Mavs Overwhelm Short-Handed Cavs

The Cavaliers came into the game one All-Star down and would leave the game down two, as the Dallas Mavericks would take advantage of the situation, beating the Cavs 109-90. 

(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Against arguably the most talented starting five in the league, it was going to take a Herculean effort from the Cavs All-Star duo of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to beat the high-octane Mavericks offense. While Kevin Love was able to put together another strong game, Irving struggled from the floor before exiting the game with lower back tightness which would keep him out of the game and have him sidelined for Monday's game as well. 

Known for his hot first quarters with the Cavs, Sunday afternoon was no different for Kevin Love who came out in the first quarter scoring 10 points. What was different for Kevin Love was he did not fizzle out like he usually does and kept pressure on the Mavericks' D, tallying 30 points total for the game.

While Love shined, he shined alone. The Cavs next best player on the afternoon was Shawn Marion, which is a problem considering this isn't 2006 when he was in his prime. There needed to be more Sunday, and to put it quite frank, there just wasn't enough.

Three Things

1. What to make of Kevin Love?

A case can be made that Kevin Love has been playing his best ball with the Cavs lately. Coming off a 25 point game, Love followed it up with a 30 point game today, and also added 10 rebounds. His spike in offensive production is very similar to Chris Bosh's game when Lebron James or Dwyane Wade would miss a game. It remains to be seen however if Kevin Love can integrate his new-found game of late without Lebron James back into the fold once Lebron does return.

2. The Other Guys

Without Lebron and an attacking Kyrie putting pressure on the defense to make it rotate, the rest of the Cavaliers outside of Dion are very limited. Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellavedova, Mike Miller, are who they are. The reality is against good teams like the Mavericks, if Dion Waiters doesn't have it going when the Cavs are shorthanded to give Love some help, effort alone won't cut it if the Cavs want to get wins. They must find another way to win, whether it be offensively or better yet on the defensive end. 

3. Dion Waiters > Kyrie Irving?

No, Dion Waiters is not a better basketball player or scorer than Kyrie Irving. But can he be a better passer? According to Cavaliers GM David Griffin, he may be. While sitting with Cavalier play-by-play announcer Fred McLeod and color commentator Austin Carr, Griffin talked about how fond he is of Dion Waiter's game, specifically his passing, calling him underrated. While most believe Lebron is the best point guard of the Cavs, Griffin said on air that he believes Waiters is second to only Lebron in passing ability on the team. This comes as a bit shocking as Kyrie Irving is the franchise point guard and Waiters name is constantly on the trade market if not for a big man, a stable backup point-guard.

Statlines of the night: 

JJ Barea: 14 points (6-of-7 shooting) 4 assists 

Tyson Chandler: 14 points (6-of-7 shooting) 8 rebounds

The Mavericks beat the Cavs with a balanced attack as five players ended up with 14 points or more. While Barea's and Chandler's numbers don't wow you, the efficiency of how they played Sunday afternoon should. Together they combined for 28 points on 12-of-14 shooting and considering these two were on the 2011 team that won it all, performances like this should be a nice little reminder that shows the world what they are capable of.

What's next:

Jan. 5 on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers. 7:00 p.m. EST

Love Shines in Offensive Struggle

Photo by Brock Smith/NBAE via Getty Images

In their first game of two-week stretch without their star player LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers (19-14) ended a three-game losing streak, defeating the Charlotte Hornets in an offensive struggle, 91-87.

The final score doesn't do enough justice to how bad of a game this was, as both teams struggled mightily from all aspects of the court. Both teams shot below 40 percent from the field, 30 percent on 3-pointers and 70 percent from the free throw line. The vanguard of this struggle for both sides were led by the back courts; Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Matthew Dellavedova for Cleveland; Kemba Walker, Gerald Henderson and Gary Neal for Charlotte. Each trio had more shots than points (43 points on 51 shots for Cleveland, 35 points on 49 shots for Charlotte) and seemingly fired up brick after brick.

However for Cleveland, they did have Kevin Love back and playing the way he did in the beginning of the year. Love had 27 points (9-of-15 shooting) and five rebounds, and seemingly looked like the only player that provided any consistency, along with his front-court partner Tristan Thompson, who had another double-double with 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

Three Things:

1. Kevin Love, he's (kind of) alive!

For seemingly the entire season, one of the main story lines this season has been getting Love involved in the offense. Tonight, he was finally given his touches and took advantage, scoring 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting. But 23 of those points and 12 of those shots came in the first three quarters, again showing a theme of Love getting no touches in the fourth quarter. It's a good sign to see Love have a bounce back game, but it still is discouraging that they refuse to go to him in crunch time. 

2. Are there serious concerns with the offense?

For all the talk of how great of an offensive-minded genius he was overseas, head coach David Blatt has yet to translate that to the NBA. Although they rank fourth in the league in offensive rating, they have struggled mightily. In three of the last four games, the Cavaliers have shot below 40 percent from the field and haven't scored more than 91 points in those games. Excuses could be made that they were without LeBron James, but they still were with two other All-Stars in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Even with them, it was mostly isolation and pick-and-rolls, with very few off-ball screens and cuts towards the baskets. Injuries haven't helped the cause, but these poor shooting percentages are certainly something to keep an eye on going forward. 

3. Could the Cavaliers be .500 when LeBron comes back?

He's projected to be out for two weeks, meaning he'll miss eight games if that holds true. After tonight's win, they are 19-14, meaning they would have to go 2-6 over that stretch to be .500 (or at least close to it). In that eight game stretch, they play five of the top eight teams in the West, with three of them coming on the road. They do play Philadelphia and the Lakers, two very winnable games, but that looks like it. With they way they played tonight, it's not hard to see why there isn't a good chance that this could happen.

Statline of the Night:

Tristan Thompson: 14 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks, 5-of-10 shooting.

Although Love had the better game, Thompson was a much bigger impact. He provided the interior presence that the Cavaliers have desperately needed, both cleaning the glass and protecting the paint.

What's next:

Jan. 4, at home against the Dallas Mavericks, 1:00 p.m.

LeBron gets spoiled in his return to Miami

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

For the second time this year, LeBron James returned to a place who used to call home. The first one happened opening night, when he and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers fell flat to an abysmal New York Knicks team at home. This time, James was coming back to play his first game in Miami since he joined the Cavaliers this past summer. The result was no different, with the Cavaliers falling to the Heat, 101-90.

