Christmas with the Cavaliers

Christmas with the Cavaliers

For the third straight year the Cavaliers and Warriors met on Christmas day. For the third straight year, the home team won. Here's how that resonated for my family.

For the third straight year the Cavaliers and Warriors met on Christmas day. For the third straight year, the home team won. Here's how that resonated for my family.

Christmas is a time for traditions. It's a time to be with family. A time to gather around a good meal. A time to recite lines to "A Christmas Story" or go through the "Danny F***ing Kaye" rant from "Christmas Vacation." A time to watch eyes light up as gifts are opened. A time to nod and hum along to those same 12 songs eternally looping on the Christmas music station. A time to gorge on red and green chocolate. A time to reminisce about being a kid or watch your own kid or even watch your kids with their kids and see the multi-generational magic of Christmas. And in some families, it's a time to watch the NBA's marquee teams play basketball against each other.

My family is not yet one of those families.

My dad does not like basketball. More accurately, he does not like NBA basketball. He fits delightfully into the cranky stereotype of a man in his 60s who prefers to watch a high school game as opposed to the best athletes in the world gliding 30+ inches off the court, bending their bodies, and dunking with such power that...well, that they become Russell Westbrook. In fact, as a kid, my dad used to take us to random Cleveland State University basketball games because they were cheap, fun, and high (but not too high) level of basketball.

The result of all this is that when I visit my parents on Christmas, I'm happy to report that we've added a new tradition: My dad and I casually arguing about watching basketball.

It's wonderful. It's wonderful for multiple reasons, too. The first is that when I was a kid I didn't care as much about the Christmas day basketball schedule because the Cavaliers were not good. That started changing in the 2004-2010 range for one Akron-born reason, but I was also not bold enough to demand that basketball interrupt the 24-hour background noise of TBS's "A Christmas Story" marathon.

Fast forward through the bleak years (a shoe-horned reminder that the year after LeBron left for Miami the Cavaliers did not play on Christmas day. Instead, they were two games into their 26 game losing streak. Do you guys remember how bad they were? I do. We need to talk about this more at the end of this column) and now the Cavs are a yuletide staple. That's the second wonderful thing. They're a staple because they're very good. The third thing that makes arguing about watching basketball wonderful is that I'm unquestionably an adult, so I can playfully argue now.

As such, within ten minutes of arriving at my parents' house on the 25th, the following exchange happened:

Dad: What did you say you wanted to watch today?

Me: The Cavs game. Cavs/Warriors at 3:00.

Dad: ...where do you think you're gonna watch that?

There's only one TV in a room warm enough to watch. In any case, this was one of our better brief "don't bother watching basketball" discussions. As luck would have it, I managed to wiggle my way into "leave the TV on in the background while some other family members come over in the afternoon" and that was good enough for me.

The thing about watching the Cavs on Christmas is that it's a very different experience than watching them on a random Wednesday. Christmas games are more meaningful because we've prescribed meaning to them: The best teams on the biggest stage. The top rivalries. The best players. The top announcing teams. But nothing about this game mattered any more than any other regular season game.

Neither the Warriors nor the Cavaliers were at full-strength, as each team was missing an All-Star point guard. Neither team will show everything they have in a regular season matchup. Neither team is anywhere near "must-win" territory. Furthermore, the game managed to matter less than other games because it is pulled back into perspective by all of those family traditions. In a typical mid-season game, I'd be standing in my living room as LeBron fights through multiple uncalled fouls in an effort to keep the Cavs within a point in the final minute. On Christmas I had to excuse myself from dinner under the guise of blowing my nose (I was tipped off about the situation by a friend who was instructed to text me relentlessly if the score stayed close into the final minute), watch two possessions, make assumptions about what would happen next, and go back to the table.

Yes, Kevin Love was great. Yes, LeBron did some typically great things but was overall not his best. Yes, it reminded us that the Warriors are the best team in the NBA until definitively proven otherwise.

The first two minutes were ugly. The Cavs got some decent looks early on, but they missed shots all game long. It's an ongoing concern that those guys who didn't play well in the 2017 Finals but played well in the 2016 Finals (JR and Tristan, mostly) haven't looked particularly good since those 2016 Finals. Two players shot better than 37% from the floor and only one shot better than 39%. JR Smith, Tristan Thompson, Jose Calderon, Kyle Korver, Jeff Green, and Cedi Osman combined to play 103 minutes. They were 3-24 with 13 points, 15 rebounds, and 2 assists. When the bench has been good, the Cavaliers have destroyed teams. When they play like Christmas, the Cavaliers are lucky to hang around with a good team.

The bottom line is that this game only mattered if you decided it mattered. In our house, it only mattered because my dinner had a chance to cool down while I was watching the final minute.

P.S. That 2010-11 Cavs team was something else. They had a three-game stretch - three games! - in which they were outscored by a total of 360-255. On January 11, the Lakers beat the Cavs 112-57, a box score that is almost incomprehensible in every way (pace of 88.9! NetRtg of 64! Manny Harris played 41 minutes AND WAS A MINUS 57). Three nights later, on the 14th, the Cavs fell to the Jazz 121-99. The following night, the Cavs were smacked around by Denver to the tune of a 127-99 loss. Three games. Outscored by 105 points. In that last one, Alonzo Gee managed a line of 12 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals, 3 assists, a block, and was a minus-30 overall. They gave up 80 points in the first half of that Nuggets game. Incredible.

Christmas is a time for traditions. It's a time to be with family. A time to gather around a good meal. A time to recite lines to "A Christmas Story" or go through the "Danny F***ing Kaye" rant from "Christmas Vacation." A time to watch eyes light up as gifts are opened. A time to nod and hum along to those same 12 songs eternally looping on the Christmas music station. A time to gorge on red and green chocolate. A time to reminisce about being a kid or watch your own kid or even watch your kids with their kids and see the multi-generational magic of Christmas. And in some families, it's a time to watch the NBA's marquee teams play basketball against each other.

My family is not yet one of those families.

My dad does not like basketball. More accurately, he does not like NBA basketball. He fits delightfully into the cranky stereotype of a man in his 60s who prefers to watch a high school game as opposed to the best athletes in the world gliding 30+ inches off the court, bending their bodies, and dunking with such power that...well, that they become Russell Westbrook. In fact, as a kid, my dad used to take us to random Cleveland State University basketball games because they were cheap, fun, and high (but not too high) level of basketball.

The result of all this is that when I visit my parents on Christmas, I'm happy to report that we've added a new tradition: My dad and I casually arguing about watching basketball.

It's wonderful. It's wonderful for multiple reasons, too. The first is that when I was a kid I didn't care as much about the Christmas day basketball schedule because the Cavaliers were not good. That started changing in the 2004-2010 range for one Akron-born reason, but I was also not bold enough to demand that basketball interrupt the 24-hour background noise of TBS's "A Christmas Story" marathon.

Fast forward through the bleak years (a shoe-horned reminder that the year after LeBron left for Miami the Cavaliers did not play on Christmas day. Instead, they were two games into their 26 game losing streak. Do you guys remember how bad they were? I do. We need to talk about this more at the end of this column) and now the Cavs are a yuletide staple. That's the second wonderful thing. They're a staple because they're very good. The third thing that makes arguing about watching basketball wonderful is that I'm unquestionably an adult, so I can playfully argue now.

As such, within ten minutes of arriving at my parents' house on the 25th, the following exchange happened:

Dad: What did you say you wanted to watch today?

Me: The Cavs game. Cavs/Warriors at 3:00.

Dad: ...where do you think you're gonna watch that?

There's only one TV in a room warm enough to watch. In any case, this was one of our better brief "don't bother watching basketball" discussions. As luck would have it, I managed to wiggle my way into "leave the TV on in the background while some other family members come over in the afternoon" and that was good enough for me.

The thing about watching the Cavs on Christmas is that it's a very different experience than watching them on a random Wednesday. Christmas games are more meaningful because we've prescribed meaning to them: The best teams on the biggest stage. The top rivalries. The best players. The top announcing teams. But nothing about this game mattered any more than any other regular season game.

Neither the Warriors nor the Cavaliers were at full-strength, as each team was missing an All-Star point guard. Neither team will show everything they have in a regular season matchup. Neither team is anywhere near "must-win" territory. Furthermore, the game managed to matter less than other games because it is pulled back into perspective by all of those family traditions. In a typical mid-season game, I'd be standing in my living room as LeBron fights through multiple uncalled fouls in an effort to keep the Cavs within a point in the final minute. On Christmas I had to excuse myself from dinner under the guise of blowing my nose (I was tipped off about the situation by a friend who was instructed to text me relentlessly if the score stayed close into the final minute), watch two possessions, make assumptions about what would happen next, and go back to the table.

Yes, Kevin Love was great. Yes, LeBron did some typically great things but was overall not his best. Yes, it reminded us that the Warriors are the best team in the NBA until definitively proven otherwise.

The first two minutes were ugly. The Cavs got some decent looks early on, but they missed shots all game long. It's an ongoing concern that those guys who didn't play well in the 2017 Finals but played well in the 2016 Finals (JR and Tristan, mostly) haven't looked particularly good since those 2016 Finals. Two players shot better than 37% from the floor and only one shot better than 39%. JR Smith, Tristan Thompson, Jose Calderon, Kyle Korver, Jeff Green, and Cedi Osman combined to play 103 minutes. They were 3-24 with 13 points, 15 rebounds, and 2 assists. When the bench has been good, the Cavaliers have destroyed teams. When they play like Christmas, the Cavaliers are lucky to hang around with a good team.

The bottom line is that this game only mattered if you decided it mattered. In our house, it only mattered because my dinner had a chance to cool down while I was watching the final minute.

P.S. That 2010-11 Cavs team was something else. They had a three-game stretch - three games! - in which they were outscored by a total of 360-255. On January 11, the Lakers beat the Cavs 112-57, a box score that is almost incomprehensible in every way (pace of 88.9! NetRtg of 64! Manny Harris played 41 minutes AND WAS A MINUS 57). Three nights later, on the 14th, the Cavs fell to the Jazz 121-99. The following night, the Cavs were smacked around by Denver to the tune of a 127-99 loss. Three games. Outscored by 105 points. In that last one, Alonzo Gee managed a line of 12 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals, 3 assists, a block, and was a minus-30 overall. They gave up 80 points in the first half of that Nuggets game. Incredible.

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