Cleveland Cavaliers [10-4] | 2018-19 Season: @ GSW & MIL

Settings

Mode: Start Today (March 14, 2018)
Quarter length: 9 min.
League Expansion: Off (I'll control)
Protected Players: 8
Rule Changes: Off (may play with this later down the road)
Use Roster Injuries: On
Difficulty: Hall of Fame (will drop if I'm getting destroyed)
Draft Class: Auto-generated

Roster

Starting Lineup



PG | Jordan Clarkson
SG | Marco Belinelli
SF | LeBron James
PF | Kevin Love
C | Zaza Pachulia

Bench



Kyle Kuzma
Ersan Ilyasova
Marcin Gortat
Ryan Anderson
Trevor Booker
Larry Sanders
Wade Powell
Pierre Jackson

IR



Vince Carter
Beno Udrih

_______________________

Index

2017/2018

Varejao signing!
Game 68: @ Portland
Games 69 & 70: @ CHI, VS. MIL
Game 71: V.S. Toronto
End of regular season & playoffs preview!
Post & offseason

2018/2019

Game 3: @ Boston

Last edited by cavs4872 on Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:21 pm, edited 14 times in total.

Amid injury bug, Cavs sign Varejao to a 10-day
March 15, 2018

Varejao in his 2007 stint with Cleveland.

Cleveland, Ohio (AP) -- As the Cavs ready for a match against the red-hot Blazers, they are severely lacking in depth in the frontcourt. Kevin Love remains out with a broken hand, and Tristan Thompson is still recovering from an ankle injury, and the Cavs aren't ready to play him yet at the risk of re-aggravating it. Enter Anderson Varejao, a name perhaps even more beloved to the Cavaliers organization than those two previous players, who brought Cleveland their first title in 2016. Varejao helped power the Cavaliers to a title run of their own in 2007 (ultimately falling short to the San Antonio Spurs), and he nearly became an All-Star in 2013, averaging 14/14 in the post-LeBron era.

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AROUND THE NBA
Hornets sign Bosh to a 1 yr deal, scores 30 in debut
Silver discusses tanking, potential expansion team in 2018

Cavs role players lead balanced charge in Portland
March 15, 2018

Cleveland, Ohio (AP) -- Larry Nance's career night helped the Cavaliers fend off CJ McCollum and the pesky Blazers; he had 27 points (2 three's ), 11 rebounds and 6 steals, but he was not alone as Ante Zizic stepped up huge in the middle for the Cavs, with his own double-double of 19 points and 12 boards on an efficient 9-11 shooting.

The only Cavalier who really had a bad night was Jeff Green, who was taking good shots but just couldn't find the mark all night long.

The Blazers lead by as many as 15 in the first half, but the Cavs later claimed a 16-point lead of their own.

The Cavs will carry their two-game win streak into Chicago Saturday night for a matchup against the lowly Bulls.

Pat Connaughton: big shot maker.

Box Score
[Cavs]
[Blazers]

Injury Report
+ Cedi Osman: Bruised Right Hip (DTD)
+ Kevin Love: Broken Right Hand (DTD)
+ Tristan Thompson: Sore Right Ankle (DTD)

7:56 - Play of the Game

Cavaliers handle Bulls in Chicago in Love's return
Cleveland 111 @ Chicago 95
March 17, 2018

Cleveland, Ohio (AP) -- Chicago led 32-24 to close out the first quarter, but it was all Cavs the rest of the way, as LeBron had his 70th career triple-double. Anderson Varejao snared 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks and a steal in 26 minutes in what may likely be his only appearance as a Cavalier this season; his 10-day contract is due to expire March 25, and with the return of Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson's return imminent, they are unlikely to bring him back. Love had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

LeBron James: 32 pts, 11 reb, 10 ast
Zach LaVine: 18 pts, 5 reb, 7 ast

ESPN

Giannis sinks Cavs with buzzer-beating three
Milwaukee 114 @ Cleveland 113
March 19, 2018

Cleveland, Ohio (AP) -- Jordan Clarkson has looked nice as he has quietly taken the Cavaliers starting point guard job from George Hill, but Antetokounmpo's Bucks were too much for LeBron in Cleveland. The Bucks were able to erase a 59-72 halftime deficit to win this one. Giannis saved the day on a desperation heave after a botched pass by Eric Bledsoe. The Cavaliers ready for an even stronger Eastern Conference foe in conference-best Toronto at the Q on Wednesday... ECF preview?

Giannis Antetokounmpo: 24 pts, 8 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl, 3 blk
Khris Middleton: 19 pts, 5 reb, 4 ast

LeBron James: 31 pts, 7 reb, 9 ast
Kevin Love: 18 pts, 10 reb
Jordan Clarkson: 17 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast

ESPN

Cavs show out in dunk contest vs. Raptors
March 21, 2018

The King powered the Cavs past the Raptors.

