Season Summaries

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Bob McAdoo

Sophomore

Posts: 97

Jul 13, 2014 3:14:25 GMT

Season Summaries Sept 17, 2013 2:26:13 GMT Ian Noble likes this

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Post by Bob McAdoo on Sept 17, 2013 2:26:13 GMT

10 Game Update!

So I'm going to try to past a Cavs update to this thread periodically.

After 10 games my boys are tied for the league lead, as of this note at 8-2 with the NY Pants and the Miami Hots - no one saw that one coming, nor the Spanish Inquisition neither. Looking forward to some match-ups w/ the other contenders. Losses were to MEM @ home and to ORL on the road by 4.

Kyrie Irving (untouchable) leads the team with 31.1 PPG and 6.7 APG on 50% / 45% / 83% shooting. He opened the season going for 38, 41 and 36 pts against NO, SA and MEM.

He's complemented, and I'm sure also complimented, by Andrew Bynum (untouchable) averaging 19.3 PPG and 11.1 RPG w/ 3.5 ORPG and 2.8 BPG. The second member of my big 2 has 9 double doubles in 10 games - very consistent and seems to be healthy - playing almost 42 minutes a night.

Anderson Varejao seems to be struggling with his shooting touch from the PF spot, shooting under 40% versus a career level of 51%. He continues to pull down 10 plus boards a game while averaging almost 9 points / game. I'll continue to go with my LARGE ball / twin towers line-up until I see the right offer for Andy.

The SF spot has belonged to Alonzo "Golly" Gee primarily, with CJ Miles picking up a couple of recent starts - I wish I knew why the coach did that. Especially since Alonzo started all 82 games for the Cavs (last year / this sim year). This is the position, or SG, where I need a significant upgrade to create my big three.

At the SG spot Dion "Don't forget to tip your..." Waiters has chipped in with 15 PPG, 5 APG and 4 RPG. So far so good. With Jarrett Jack as the 1st guard off the bench I'm happy with the back court.

The bench is led by Jarrett Jack, averaging almost 10 PPG in only 15 MPG, while sporting a Calderonesque 9.3 Assist/TO ratio. Surprising contributions from Ty "Fuzzy" Zeller are unexpected, while Tristan Thompson has been disappointing to date especially since his strong showing in FIBA Americas this summer / next sim summer. Earl Clark should see more time at SF since his recent rating increase (+6 to 75), as long as the coach isn't randomly starting CJ Miles. Xavier Henry, a Belgian, has been added from the free agent pool to bring the roster up to 11.

Last Edit: Oct 1, 2013 2:53:53 GMT by Bob McAdoo

Bob McAdoo

Sophomore

Posts: 97

Jul 13, 2014 3:14:25 GMT

Season Summaries Oct 1, 2013 2:53:07 GMT

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Post by Bob McAdoo on Oct 1, 2013 2:53:07 GMT

Next 17 games Update - Regression to the Mean!

...and no, they have not gotten meaner.

Warmer, warmer, oh shit ice cold!
The hot start continued through the end of November with a 7 game winning streak that saw the Cavs at 12-2 on December 1st, tied with Miami for the league's best record. The average margin of victory during the first 14 games was a solid +15, including the two losses.

On 26-Nov in a game against the T'wolves, coach shook up the line up by moving Varejao, Gee and Waiters to the bench and starting Tristan Thompson at PF, Earl Clark at SF and Jarrett Jack at SG. That game saw the addition of Austin Daye to the end of the Cavs bench, signed as a free agent to a 1 yr, $600M deal. The Cavs won by one that night in Minnesota with Bynum putting up 25 pts, 14 reb, 4 assists and 2 blocks and Dion Waiters contributing a very efficient 16 points from the bench.

With the new line-up we saw significantly more bench scoring as hoped, but only a 3-2 record including a 21 point loss to OKC. So after a 2 point win on the road versus the Clips in OT (Earl Clark and Tristan Thompson with double-doubles!?) and a 3 point loss in SAC (32 points each from Bynum and Irving – not enough) we went back to the original line-up of Bynum / Varejao / Gee / Waiters / Irving on 9-Dec with a record of 13-4.

