CAVS POSTCAST: James Harden & Evan Mobley DOMINATE for Cleveland Cavaliers over Milwaukee Bucks

0:00It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This is Wes Goldberg from Lockdown NBA and Lockdown Heat with a message from Dell. Dell PCs with Intel Insider are built for the moments that you plan for, and the ones you don't. The moments that you're working from a cafe and realize, every outlet's taken, or the times that you're deep in your flow and can't be interrupted for an auto update. That's why Dell builds tech that adapts to you, with long lasting battery and built an intelligence that makes updates around your schedule, not in the middle of it. Find technology built for the way you work at Dell.com slash XPS. Built for you. This is Nick Gangstead with the Lockdown Mavericks podcast. This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card. I love that I can run up to 3% daily cash back on every purchase of my Apple Card, which can be automatically sent to my high yield savings account through Apple Card, right in the wallet app. With my iPhone, I can use Apple Card with Apple Pay basically everywhere I go. You can apply for Apple Card too, right in the wallet app on your iPhone, subject to

1:00credit approval, savings is available to Apple Card owners, subject to eligibility, savings in Apple Card by Goldman Sachsbank, USA Salt Lake City Branch member FDIC, terms and more at AppleCard.com. This is the Cavs Postcast, your instant game reaction for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Part of the Lockdown podcast network, your team, every day. How are we doing, Cas fans, and welcome to another edition of the Postcast, brought to my Lockdown Caves and the Lockdown podcast network. Now the number one sports podcast network in America. My name is Tim Daniel. I have been covering the MBA in podcast form for over 10 years now. And I want to thank you all for spending some time with me tonight as we discussed the Cleveland Cavaliers 123 to 116 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. If you're just checking my show out for the first time, welcome. We are so glad to have you here. Please be sure to hit that notification button.

2:01If you're checking my show for the first time, because you will not only get me after each and every single Cavaliers game, you'll get Danny Cunningham as well, unlocked on calves. Well, my things are not working out for me here, guys. I apologize. Today's episode is brought to you by five out of energy. Have your cake and drink it too. Birthday cake flavor is back. No fork needed. Vanilla cakey flavor, caffeine to kick and no sugar. It's party time. Order now at fiveenergity.com or on Amazon on tonight's show. Evan Mobley and James Harden come to play tonight and take care of business for the Cavaliers. Obviously, really great performance system both of them. We're going to dive into that primer defense still certainly a little concerning. And we saw that Rear's ugly head a bit tonight and I'm really curious if we saw tonight what the potential playoff rotation might look like, especially with Jared and it comes back as well. All of that and a whole lot more. And if you hear this tonight on the chat, I want to hear from you as well. But let's go ahead and let's get started. This is what you'll be talking about.

3:07So obviously the game the Cavs needed right coming off the Dallas loss and how things have been kind of really up and down with the team of late. You really needed this win and you knew kind of going in. The honest was a game time decision and then all of a sudden we found he's going to be out for a couple of weeks. So that was big for the Cavs. And who decided to take advantage of that? Oh, Evan Mobley. Evan Mobley again tonight, 27 and 15, 21 shot attempts tonight. That's, I like that number just about more than I like to show points and rebounds. He did that three blocks as well. He was humongous for them. Took full advantage of his size against guys like Jericho Simps who had no chance of guarding him in this game and he took over there as well. Bobby Porter just kind of helped out a little bit on him. Kyle Kusma kind of did his job on him as well, but neither of them could really keep up with Evan in this game. Evan using his size, his strength, just kind of bully. And that's what, you know, we as cast fans want to see more of from him. That's what we want to see from him all the time. And then James Harden who comes in and is also just terrific tonight, 27 points, 5 rebounds,

4:096 assists, 7 to 10 from the floor, 204 from 3, 11 to 13 from the free throw line. That was a really good for the free throw line tonight, which we have not been able to see it at a whole lot. Harden kind of just controlling the pace of the game, dominating it his own way. One of his better Cavs games for sure, you can maybe make the case it's his best game as a Cav so far. And especially considering Donovan Mitchell really struggled tonight, I know he had 19 points in 8 rebounds, but Mitchell was 4-14 from the 4th night. So when you're down, Jarrett, you're down, Craig Porter Jr. You really kind of shortened your rotation a bit tonight, we're going to get into that a little later in the show as well. The Cavs had to kind of rely so much on Harden and Mobley to kind of take over the game and take lead into the Promised Land and they did it. Those two guys were combined for 54 points, they combined for 20 rebounds, they combined for 8 assists, they were awesome. And as something the Cavs really needed as they're trying to kind of get their footing back, we keep talking about this easy schedule the rest of the way, right, that the schedule is very favorable to Cleveland and the rest of the way.