Cleveland, Ohio (AP) -- And on this very night, Jonas Valanciunas was posterized by four Cleveland Cavaliers players, and twice by LeBron James; Larry Nance, Tristan Thompson and Rodney Hood were also able to get in his grill on their assault of the rim.

DeMar DeRozan did his best in trying to carry the 52-20, East-best Raptors, but he just wasn't as efficient as he needed to be.

The Cavaliers will host the Suns next after embarking on a three-game road skid which will take them to Brooklyn, Miami and Charlotte.

Box Scores
[Cleveland]
[Toronto]

Photos


LeBron James showed a continuous assault of the rim, Rodney Hood stuffs one over Valunciunas, while the bright lights were perhaps too much for DMDR's Raptors.

Highlights (and oh, were there plenty)





Next: V.S. [19-53]

Every time I want to start my NBA 09 dynasty, my mind tells me to do this instead...
________________

Cavs finish season 8-3; lock into 1st round vs. Heat

Cleveland, Ohio (AP) -- The Cleveland Cavaliers will open the 2018 NBA Playoffs with a first round matchup as the three seed vs. the #6 Miami Heat, the team LeBron James won his first two championships with. Having brought in Anderson Varejao to round out their playoffs roster, the Cavs will enter the playoffs with an injury-free lineup, while the Miami Heat will likely be without Dwyane Wade for the entirety of the playoffs with an ankle sprain; Game 1 will be April 13th in Cleveland.

Round 1 Guide:



AROUND THE LEAGUE
Cavs bring on Anderson Varejao to round out playoff roster at 14
Harden claims MVP

So Breems' awesome Wizards story really inspired me, and I really wanted to do something with a story; firstly, I was thinking of rebooting my NBA 09: The Inside story, but the gameplay is just too damn primitive. I tried playing the next game of the season at Dallas but there's no reason that story is ever being touched again between the gameplay and lack of features.

Since I wanted to do throwback, I didn't really want to touch this story, but I didn't want to touch an older 2K either since all I do is play the franchise; NBA Live 10 seemed like the ideal middle-ground: problem is, I don't own the game anymore and don't have a car (lol). I have a nice long weekend ahead of me and wanted to take advantage of it by putting some time into a story, so my option is to either order Live 10 off eBay and receive it by the time the weekend is up or continue this and take advantage of the time (I swear there is always something drawing me to this story). For all I know I'd receive Live 10 and the gameplay would be primitive as well (I see it as an upgraded version of The Inside), and I'd just end up coming back to this story... at least I net some VC in the process.

Anyway...

______________________________________


My favorite simulation, where somehow the Heat upset the Cavs, Celts, 6ers, and even took two games from the Dubs... same roster as real-life; bunch of players in double-figures with no clear leader (but if there had to be it was Whiteside).

First thing I boot up the game to the random message 'Timberwolves acquire Tyronn Lue from Cavaliers to work as their head coach'... don't know how this happened, but good riddance! I signed the best available coach name Michael Stauffer to a 4-year, $21.68M deal; Kidd to NYK, Thibs to Dallas and Hornacek to Charlotte on the coaching carousel.

So the Cavs somehow got the third pick in the draft (still projected 8 like irl); I would've fielded trade offers for the pick as I knew LeBron would stay but I accidentally backed out of the menu which I couldn't go back into. Pick ended up being a 6'4", 73 overall sharpshooter named Wade Powell (cool looking white dude with mohawk). Usually there's one huge steal in the trade offers, but I guess this makes it more interesting; I keep LeBron, but at a price, so we are still looking stuck in no-man's land even though we have the best player in the game.

Sorry I couldn't make this all fancy and stuff btw; really want to plow through this - many notable free agents stayed home; some of the names on the move include DJ to the Grizzlies, PG13 to 6ers, Butler to LAL, Bledsoe to Utah, Toby Harris and IT to Denver and Chris Bosh coming out of retirement (as he does in every story) to go to the Blazers for 3 years. As an underrated move to a contender, Houston brings on Rudy Gay for $14.24M over 3 years; I see him being a nice fit next to Paul and Harden. In typical 2K fashion, they cancel this out by bringing on the black hole (Z Bo), who seems even more cancerous than Melo to their team.

LeBron rejoins the Cavs (he always does [$$$]) for 5 years/$206.42M; I pretty much gave him what he wanted, and will keep him for the rest of his prime - maybe he will retire a Cav and I can bring him on as a coach. Roster is filled out with middle-of-the-road players after cleaning house: Ilyasova, Gortat, Belinelli, Pachulia, Trevor Booker, Larry Sanders, Pierre Jackson, Beno Udrih and Vince Carter.

