defensive effort was

not the same as it was earlier on in this game.

I don't want to focus on that because ultimately like this was a good night for the Caves

where we have seen this team so many times throughout this season where they have seen

an undermaned team come into Rocket Arena, think back to that Warriors game.

The win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

They have had a lot of these games where they'll play with their food and sometimes they

were able to find a way to get a win and other times like that game against the Golden

State Warriors, it's an ugly, embarrassing loss and they avoided that.

And that's ultimately, I think the thing that matters most is that, yes, Philly didn't

have Joel and Beat.

They didn't have Tyrese Maxi, no VJ Edgecomb, Paul George still suspended.

Like all of those things are true, but we have seen the Caves stumble in this situation

multiple times this year.

So I do think that first and foremost, getting a win is what matters.

I don't think that there's a ton to read into.

It's like, yeah, we learned a ton about who the Caves are because of a win over a team

that could be in the playoffs.

That doesn't apply to this and I want to be clear about that, but that doesn't mean

nothing from this game matters.

I don't think that there should be sweeping takeaways from this particular game considering

who they played.

But ultimately, I do think the Caves deserve at least a little credit for showing up

and taking care of business.

When I think of this game, I think of, okay, the Caves got off to a rough start.

And offensively, I think they missed their first eight threes in.

I think everybody was having flashbacks to Sunday when they went two of 22 from Beyond

the Ark against Celtics in the first half.

I think people were having flashbacks and they were probably taking a few too many threes

early on in this game and you know, that's maybe a different discussion for tomorrow.

But they figured things out.

I didn't think that they had the best energy early in this game.

And that's part of the reason why I do think that there was maybe a little cause for concern.

The first, really, the first stint that the starters played.

But then that turned around.

The Caves were able to, instead of the way that we have seen them earlier in the season,

where they would wait until six minutes lots in the third quarter to find the required

energy.

The Caves were able to turn that switch on much earlier in this game.

It wasn't there from the opening tip off.

That was clear.

But they didn't drag their feet.

They didn't wait forever.

They took care of business.

And that's why I call this a professional win.

Now, the thing to me that stood out the most and might be the thing that I look at and

say, this is the thing that needs to translate from this game into higher stakes situations

is what James Harden did in the third quarter of this game.

Because I think that that's stretching the third quarter that James played from around

the ten and a half minute mark until he subbed out was maybe the best stint that James

has played wearing a Caves uniform so far.

So over that stretch, Harden either scored or assisted on 20 straight points for the

Caves.

So he started off.

He scored nine straight points.

It was, he was on a 7-0 run.

The Sixers got a bucket on an Evan Mobley gold thin, which I'm not sure was the correct

call.

They showed the replay a couple of times in the building.

It did look like it made, the ball may have been at its apex when Mobley got a fingertip

on it.

It doesn't matter at the end of the day, but I'm not sure that that was the correct call.

But Harden scored nine straight Caves points.

He hit a three or hit a mid-range, hit a three, hit what was initially another three and

was ultimately overturned upon video review into a two-pointer, got to the free-throw line

for two more points, and then because Philly's defensive attention really started to shift

in Nick Nurse at no points during this, thought it was a good idea to call a time out.

Maybe he doesn't think James Harden is a needle mover either, the way that Daryl Mori apparently

doesn't think that was the case, but I thought this was very much a needle moving type of

performance in the third quarter from James Harden.

But then, Harden really went into distributor mode, and it was not him getting cheap assists.

These were shots that he was creating because he found three open threes, found Evan Mobley

for a dunk, like it was, and they were excellent passes.

And one of the things that Dean Wade said after this game in the locker room was that there

are these passes that James is capable of making.

And this was sort of a celebratory night for James Harden.

He crossed the 29,000 point threshold, which only nine guys, then be a history, have done.

It's a really impressive thing.

It speaks to his longevity.

It speaks to how incredible of a career he has had, and that was part of this conversation,

but it's also how good of a passer he is.

And this is what needs to translate, the scoring needs to translate to the postseason, but

the passing and the way that he's able to set guys up is something that we need to see

from the calves when the postseason arrives.

And I don't doubt, like I know that there is the iffy track record for James in the postseason.

I don't doubt for a second his ability to create looks for others in the postseason.

I have zero doubt that that's going to translate to the middle of May and maybe into June

for the calves.

And that is what they ultimately need because some of these passes that he was finding Dean

Wade for open threes, he analyst for open threes, Jalen Tyson for open threes,

like they're just passes that very few guys in calves history have the ability to make,

like where I'm talking LeBron, maybe Ricky Rubio, maybe Darius Garland, but I don't think so.

