Cleveland Cavaliers Blog – Page 35 – NBA Blog

Anderson Varejao getting little playing time on Cavs this season

Here’s Cleveland.com reporting on veteran Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao, who has struggled with injuries for many years but this season is healthy yet spending most of his time on the bench, playing just 8.8 minutes per game:

The 33-year-old big man has seen a dramatic reduction in his playing time this season. His statistics all across the board are the lowest of his 12-year career. He has not seen action in eight of his last 10 games.

Despite being fully recovered from an Achilles’ tendon injury he suffered last year, he hasn’t been able to crack the rotation.

“Of course, it’s not easy,” Varejao said. “It’s a different season for me. I said at the beginning of the season that my goal was to stay healthy and help this team. I’m not getting a lot of playing time, but I know the season is a long season. We still have the playoffs coming and anything can happen. I just have to stay ready and help the team when coach needs me.”

His focus on the postseason is telling in that he believes he’ll still be a Cavalier after the Feb. 18 trade deadline.

Kyrie Irving playing time may soon increase

Since recently returning to action from last season’s injury, Kyrie Irving is averaging a modest 13.0 points and 3.0 assists on disappointing 34% shooting for the 21-9 Cavaliers. Here’s Cleveland.com reporting the latest:

Kyrie Irving may soon receive more playing time

It was nearly two weeks ago when point guard Kyrie Irving made his much-anticipated season debut against the Philadelphia 76ers. Since that Sunday contest, Irving has been on a minutes restriction, yet to top 26 minutes in four games.

“We’re getting close to being beyond that,” Cavs head coach David Blatt said Friday when discussing Irving’s workload. “He’s pretty healthy. I don’t see him going out there and playing 40 minutes anytime soon. We’ve moved along pretty well, we’ve been pretty specific and committed to a certain path in terms of bringing him back.”

Part of the Cavs’ plan involved Irving getting rest during a challenging West Coast road trip, a stretch where the team played four games in five nights.

He missed the Portland game, one night after an exhausting game against the Golden State Warriors and sat out the finale against Denver on Tuesday.

Iman Shumpert day-to-day with groin strain

Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert experienced a right groin strain during the Cavaliers game Tuesday night in Boston. He is Out for tonight’s game in Cleveland vs. Oklahoma City and will continue to receive treatment. His status will be Questionable thereafter pending further evaluations.

Shumpert recently returned to action from injury and has played in just two games so far this season, coming off the bench both times. It’s likely that he may eventually return to the starting lineup. But for now, J.R. Smith has played 19 games and started all 19 of those outings at the shooting guard spot.

The Cavs are an Eastern conference-best 16-7 so far this season, and still waiting the return of point guard Kyrie Irving.

No love between Cavs and Celtics

Here’s the Boston Herald reporting on the Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, who will probably not be getting together for the holidays this year:

There were certainly no pleasantries as the teams met for the first time since a painful Sunday in April when Cleveland completed a four-game, first-round sweep with a win at the Garden. Kevin Love dislocated his left shoulder in a tangle with Kelly Olynyk, and Jae Crowder suffered a sprained left ACL when his knees buckled following a wicked elbow from J.R. Smith.

Crowder said Monday he was hoping for an apology, but no such gesture was made by Smith as the Cavs handed the Celtics a more-thorough-than-the-numbers-would-seem-to-indicate 89-77 defeat.

And clearly the Clevelanders didn’t stop competing when the game was finished. While Love and Olynyk have agreed the latter intended no harm, there is still ill feeling on the other front.

“No, I like it,” Smith said about the physical game that saw him give a couple of hard fouls. “It wasn’t chippy enough.”

LeBron James pre-game music

Wonder which music LeBron James listens to before games? Here’s ESPN Cleveland reporting:

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ pregame locker room is noisier this season than it was last season.

LeBron James has taken to turning on his portable speakers from Beats by Dre, a company he endorses, and playing tunes as he and his teammates stretch out and put on their uniforms.

Only it’s not the music that’s the noisy part. It’s the debates that the music sparks. The ribbing usually centers between two people: James and Jared Cunningham. While James picks the songs, Cunningham picks on the songs…

James’ playlist features artists such as Kanye West, Jay-Z, OutKast, Jadakiss, Lupe Fiasco and sometimes even Cleveland’s own Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Cunningham, meanwhile, prefers performers such as Ty Dolla $ign, Migos, Young Thug and Yo Gotti.

