The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Savor fine wine, get wins along the way
On the day after a lopsided and disinterested loss to the not-so-regal Kings, the Cavaliers treated themselves to a tour of Napa Valley wine country Dec. 28.
They availed themselves of down time on their current West Coast road swing to visit a few wineries in a prestigious American Viticultural Areas, or AVA.
Some of the Cavs, LeBron James and Kevin Love among them, fancy themselves as wine drinkers of sufficient refinement to know one AVA from the other and distinguish a good red, white or blended wine from bad.
The jaunt was planned by Cavs coach Tyronn Lue long before the Cavs opened this three-game swing with losses to the Warriors on Christmas Day and two days later to the Kings in Sacramento.
Losing to the Warriors, 9992, was one thing. The Cavs shot poorly against their arch-nemesis, but they gave an effort against the formidable team they’ve faced three years running in the NBA Finals.
Getting drubbed by Sacramento was another kettle of fish.
Here are takeaways from the loss to Sacramento and what lies ahead for the Cavs now that they’ve tasted some fine wines and moved on to Salt Lake City to face the Jazz on Dec. 30.
No excuses
For sure, the Cavs with their 24-10 record and 19 victories in the previous 22 games got caught looking past the Kings and their 1122 record.
The loss was galling from Cleveland’s standpoint given the circumstances. The Cavs had spent the previous night in Sacramento while the Kings were getting blown out by 22 points in Los Angeles by the Clippers.
So which outfit came out and owned the floor for roughly 36 of the game’s 48 minutes?
Not the Cavs, who should have known better given three weeks ago, the Kings nearly stole a game in Cleveland before James & Co. finally engaged in the fourth quarter and eked out a 101-95 victory.
In the rematch, the Cavs were so disengaged they allowed ancient Vince Carter to ignite the Kings off the bench with 24 points.
Carter is an all-time great headed to the Hall of Fame, but the man came in averaging 2.9 points.
Thompson time
On the assumption veteran forward-center Tristan Thompson is mostly healed from the calf injury that sidelined him for nearly six weeks,
he ought to replace the struggling Jae Crowder in the starting lineup.
In 35 games, Crowder has underperformed. His scoring average of 8.7 points is on his career average of 8.9 points but well below the 13.9 points and 14.2 points he averaged in his last two seasons in Boston. Defensively, he has been workmanlike, at best, while his rebounding numbers are well off his totals in Boston.
Thompson’s numbers are way down this season, too, but in three previous, injury-free seasons, he established himself as a valuable contributor on some of the best teams in franchise history with his tenacious rebounding, defense
and opportunistic scoring.
Down to cases
Hopefully, the Cavs used their sojourn in wine country to wash from their mouths the bad taste of that loss in Sacramento.
They had better put that misstep behind them and refocus given the challenges facing them in the short run.
They’ll return home to host a good Portland team Jan. 2. Then it’s off to Boston to play the Celtics in an Eastern Conference measuring-stick game that is the first of five in a row away from home.