The next 10 games were a disaster (1-9) with a 38 point road win over MIL the only victory. Trade rumours* started building about the time that the Cavs were losing in OT to DEN (despite a combined 72 points from the starting backcourt of Waiters and Irving). The bottom fell out after that with 6 more losses by an average of 20 points, leading to the current 8 game winless streak. The streak includes losses to MIA, CHI twice and BKN; all teams that we need to beat to be a top 3 seed in the East.

(* - yes that is the Canadian / British spelling - Cleveland is almost IN Canada)

Rumours do come true!
The trade rumours became fact after the BKN loss: It took two trades to make the salaries work:

Trade #1) Indiana trades: 78 Jordan Crawford - $2,162,418
            Cleveland trades: 2013 1st Round Pick (Cavaliers)
            Cleveland cap space after: $1,690,582

Trade #2) Indiana trades: 83 Zach Randolph - $16,500,000 | $17,800,000 | $16,500,000
Cleveland trades:
            76 Dion Waiters - $3,727,000 | $3,894,000 | $4,062,000 | $5,138,000
            74 Tyler Zeller - $1,563,000 | $1,633,000 | $1,704,000 | $2,617,000
            79 Anderson Varejao - $8,400,000 | $9,100,000 | $9,800,000
            2014 1st Round Pick (Cavaliers)

Trade Rationale – or why an ageing Zbo is OK:
The Cavs have a very consistent high performing center in Bynum (20 ppg, 10 rpg, 2 bpg) who is not an injury risk in this league, and a top 5 performing combo/PG in Kyrie (28+ ppg, 6.5 apg, 4+ rpg). To challenge for a title this year and next we needed a big three with role players in the other two starting positions.

We like Jordan Crawford's per 36 numbers and he'll be the starting SG. Coach is expecting 12 to 18 pts plus 4+ apg and 4+ rpg from our 4th option. While JC is unsigned for next year I hope to use our MLE to secure his services.

New Line-up and Rotation:
Key to turning this season around will be the bench production when the starters rest. We won't need a lot but JJ, CJ, Earl and Tristan will need to step up.

C Andrew Bynum (86)
PF Zach Randolph (83)
SF Alonzo Gee (75)
SG Jordan Crawford (78)
PG Kyrie Irving (85)

6th Jarrett Jack (77) - PG / SG
7th CJ Miles (76) - SG / SF
8th Earl Clark (75) - PF
9th Tristan Thompson (76) - C
10th Austin Daye (71) - SF / PF
11th Xavier Henry (67) - PG

On with the new era! We sit at 14-13 (7-8 at home and 7-5 on the road). We are home New Years Eve versus the Pistons and we have the Knicks at home on 10-Jan in a key Eastern Conference showdown. Plenty of travel this month with 10 of 15 on the road. We need to beat the teams around and below us in the standings and start knocking off the ones above us. Let's go Cavs!!

Last Edit: Oct 9, 2013 2:43:15 GMT by Bob McAdoo

Bob McAdoo

Sophomore

Posts: 97

Jul 13, 2014 3:14:25 GMT

Season Summaries Oct 27, 2013 0:26:33 GMT Ian Noble likes this

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Post by Bob McAdoo on Oct 27, 2013 0:26:33 GMT

December 31 to January 21

The Zach Randolph Era in Cleveland
...begins with a win. Goodbye to December and hello Zed-bo!

31 December 2012 - Detroit Pistons vs Cleveland Cavaliers (15-13)

New Years Eve at home versus DET and a 29 point win! Mr. Z. Randolph (we call him Zed-bo here in Canada) led the team in scoring, shooting a tidy 10 for 14 leading to 21 points. He chipped in with 7 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal and a block before fouling out in 30 minutes. The Cavs frontline of Bynum (19 / 6 / 4 ), Zed-bo and Gee (16 / 9 / 3) fought the strong Pistons bigs (Drummond, Monroe and Smith) to a draw, allowing JJ and the rest of the bench to outscore the DET bench 30 to 7.

Kyrie had an off shooting night (5 of 16 for 15 pts) but contributed 7 assists, 4 rebounds and a pair of steals. New starting SG Jordan Crawford had a quiet start scoring 8 points on 4 of 7 shooting with 3 rebounds an assist and a TO in 23 minutes. The roster was rounded out to 12 by the free agent signing of C Jeremy Tyler before the game.