Despite trailing by as many as 17 points early in the second quarter, the Cavaliers had a chance to win this game. After Kyrie Irving hit a lay-up to tie the game at 80, the offense went ice cold. For the next six minutes after that lay-up, the Cavaliers would only score one point, while Miami was able to score 10, giving them a 9-point lead with four minutes left in the fourth. Cleveland would eventually cut it back down to three, but Miami would pull away from there.

Unlike the first "homecoming" game, James actually played one of his better games, putting up 30 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds, while shooting an efficient 9-of-16 from the field. He did get help from Irving, who scored 25 points, including 17 points in the first half, a big reason they only trailed by 13 heading into the break. But outside of those two, the Cavaliers couldn't get anything going on the offensive end.

It wasn't just the offense that hurt the Cavaliers, it was a former Cavalier that put up his best game of the year in his first game against the team he was traded to last year: Luol Deng. Deng, who struggled in his 40 games with Cleveland last year, had 25 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and a couple of big plays down the stretch for the Heat. After Mike Miller drained a 3-pointer to bring the Cavaliers deficit to three with three minutes remaining, Deng was able to find a wide open Danny Granger for a three of his own, all while Deng was falling out of bounds on the baseline.

The Cavaliers got dominated on all aspects of the game, getting out-rebounded, out-assisted and out-shot by the Heat, while also committing more turnovers than Miami. LeBron said that they weren't that good right now, and that could be the case, but not really. A lot needs to be worked on if they want to be the team everyone predicted them to be, but it is December, meaning they have plenty of time to get things figured out.

Three Things:

1. Give it time, seriously.

It's hard to tell any Cleveland fan to be patient, especially when you have the likes of LeBron, Kyrie and Love, but that is exactly what needs to be said. The playoffs are four months away, and I'd say this team is not even 75 percent of what they will be come April. Trades will be made and rotations will be figured out by that point, so it's no reason to stress over a loss like this, considering it was the first game without Anderson Varajao. The Heat had all the reason to be motivated for this game, and vice versa for the Cavaliers. Seriously, we need to stop making judgements after one games.

2. Kevin Love?

He's had a few subpar games this year, but tonight may have been his worst in a Cavaliers uniform. His stats weren't atrocious (12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists), but his body language and defensive effort were no where to be seen . Love constantly hung his head when he didn't get the ball, leading to a lack of effort on the other end, which in turn led to LeBron yelling at him after a lackluster defensive play in the second quarter. Speaking of LeBron, he made comments on how he needed to have a better attitude on the court, and it has worked for him. Does Love need to make the same type of effort? Well, it can't get much worse for him from here.

3. Defensive Dion.

You could write a book on everything that has been said about Dion Waiters on everything he seemingly does. He takes poor shots, he's overrated, he doesn't know his role, let's trade hime for nothing, etc. But if there's one thing he showed tonight that many people weren't talking about was his defense. After Dwyane Wade torched Mike Miller 24 points in the first half, head coach David Blatt switched Waiters on to Wade and it worked wonders. Wade shot 2-of-12 in the second half with Waiters draped all over him, including an impressive two possession span where Waiters stripped and blocked Wade on back-to-back possessions in the fourth, leading to five Cavalier points. It's only one game, but it was a great sign for Waiters in his progression towards becoming the defender the Cavaliers need.

Statline of the Game:

Luol Deng: 25 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 11-of-16 shooting.

Luol Deng had 25 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists vs Cavs, the 1st time in 705 career games he reached those benchmarks.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 26, 2014

Yeah.

What's Next:

Dec. 21, on the road against the Orlando Magic, 7 p.m.

Cavs Offense Overpowers Grizzlies Defense

AP Photo/Mark Duncan

In a true testament of offense versus defense, it was the high-powered offense of the Cleveland Cavaliers that got the best of the grit-and-grind Memphis Grizzlies, with the Cavaliers winning 105-91.

For a team that has struggled with passing the ball, it was the ball movement that led to abomination of the top-ranked Memphis defense. The Cavaliers got a season-high 34 assists and assisted on 73.9 percent of their team's field goals, also a season high. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James both dished out double-digit assists, with Irving having a season-high of 12. For a guy who couldn't pass the ball, that's pretty impressive. Thanks to the impressive ball movement, the Cavaliers were able to shoot 60.5 percent from the field against a Grizzlies team that has not allowed a team to even shoot above 50 percent in a game.

But it wasn't just the offense that was impressive, the defense stepped up just as much. They held the Grizzlies to 45.3 percent shooting and were making life difficult for Memphis, save for Marc Gasol, who put up 23 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists.

The biggest difference for the Cavaliers was the play of Dion Waiters. He scored 21 points (9-of-17 shooting) off the bench; however, it wasn't the amount of points that was impressive with his game, it was how well he played within the offense. He only had one forced shot, coming with 20 seconds left in the game, and attacked the paint with a fury. Multiple times he drove and finished with contact, most notably the reverse lay-up he got to fall in the fourth quarter.

This was the first time the Cavaliers have played a top team in the Western Conference, and showed they could hang with them. Although the Grizzlies were missing Zach Randolph, it was still an impressive win for Cleveland, a win that could motivate them going forward.

Three Things:

1. This is best game they have played all season.

This wasn't there best game statistically, but it was definitely their most impressive game. They beat a top team by 15, scored 105 points on one of the best defenses in the league and got solid production from their bench. It's only been 26 games, but this felt a little like a statement win. Every aspect of their game was on point and the crowd was alive from start to finish. I doubt they will shoot 60 percent from the field every night, but the ball movement was what stood out for me. If they can continue to play games like this, they will be climbing both the power rankings and the Eastern Conference standings.

2. See what happens when the bench produces?

All season, we have seen the Cavaliers constantly give up leads after a dominating first quarter. But tonight, that was not the case, thanks in part to solid games from Shawn Marion (who recently moved to the bench) and Dion Waiters (who played only six minutes in their win against Brooklyn). In the second quarter, a time where the Cavaliers usually struggle, they combined to score 14 of the team's 30 points, giving Cleveland a 11-point halftime lead. Then in the second half, Waiters added 12 more points and was the reason the Cavaliers were able to run away with this game. Tonight shows why the Cavaliers need the bench to play, especially against a very good team in Memphis.

