A virtuous cycle

Stealing some wisdom from my old boss’s boss’s boss’s boss’s boss’s boss.

Happy Friday!

I wrote on Tuesday that for the Cavs to advance to the knockout rounds of the in-season tournament, Donovan Mitchell would need to rediscover his shooting form, Isaac Okoro and the Cavs' defense would need to pester Trae Young into a poor night, and Cleveland would need to win by 20.

They did all of those things.

Mitchell found his shooting stroke. He dropped 40 points on 14-25 from the field. Excellent defensive efforts from Darius Garland, Caris LeVert, and of course, Ice, helped hold Trae Young to 13 points. Cleveland won the game 128-105.

But it wasn't enough.

With Milwakuee, Boston and Indiana winning their groups, the Knicks played spoiler once again. After dismantling the Hornets 115-91 on Tuesday, their +42 point differential beat out the Cavaliers, whose +29 was good for second in the East wildcard, which is good for, well, nothing.

But while it's easy to be frustrated that NBA players are unfamiliar with and felt weird about the point differential tie-breaker, that the Cavs let Detroit nibble a 16-point Cavalier lead down to eight in the final two minutes of their Group Game, that there were only four such contests, and that the Cavs aren't moving on to the elimination rounds, Tournament play was actually quite useful for the Wine & Gold.

Like mixing salt into pasta water, the extra heat of meaningful games facilitated the kind of blending the team has been missing all year: the blending of ball movement and offensive attack that has seen Cleveland average 29 assists over its last six games, of the charisma and toughness required to beat Philadelphia in overtime on the road, and ultimately and most simply, of offense and defense.

If you've watched many Cavs games since 2006, you've likely heard color commentator Austin Carr delightedly cackle, "That's turning defense into offense, baby!" This infectious joy of Carr's is always sparked by a forced turnover or defensive stop that morphs into an easy basket for the Cavs. Hustle on one end usually leads to success on the other. 

But let's take this simple concept and complicate it. 

At Amazon, where I used to work, we employees heard frequently about Jeff Bezos’ "virtuous cycle."

Bezos’ idea was that focusing intently on customer experience would lead to increased traffic. More sellers brought by this traffic would provide greater selection, further improving the customer experience and contributing to growth, which would help Amazon lower prices, improve the customer experience, attract more traffic, sellers, and selection, further lowering prices...and so on until Amazon ruled the world.

Well on Tuesday, watching the Cavs rediscover the joy of playing with focused intensity, I came up with a virtuous cycle of my own. 

Indeed this cycle was exemplified by Cleveland's performance in the second half against Atlanta. The Cavs outscored the Hawks 54 to 74 over that 24-minute stretch. Austin Carr hollered about "defense into offense!" more times than I can count. 

But there’s a lot going on here.

It’s worth looking at a few examples to better understand this flywheel.

As the Cavaliers were awakening from a first quarter slumber, excellent effort plays from Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell lead directly to a transition three pointer for Spida.

Look at how Mitchell moves his feet and swivels his head in the moments before he lunges to snag the ball from Clint Capela. He's locked in. So too, as a result, was his next jumper. 

Just as it’s the spin move and the stepback three catch the eye in this clip, so too do the 40 points Mitchell scored pop out on the box score. But it's the 11 rebounds Mitchell snagged–and the effort required–that might be most meaningful about Donovan’s stat sheet, and that might just explain how Spida turned it around on offense after consecutive off nights.

But confidence is another key component of this virtuous basketball cycle, and that's rarely been something for which All-NBA Donovan Mitchell has lacked. The same can't be said for Isaac Okoro. 

But he too, took the confidence boost of manhandling Bojan Bogdanovic on defense...

...and used it to manhandle him with the ball in the next possession.

Of course full NBA games are not made up exclusively of this kind of back and forth. But enough offensive eruptions like these, catalyzed by effort and bolstered by stout defense, can inject any team with the confidence and belief to take care of the rest, in occassionally gorgeous fashion, too.

And with a roster as talented as Cleveland's, just as Amazon has used its virtuous cycle to dominate the world, so too can the Cavs use an obsession with effort to dominate the NBA.

But working your tail off on both ends of the floor is hardest when you’re playing teams you expect to beat. Last night, Cleveland didn’t until it was too late, surrending a terrible loss to lowly Portland, 103-95. Tommorow they face the 2-16 Pistons, who’ve lost 14 straight. So in a season where the Cavs’ intensity continues to wax and wane, here’s to hoping Cleveland will wallop the Pistons with the anger you’d expect of a prideful group after an embarrassing defeat.

If not, Cleveland’s reckoning could stretch over the next few weeks, when they play East-leading Boston and Orlando twice. 

Have a wonderful weekend.

Cheers, and go Cavs.