4 January 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers vs Milwaukee Bucks (16-13)

Bynum leads the way to a 20 point road win over MIL with 28 /12 / 1 / 3 / 3 on 13 of 16 shooting. Zed-bo with another double double and all 5 starters in double figures. Kyrie continues his poor shooting

5 January 2013 - Houston Rockets vs Cleveland Cavaliers (17-13)

Double doubles from Kyrie (36 / 6 / 11 / 2 / 2) and Zed-bo (30 / 14), who shoot a combined 24 for 40 from the floor, power the Cavs to a 20 point win over HOU. Andrew |Bynum recorded his Cavs leading 18th double double plus 5 assists and a block and Jarett Jack chipped in 10 off the bench. Dwight Howard puts up 36 pts / 10 reb in a losing cause. Two more at home (MIL, NYN) before a six game West coast road trip.

7 January 2013 - Milwaukee Bucks vs Cleveland Cavaliers (17-14)

A disappointing loss at home to the lowly Bucks. MIL's 43 point 2nd equalled the 1st half total of the Cavs and the deer took their 28 point halftime lead and cruised to a 14 point win – payback for two thumpings at home (by 38 and 15). Cavs were perhaps guilty of looking past the team below them in the standings to focus on the next one versus the NYN.

The Zed-bo era stands at 3-1 but we cannot continue to lose games to teams below us in the standings. Worryingly Mr. Zed has fouled out of 2 of his 1st 4 games and is averaging 5.5 fouls over those 4 games. He was limited to 32 minutes tonight by Ilyasova (30 pts to lead the Bucks) but still put up a modest double double (15 / 11) – his 3rd as a Cav. Kyrie continued his recent hot shooting with 38 points including 4/5 from 3 and 8 assists. No one else had much to offer tonight.

10 January 2013 – NY Knicks vs Cleveland Cavaliers (18-14)

Key win against a division rival. Cavs outscored the Knicks 24 -20 in the 4th to win by 5. The Cav's big three came through again with double-doubles from the bigs (Bynum: 19 pts 12 reb with 4 blocks, Zed‑bo: 24 pts 14 reb) while holding Marc Gasol to 13 pts and 4 reb. Kyrie put up 30 pts and 8 assists with JJ chipping in 10 pts from the bench. Not much from the 2 & 3 spots tonight, except for JC kicking in 6 assists and 2 steals, but not much was needed.

12 January 2013 – Cleveland Cavaliers (18-15) vs. LA Lakers

First game of the west coast swing and we open with an 8 point loss after holding a 75-74 lead to end the 3rd. The Cavs frontline had an advantage against Kamen, Gasol and Young, led by another Zed-bo double-double of 22 pts, 13 rebs plus18 pts, 9 reb and 3 blocks from Bynum.

Kobe was held to a quiet 25 pts on 20 shots but there was no one on the Cavs who could contain Steve Nash. Nash won the battle of the point guards, and the game for the Lakers, by putting up 33 points, 6 reb and 10 assists on a night where Kyrie went 6 for 20 for 17 points.

14 January 2013 – Cleveland Cavaliers (18-16) vs. Phoenix Suns

Another 4th quarter failure; leading 79 – 74 at the end of the 3rd, the 5 point lead turns into a 3 point loss.
Another poor shooting night from Kyrie; 16 points on 6 for 20 shooting.
Another double-double from Zed-bo (29 pts, 13 reb) wasted.

15 January 2013 – Cleveland Cavaliers (18-17) vs. Portland Trailblazers

A pattern is developing; trailing by one heading into the 4th quarter failure, Cavs are outscored by 13 on the way to a 14 point loss.

Opposing point guard Damien Lillard goes off for 35 pts and 9 assists, besting Kyrie's bounce back double-double (31 pts and 10 assists).
Cavs were outscored by 5 from 3 point range (a worrying trend) and by 11 from the free throw line (homer refs and poor FT shooting by the Cavs - 16 / 24, another worrying trend).
Double-doubles from Zed-bo (25 pts, 10 reb) and Bynum (10 pts, 13 reb) wasted.