3. Marc Gasol is the best center in the league.

I've always been a huge fan of Gasol; his ability to score, pass and defend at his position are unparalleled. Tonight, he completely dominated the Cavaliers and almost single-handily won them the game. The numbers say everything (25 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists), but it was how easy he made everything look that was more impressive. He got the basket with ease and was able to finish with both hands, destroying anyone Cavaliers head coach David Blatt tried to throw at him. After watching him today, I am thoroughly convinced he is the best center in the NBA.

Statline of the Night:

Kyrie Irving: 17 points, 12 assists, 3 rebound, 8-of-13 shooting.

I think LeBron had the better game, but this was bigger for Kyrie, who had come into this game struggling over his last seven games. He dominated one of the best defensive point guards in Mike Conley and showed his ability to pass the ball that people seem to forget he has.

What's next:

Dec. 23, at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves, 7:00 p.m.

Hawks Soar Over Cavs

One month ago it was the Cavaliers blowing the Hawks out on their home court, tonight the script was flipped as the Hawks returned the favor, giving Cleveland their largest loss of the season after a 127-98 beating in front of their home fans.

(AP Photo)

The Cavs seem to go as Lebron goes. In the first quarter Lebron came out aggressive, scoring 11 points and adding two assists. Those two assists in the first quarter however would end up being the only assists he had for the game, a bad stat for the primary ball handler of this team.

While Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love each finished the game with six assists a piece, unfortunately for the Cavs and their fans, they don't make the team go.

After the Cavaliers outscored the Hawks in the first quarter, the Hawks would then take control from the second quarter on, outscoring the Cavs 101-64.

Dion Waiters was a bright spot for the Cavaliers in the loss, as he had 21 points on 9-18 shooting off the bench.

Three Things

1. The Defense

It was bad, simple as that. Not going to win many games allowing the opponent to shoot 64.5 percent and allowing 16 three-pointers.

2. Love fading

Anytime the Cavaliers usually get off to a quick start, Kevin Love usually is a catalyst and tonight was no different. Love had nine points in the first quarter but would have only four for the rest of the game. This trend is all too common for Love as coming into the game, Love posted a 5.9 points per game average in the second and third quarters. This is something the Cavs must fix as they continue to build  and try to enter among the elite teams.

3. Atlanta Hawks Soaring

The Atlanta Hawks, the team that has always been good but not good enough have won 11 of 12. While most analysis have picked the Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards, and Toronto Raptors as the main contenders to the Cavs, don't overlook these Hawks. With much of the Cavs roster still unproven in the playoffs, the Hawks have a solid Big Three in all-stars Al Horford and Paul Milsap with an underrated point guard in Jeff Teague, who didn't even play in Wednesday's matchup.

Stateline of the night:

Shelvin Mack: 24 points, 6-6 from deep, 3 assists

It was a career night for Shelvin Mack. The former Butler guard who was averaging only 3.8 points per game heading into the contest exploded off the bench for a career high and with multiple all-stars on the floor, stole the show for a night.

Whats next:

Cavs vs. Nets at the Q, Friday Dec.19 at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Cavs Continue Winning Ways

(Photo from: ftw.usatoday.com)

It was a complete team effort by the Cavaliers which saw them cruise to a 110-88 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on the road.

With the royal couple watching sideline and Lebron James calling it a "huge honor" to play before the royal couple, signs were pointing to a king size performance from one King James but the Cavs didn't need it.

After going into the half only up one, the Cavs would turn it on in the third quarter outscoring the Nets by 17 and remaining in control from that point on.

The Cavs as a team got off to a slow start in the Barclays Center. Lebron and Kevin Love were the only two to score for the Cavs in the first period. Kevin Love carried most of the load, scoring 15 of the 22 points the Cavs would end up with at the end of the period.

Anderson Varejao would end up as the lone Cavs starter with a field goal in the second quarter. While this would usually be problematic for the Cavs most nights, tonight was different. Led by Dion Waiters' 13 points, the Cavs bench would end up scoring 26 points in the quarter, beating their season average. James Jones was a marksman from downtown, connecting on all three of his three-point attempts in the quarter, and hitting four of five for the game.

Three Things
1. Good Dion
For Cavs fans, Dion Waiters serves as one of the most polarizing players on the teams. The talent has always been there for Waiters, the patience, poise, and level-headness it takes to be a consistent player in the league is not always there. Tonight, he put all those things together and was the best player on the court.

2. James Jones
The veteran came in for the second game in a row making it rain from downtown. For the season he is 8-for-12 from deep making the loss of Mike Miller who has only connected on five threes out of 20 for year, a little bit easier to swallow.

3. Welcome back Delly
Monday night saw the the return of Matthew Dellavedova back into the lineup. While he only scored two points tonight, anybody who watches the Cavs know that his real impact can't be found in the box score. Always proving toughness and playing his heart out, his return gives coach Blatt another permitter option to close the game and allows Dion Waiters to focus solely on scoring when the second unit comes in the game.

Statline of the night:
Dion Waiters: 26 points, 4 assists, 2 steals

Dion stole the show Monday and was in a grove all night. This was the Dion, Lebron envisioned when he said that Dion would be best suited for the team coming off the bench. If Dion can serve as a Jamal Crawford type off the bench, look out!

What's next:
Dec. 9 against the Toronto Raptors in the Q

Forcing turnovers benefitting both defense and offense

(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Coming into this season, the Cleveland Cavaliers defense was questioned over and over and over again, wondering whether it would hamper their chances of winning an NBA championship.

So far this season, it's been a roller coaster ride for the defensive, going from okay, to really bad, to okay again in just one month. From where we stand right now, their average defense has been surprisingly average, specifically playing well over their last two games.

If you haven't checked yet, the Cavaliers currently rank 17th in defensive rating. At first glance, that might not look sexy, but from where the Cavaliers were a week ago, that's pretty impressive. Not much has changed from how low they were a week ago, but they are doing something that the Miami Heat did well over the last three years with LeBron James: forcing turnovers.

Over the last two games, the Cavaliers have had defensive ratings of 98.5 (good) and 84.0 (really good), while also allowing fewer than 90 points in each game. The reason they've been able to have these spectacular numbers are due to the amount of turnover they have forced. In those same two games from above, the Cavaliers have forced 36 turnovers, good for a turnover percentage of exactly 20.

The most surprising aspect of this trend is the guy who has been at the helm of the havoc: Kyrie Irving.

Irving has been criticized for his defense ever since he's entered the league. But so far this season, his defense has been a huge improvement, even himself asking to have a bigger role on that end. The increased role has paid off, as he has averaged 3.0 steals per game over the last two, and 1.8 per game for the entire season, which ranks 11th among all NBA players. If he can keep up this defensive effort, he will help shadow over the glaring weakness that Cleveland has.