And a lot of it has to do with how with the size that James has because he can throw passes

at different angles than I think a lot of the great passers can because he's six foot five.

He's not he's a he's an oversized guard, if you will.

And watching through that stretch of basketball where he just had a complete control of the game,

whether it was the scoring early on in that stretch, whether it was the ability to create

excellent looks like it's not as if he's getting a siss because guys are knocking down contested

threes. He was creating wide open shots because if you go back and watch the forest siss that he had

after the four possessions that he scored on, which were three made baskets and a trip to the

three-throw line. If you go back and watch the assist that he made, these are not tough buckets

for his teammates. Now, ultimately, like those guys need to go out there and knock down shots,

which is something they did not do on Sunday against Boston because Hardin certainly could have

had more assist than he had in that game against the Celtics on Sunday afternoon. But he was putting

the basketball exactly where it needed to be when it needed to be there. I don't think that

his teammates could have asked for better passes from him. And that is the type of thing that the

calves are going to need in the postseason. They're going to need their role players to hit shots.

And I do want to talk about Keon Ellis. I want to talk about Dean Wade coming up in the next segment

because I think those two are very important to who the calves are. But they're going to need

James to create these looks. And what we saw and I get it, like this was not a good Philadelphia

76ers team. I know, like by record, the sixers are 34 and 30. And this is a win over 500 team

and like there are reasons to be happy about that. And it's something that helps the calves in the

standing certainly. But this was not a good sixers team. Like like I said, they did not have Joe

LNB. They did not have Tyrese Maxi. Paul George still suspended. DJ Edgecomb sat out this game.

Like this was a bad sixers team. And the calves handle their business, which is the most important

thing. But like I don't doubt that this type of performance from James is very repeatable.

Now, is he going to shoot the way that he did over that stretch? Yeah, at times, at times,

he's going to miss the shots like that's the way the world works. But the passing to me just stood

out. It was the control of which he had over the basketball game is so important. Because when I

think of what happened last year to the calves and the postseason against the Pacers, even in the

game, they won. Even in game three, it didn't often feel like the calves were in control throughout

all five of those games. It felt like the Pacers were the ones that imprinted their style on the

series that they were the forceful ones. And it hasn't been 100% of the time. But it does feel like

most of the time that James is on the floor for the calves. The calves are the ones that are

imposing their will. And that wasn't the case enough against Boston on Sunday afternoon. And I

get it. Like that is a, and that was the most important game. That was the most important regular

season game. The calves will play with James Harden on the roster this year. It was. They don't have

a game left on the schedule that is even close to that in terms of importance. I don't think that

they're going to be, and they're not going to win all of their remaining games. But they're not

going to be tested the way they were against the Celtics, the rest of the regular season.

But I do think that what we saw from James Harden on Monday night with the way that he was able to

control the basketball game, the way he was able to score, the way he was able to get to the

free throw line six times, the way that he was able to set up his teammates in the fashion that

he was. And like he only had five assists in this game. He could have had more. Like I said,

the calves in the first quarter missed their first eight three pointers. A few of those would have

been James Harden assists. I believe a couple of them were three that James Harden missed.

God of Mitchell missed a couple like the calves just did not shoot them all well at the start of

this game. And like I said earlier, I didn't think their energy for the first five or six minutes

was all that great. And then they were able to step on the gas and that's all that mattered.

But watching what James Harden did. And maybe it was because it was against Philly. And Dara

Mori said that he didn't see any teams in the east make a needle moving trade, which is wild to

say from a team that is in all likelihood going to end up at the play in and go nowhere when the

postseason arrives. But this was without a doubt, in my opinion, a needle moving performance from

James Harden. I was really impressed. And that is the exact type of game. They don't need James to

go out and score 35 a night to play off the way that other teams have had in the past where he

has been such a focal point offensively. If James Harden, if you could replicate this game

that James Harden played for the calves in the postseason, they're going to be awfully difficult

to beat. And I see no reason why that can't be the case. Now, I mentioned there were some important

role player performances. Dean Wade was one of them. Keanu Ellis was another one of them.