18 January 2013 – Cleveland Cavaliers (18-18) vs. Denver Nuggets

The wheels come off in Denver as the Nuggets score 92 points in the 1st half?! and the losing streak hits 4 games. Nothing else to say about this one.

20 January 2013 – Cleveland Cavaliers (19-18) vs. Golden State Warriors

A solid team effort breaks the losing streak with a 96 – 93 win against GSW despite a team 0 for 12 from 3 point range and 25 fewer free throws. Balanced scoring with 5 in double figures with CJ Miles contributing 11 pts, 5 reb and 7 assists off the bench and another Zed-bo double-double (22 pts, 10 reb) secured the win.

21 January 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers (20-18) vs Utah Jazz

West coast swing ends with a victory in Utah and a 2-4 road trip record. More balanced scoring with six players in double figures, led by Bynum's double-double (9/12 from the field for 23 points with 10 reb) and Kyrie's efficient 30 points (on 21 shots, 3/5 from 3 and 7/7 FT).

Last Edit: Oct 27, 2013 0:29:57 GMT by Bob McAdoo

Bob McAdoo

Sophomore

Posts: 97

Jul 13, 2014 3:14:25 GMT

Season Summaries Nov 3, 2013 4:34:40 GMT

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Post by Bob McAdoo on Nov 3, 2013 4:34:40 GMT

Finding an Identity - 50 games in

November: 12W – 2L; December: 3W – 11L; January: 9W – 6L; February so far: 4W - 3L
Home: 14W – 12L; Road: 14W - 10L
Record after 50 games: 28W – 22L; Since Zed-Bo and Jordan Crawford acquisition: 14W – 9L

Bynum at C and Zed-bo at PF give me efficient inside scoring (both shooting over 50%, averaging a combined 40 pts, 20 reb per game)
Kyrie continues to show flashes of brilliance (26 pts / 4 reb / 6.5 assists per game); however a tendency to shoot too much (23 FGA per game) means the big guys don't always get enough shots.
At SF Alonzo Gee is acceptable (12 pts / 5 reb per game while shooting over 40% from 3 pt range).
The weakness at SG and from the bench continues to be an issue. Jordan Crawford has not been an upgrade over, or even the equal of, the departed Dion Waiters.
Jarrett Jack has been an overall disappointment leading the bench mob which includes Earl Clark, CJ Miles and Tristan Thompson plus Jeremy Tyler and the Belgian

24 January 2013 - Indiana Pacers vs Cleveland Cavaliers (21-18)
Tensions run high with Varejao's (5 pts / 12 reb) return to Cleveland as he and Bynum both foul out. Bynum (26 pts / 14 reb and 4 blocks) wins the duel and the Cavs win the game as the Pacers are unable to take advantage of Bynum's absence in the 4th. Kyrie's 7th double-double of the year (19 pts / 10 assists) helped secure the win on a night where he shot a high volume but not efficiently (19 shots, only 1 of 7 from 3 pt range). The Pacers were led by a very good night from Paul George (32 points on 20 shots plus 8 reb and 6 assists).

25 January 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers (22-18) vs Atlanta Hawks
The Cavs go into ATL and blow open a close one, outscoring the Hawks by 13 in the 4th to secure a 12 point road win. Cavs shooters continued to be accurate; starting with the Denver fiasco the team has shot 50% or better from the field in 5 straight, for 4 consecutive wins. Kyrie led the way with an efficient 34 points on 20 shots and Bynum chipped in with his team leading 23rd double-double (21 pts / 12 reb).

27 January 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers (23-18) vs Indiana Pacers
For the 1st time ever, Kyrie (averaging 23 FGA/game) does not lead the team in shots taken, deferring to Zed-bo who scores 31 on 21 shots. The Pacers come back hard in the 4th after trailing by 21 but the Cavs make their free throws (37/40) and cruise to an 11 point road win.

29 January 2013 - Phoenix Suns vs Cleveland Cavaliers (23-19)
Phoenix continues its domination over the Cavs with a big 37 point 2nd quarter that turns a 12 point Cavs lead into a 6 point advantage for the Suns. Kyrie struggles again from the field (5 for 22) and a solid game from Bynum (8 of 12 from the field for 20 points and 11 rebounds) is wasted. We cannot lose these games to lower tier opponents and expect to contend for a top 3 seed in the East.