The turnovers aren't just helping the defense, it has helped their high-powered offense. Of those 36 turnovers, they have turned them into 49 points, good for 22.4 percent of their 219 points scored during that stretch. To put that number in perspective, the Philadelphia 76ers lead the league with 20.3 percent of their points coming off of turnovers.

However, this isn't just a sample of their last two games: this has been their theme in every game so far this season. Take a look at the graph below:

The turnovers per game is slightly higher in wins, but just take look at the difference in points scored off of turnovers; almost seven points per game higher!

That seven-point difference has been the result of their level of intensity, which has been extremely high over the last two games (both wins) and also during their three-game winning streak two weeks ago. When the Cavaliers get lazy on the defensive end, as they did during their four-game losing streak, the turnovers decrease and opportunities to score off of them go down as well.

Unless there is a trade made for big man, the Cavaliers interior defense will be one of the worst in the league. As it stands, opponents are shooting 64.4 percent inside of five feet of the basket, second-worst in the league. That is why the turnovers will be huge for Cleveland going forward, helping them hide their weak spot on that end of the court.

As for the offense, the turnovers will create easy fast break chances for guys like LeBron James, Irving and even Dion Waiters, who are virtually unstoppable in the open court. They still have things to work out offensively, and nothing can get things going like easy buckets, which will come off the turnovers they force.

Inconsistency continues to haunt the Cavs

(Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer)

The Cleveland Cavaliers (5-7) dropped their fourth game in a row, falling to the Toronto Raptors (11-2), 110-93.

Despite what the final score looks like, this game looked to be all Cleveland in the first quarter. The Cavs came out on fire, leading 26-8 in the first eight minutes of the game, showing energy that was virtually nonexistent in last night's loss to the Wizards. The defense was active and the ball was moving at a rate only seen during the Cavs three-game winning streak just over a week ago. It seemed like all that had happened in the last week would be put to rest tonight.

Then, the ball stopped moving, the energy stopped and Lou Williams entered the game. After leading by 15 after the first quarter, the Cavs gave up 37 points in the second and went into the locker room with a 56-54 deficit after Williams nailed a 3-pointer as time expired in the half. Williams had a career night, unable to be stopped by anyone the Cavs threw at him. He scored a career-high 36 points, and was a big reason the Raptors were able to come back after a terrible first quarter. The most alarming stat of Williams was that when he was on the court, the Raptors out-scored the Cavaliers by 37 points.

But it was more than just Williams scoring out his mind, it was the drop-off in energy the Cavs saw after a hot start to the game. The problem so far this season isn't starting out with energy, it's trying to keep it consistent throughout the game. During those first eight minutes of the first quarter, everyone was involved on offense, with Kevin Love getting his touches and taking advantage of it. But after that, it was the same problem that haunted the Cavs in most of their losses this season that turned the game in favor of Toronto: LeBron holding the ball and trying to go one-on-one in the post, 18-feet away from the basket. When things started to go bad, nothing seemed to change on offense. The Cavs have showed that they are not a great half-court offense, and it doesn't help when the ball constantly sticks on one players hand for the entire possession.

The Cavs have shown the ability to play a consistent game from start to finish, just look at the Atlanta game. However, the difference between that game and what has been transpired has been the production of the second unit. During the Cavs current four-game losing streak, their bench has been out-scored 142-73. The bench let the Raptors back in the game, but starters let what looked like a win slip away in the second half.

Inconsistency has been the theme of the Cavs so far this season. They've looked really good and they've looked really bad, all within the span of a week. If the Cavs can find any consistency from top to bottom, their problems will slowly begin to go away.


Three Things

1. The bench, AGAIN.

The Cavs came out on fire tonight, scoring 34 points in the first quarter and looking good in all aspects of the game. The sense of urgency looked head and shoulders better from last night on both ends of the court, leading by as many as 18 in the first quarter. But, it was the lack of bench production that allowed the Raptors to crawl back in the game, cutting the lead to one with 7:27 left in the second. It's something if both the starters and bench struggle, like they did in Washington, but when the second unit blows a big lead that nearly cost them a lost, that's inexcusable. The Cavs do not need a loaded bench, but they need more than just Tristan Thompson and occasionally Dion Waiters to provide production once the starters come out if they want to be contenders.

2. Turnovers continue to haunt the offense.

They had 19 last night and 18 tonight, leading to a combined 45 points off of those turnovers for Washington and Toronto. Most of these turnovers are self-inflicted by the Cavs, who have made too many poor passes to consider themselves an elite offense. That's pretty much been the difference in their last four games, and hasn't helped build any confidence for the Cavs or their fans. If the Cavs can't clean up on the offensive end, things will continue to go down hill for the Cavs

3. Kyrie Irving has been the most consistent player for the Cavs

So what you want about his low assist totals, that hasn't stopped him from being the one player the Cavs can expect to do the same thing every night. For the seventh straight game, Irving scored at least 20 points, scoring -- tonight on 00-of-00 shooting. He had 6 assists, but more importantly he only had three turnovers. Many expected Irving to struggle to grasp his new role, but it seems he is adjusting just fine compared to his teammates. Irving has seen blame from others for the Cavs bad start, but he is the last person to point fingers at.

Statline of the night: Lou Williams. 36 points, four assists, three steals, 9-of-17 shooting.

Williams has always been one of the best scoring sixth men in the league, and he showed that ability tonight. The Cavs tried to put five different guys on him, with Williams having the upper hand in all five matchups. He was THE reason Toronto won this game.

What's next: Nov. 24, home against the Orlando Magic. 7:30 p.m.

Sloppy offense leads to third straight loss for Cleveland

With their poorest offensive performs of the year, the Cleveland Cavaliers (5-6) drop their third straight game, falling to the Washington Wizards (8-3) on the road 91-78.

Credit goes to the Wizards, who were able to hold the league's second-best offense to a minuscule 78 points, thanks in part to the 19 turnovers they forced. Most of them were due to their backcourt duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal, who combined for seven steals, but the rest was more self-inflicted by the Cavaliers. Multiple times throughout the game, Cleveland had fast break opportunities ruined by bad passes and miscommunication. In the first quarter, Anderson Varejao tried to play point guard on a two-on-one fast break with LeBron James, but made a bad pass leading to a turnover and two points for Washington on the other end. Washington was able to capitalize all night on Cleveland's miscues, scoring 24 points off of turnovers.