5:11And those two guys really took over that. And they made sure that this was a game that they didn't leave disappointed. And they could have. I mean, Milwaukee was awesome in the 2nd quarter. And the 3rd quarter was a heck of a fight. And that 4th quarter, the Cavs were just really kind of put their foot down and said like, we're not letting this happen. And they got contributions there from Keon Ellis, obviously, he had a big three towards the end of the game. Max Truce closed the game out, which we're going to talk about that in the 3rd segment as well. And I thought he was really good in his limited minutes as well. You know, not as cozy wasn't I before, obviously, but defensively gave them a lot. And I think the biggest thing too is the cast out onto the ball tonight. I think that's a big, big thing that's going to be underrated when we talk about this game. Only 6 turnovers as a team. And I thought overall this was a game the Cavs really kind of took over. It was really nice to see especially coming after that Dallas loss that Cleveland did what they had to do. Being a lowly Milwaukee team who obviously does not have a whole lot of talent right now, especially with the honest out. I don't know why Kevin Porter, Jr. is deciding to beat the Cavs away is maybe he's still

6:14mad about the trade, but he had 25 and 10 for Milwaukee. Bobby Portis did a really good job tonight and Pete Dance too. Pete Dance kind of made his showing as well with his brother Larry sitting on the other bench. But big night for the Cavs, big win, and while there is a lot of good to talk about from there, there's some concerning things, particularly what is going on with the perimeter defense. Welcome to the 5 hour energy flavor draft with 18 different flavors to choose from, including new options like confetti craze, fruity rainbow or cotton candy, there's something for everyone. The board is set, the flavors are ready and I've got my number one pick for the 5 hour energy flavor draft. I picked cherry that bowl cherry candles, candy style flavor, sweet with a light tart edge, classic red fruit profile, bright punchy taste, smooth and easy to recognize and clean slightly tangy finish. 5 hour energy shots give you a boost with zero sugar. Find your favorite flavor of 5 hour energy shots available online at 5 hour energy dot com or on Amazon.

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8:15This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card. I love that I can run up to 3% daily cash back on every purchase of my Apple Card, which can be automatically sent to my high yield savings account through Apple Card right in the wallet app. With my iPhone, I can use Apple Card with Apple Pay basically everywhere I go. You can apply for Apple Card too, right in the wallet app on your iPhone, subject to credit approval, savings is available to Apple Card owner, subject to eligibility, savings and Apple Card by Goldman Sachsbank, USA Salt Lake City Branch member FDIC, terms and more at AppleCard.com. Join the everyday club now with March as the code and get your first month free if you sign up for the NCAA tournament tips off Thursday. You can compete against our hosts and our men's and women's back at polls on Discord. To win our need, you'll get $100 in Lockdown merch. The rest of us can't commiserate the members only chats at our brackets blow up. And as a member of the club, you get ad-free versions of the shows. Again, it's all free for a month with code March at LockdownCabs.supercast.com. And if you are, and every day you're already want to give you a quick shout out, thank you

9:16so much for hanging out with me tonight on the show as we discuss the cabs win. And that's something we're all excited about, but there are some concerns we got to really get to in there as well. And one of those is really, what is going on with the perimeter defense? Since hindsight is always 2020, let's deliver today's second guess. As we're kind of going down the stretch and we've really seen the Cavaliers up and down defensive place so far, we saw it again tonight. And I'm not going to complain about a win ever. I'm always going to be happy about a win. But there's something about the perimeter defense tonight that you saw a little bit more. And you saw it in the Dallas game. You've seen it quite a bit this year, the Orlando game, where it's a lot of like helping too much and a guy's opening the corner by himself. It's a lot of not clothinging out in time or giving the shooter too much space and the shooter taking too much, taking advantage of that. Urshman Jank tonight for Milwaukee, he was five of eight from three. I like Urshman Jank, I think he's a fine NBA player.

10:16He should not be going five of eight from three in a game, especially coming up the bench. Pete Nance was three of four, Bobby Pors three of seven. And then you look at Ryan Rollins, who's really obviously come into his own in Milwaukee. I was three of seven from three as well. So, you know, big picture is, yeah, a lot of those guys didn't shoot very well for Milwaukee, but they were 44% as a team because of those guys are 20 to 45. So, 45 to three is a lot. And Milwaukee's a really good shooting team. Obviously they have guys like AJ Green who can shoot the ball really well. And the calves held him to two of seven tonight from three, which if you're going to talk about Milwaukee's shooting well from three, that's the name you probably think did play well. And he was the one that really didn't. So obviously that's something you want to see cleaned up. And that's where you want to see Cleveland kind of take over things and kind of make things happen and just stop that happening because I feel like that's the last piece, right? I think defensively inside the paint, they were really good tonight. They rebounded really well tonight. They were very competitive on the boards. They weren't getting out physical. I'm sure some will still come in here and tell me they're soft, which I don't.

