CLEVELAND: Sixteen thoughts for 16 points from J.R. Smith in the Cavs’ 105-99 win over the Orlando Magic on Saturday…
1. Tyronn Lue asked the first two questions tonight at his own press conference. “What’s the score? What inning?” he said before even reaching his chair. This isn’t a façade. This is genuine. The Cavaliers have been swept away by Indians Fever.
2. Lue conceded he kept looking up at the scoreboards when they played World Series highlights, which was fairly often considering the Indians pounded the Cubs 7-2. Kevin Love looked up, too. So did J.R. Smith. Arena workers even played highlights when Serge Ibaka stepped to the free-throw line for the Magic. He made both shots as the crowd roared.
3. “That’d have messed me up,” Lue laughed. “Right now it’s an emotional time for the city, emotional for the players. We’re cheering and rooting the Indians on. When you flash it across the screen during our game, you’re going to see it. I saw it. I looked, too. I’m guilty of that.”
4. When Smith was sitting at his locker room with a towel draped across his lap postgame, unable to really move, he politely asked reporters to clear a path to the TV so he could see the game. “I like baseball, too,” he joked.
5. And when Kevin Love was talking about the Cavs’ pitiful fourth quarter, comedian Richard Jefferson was dressing within earshot and couldn’t resist. “Maybe we can have Miller come in and be our closer, too.”
6. For as rare as it is to have two teams in the same city win championships four months apart, it’s even more unique to have the two franchises embrace each other as deeply as these two do. Jason Kipnis has talked at length about how much he has appreciated the Cavs’ support and I wrote this story last week on the budding friendship between Smith and Terry Francona. Cavs players sincerely enjoy going to the baseball playoff games as a team wearing Indians jerseys (well, except Chicago native Iman Shumpert, who showed up in Cubs gear).
7. But the very best example might be Kevin Love’s Halloween costume idea. The Cavs’ annual Halloween party is Sunday night. Last year, of course, LeBron dazzled in his spot-on Prince costume. Well Cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon joked with Love Saturday that he should go as Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer, complete with a mangled pinky finger. Love said he had that exact same idea, but he already had his costume picked out (he wouldn’t tell us what it was).
8. Alas, there will be no bloody finger at LeBron’s house Sunday, but what a fantastic costume it would’ve been. Love was debating between a traditional costume or something currently in the news, such as Bauer and his finger, which he knew would’ve immediately gone viral.
9. The NBA season is so long, the Indians’ World Series run has served as a welcome distraction for all involved. It’s easy to laugh and watch when the Cavs are 3-0, even though they haven’t strung together four good quarters yet.
10. They led by 18 entering the fourth quarter against the woeful Magic, but nearly gave it all back in the final 12 minutes. Lue was hoping to go easy on his starters after he played them heavy minutes at Toronto on Friday, but Team ADD returned in the fourth quarter.
11. The Cavs went more than five minutes without a field goal during one stretch, allowing the Magic to make it a one-possession game. Lue was steaming while watching it, but refused to call a timeout to bail them out.
12. “Ithought we let our guards down because of their record and not playing them as a good team,” Lue said. “They’re struggling right now, but they have a good team and we didn’t respect that. I thought we got the big lead of 22, we let our guards down and then we started messing with the game and you see the end result. Guys are playing more minutes than you should be playing.”
🔥 #DefendTheLand pic.twitter.com/YCWN1XSCrx
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) October 30, 2016
13. J.R. Smith bailed them out with three big 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter. He celebrated the last one with his tribute to the Indians’ Carlos Santana. I’ll write more about Smith tomorrow. This night is about the Indians, the Cavaliers and Cleveland's surge into the sports elite.
14. I was tracking the Indians game on my phone during Lue’s postgame press conference. When it ended, I told him the Indians had runners at the corners and Jason Kipnis was at the plate. He wanted to hustle back to the locker room to watch.
15. We walked down the long corridor together when all the fans who stayed to watch the Indians game on the scoreboard roared in unison. With arms raised, security guards in the hallway told us Kipnis had hit a three-run homer as Lue waived to cheering fans in the club lounge. It’s a good time to be a Clevelander.
16. Cavs host the Rockets on Tuesday. The Indians could be world champions by then. Or they could win it Tuesday night in what would be another historic night at the Gateway plaza. Talk to you Tuesday.