Cleveland Cavaliers" LeBron James will appreciate this year"s Finals run

Toronto Raptors vs Cleveland Cavaliers - Game 1 - Full Highlights | May 17, 2016 | 2016 NBA Playoffs

Matthew Florjancic, WKYC 8:45 PM. EST May 28, 2016

Cleveland Cavaliers small forwardLeBronJames will appreciate this year"s run to NBA Finals. (Photo: Nick Turchiaro, Custom)

CLEVELAND -- Watching two of his most important teammates go down to injury before and during the NBA Finals and having to carry the weight of not only the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the citys hopes of putting to an end a championship drought, LeBron James did not relish last years postseason run.

However, after guiding the Cavaliers back to the NBA Finals for the second straight season and third time in franchise history, James has a different perspective on the journey that has once again led straight to the final round of the playoffs.

I didn"t appreciate last year, what we were able to accomplish in our first year, James said following a 113-87 close-out win over the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre Friday night. I"m just truly blessed. I mean, the Man Above has given me an unbelievable ability, and I just try to take full advantage of it. I get to do what I love to do every, single night, and that"s to play the game of basketball. That"s my life. It"s everything, and I give everything to the game.

To be in a position where I can go out and help a group of guys get to places where either they haven"t been before or been but want to accomplish even more in their careers, it just means a lot. So a lot of emotions were just going through my head.

It means a lot. The game of basketball has given me everything, and I would never cheat the game. No matter how many games I win, no matter how many games I lose, that really doesn"t matter to me because I really just give it all. That"s why I can sleep well at night.

By appreciating the journey more in 2016, James knows full well what it took for the Cavaliers to repeat as Eastern Conference Champions, and what needs to be done in order to get two more victories than they had last season in order to win the NBA title.

We"re not entitled to anything, James said. We earned the right to be here and represent the Eastern Conference in The Finals. We work our tails off every, single day. We commit to one another and we sacrifice to one another. We"re not supposed to be here; we earned our right. We earned our right to be here today.

We"ve got 15 guys, we"ve got a coaching staff, we"ve got a fan base, we"ve got an organization and management and everybody on a day-to-day basis that we represent, and that"s all that matters. We all preach the same words.

We all go about our business the same way every, single day, so what goes on in the outside world doesn"t really matter to us. It just feels great to go out there and sacrifice and play for guys that truly just have the same goal in mind, truly care for one another both on and off the floor, and that"s the results of it.

Although James had been to the NBA Finals five straight times before this postseason, he knows what a difference a year makes.

Last year, the Cavaliers limped into the NBA Finals without power forward Kevin Love (dislocated shoulder), who missed all but one of the postseason series, and with point guard Kyrie Irving severely humbled because of knee tendonitis.

Late in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, Irving suffered a fractured kneecap and did not get back on the court until December, and to James, that is what makes this trip to the championship round a special one.

There"s definitely a different feeling, James said. I didn"t appreciate last year myself personally on getting to The Finals. Just so much was going on in my mind, knowing that Kev was out for the rest of the season and knowing that Ky was dealing with injuries all the way from the first round.

I just didn"t appreciate it. It"s definitely a different feeling. Having these guys right here at full strength, having our team at full strength, and the way I feel personally, I appreciate this moment, to be able to be a part of it and to be there once again.

Source: http://www.wkyc.com/sports/nba/cavaliers/cleveland-cavaliers-lebron-james-will-appreciate-this-years-finals-run/219796178

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Cleveland Cavaliers have Terry Talkin" about Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov heading in different directions ...

Detroit Pistons Vs Cleveland Cavaliers | Full game 1 highlights - NBA Playoffs 2016 | April 17

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Think about the Cleveland Cavaliers at this time a year ago as the playoffs opened. Who would you have considered more valuable -- Tristan Thompson or Timofey Mozgov?

That would have made for an interesting debate. Some would have preferred Mozgov, the 7-foot-1 center who came to the team in January of 2015 and helped spark them to the 34-9 finish. Others would have taken Thompson, the 6-foot-10 forward/center who is more athletic than Mozgov.

Their stats were close. Mozgov averaged 10.6 points and 6.9 rebounds in 25 minutes a game for the Cavs in 2014-15. Thompson was 8.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in 27 minutes.