I think what we saw from those guys is a little bit different than what we've seen. And I think it's

important the calves try and draw more of that out of them. Talk about it next right here. Unlocked

on calves. But first today's show is brought to you by game time. There is nothing like being an

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Thank you again for making this edition of Lockdown Cavs your first watch on YouTube or your

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That's M-A-R-C-H to get your first month for free. So head to the link in the show notes if you

would like to learn more. The Cavs got great performances in this game from a couple of different

role players. And the two that stood out to me were Keon Ellis and Dean Wade. And I want to talk

about Keon Ellis first because I think that this was probably the most impactful offensive game

that he's played. I don't think it's the most impactful defensive game that he's played. I will

say though the fact that he was a game high plus 25 in the 25 minutes he played, it felt like if

the Cavs felt like a much better team when Keon Ellis was on the floor. And I do feel like I

talked about the energy shifting earlier and the Cavs not having the best energy to start this

game. When Keon Ellis got onto the floor, that's sort of when that switch flipped. That's when the

Cavs looked like a professional basketball team, a team that was not there to screw around on

Monday night. And I'm not saying that Keon Ellis deserves all the credit for that. But he deserves

some of the credit for that. So his final line, like I said, like 25 minutes scored 19 points on

five of nine shooting was four of seven from beyond the arc, five of seven at the free throw line.

Grab a couple of rebounds also had a steal plus 25 and 25. And the three point again made four

three pointers. That's awesome. The Cavs need Keon Ellis to do that. He's a career 40% three point

shooter. He's a good three point shooter. Just like Dean Wade, the Cavs need him to be a willing

three point shooter. Some of those looks were awesome ones. Like he had one that Dean Wade got in

and it's this time it was cross court passed to an open Keon Ellis. I believe it was in the right

corner. Maybe right wing. Like it was sort of near the break in the three point line.

And he's got a knock down that shot. Like he has to consistently make that wide open three pointer

from a very, very efficient spot on the floor. But to me, it wasn't this was not oh Keon had a good

game because he hit three. Like that's not what this was. What stood out to me was his ability to put

the ball in the floor in a way that we've not necessarily seen him do all that frequently because

I do think and I think at this point, he's played 12 games so far or something a number near that.

But I think that he has when he has put the ball in the deck, I don't want to say like he's dribbled

for no purpose or no reason. But I don't think that he's been super forceful if that makes sense.

Like I don't know that there has been enough intent behind him putting the ball in the floor.

Like it's almost when he's dribbling at times it can feel like he's just trying to dribble the

basketball to get it into somebody else's hands. Rather than put pressure on the defense,

sometimes when that's late in the shot clock, it is led to some bad possession and maybe not led to

but has been the culmination of a bad possession for the calves on the offensive and the floor.

But to me, that was not the case. And maybe it was because this was against a lower level of

competition and the sixers being who the sixers were on Monday night. But he dribbled with a purpose.

He got into the lane. He got to the free throw line. He knocked down a couple of floaters. Like he

looked like a much more complete offensive player than what we have seen from him in a calves uniform.

And that to me, they're not going to they don't the calves don't need KNLs to go out and score 19 points

in the playoffs. That's not what I'm saying. But they need him to play with the aggressive mindset

on the offensive floor that he showcased in this game on Monday night. That is what the calves need

him to do. Is he going to hit four threes every day? No, he's not. Like that's just not what KNLs

is going to be. That's not role players are role players because you can't expect all of them to

go out and score 19 points a game. Right? Like Sam Merrill has not had a good couple of games. He scored two

points in this one. One of six from the floor missed all five threes that he took.

After going one of seven against the Celtics in a bit of a shooting slum. Don't think it's that big of

a deal. But he's a role player. If Don of a Mitchell had the two games that Sam Merrill has had,

it would be a really big deal. But because Sam is a role player, it's just a different category

of expectations. And KNLs is in that bucket. Dean Wade is in that bucket. Jalen Tyson right now

is in that bucket. That's what those guys are. And you need for I think like two of them to hit

on any given night. And if that happens, you feel really good about your chances. If you're the calves

given who their role players are and given the fact that they have so much star power,

they don't necessarily need a ton from the role players every single night. But I do think that if

they can get this type of aggressive mindset and this type of aggressive play out of somebody like

KNLs out of somebody like Dean Wade, out of Jalen Tyson, they're going to be much better off for it.

Out of Dennis Ruder, another guy I haven't mentioned yet. He didn't have a great game in this one.

But that's not what the calves need. I do think they need KNL to be aggressive. They need him to be

forceful offensively. And I think that this game can serve as one that is a confidence boost

form and something that you hope if you're the calves, you hope that he can carry this over

to Wednesday night against Orlando and then Friday night against Dallas and then Sunday afternoon

against Dallas. Like, can this be something? And we've seen KNL have other good offensive games.

Like he had a good game in Milwaukee in the game that he actually fractured his finger in.