When the Cavs didn't turnover the ball over, they still made bad decisions shooting the ball, making only 36.0 percent of their shots tonight. Ball movement, which is a staple of head coach David Blatt's offense, was as nonexistent as it has been all season. The Cavs finished with 13 assists, and ended way too many possessions with zero passes or one-on-one isolation. Plenty of shots were taken with at least 15 seconds on the shot clock, most of them coming from LeBron. If the offense wants to be as good as they can be, they must eliminate these mistakes.

This is more than just losing games for the Cavs right now, as it seems that LeBron's message isn't getting across to everyone. Communication is mum, both on AND off the court, leading to problems that could easily be avoided. It's early, but if things don't change quickly, it will be long season in Cleveland.

Oh, and if things weren't as bad as they were now, the Cavs play the best team in the Eastern Conference tomorrow. But hey, all it takes is a few wins and this will all go away.

Three Things

1. LeBron is not helping.

Well, his play is (kind of), but his body language is definitely not. More times than not, he looks disgruntled and it's been rubbing off on his teammates, specifically to Kevin Love. At times, him and LeBron look as if they don't want to even share the court together. Look, LeBron knew it would take time for this team to gel, and even said that in his letter announcing his return to Cleveland. He shouldn't be the guy being frustrated, he should the guy be trying to calm everyone down when something goes wrong, and not making comments as if he is surprised at the situation the Cavs are in. Leaders are supposed to set good examples for others, not compound an issue when it arises. If and when things start to change in Cleveland, it will begin with LeBron showing the leadership he learned from Dwyane Wade and Pat Riley.

2. It's hard to be good when your bench isn't.

Just as important as having two or three star players are in order to win a championship, you need two or three bench players that can come in and make an impact on the game when the starters need a rest. Right now, there is no one on the Cavs bench that has constantly played well. Waiters and Thompson were supposed to be the go-to guys off the bench, but their play has been spotty to say the least. Joe Harris showed signs earlier, but since the Atlanta game his play has fell off. Mike Miller has been the Jason Giambi of this team: the old veteran who is more of a locker room guy than anything, and only does the one thing he does well good every once in awhile. There's plenty of time in the season for these guys to step up, but right now, it's gonna be hard for them to win games with no bench production.

3. Dear NBA Gods, let Varejao stay healthy.

You're not technically an NBA writer/blogger if you have not yet talked about the Cavs defense or lack of interior depth. Flat out, they're not good at defense, and no matter how much better they get, they're ceiling is no higher than 15th in defensive rating. As of now, Varejao has been the Cavs best interior defender while also providing some spark on the offensive end. I'm not a fan of him taking 10 shots in three quarters (as he did tonight), but he can score when given an open shot. If Varejao goes down, you're looking at Haywood as your backup big (barring any trades) with Thompson as the starting center. As bad as things have went so far, the last thing the Cavs need is for the Brazilian big man to go down with an injury.

Statline of the night: John Wall. 28 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals. 12-of-20 shooting.

I noted in the preview that Wall was one of the best two-way guards in the league, and he definitely showed that tonight. He was unstoppable on offense, but even more impressive on defensive, snagging four steals in what would be a turnover fest for Cleveland.

What's next: Nov. 22, at home against the Toronto Raptors. 7:30 p.m.

Irving and Waiters look to show who has the better backcourt

After captivating off-seasons for both of these teams, there are two things that have remained constant for both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards: the backcourts. Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiter are downsizing their roles for newer players in Cleveland, while John Wall and Bradley Beal look to be the reason they go far in the playoffs for Washington.

Washington Wizards

Record: 7-3, third in the Eastern Conference

Offense: 102.8 (20th)

Defense: 100.3 (6th)

The Good

- So far this season, the Wizards bread and butter comes on the defensive end. As you can see above, they rank sixth in the NBA in defensive rating, and they are there because of the amount of turnovers they force. So far this season, Washington ranks fourth in both turnovers forced and opponent's turnover percentage. They also defend the basket extremely well, allowing the third fewest points in the paint this year. The towering combination of Nene and Marcin Gortat, combined with the quickness off John Wall have made life tough for opposing offenses.

- They may not have a top-ranked offense, but they do one thing well that is comparable to the previous team the Cavs played: ball movement. The Wizards 65.2 percent of field goals assisted on is currently third in the NBA, and just 0.7 percent behind the top-ranked Spurs. The Cavs have given up the second most assists per game, and could see some problems with All-Star point guard John Wall commanding the offense.

- Speaking of Wall, he has lived up to all the hype he received coming out of the University of Kentucky, where he has been one of the best two-way guards in the league. He leads the league with 2.3 steals per game and is third in assists, averaging 9.3 per game. And by the way, he does all that while averaging close to 19 points per game. At 6-5, he possess both a height AND speed advantage, which could be a nightmare for Kyrie Irving.

The Bad

- Normally the "Let it Fly" moniker is used for a player who has an unnatural ability to shoot 3-pointers (hello Mike Miller), but when playing the Wizards, you can basically "Let Them Let it Fly" for how bad they are behind the arc. They don't necessarily shoot a bad percentage, but they don't take (29th in 3-point attempts) or make (29th in 3-point makes) a lot of 3-pointers. Considering Wall likes to use his quickness to get the basket, and the fact he also has some terrible shooting percentages, we might see the Cavs play zone for 48 minutes (very unlikely though).

- For as big as they are down low, the Wizards don't too much damage in terms of second chance points, where they rank 28th with 10.3 second chance points per game. Part of that problem is that they aren't a good offensive rebounding team, only bringing in 9.3 per game. Because they are a one-and-done offense, they will need an effective shooting night in order to score points, which they have shown so far this season they have trouble doing (18th in effective shooting percentage).

The Matchup to Watch

Kyrie Irving/Dion Waiters vs. John Wall/Bradley Beal

Shots were being fired left and right from both sides about who has the best backcourt in the NBA (which is neither for those wondering), promptly reviving the Cavs-Wizards rivalry of the mid-2000s. Beal led things off by saying the Wizards "definitely the best backcourt in the league", which then led to Waiters saying that Beal's claim was "nonsense" and sent one of the greatest tweets the internet has ever seen. Being that this is the first time these two teams have met since these comments, this could be a bloodbath (probably not though).