Thompson was outstanding in the 2015 playoffs, averaging 9.6 points and 10.8 rebounds. That helped secure a five-year, $82 million contract extension in the summer.

At the start of this season, Mozgov had a legitimate reason to believe that type of deal could be coming his way when he becomes a free agent in July of 2016.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Mozgov averaged 10.6 points and 7.3 rebounds in 25 minutes a game during the 2015 postseason. The Cavs didn"t even know Mozgov"s knee was bothering him until he told them after the playoffs. On July 2, he had arthroscopic surgery on the right knee that was supposed to keep him out six to eight weeks.

"Things just snowballed for Timo in a negative way from the beginning," said GM David Griffin. "He came to camp slightly uncomfortable because he"d spent the off-season rehabbing his knee. He wasn"t in the kind of condition to play that he"d like. We spent time getting him in shape."

The comeback was slow.

"There is nothing wrong with the knee," said Griffin. "He"s had no swelling, recurrent issues relative to the surgery. We have to almost throw him off the court after practice because he just wants to keep working. If you have issues with your knee, you would not do that."

This season, Mozgov is averaging 6.3 points and 4.4 rebounds in 17 minutes. He"s not the same shot-blocker or defender. As more teams employ smaller lineups with no real center, his playing time also has been slashed.

"I think he put incredible pressure on himself," said Griffin. "He came into the year with the high level of expectations that we have as a team ... and his own expectations because he"s a free agent ... all that pressure he put on himself made it hard for him to play that way."

There have been times when Mozgov looks as he did season ago, but he hasn"t sustained it. Other games, he drops passes and plays timidly. As I recently wrote, the Cavs too often play poorly as a unit with him on the floor -- and lots of stats back that up.

Mozgov didn"t play in Friday"s Game 3 of the Detroit series. He will be 30 on July 16. It"s hard to imagine the Cavs spending much to keep him as Thompson has taken over at center. Kevin Love has shown he can play some center, and they also added 6-foot-11 Channing Frye.

Thompson, Love and Frye are all on long-term contracts.

It"s also difficult to figure out what type of contract will be awaiting Mozgov this summer, other than it will be considerably less than he"d have received a year ago.

ABOUT THOMPSON

What does Griffin think about Thompson in light of the contract he signed?

"I"m grateful he"s on the team," said the general manager. "Some people have a difficult time understanding the impact he makes on the game because he doesn"t have the traditional statistics (especially scoring). We have a measure known as "win shares," and he"s 22nd in the NBA."

That sounds outrageously high for a player who averaged 7.8 points and 9.0 rebounds, shooting 59 percent from the field and 62 percent at the foul line.

"The reason he"s so essential to us is that he"s a Swiss Army knife type of player," said Griffin. "He can guard any type of frontcourt player. He also can cover some of the deficiencies of others in the front court because he covers so much ground. He has become an infinitely better rim-protector this season. His court awareness has improved significantly."

Thompson has played in 370 consecutive regular season games, the longest current streak in the league. At 25, his game can continue to improve. His weakness is offense, something the Cavs really don"t need.

"Tristan is someone you could have invested any amount of money in and you know he"d continue to work at his craft," said Griffin.

In case you were wondering about a former Cavs big man, Anderson Varejao has played very little since being signed by Golden State in February. He is averaging 2.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in 8.5 minutes per game. He"s sat out six of 28 games since the trade, and played only seven minutes in the postseason.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/index.ssf/2016/04/cleveland_cavaliers_have_terry_48.html

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Cleveland Cavaliers and Anheuser-Busch anger viewers with ads

Beer maker Anheuser-Busch and basketball team Cleveland Cavaliers have found themselves sharply criticized for what many are calling tone-deaf advertising alluding to sexual assault and domestic violence.

The Cavaliers showed a promotional video on Wednesday during a game against the Chicago Bulls depicting a man throwing his girlfriend to the ground once it's revealed she is a Bulls Fan.

When its playoff basketball time, you have to be all in," avoice-over says. "So dont make the same mistake she made.

That came a week after Anheuser-Busch sparked a social media storm for a controversial label on Bud Light bottles calling it "the perfect beer for removing 'No' from your vocabulary for the night." A tweet on St. Patrick's Day also suggested that customers can "pinch people who aren't #UpForWhatever."

People rushed online to decry both ads, with many calling them tasteless and offensive.

