The smallest loser

[leftyg]

I thought i would throw the smallest loser out there for you. I think it is another way to show that our Cavs are the best team in the league. I looked at the top eight teams in the league (imho) and I compared them on the average number of points they lost a game by. I wanted to determine the losing point differential for all their losses. Below is a list:

...............Losses.... Losing Pt Diff.....Avg Pt Diff
Cleveland......11...............66...............-6.0
Boston.........16..............113...............-7.1
Denver.........16..............136...............-8.5
Utah............18 .............158...............-8.8
Orlando.........17.............154...............-9.1
Dallas...........19.............205...............-10.8
L A Lakers.....13.............150...............-11.5
Atlanta.........17.............199...............-11.7
New Jersey....45.............606...............-13.5

As you can see I threw in New Jersey that the Nets are not that unlucky, they really stink. They have a big loss differential which means the games they are losing are not an accident.

But the Cavs have a very tiny margin of six points a game. They have only been blown out of one game, 108-91 against Washington. I am not saying that they could be 50-1 because the final scores of the games against Toronto and Charlotte were cosmetically closer than they really were, but they have been in virtually every other game.

Also almost all the teams had smaller margins of loss at home then on the road:

.................Home................................Away.................................Overall
.............Losses.. Pt. Diff... Avg Pt Diff.... Losses... Pt. Diff.. Avg. Pt. Diff.....Losses..Pt. Diff.Avg. Pt. Diff

Cleveland....3.........-10..........3.3..............8........-56...........-7.0.............11......-66............-6.0
Boston.......8..........-51.........-6.4.............8.........-62...........-7.8............16.....-113............-7.1
Denver.......4.........-29.........-7.3.............12.......-107...........-8.9............16.....-136............-8.5
Utah..........6.........-48.........-8.0.............12.......-110...........-9.2............18.....-158............-8.8
Orlando......5.........-25.........-5.0.............12.......-129...........-10.8...........17.....-154............-9.1
Dallas........9,,,,,,,,,-70.........-7.8.............10.......-135...........-13.5............19.....-205..........-10.8
LA Lakers...4.........-52.........-13.0.............9........-98............-10.9............13.....-150..........-11.5
Atlanta......5.........-42..........-8.4.............12.......-157...........-13.1............17.....-199..........-11.7
N J Nets....24.........-237........-9.9.............21.......-369............17.6............45.....-606..........-13.5

Even though New Jersey is 1-24 at home, there margin of losing is actually better at home then on the road.

My point is that the Cavs are not lucky; they are good. With a little luck they might have been 43-8. Also the Lakers and the Hawks have been getting a little lift from good fortune.

[leftyg]

Do you realize that over the last 30 games the Cavs are 26-4. BUT three of the losses were by three points, two points and one point. With a little luck they could have been 29-1. AND the other loss to Dallas was by seven. It included a pointless two point basket with like two seconds to go on the clock. It was a no class move that the Cavs did not even bother to contest. So they lost four games by a total of 13 points. This trend i think portends well for the future. Everybody else from the East gets blown out in Utah and Denver. Respectively, we lost by one (game winning three pointer) in Utah and two points ( a very tight game) in Denver.

[Alex]

You certainly show how good they are. And they should be favorites in any playoff matchup. I'm a worrier, though, and imagine them going into one of their periodic (seems like at least once a game) zone outs where they sit around watching LBJ, and wait for him to do something. It's maddening to watch them go from passing and moving well to being planted in place. And it often carries over on defense.

The worry is that they do this during the playoffs against a team that can really take advantage of such lapses.

Got any analysis to quiet my nerves on that account? Perhaps length of scoring drought or consecutive LBJ points scored (i know there are many reasons for both occurrences, but it's all I can come up with).

[Wahoo1324]

Wow, great stats, left.

Cavs are just on fire. Didn't we say they just needed to gel?

[Alex]

Wow, great stats, left.

Cavs are just on fire. Didn't we say they just needed to gel?

I was one of the doubters on their ever gelling. I'm thrilled to have been wrong.

[Wahoo1324]

And it just gets better and better and better!!!

[TribefanstuckinMA]

All I can say is I like lefty's ways with numbers way more than Gary's.

Seriously, thanks lefty for crunching the numbers. I can listen to the games and know they're winning, but looking at stats like this makes me appreciate how good they really are. Of course, the Bahstun sports guys are still talking like the Celts will take it all this year.

[leftyg]

All I can say is I like lefty's ways with numbers way more than Gary's.

Seriously, thanks lefty for crunching the numbers. I can listen to the games and know they're winning, but looking at stats like this makes me appreciate how good they really are. Of course, the Bahstun sports guys are still talking like the Celts will take it all this year.

I appreciate that. This stuff with the Cavs is fun for me because I get to agree with people that I do not agree with on politics. Some of the ex-players who are broadcasters say that the Celts are the best team when they get healthy. I think that is a crock. These guys are getting older. And there is another stat: the Bahstun Geezers, I mean Celts, have 32 games left to play. The Cavs have only 28*. That means there will be four nights over the next two months that the Geezers will be creaking their bones up and down the court while the much younger Cavs will be relaxing at home with their families and friends watching said Geezers creak their bones up and down the court.

Two things: Lebron is the best player in the league and it ain't even close. Any Kobe partisan who says otherwise is just blowing smoke. AND the Cavs have the best team in the league. Neither fact insures an NBA title; that is why they play the games.

*Also two or three of the Geezers will be playing in the All-Star game. Only Lebron will play for the Cavs. The coaching staff and the players have a week of home cooking and preparation before they begin the second half (actually last third) of the season at home.

[TribefanstuckinMA]

This stuff with the Cavs is fun for me because I get to agree with people that I do not agree with on politics.

Yes, you and I are usually on opposite sides of the political fence but it sure is fun to lean against it when sharing a common interest in sports. Wanna beer?

When the season started the TV sports guys were still waving their invisible green-and-white pom-poms when they'd talk Celtics...which was every stinkin' night when the season was young and things looked hopeful. Then reality hit. I've been telling hubby for months that the Celts look very much like they have "old legs". They tend to come out of the gate all raring to go but lose speed in the second half. I found this article in the Boston Herald that you might find interesting. If nothing else it's kinda fun to see what the locals have to say that isn't all sunshine and lollipops! Um, just so long as the "locals" are for the competition.