But I think this has very clearly been the best he's looked offensively

since he's had that finger issue. And I think that that is a step in the right direction. That is

something that the calves should be happy about. The other role player that I think is worth

talking about is Dean Wade in this one. So Dean was in the starting lineup and he's going to

continue to be in the starting lineup. Like when the calves are fully healthy, Dean Wade is going

to be their starting small forward. Kenny Atkinson basically said as much. I don't remember if it was

before the game air after the game. But during one of his press conferences on Monday night,

he said as much like Dean Wade is going to be the starting small forward and I would be very

surprised if that changes. But he started the game at power for because the calves starting lineup

on Monday was the same as it was on Sunday. It had Arden, Donovan Mitchell,

Sam Merrill, Dean Wade, Evan Motley. So Dean starts at power for it. But he actually played most of

his minutes in this game at center. So he started both halves at power for it. And then he was

basically the center for the rest of the minutes that he played. And when the calves don't have

Jared Allen, I think this is a little bit easier to do. And I don't know how much this is going to

translate to the postseason. But it has been really, really good for the calves lately. So Dean has

played center. It's a very small sample size. And everything with this new version of the calves

is a small sample size. So these numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt. And I don't have the

numbers from Monday's game. But the calves were successful with Dean on the floor. He was a plus

16. And that's again, with the starting groups, not necessarily playing all that well. Sir,

they played better in the third quarter together than they did the first quarter. But like the

first quarter of the starters, I believe got out scored in their first 10 together. But he was a

plus 16 in 20 minutes. Had 13 points, had 10 rebounds, four of them were offensive rebounds,

had two assist block to show. Hit three trees. When the calves put him at center,

post trade deadline. So basically what I did to filter this out, I, you know, I used cleaning

the glass for these numbers. And I put Dean weight at center. Deandre 100 out on the floor.

Lonzo ball not on the floor. Darius Garland not on the floor. So there might be a few possessions

where that was true prior to the trade deadline. But that filters out most of it. So there are 47

possessions entering Monday. It's a very, it's a teeny sample size. 47 possessions of which Dean

weight has been at center with guys that are no longer on the roster, also not on the floor.

Because if those guys are on the floor, the numbers look much different. But those numbers are

not necessarily worth basing things on because those lineups don't exist anymore, right? But

with Dean weight at center post trade deadline, the calves have an offensive rating of 140 in a

defensive rating of 89. That is incredible stuff. Now how sustainable is it? I don't know how much

do we see this in the post season? I don't know because the thinking would be, well, the calves

are going to have one of Jared Allen or Evan Mobley on the floor almost at all times because those two

are really, really good players. And prior to Jared being out with this knee injury, he was playing at

I think the highest level of his career. And I think James Harden is going to just be remarkable for him.

And Evan Mobley is still and he played 28 minutes. And I think it was a really good sign. He played

both legs of a back to back, but he is still working his way back from a calf injury. And I did

not think Evan was great in this game. I thought it was fine. I thought his touch was a little bit off.

And that's just sort of is what it is. But the calves have discovered this weapon of being able to

use Dean weight and some smaller lineups because like there was a lineup where Craig Porter Jr. was

essentially the power forward. How sustainable is that? I don't know. But they have found something

that works. And Dean enjoys playing center. It's not something the calves can ask him to go out and

do for 20 minutes a night. But can they get away with it for three minutes to try and maybe expand

a lead? And they can get enough stops because it's a very switchable thing. And I think that

now having James Harden out there with him when he's in some of those center moments.

It makes the calves defensively better because is Harden a great defender? No, he's not. But the

calves can switch one through five there. And that's not something they've been able to do in Dean

weight at center lineups for the most part before. So I do think that is something that's just worth

thinking about here is that the calves have discovered this weapon. Again, I don't know how

translatable it's going to be for the postseason. But for right now, it's working and it is working

really, really well. Kenny Hackinson said something on Tuesday night about the player rotation.

And it got me thinking about what could it look like because the calves might have too many guys

for not enough spots. We need to discuss it next right here on Locke on calves.

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Thank you again for making this edition of Lockdown Caves your first watch on YouTube or your

first listen wherever you get your podcasts. Please do me a favor and make sure you're subscribed

anywhere you might be listening to Lockdown Caves. After the game, Kenny Atkinson talked about

guys battling for playoff rotations because it is a crowded room right now where the calves have

a lot of guys that are talented. I look at this and I do wonder what Kenny Atkinson's playoff

rotation is going to look like because I look at this roster and the calves have a full 15-man roster

right now. I don't think all 15 guys are deserving of postseason minutes. Like I think

Nate Quantumlin probably a break glass in case of emergency guy Tyree's proctor probably not

going to be in a playoff rotation. It doesn't mean anything negatively about their futures,

but for right now, just probably not in the plants. But I look at this and I see a lot of guys that

deserve postseason minutes and I don't know how many guys Kenny Atkinson is going to be willing

to play. He's going to want you to continue to play 10 guys right now for the most part.