"Hey Bud Light, Does #UpForWhatever Include Date Rape?" Chrystal Rose wrote on Twitter.

"Cleveland Cavaliers think sports fandom is justification for domestic violence," tweeted Navin Dore.

Advertising experts say the gaffes are especiallycringe-worthy given the recent nationaldialogue over campus rape in America and a rash of domestic violence cases in pro sports that have made front-page news.

"Organizations are human and sometimes make mistakes," said Miro Copic, a marketing professor at San Diego State University. "Maybe it was a last-minute ad from someone in the marketing department who thought it was humorous without thinking through the repercussions."

Social media and a 24/7news cycle mean marketing departments are often given more freedom than in decades past to run with an idea, Copic said. But that can mean more mistakes. And sometimes, he said, advertisers know a theme could be judged distasteful but go with it anyways.

"Some marketers might say, 'If this is a fine line as opposed to something flagrant, better to put it up, get a reaction, and be contrite later," Copic said. "The goal is to be moreprovocative these days."

Follow Shan Li on Twitter @ByShanLi

Copyright 2015, Los Angeles Times

Source: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cleveland-cavaliers-anheuser-busch-ads-20150507-story.html

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A short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers team fought but lost, and Kevin Love wasn't ...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Save the moral victories for the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, arguably the best team in the league, aren't going that route.

Sure,they didn't have LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in the lineup when the Indiana Pacers defeated them 93-86 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Friday, but the Cavs weren't interested in a quick excuse before moving on to Houston for a Sunday matinee.

Kevin Love was noticeably miserableafter Friday's game. He took the loss hard at his locker stall.

"I think it might have been a little different in the past," Love said, "but now that we have an identity and we know what we want to do out there and how we want to play (there's frustration in a loss). Even short-handed."

Matthew Dellavedova, who started in place of Irving, filled in admirably with 14 points (5-of-18 shooting), 10 rebounds and five assists. Iman Shumpert played the role of backup point guard and provided 14 points and 10 rebounds.

After building a first-quarter double-digit lead, the Cavaliers inevitably slipped behind, but never found the game out of reach. There were encouraging contributions from unusual suspects, but Love said he didn't see a positive in a loss.

"Not really," he said. "We felt like we could have won the game. It's just a tough one for us. We're not going to hang our heads. We're still going to continue to get better. We know we're the better team."

Love was set up several times to expound on how much a difference James and Irving would have made. The power forward didn't bite.

"It's just one of those things where we needed to get a couple more to fall," Love said. "We get a stop here or there and we come out on top."

Love's game within the confines of the Cavaliers' offensive system continues to be a maturation process. He secured another double double that consisted of 17 points and 10 boards, but he shot 6-of-19.

"We're playing to win," he said.

The days of lackadaisical play and unmotivated body language is far removed from this locker room. The culture and dynamic of this team has been transformed. Now the roster is loaded with guys who will compete, and it has had a ripple effect.

"We want to win the game. We all are hungry," Timofey Mozgov said. "When we step on the court, we're ready to fight. We were fighting until the last second."

The Cavs' disposition and outlook has been altered. Even without their two best players, they considered it unacceptable to falter.

"We came to play," Cleveland coach David Blatt said. "Somebody asked me earlier if we took into consideration or thought we could afford to lose a game, that wasn't the case. We came to play. ... We were here to win."

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2015/02/a_short-handed_cleveland_caval.html

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Cleveland Cavaliers postgame show: Recapping the win against Golden State

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Cavaliers have now won four straight games, beating the Golden State Warriors, 110-99, in a much-anticipated showdown on Thursday night.

LeBron Jamesled the way with a game-high 42 points, outscoring the Golden State tandem of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson all by himself.

The Cavs are now 37-22,andhave won 18 of their last 20 games. They have the league's best record since Jan. 13, the night James returned from taking time off to rest his knee and back.

Kyrie Irving added 24 points, but injured his left shoulder late in the third quarter and will have an MRI Fridaymorning in Cleveland. He is listed as doubtful for Friday night's game against the Pacers.

Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor, Joe Vardon and Chris Haynes recapped the win against the Warriorsduring the postgame show.

The trio talked about James' performance, the MVP race, the defensive effort against the highest-scoring team in the NBA, Irving's injury and what this game meant to the Cavaliers.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2015/02/cleveland_cavaliers_postgame_s_24.html

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