CLEVELAND: The Cavaliers’ medical staff believes players benefit more from rest in large blocks than they do in short bursts.
It’s why Kevin Love sat the first game following the All-Star break and why LeBron James missed Wednesday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks.
Coach Tyronn Lue already made it clear James was going to miss at least one of the next three games. By resting him now, James had three days off before the Cavs play again Friday at the Orlando Magic. Had he sat out either of the weekend games instead, he would’ve only received two days off.
The travel schedule also played a role. When ESPN pushed the start of Monday’s game at Utah back to 8:30 p.m. local time, the Cavs chose to stay another night in Salt Lake City rather than fly all night. The team didn’t arrive back in Cleveland until around dinnertime Tuesday, which doesn’t make it much of an off day.
“I just thought giving him the three days now would be good instead of just resting him one game or one day on the back-to-back,” Lue said.
The Cavs had plenty to prove about how well they can perform when James rests. They began the night 0-2 when James sits and neither game was particularly close. They lost to the Miami Heat after trailing by 30 and lost at the Washington Wizards after trailing by 27. On Wednesday night, they finally pulled through without James in a 99-98 win over the Mavericks.
“We’ve got to start playing better when LeBron doesn’t play,” Lue said before the game. “We need Kevin [Love] and Kyrie [Irving] definitely to score the basketball. With LeBron out you lose 25 points. And everyone else has to step up and also be great offensively but we’re going to go through Kyrie and through Kevin and they have to produce for us.”
Williams update
Mo Williams has missed the required two weeks since receiving an injection in his ailing left knee, but the team still did not have a firm update on his condition. That should be coming in the next few days after he’s re-evaluated.
“They’d let me know in the next day or two about how he’s feeling,” Lue said. “And how far out he is.”
Williams said prior to the West Coast trip the knee was feeling better, but deferred most questions to the Cavs’ medical staff, which never answers questions from reporters.
Technically speaking
Lue didn’t think J.R. Smith should’ve been assessed a technical during Monday’s loss at the Jazz. Smith reacted to a foul call, but turned his back to officials and walked away. He was given the technical anyway.
“In the new rules, if you react and you walk away and you calm down, then it’s not a technical,” Lue said. “But they called it so there’s nothing you can do about it. You can try to rescind it, but who knows?”
Dribbles
• The Cavs began the night 18-2 in their last 20 games against the West.
• Tristan Thompson has four double-doubles in his eight games prior to Wednesday.
• Love recorded double-doubles in both games against the Mavericks this season.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs.