CLEVELAND -- As the favorite of many experts and most fans to represent the Eastern Conference in the 2016 NBA Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers have had a bullseye on their shoulders for the entire regular season.
And on some nights, the Cavaliers (44-18) have risen to the occasion and played like a team hungry to compete for an NBA Championship, but Monday was not one of those days, as they suffered a 106-103 loss to an undermanned Memphis Grizzlies team at Quicken Loans Arena.
“I just thought they were tougher than us,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “I thought they played harder and out-scrapped us. You’ve got to respect everybody in this league. Everybody gets a paycheck. That was the message before the game. We come out and turn the ball over 25 times, give up 30 points on turnovers. They shot 60-some percent probably in the first quarter-and-a-half. They just attacked us.
“In situations like this, when you’re playing teams like this that have a lot of players out, I’ve always learned a wounded animal is the most dangerous. They came out and they competed. They played hard, and they attacked us at every position.”
The Cavaliers have one of the highest payrolls in NBA history, and yet, in Monday’s loss, there was not much of a supporting cast for small forward LeBron James and point guard Kyrie Irving in the starting lineup.
James made 11 of his 19 shots from the floor, and Irving cashed in on nine of his 16 attempts, but despite their 55 combined points, only two other players reached double figures against the Grizzlies.
Power forward Kevin Love scored 14 points, but made just two of his nine attempts from the floor, neither of which were three-pointers, and needed to hit 10 free throws to reach double figures. Shooting guard J.R. Smith never found a rhythm against the Grizzlies, and made only two of his 11 looks at the basket, including a one-for-eight performance from three-point range.
The Cavaliers’ bench scored just 26 points, a mark that Memphis reserves Vince Carter and Lance Stephenson eclipsed, as they finished with 15 and 17 markers, respectively.
As a team, the Cavaliers converted 36 of their 80 attempts (45.0 percent) from the field, and knocked down just seven of their 29 shots from three-point range in the loss to the Grizzlies.
“I was (surprised), especially because we went over everything with the expectation of those guys being in the lineup,” James said. “When you hear before the game and find out that no one that we went over is going to play, as professionals, we’ve got to respect we’re all in this league for a reason. We didn’t respect them and they beat us.”
No matter what tempo the Cavaliers played with Monday, they never got in sync for very long, as the Grizzlies had an answer. The Cavaliers committed 25 turnovers, and that led directly to 30 points for the Grizzlies.
Also, Memphis held advantages in points in the paint, 54-52, and fast-break scoring, 24-18.
“Yeah, it looked bad,” Lue said. “Yeah, it looked really bad. It was just one of those games. We didn’t have a good feel for the ball. We made some bad passes, some bad turnovers and they were able to get out in transition, and with Tony Allen, him having 26 points is way too many. When they got up into us, they pressured us. They were physical, and they made us turn the ball over.”
James added, “We gave up a lot of pick-sixes. In NFL terms, that means it’s straight to the house. With 25 turnovers and 30 points, I don’t care who you’re playing. You could be playing my son’s little league team and you’d lose giving up that many points off turnovers, just some careless ones.”