30 January 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers (24-19) vs Charlotte Bobcats
A 38 point laugher in Charlotte. Everybody played and everybody, except the Belgian, scored.

1 February 2013 - Brooklyn Nets vs Cleveland Cavaliers (24-20)
The first of two back to back statement games for the Cavs vs the 2nd and 1st seeds in the East ends with a tough one point loss at home. Bynum and Zed-bo outplayed Duncan and Garnett in the paint and Kyrie dominated D. Will, approaching a triple double (34 pts / 8 reb / 9 assists) while holding the opposing PG to 15 pts. However, the Cavs had no answer for the Nets wing players. Despite a poor shooting night for Pierce, he and Johnson outscored Gee and Crawford 27 to 5.

The biggest difference in the game, and the ultimate decider was at the FT line where the Nets went 25/31, compared to 13/15 for the hometown Cavs. On a night where the visitors get twice as many FTA attempts and win the game at the line, we'll take the tough loss and I guess we'll look for some balance some place down the line. Maybe because it was game #666 – maybe...

2 February 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers (25-20) vs Miami Heat
On a night when no one would have been surprised by a Cavs letdown, they played well, shot well and defeated the league leading Heat by 12. Miami had no answer for the Twin Towers inside. Bynum and Zed-bo combined for 58 points, dominating Hibbert and West who had a total of 16. A. Gee chipped in 9 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and 3 blocks. Jordan Crawford took zero shots but added 5 assists and 2 steals, while Kyrie put up a nice quiet 23 to complement the bigs. LBJ and D. Wade got theirs, but we did a good job on the rest of the line-up, other than Jesus Shuttlesworth who had 14 off the bench.

4 February 2013 - Philadelphia 76ers vs Cleveland Cavaliers (26-20)
Wire to wire win versus the hapless 76ers, led by double-doubles from Zed-bo (20 pts / 16 reb) and Kyrie (22 pts /10 assists).

7 February 2013 - Milwaukee Bucks vs Cleveland Cavaliers (27-20)
Cavs had a letdown over the 1st 3 quarters, trailing by 11 going into the 4th. The Cavs won that quarter 32-16 to take a 5 point win at home. Balanced scoring with 20+ points from Bynum (23 pts / 13 reb), Gee (20 pts) and Kyrie (25 pts /11 assists).

8 February 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers vs Minnesota Timberwolves (27-21)
Cavs open a 2 game road trip with a 9 point loss in Minnesota, giving up 66 points in the 1st half. No answer for K. Love starting at center (32 points / 14 reb / 7 assists). Decent game from Zed-bo (20 points / 10 reb / 5 assists) for his 11th double-double.

10 February 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers vs Washington Wizards (27-22)
Cavs lose to the tanking Wizards, WTF? – Kyrie takes 31 shots to score 26 points.

11 February 2013 - Golden State Warriors vs Cleveland Cavaliers (28-22)
Back home on the back end of a back to back, the Cavs gut out a 5 point, 4th quarter win against the GSW. Cavs get an efficient double-double (17 pts / 11 reb on 6 for 8 shooting) from Bynum, 20 pts from Zed-bo and a near triple double from Kyrie (23 points / 9 reb / 7 assists).

Jordan Crawford moves to the bench after this game. In 23 games he has shot a disappointing 41% (34% from 3 pt range) and averaged only 7.6 pts.

Last Edit: Nov 3, 2013 4:37:52 GMT by Bob McAdoo

Bob McAdoo

Sophomore

Posts: 97

Jul 13, 2014 3:14:25 GMT

Season Summaries Nov 9, 2013 23:37:22 GMT

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Post by Bob McAdoo on Nov 9, 2013 23:37:22 GMT

Playing down to the competition and other bad decisions, or Never mind, Ray-Ray will make it all better!