11:18We get we need new content at this point. But that was something where I felt like the calves really kind of held their own. So if they can get this perimeter defense back down and to be more controllable, stop people from shooting 40% plus as a team from three. Thankfully, if a Chicago Bulls team coming up who doesn't know what they're doing, so that could be a nice start to kind of practice those things. But I feel like that's the next step in the calves defense. And I feel like if they can get that settled and figured out before April, watch out. This is that team is going to take over and make some things happen. And they're going to be very scary to watch. Now, speaking of April, one thing that really jumped out to me was Max Truce closed out the game and had me wondering, are the calves really starting to put together the playoff rotation? Finding a doctor you actually like can feel like discovering a diamond in the rough. Sure, you want someone to do the network nearby and has availability. But you also want a doctor who listens, makes you feel comfortable and explains things clearly. That kind of doctor exists and finding them is easy with ZocDoc.

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13:20which can be automatically sent to my high yield savings account through Apple Card right in the wallet app. With my iPhone, I can use Apple Card with Apple Pay basically everywhere I go. You can apply for Apple Card too right in the wallet app on your iPhone. Subject to credit approval. Savings is available to Apple Card owners subject to eligibility. Savings in Apple Card by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch member FDIC terms and more at applecard.com. It's time to reveal who made the biggest under-the-radar impact with today's X-Factor.

14:32Now, Max Truce's effect on this game is obviously different than his first game against Dallas the other day where he was just lights out shots of all really well. Tonight, two of six shots from three, you're probably not getting super stoked about that. But what I am getting really excited about is Max Truce's defense was terrific. What I'm getting really excited about is Max Truce on the floor when the game's on the line. Now, I get part of that as because Jared Allen's out and Jared Allen's going to be out for this short road trip as we know. But when Jared Allen comes back, what does this team look like, exactly? Because we know Kenny's been pretty, Kenny A Jackson's been really adamant on Dean Wade's to starting three. And depending what cast podcast you listen to, this is a conversation we're all having as far as the play eight, trust seven conversation. And so if the calves go eight deep, there's going to be an odd man out from who you kind of consistently see playing. So tonight we got at the idea where Keon Ellis is getting a big minutes.

15:33Then his shooter had his minutes sort of cut down quite a bit because he hasn't hit and been shooting very well tonight. It did have some really nice aggressive plays. So I don't want to take away from shooter by any means. But you saw the calves really cut off as far as guys who played 20-minute plus. It was the starting five, Mayoral Wade, Mobley Mitchell and Harden all played big minutes like they supposed to. And then Keon Ellis played 24 minutes and Max Truce played 23 minutes from there. You got 60 minutes from shooter who had five assists tonight obviously. But Jalen Tyson had only played 13 minutes tonight. And Thomas Bryant only gave him 10. So when Jared comes back, obviously that's going to change. And it's going to be really interesting to see how the Cavaliers break this all down. And I know a lot of people want to say like say kind of poo poo on the Cavaliers right now because of this up and down play. And I get it. But this is a really good problem to have. This is a problem that you want to have as far as. Oh no, we're going to be out a really good player at some point in the rotation. And obviously that's going to depend on who you played, but round by round if they are lucky enough to advance.

16:34So we all think they certainly can to an Eastern Conference finals or an NBA finals if possible. But right now I really like the Max Truce kind of closing the game out. I really enjoyed. I thought Sam Merrill gave them a really good game as well obviously. And I really liked what the minutes they got out of Keon Ellis. So those guys are all making a name for themselves to go out there and put a fight up to say like, we want to be there when these games matter the most. And if you're Kenny and staff, these are good problems to have. So I'm excited to see how it all plays out. And we're going to go ahead and wrap up this edition of the postcast. If you are just tuning on, be sure to stay tuned in. As Danny Cunningham will be up right after me with locked on calves as well, kind of going to the big picture of this game where I just kind of do the recap. But I will be back on Thursday night to discuss the Cavaliers matchup against the Chicago Bulls. I cannot wait for that one as well. Thank you all so much for spending some time with me. Don't forget if you are not all ready to go ahead and join that every day or club here on the locked on network and go to lockdowncast.supercast.com.

17:36If you've never missed an episode, the everyday club is built for you. It's free for plus members and you got a discord access and all that fun stuff. And don't forget about the bracket challenge as well. But I'm Tim Daniel. Everyone's so much. Thank you so much for hanging out with me. I will see you on Thursday night. Go calves. This podcast is brought to you by Colgate Total. We take oral health as seriously as you take sports. That's why Colgate Total Active Prevention uses advanced technology to help prevent oral health problems like cavities and gingivitis before they start. It's clinically proven to provide 24-hour antibacterial protection with twice daily brushing after four weeks of use. So get a winning routine and prevent oral health problems before they start. Shop Colgate Total Active Prevention at a retailer near you.

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