He's only playing nine. He did play 10 guys on Monday because Craig Porter Jr. got minutes,

Thomas Bryan got minutes, those two like I don't know if they're playoff rotation. Guys,

I would venture to guess that as of right now, if and when the calves are fully healthy when

that time comes, those guys are on the outside looking in. But I look at this and I think, okay,

you've got your four, your big four, Donovan, James, Evan, Jared, they're all going to play a lot

of minutes in the postseason. Then you've got your role player buckets. You've got Sam Merrill,

Dean Wade, who is going to start, Jalen Tyson, Dennis Ruder, Keon Ellis. So that puts you up to

nine guys already. And then Max Truce, where does he fit in who has not played a minute for the

calves so far this season. But I do think is close to being back. I don't, I'm not going to sit

here and I wouldn't necessarily as of right now. I've not been any given any indication to think

Max is going to play on Wednesday against Orlando. But could Max play within the next week or so?

I don't know that that's off the table as of right now. Kenny Atkinson said on Sunday, there's like

one more doctors visit to kind of check off the list and then it could be go time. So is that

going to be enough time? But to see how he looks in to get ready for a playoff rotation. But I think

of guys like Keon Ellis and I think Keon should be in the playoff rotation because of the chaos

that he creates defensively. How many minutes does Dennis Ruder have? What does Dean Wade's role look

like? I just think all of these questions are, I think the most fascinating ones that the calves have

for the remainder of this season because they don't have these, they don't have the, and I say this

and I mean it, they don't have the luxury of being challenged the rest of the way. Like I said,

that doesn't mean they're going to win the rest of their games. I would not anticipate they win

the rest of their games. They're going to lose. They're going to have off nights. They're going to win

more than they lose certainly. But they're not going to be challenged against other teams. They don't

play a team the rest of the season that's capable of winning the title this year. So we're not going

to know who the calves truly are and we're not going to know what they look like in those big moments.

The thing that we're going to revert back to for better or worse is that game against the Boston

Celtics on Sunday. And I did want to say one more thing on that one as I get out of here because

Keon he did talk about that before the game that he didn't want to make it about just a maker

misgame. And that's fair and it's true because the Celtics were the more forceful team. The Celtics

were the better team. The Celtics won their spots. Celtics did all the right things that the calves

didn't do enough. But it also kind of wasn't make a misgame. I went back and look at the shot quality

data that I use, which I don't know is it's not it's probably not the same as the calves. It probably

differs a little bit. And I do think it's a good thing that Kenny is saying he doesn't want to make

it a maker miss thing because that I think is taking accountability, which this team needs to do.

They need to look at this and say this no matter what because like they're not stupid, they know

shot making plays into it. But they need to also say everything else can be better. Even if shots

aren't falling, they could have been better. No doubt about that, no argument. But via the shot

quality data that I use, which is from PPP stats, and I also use Synergy 2, but the PPP stats number

gives a very clean, expected, effective fuel goal percentage. The calves had their, it was tied

for the second best number since the also break against Boston. They shot roughly 10% worse than

expected. That's the difference in that game. And again, it doesn't mean the calves don't need to

be better in their spots. That's very much true. But I look at that and say I think it's a good

thing that they're taking accountability and saying they need to chase Boston. And I think it

gives them the right mentality that they need to have. But I can also look here and after having

rewatched a lot of that and going back and looking at the numbers and say you're not far off either.

And I think that is actually a pretty good spot for the calves to be now. The calves are back in

action on Wednesday night in Orlando against the magic. They have a day off. They flew to Florida

on Tuesday or on Tuesday more late Monday and early Tuesday morning after this game.

So they will get some time. I don't know if they're going to practice on Tuesday. They won't

practice on Tuesday because they had a back to back. But they should be hopefully rested on Wednesday.

To take out a magic team that has been playing well, hoping to catch up with Philip Rossman

Wright from Lockdown Magic on Wednesday morning to preview that game. And of course, I will have

another edition of Lockdown calves coming your way on Tuesday as well. So as we get out of here,

please do me a favor. Make sure that you want to check out the Lockdown calves every day or club

and link is in the show notes. If you would like to learn more and please subscribe to Lockdown

calves, whether you're listening on Apple Spotify or on YouTube, hit that subscribe button.

If you are on YouTube, as we get out of here to thumbs up button in the notification bell. If you

haven't already, I'll be back a little bit later talking more about the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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