14 February 2013 - San Antonio Spurs vs Cleveland Cavaliers (28-23)
New line-up features Earl Clark starting at SF with Alonzo Gee moving to SG. This is going all in on a big line-up since I don't have a SG. Earl played some SF during the regular season and playoffs in LA alongside Dwight and Pau, so he can play the position. Alonzo played some SG in CLE line-ups when Dion Waiters was out, so he can play some SG alongside Kyrie, who tends to dominate the ball anyway.

New line-up premieres with a 10 point home loss to the Spurs. Cavs out rebound the Spurs but SAS get 6 more FGA and 9 more FTA attempts to win it. Typical Cavs game, C and PF match-up is a draw, Kyrie dominates the opposing PG (Felton) and we lose the game at the SG / SF position. Earl Clark goes 0 for 7 (3 pts and 13 rebounds) and AG scores 10, while Khawi Leonard and J Terry combine for 31 points. We'll put this loss down to a new line-up struggling to work together and SAS superior coaching.

15 February 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers (29-23) vs Boston Celtics
Trailing 82 -74 going into the 4th the Cavs win the 4th 25 – 14 to win a hard fought game by 3 points. Cavs shoot 51% to BOS's 38%, but Celts (27 / 35) attempt 19 more FT than the Cavs (11 / 16), winning the foul line by 16 points. Kyrie leads with a 35 pt, 10 assist double-double and the bench tossed in 23 points led by JJ (10 pts) and JC (8 pts).

21 February 2013 - Orlando Magic vs Cleveland Cavaliers (29-24)
22 February 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers (29-25) vs Philadelphia 76ers
Cavs lose both ends of a post All-Star back to back to 2 teams that are a combined 30W and 73L. Earl Clark 4 / 20 since becoming a starter. Cavs 1W and 3L with new line-up.

24 February 2013 - Washington Wizards vs Cleveland Cavaliers (29-26)
26 February 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers (29-27) vs Detroit Pistons
27 February 2013 - Detroit Pistons vs Cleveland Cavaliers (30-27)
2 March 2013 - Sacramento Kings vs Cleveland Cavaliers (31-27)
Since the loss to the Spurs the Cavs are 3W & 4L vs teams below .500 including a home loss to the Wizards. I really don't feel like writing anything about these last 6 games.

3 March 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers (31-28) vs Chicago Bulls
Cavs lose to Chicago on the road in their usual fashion: performances are pretty even @ C, PF & PG. Hinrich (SG) and Deng (SF) go a combined 10/19 and 9/9 from the line to dominate Clark and Gee and win the game for CHI. Cavs are 0-3 vs. Bulls and haven't been closer than 20.

Cavs fall to 3.5 games back for the Central Division title which the Cavs will need to win outright. With 23 games left, Cavs sit in the 5th seed, a game up on Atlanta and 2.5 on the newly revamped Celtics.

Finally we have addressed the weakness at SG by trading Tristan Thompson to the Heat for Jesus Shuttleworth himself and Troy Murphy. Jesus will move into the starting line-up and should space the floor better for Bynum and Zed-bo and should work well off the ball with Kyrie. Gee slides back to his natural spot at SF and Clark takes the back-up PF spot. Murphy goes to the end of the bench for now.

Bob McAdoo

Sophomore

Posts: 97

Jul 13, 2014 3:14:25 GMT

Season Summaries Nov 24, 2013 2:36:23 GMT

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Post by Bob McAdoo on Nov 24, 2013 2:36:23 GMT

Disaster – technical issues with the trade lead to a 12 day delay and Cavs go 2W and 5L over the period, including an 0 and 4 road trip.

5 March 2013 - Chicago Bulls vs Cleveland Cavaliers (31-29)
7 March 2013 - Toronto Raptors vs Cleveland Cavaliers (32-29)
8 March 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers vs Toronto Raptors (32-30)
10 March 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers vs Orlando Magic (32-31)
12 March 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers vs Miami Heat (32-32)
14 March 2013 - Cleveland Cavaliers vs Dallas Mavericks (32-33)
17 March 2013 - Portland Trailblazers vs Cleveland Cavaliers (33-33)

Cavs big line-up is a dismal failure (5W – 11L) with Earl Clark shooting under 30% as the starter at SF. Jesus arrives to a slumping Cavs team with 16 games left.