Jekyl and Hyde
Cavaliers acting coach Larry Drew is looking for answers as his team continues to repeat the same bad habits.
The first quarter began with the Cavaliers having good rotations on defense, while playing with active hands to force a talented Denver team into six turnovers. The ball was moving around offense, everyone seemed engaged and good shots were being taken. Then the buzzer sounded and the first quarter was over, with the Cavaliers holding a 12 point lead.
Then the second quarter began, and everything changed. The Nuggets started playing like their capable of, and the Cavs fell back into the same habits they’ve struggled with all season. Guys began playing selfishly, defensive rotations began to fall apart and the lead disappeared. Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson spoke on what he thought the difference between the first quarter and the rest of the game. ” In the first quarter, we were coming out aggressive, throwing the first punch. Especially with a team that’s playing a back-to- back and then overtime. But we jumped on them for the first 19-20 minutes, and then we got away from what we were supposed to do and guys started straying away from the game plan, and that’s when they jumped on us.”
During the second and third quarters the Cavaliers were outscored by 24 points. Acting Cavaliers coach Larry Drew noticed a difference in his club, “as I told the guys at halftime, looking at that 2nd quarter if you wouldn’t have known who played last night you would have thought we were the team that played last night. We could not sustain the energy we did in the first quarter.”
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