The Playlist

There is no one in the music industry who is more attached to a certain city than Wale and Washington D.C. are He's a huge Wizards and Redskins fan, and sort likes the Nationals. He likes to hoop too and is good friends with plenty of NBA players, specifically Kevin Durant, who is from Maryland. Not only is he the rapper who appreciates his roots, he's also one of the only well-known rappers from this area (sorry Logic, King Los and Black Cobain). Let us listen: 

Why Cleveland will win

The Cavs just came off of a game against the Spurs where they didn't play one of their best games and still had a chance to win the game at the end, until LeBron pulled an Earnest Byner (sorry Browns fans), costing them the game. This offense has been as good as advertised over the last few games, and not even a stout Washington defense could stop them.

Why Washington will win

We noted how well the Wizards are at forcing turnovers, and if Cleveland begins to cough up the ball, Washington will capitalize. The difference for Cleveland in their wins and losses have been turnovers, averaging 4.4 more in losses than in wins. All it takes is for Wall to have a couple of steals to change the outcome and the momentum of the game.

The Prediction

Cavs 102, Wizards 100

A lot will have to go wrong for this to be a blowout. Both of these backcourts are eager to prove which one is better, battling each other until the end. I think the difference will be LeBron and his ability to bounce back after poor games this year. Although he and Paul Pierce have had a solid rivalry against each other, Pierce is older and not as good as his younger self was. Expect a prototypical LeBron night, leading the Cavs to victory in the nation's capital.

Cavs defensive struggles continue, fall to the Nuggets at home

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/NBAE via Getty Images)ion

Coming off their best game of the season against the Atlanta Hawks, the Cleveland Cavaliers laid an egg at home to the Denver Nuggets, losing 106-97, ending their four-game winning streak.

After beating the Nuggets in Denver just ten guys ago, the Cavs were looking for the season sweep, this time playing at home. The offense of the Cavs, which has looked dynamite ever since that game against Denver, had a setback of their recent hot offensive streak. The Cavs had had an offensive rating of 103.2, their second lowest of the season. As a team, they were held to just 43 percent shooting, including 34.5 percent from three. Four players scored 20 points for Cleveland, including Kevin Love, who had 20 points to go with 11 rebounds, giving him his fifth double-double of the year.

Defensively, it was the same story for the Cavs. For the seventh time in nine games, the Cavs allowed their opponent to score 100 points. The backcourt combination of Ty Lawson and Arron Afflalo made life tough for the Cleveland defense. Neither player made an impact the last time these two teams played (Lawson did not play and Afflalo had 0 points), but tonight they combined for 47 points and 15 assists (12 of them coming from Lawson).

The Cavs also struggled to maintain Denver's second unit scoring, specifically Darrell Arthur and Nate Robinson. Between them, they combined to go 6-of-6 on 3-pointers, including some big shots when the Cavs needed a stop in the fourth. Arthur, who received a flagrant two foul after intentionally fouling Dion Waiter in the previous game, also added 11 rebounds to go with his 13 points.

The next two games for Cleveland do not get any easier. On Wednesday, the defending NBA champs come to the Q, then the Cavs travel to Washington on Friday to take on a Wizards team that currently leads the Eastern Conference. Depending on which Cavs team shows up, there is a real possibility this team could fall under .500 11 games into the season.

Three Things

1. Love was (kind of) in the air tonight.

During the previous four games, LeBron and Kyrie seemed to have found their groove that they did not have the first four games of the season. The offense was beginning to click, averaging 119.3 points per game over that stretch. As good as things were looking, there was one thing missing: Kevin Love. He wasn't physically missing, but his All-Star level of play was. Tonight, he returned to that form when the Cavs needed it. With LeBron battling the cold and Kyrie having an off-night, Love was the only one who could get it going for the Cavs, finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Once all three of LeBron, Irving and Love get it going, they will be scary.

2. Every team will bring their A-game against the Cavs (except the Hawks).

Take out that Hawks game, and every game the Cavs played, their opponent has played one of their best games of the season. Tonight was no exception; after getting blown out the night before, and beaten handily by the Cavs in their last match-up, the Nuggets looked like a completely different team. Tonight showed the Cavs cannot take any nights off and expect to win. The Cavs almost looked disinterested, and Denver took advantage. This wasn't the first time it happened, and it definitely won't be the last.

3. Ball hard, Dion Waiters.

A lot has happened with Dion Waiters over the last couple of months. First, he publicly stated he did not want to come off the bench back in the off-season. Then, in a game against Utah, he missed the national anthem because of his religion, then denied it was because his religion. After that, he was replaced in the starting lineup by Shawn Marion. His play has been sporadic so far, with a few good games and even more bad games. Tonight was different. Waiters easily had his best game of the young season, scoring 20 points on an efficient 9-of-16 shooting off the bench. Just like Love, if Waiters can start to find his rhythm, it will only add to the potency off the offense.

Statline of the night: Ty Lawson. 24 points, 12 assists. 9-18 from the field.

It was noted in our preview that Kyrie struggled against quicker guards, and it was on display tonight. But it wasn't just Kyrie that Lawson tore apart, it was everyone else on the Cavs (except LeBron). Lawson constantly found an open shooter, leading to a number of good looks for the Nuggets. It showed how bad the Nuggets are without Lawson in the last game these two played, and tonight, he was the difference in a Nuggets win.

What's next: November 19, home against the San Antonio Spurs. 7 p.m.

Cavs end road trip with a win over Denver

(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

With panic flying around the NBA about the Cleveland Cavaliers and their 1-3 start, they erased some doubt with their most defining win of this young season, defeating the Denver Nuggets 110-101.

The score seemed closer than what it was, but the Cavs dominated both ends of the court tonight. At one point in the game, the Cavaliers had a demanding 20-point lead, with the offense looking head and shoulders better than it has all season. Ball movement, which was essentially non-existent all season, was as solid as it could get. After having six assists against the Jazz, they had 21 assists on 30 field goals. Also, seven guys were in double figures, by far the most this season.

LeBron James, shooting 41 percent from the field on the season, had an all-around performance tonight, which included a near triple-double. James had 22 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, but it was his leadership that seemed to have the biggest impact. Whether it was directing guys on offense or coaching from the sideline to guys on defense, he led people know that he was doing everything in his power to return this franchise to the one they had before LeBron left.

Defensively, the Cavs looked a lot better (albeit against a Nuggets team that is 22nd in offensive rating) than they have compared to the first four games. After allowing opponents to shoot 49.5 percent from the floor, the Cavs held the Nuggets to 43 percent shooting tonight. The effort, most importantly, seemed to be at a higher pace than it was against the Jazz and Trail Blazers. If the Cavs can continue to get just enough stops on defensive, this will be a good sign for future.