John `Hot Rod` Williams dies of cancer

Here’s ESPN.com reporting some very sad news about a well-known, talented former NBA player:

John “Hot Rod” Williams, one of the NBA’s best sixth men in the 1980s and ’90s, has died of cancer at his home near Sorrento, Louisiana. He was 53.

Williams’ agent Mark Bartelstein confirmed his death Friday.

Williams, a 6-11 power forward, played 13 seasons in the NBA but was best known for being a standout with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 1986 to 1995. The news stunned former teammates and executives who had been encouraged when Williams came through an earlier cancer diagnosis this year.

“It’s devastating,” said Wayne Embry, the Cavs general manager from 1986-99. “He was a hard worker and a great player but I liked him more as a person than a basketball player.”

Iman Shumpert set to return for Cavs

The Cleveland Cavaliers are 14-7 this season, which through Thursday’s games is the 3rd best record in the league. And they’ve accomplished this without their starting backcourt of Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert. The squad is about to get healthier, as reported by the Akron Beacon Journal:

Iman Shumpert will be active tonight and is likely to make his season debut against the Orlando Magic.

Shumpert still needed to go through the morning shootaround and pregame warm-ups, but all parties (speaking before shootaround) sounded optimistic.

“If we go through shootaround and everything is straight,” Shumpert said, “I’m going to try to give it a go.”

Added coach David Blatt: “We’re hopeful he can get out there.”

David Blatt and Luke Walton named NBA Coaches of Month

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ David Blatt and the Golden State Warriors’ Luke Walton today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in October and November.

Blatt guided the Cavaliers to an Eastern Conference-best 13-4 (.765) record for games played in October and November. After dropping their season opener to the Chicago Bulls, the Cavaliers reeled off eight consecutive victories from Oct. 28 – Nov. 13. The defending conference champion Cavaliers own a 9-0 record at Quicken Loans Arena, and rank sixth in the NBA in both scoring (103.1 points) and team defense, limiting opponents to 96.5 points.

While filling in for head coach Steve Kerr (back surgery), Walton has led the defending champion Warriors to the best start in NBA history at 19-0. The Warriors lead the NBA in scoring at 115.3 points, and enjoy the largest point differential in the league at 15.4 points. Walton is in his second season on the Warriors’ staff, and previously served as a player development coach with the NBA D-League’s Los Angeles D-Fenders during the 2013-14 season.

Other nominees for Coach of the Month were Charlotte’s Steve Clifford, Indiana’s Frank Vogel, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Doc Rivers, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra, Oklahoma City’s Billy Donovan, Orlando’s Scott Skiles, San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich and Toronto’s Dwane Casey.

Hawks face Cavs on Saturday

Two of the best teams in the Eastern conference face off on Saturday. Here’s the Atlanta Journal Constitution reporting:

The Cavaliers (9-3) lead the Eastern Conference, with the Hawks (9-5) in third place early in the new season. The Cavaliers are not going anywhere, it would appear. LeBron James carried them last season, and he could very well do it again.

The Hawks will face the Cavaliers without one, and possibly two, starters. Small forward Kent Bazemore (right ankle sprain) has been ruled out. Point guard Jeff Teague (left ankle sprain) is questionable.

The Cavaliers are injured themselves. Point guard Kyrie Irving (fractured left kneecap), guard Iman Shumpert (injured forearm), center Timofey Mozgov (right shoulder sprain) and guard Mo Williams (right lower leg soreness) all will not play. With Mozgov out, Tristan Thompson may start at center. He gave the Hawks fits in the postseason.

“Taking care of the defensive boards is something that is going to be important,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said.

Timofey Mozgov, Mo Williams out with injuries

Center Timofey Mozgov experienced a strained right deltoid during the second quarter of last night’s game against Milwaukee at The Q. Additional examination and MRI today at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health confirmed the strain. Mozgov will be OUT approximately 10 days to two weeks.

Guard Mo Williams missed last night’s game vs the Bucks and received additional examination and MRI today at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health, which showed posterior right ankle inflammation, along with continued soreness. He is listed as OUT for tomorrow’s game at The Q against Atlanta and doubtful for Monday’s contest vs. Orlando, also at The Q.