With the win tonight, the Cavs end their road trip going 2-2. Lucky for the Cavs, nine of the next 11 games are at home, which will help get the Cavs back on track.

Three Things
1. This is a better example of what the Cavs will look.
Fans around the NBA have waited for the Cavs to play up to their potential, and tonight was the first sign in that direction. This team tonight looked head and shoulder different than the team that played in the first four games. The ball movement was splendid, the defense made stops when it needed to and they blew out a team they were supposed to beat. There was a Spurs-esque style of offense tonight, with the team totaling (( assists on (( field goals, including a number of extra passes that would make Gregg Popovich crack a smile. This is the game the Cavs needed to get their season going and I expect this only to be the beginning of a hot streak.

2. LeBron leadership is having an effect.
LeBron's attitude and effort has been shoddy for most of this young season, and his play has been equally as unimpressive. Tonight, however, LeBron looked like a guy who was disappointed in what he has seen this year and wanted to make a change. His numbers were so-so, but his leadership showed throughout the entire game. He was constantly pointing at guys to get in the right place and communicated with his teammates nonstop. This team needs LeBron to be more than just the best player in the world. He needs to help these learn how to win and play like a team. Tonight, he did exactly that, and the team effort and final score showed.

3. Hey there, Dion Waiters.
You saw the good Dion Waiters, aaaaaaand you saw the bad Dion Waiters. The good thing about tonight, the good heavily out-weighed the bad and his big plays down the stretch helped eliminate a Nuggets comeback that was putting some threats into Cavs fans. Waiters has STRUGGLED the first four games, including being played in favor of Matthew Dellavedova. If the Cavs want to go far, they need Waiters to have games like he did tonight. He seems to be adjusting better to his role, and this is extremely positive for the Cavs.

Statline of the night: LeBron James. 22 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds. 8-18 from the field.

Who better to look to when your team needs a spark? After having only six assists as a TEAM last night, LeBron nearly doubled that himself tonight with his 11 assists. This might be the game that gets LeBron going, which will be scary for the NBA.

What's next: Nov. 10, home against the New Orleans Pelicans. 7 p.m.

Matthew Dellavedova to miss tonight's game

 Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Matthew Dellavedova (8) drives against Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade (left).

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellevadova will not play in tonight's game after suffering a knee injury in last night's loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, Chris Haynes reports.

Cavs officials have said that he injured his leg during the loss to the Trail Blazers last night and have not set a timetable for his return.

Dellavedova has been one of head coach David Blatt's go-to players so far in this early season, seeing plenty of minutes down the stretch. He has averaged 2.7 points per game and 2.3 assists per game, but has played good defense and has shown plenty of effort, which is the reason that Blatt has favored him in crunch time over Dion Waiters.

With Dellavedova out, the Cavs backup point guard will be Will Cherry, who was recently signed by the Cavs after playing for their summer league team. Also expect Waiters to see more minutes in place of Dellavedova. Waiters has not lived up to his hype this year, averaging just 8.3 points per game on 33.3 percent shooting from the field.

Point guard battle goes in favor of Cleveland

Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

In the first matchup of these two heavyweights, the Cavaliers were able to take round one from the Chicago Bulls by a final score of 107-98.

The stars of this battle came from the one-guard position: Kyrie Irving and Derrick Rose.

Irving put up 28 points and had eight assists, while his counterpart upped him with 30 points, five rebounds and three assists. Both players provided some flashy moves and most importantly, provided us with a glimpse of what this matchup has been hyped up to be over the last two years. This is only the second time they have matched up against each other, but the first time where they showed their talents.

Anderson Varejao provided some much-needed offense tonight, putting up 22 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Varejao was able to make up for Kevin Love's poor scoring performance, where he was held to just nine points on 2-10 shooting from the field. What he lacked in scoring, however, he made up for in rebounds, where Love grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

As a team, the Cavaliers shot 48 percent from the floor, extremely good against a tough Bulls defense that held opponents to 43 percent shooting last year. Cavs also did a good job of limiting the Bulls on the offensive end, holding them to 42 percent shooting. Cavs also out-rebounded the Bulls, 47 to 40.

Head coach David Blatt said earlier this week that he was gonna treat this game as a regular season game, as far as minutes go. Blatt held true to that tonight, as LeBron, Love, Irving and Dion Waiters each played at least 31 minutes tonight, with Irving playing a team-high 38 minutes.

Three Things:

1. Please let Anderson Varejao stay healthy.
We have talked countless times of how the Cavs need some help on the interior. Most of that relies on Varejao's health, as he has missed 166 games in the last four seasons. He has shown this preseason his effectiveness as an NBA player. He's a perfect fit for Blatt's offensive scheme, can rebound with the best in the league and is the best interior defensive player on the Cavs. Varejao will be a pivotal piece to a Cavs title run, but only if he can stay on the court, rather than on the end of the bench.

2. Bull-Cavs will be FUN.
Before LeBron took his talents to South Beach, the Cavs and the Bulls were one of the best rivalries in the NBA. With LeBron back in Cleveland, the rivalry will be renewed with some more star power involved. Two polarizing teams; the Cavs with a superior offense and the Bulls with a punishing defense. Both of these teams are projected to finish as the top two teams in the Eastern Conference and each game will predict to be a battle. They are expected to play four regular season games, but much fun will seven more games in the playoffs sound?

3. Who will step on D?
It's understatement to say that Derrick Rose lit up the Cavs tonight. He scored 30 points in 24 minutes and blew by his defender multiple times in the first half. Blatt tried Irving, Dion Waiters and Matthew Dellavedova on Rose to no avail. We've known about Irving's ability on defense, but if he doesn't step on that end of the court, guys like Rose will be circling their schedules waiting to light up Irving on defense.

Statline of the night: Kyrie Irving. 28 points, 7 assists, 2 rebounds. 10-19 on field goals.

It was a great night for point guards, as both Irving and Rose played extremely well. This is only the second time that they have played against each other due to injuries to both, but this was the first in which they both played well.

What's next: Oct. 22, on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Who is Dion Waiters?

We all know who Dion Waiters is. He's a 6'4" shooting guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He played college ball at Syracuse University and grew up in the south side of Philadelphia. He likes to talk trash and tries to back up everything he does.

But you already knew that. We want to know more than that.

In is his first two seasons, we have seen Dion show he is capable of one thing: instant offense. If you need someone to score points, he has the ability to come in and go on his own one-man offensive scoring runs. His ability to score the ball has never been in question.

But there is one thing that people will wonder: who is Dion Waiters?

This isn't a question of his personality, or what he looks like. This is more of a comparison. If you could compare Waiters to one player, who would he be?

In order to find out who is, we need to create some guidelines on how we are going to compare him. Are we going to pick out of hat? No. Are we going to yell random names and see which one we like the best? No, but that sounds extremely interesting.

Instead, I came up with three things we will use to find out who is Dion: position, stye of play and role on the team. From these three objectives, we will be able to answer our question.

Position

This one is easy. Waiters plays shooting guard, so all we have to is find everyone who is listed as a shooting guard, right? Well, yeah, we could do that, but there a lot of shooting guards in the league. Like, 127 of them. 

Since Waiters has the ability to play shooting guard, as well as point guard, we can consider him a "combo guard". So instead of looking at all 127 shooting guards, I have narrowed it down to 22 "combo guards", a little easier to choose from. Here's the 22:

- Arron Afflalo

- Bradley Beal

- Kobe Bryant

- Jamal Crawford

- DeMar Derozan

- Goran Dragic

- Monta Ellis

- Tyreke Evans

- Randy Foye

- Manu Ginobili

- Eric Gordon

- James Harden

- Gordon Hayward

- Kirk Hinrich

- Andre Iguadola

- Joe Johnson

- O.J. Mayo

- Austin Rivers

- Iman Shumpert

- Rodney Stuckey

- Dwyane Wade

- Lou Williams

There might be a few guys that surprise you on this list, but when you think of Waiters, he would fit right in that category of players as far as "position".

But, we are not here to categorize him, we are here to find out who he is. And since all of these players are not the same, let's take a took at the next criteria.

Style of play

Waiters can be described as a "high-volume scorer": a guy who takes plenty of shots, but can put up big numbers in a hurry. He has put up good numbers in his first two seasons (18.9 points per 36 minutes), but it is likely due in part to his high usage rate (26.6 percent).

When looking at the list above, we'll need to look at guys who had a usage rate of greater than 24 percent (meaning he is involved in the offense) and scored at least 18 points per game (showing he can score enough to be effective) over the last two seasons. From the previous 22, only seven of those guys made the cut:

- Arron Afflalo

- Bradley Beal

- Jamal Crawford

- DeMar Derozan

- Goran Dragic

- Monta Ellis

- James Harden

- Dwyane Wade

As you can see, these are some pretty big names. Am I implying that Waiters is one of the best shooting guards in the league? Well, I'm not saying he's at the top, as there are a number of guys ahead of him, but he as heard some praise from certain media member that would give me reason to believe he in the top 10.

Anyways, let's get back on schedule.

Three-point shooting is an underrated part of Waiters game, as he shot 36.3 percent from behind the arc last year, which was above the league average. In order to narrow this list down even more to find our answer, we'll need to find guys who shot at least 36 percent the three-point line last year.

Two guys were cut; Wade and Ellis. I’m just as surprised to see Wade cut as you are. Don’t get me wrong, Wade was (and has an argument that he still is)one of the top players in the league. Some have compared Waiters style of play with Wade, but three-point shooting is one of Waiter’s strengths, se we couldn’t discount that.

This leaves us with these guys:

- Arron Afflalo

- Bradley Beal

- Jamal Crawford

- Goran Dragic

- James Harden

As you can see, these guys are very good at attacking the paint, as well as shooting the ball. They also can score overall at a high level while also possessing a high level of usage.

We're getting closer to answering our question, and for those of you who have read this far, here is a GIF of Waiters hitting a buzzer-beater last year.

Role on the team

Just as big as style of play is for this question, the role of the player on his team is equally important. You can't compare a guy whose role is to be a defensive stopper to a guy who you expect to lead your team every night in scoring.

Waiters has seen a few roles over the last two years, including being both sixth man and starter. He has played well in both roles, with his number being very similar for each. Here are his splits for starting and coming off the bench.

	GP	PPG	RPG	APG	FG%	3P%
Starter	72	15.6	2.5	3.3	.419	.336
Reserve	59	15.0	2.7	2.6	.430	.351

Over the long run, many expect him to be a full-time sixth man (as he was at Syracuse), where he can flourish with the second team. However, Waiters has publicly stated that he wants to start, despite rumors that he could come off the bench.

Waiters have never been considered the teams number one scoring option with Kyrie Irving on the roster. In order to cut our list down, we will have to look at guys who are not the number one option on offense. We'll look for guys who are not first on their team in usage percentage. By looking at the numbers, here is who we have left:

 - Arron Afflalo

 - Jamal Crawford

Two guys left. Both fitting all of the qualifications we have thrown at you.

However, Dion cannot be two different people, he can only one.

The last criteria we will use, is the exact title of this section: their role on the team.

Crawford is known as one of the best sixth men in NBA history, having won the Sixth Man Award twice, which is tied for the most all-time. He has been one of the best guys in the league in terms of "instant offense", meaning he can score a lot of points in not a lot of minutes. When he gets hot, he is one of the hardest guys to stop.

On the other hand, Afflalo is more of a quiet player in terms of scoring. His efficiency is one of the best for his position, and has allowed him to be successful on the offensive end. Unlike Crawford, Afflalo can spread out his points, leaving most people shocked to see his point totals game-by-game (averaged 19 points per game last year).

After looking at the tape, we've decided that...

Dion Waiters is Jamal Crawford! Seriously, the signs are all there. Waiters isn't as flashy as Crawford, but his game is set up in a very similar way. Both guys are "microwaves" on the offensive end, and will heat up with only one shot. Neither of them have a shot they do not like, and are HUGE fans of the pull-up jumper.

The glaring thing that made it clear that Crawford was the better option than Afflalo, was the fact that he came off the bench in 56 percent off his career games, compared to just 29 percent for Afflalo. We’re not saying that Waiters is better suited on the bench, but his style of play fits that of a sixth man.

**

Now that we finally have our answer, what does this all mean?

Since the Cavs already have three very good offensive players ahead of Waiters, he needs to adapt his game. What makes Crawford a very good NBA player, is that he understands his role: he scores when the offense needs a spark and solidifies the bench.

If Waiters can be Crawford 2.0 (which I think he can), the Cavs will reach their goal as a team: by winning an NBA title.