Cavs package TT and Zizc to Houston for Ryan Anderson and a 2021 1st round (top 3 protected) pick after they accidentally sign 16 free agents and need to clear a roster spot... so I didn't mind letting Korver, JR and Hill go; Nance and Hood would've been nice to keep around, but they both want like $15M a year... Nance is not a FA irl, so why is he in this game?

I guess the offseason was a success because we brought back LBJ, but then the Lakers approach us not even a week into the season offering Kuzma for Osman and a '21 2nd rounder... no brainer; it was too good to pass up, but the thing I don't like is our best players are all the same (LeBron, Kuzma, Love, etc.), just like last season.

Last edited by cavs4872 on Fri Aug 03, 2018 5:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Cavs escape Boston with confidence
Cleveland 108, Boston 101
Saturday October 27, 2018

Tatum attacks Cleveland's interior.

Cleveland, OH (AP) -- How can you escape confidently with a win? It's a bit of a contradiction, eh? Well the Cavs did just that in Boston Saturday night.

Coach Michael Stauffer made a change in his starting lineup for this particular game, inserting Marcin Gortat, rookie Wade Powell and the newly-acquired Kyle Kuzma in place of Jordan Clarkson, Marco Belinelli and Zaza Pachulia; LeBron James would slide to point guard - Stauffer later ran a "death lineup" consisting of James-Powell-Belinelli-Ryan Anderson-Kevin Love: four deadly three-point threats for LeBron to distribute to as he commands double teams posting up point guards.

If one thing became clear from this game, it's that the Cavs are [censored] if LeBron gets injured, as he is so important to their success; with him out, they can either throw it to Love in the post, or count on Kuzma and Clarkson distributing, which the latter sounds less than ideal. That's the price Cleveland will pay for their "questionable" offseason, but they made the best of dumping all their funds into the King.

Speaking of the King, LeBron was one rebound shy of a triple-double in this contest: he netted 16 points, 9 rebounds, and a whopping 23 assists , in addition to 2 steals and 3 blocks, on an efficient 7-10 from the field - "I don't care about no triple-double", related James after the game.

Kevin Love poured in 22 and 7, Wade Powell netted 6 three-point bombs in route to a career/season-high 21, Marcin Gortat filled in masterfully with a 17 and 13 double-double, while Kuzma scored 16 in his Cavs debut.

The potential of this Cavs team is questionable, but the ceiling looked very high tonight - they will host the undefeated Raptors in a battle of Eastern Conference giants at the Q on Monday night; Toronto acquired some solid veteran pick-ups in Brook Lopez, José Calderon (Raptor legend) and Tyson Chandler - beyond that, their roster has remained the same.


Does Cleveland have a new big three? Wade Powell (third pick) pictured center.

Box scores
[Cleveland] [3-0]
[Boston] [1-1]

Durant hits Game-Winning 3 in OT to cap 22-point comeback
Cleveland 105 @ Golden State 106
November 4th, 2018

LeBron posterized Klay Thompson out of the gate.

Cleveland, OH (AP) -- Oh Lord, I have never seen a meltdown this bad in recent memory; the Cavs had a 22-point lead midway through the fourth (nine minute quarters), proceeded to empty the bench and Golden State made it a game.

Steph Curry sustained a torn Achilles just three games into the season on October 27th in a 140-89 win over the Dallas Mavericks; he is expected to miss 6-8 months, so his soonest return would be during the postseason. JJ Barea did a fine job filling in for him, tallying a near double-double with 9 points and 10 assists.

Klay Thompson and Durant had a cold first half, missing wide open shots (on Hall of Fame!); Ryan Anderson spent some time at SF and was somehow able to neutralize KD with his length.

The Cavs look to right their wrongs Tuesday night in Sacramento, against a 4-2 Kings squad; a young team with a very high ceiling, led by a core of Buddy Hield, Bobby Portis, De'Aaron Fox, Alex Len and Bogdan Bogdanovic; their only player older than 26 is 33-year old veteran Nick Young (not exactly the guy you want mentoring your core ).

Box Scores
[Cleveland]
[Golden State]

______________________________

I'm still gonna do my NBA Live 10 dynasty; will probably receive it Monday night. In the meantime, I want something to occupy me; I don't know if I'm gonna continue this when 2K19 releases. I guess only time will tell...

LeBron outlasts Giannis in duel
Cleveland 91 @ Milwaukee 86
November 21st, 2018

Clarkson buried a crucial late three.

Cleveland, OH (AP) -- The Cavs were without Wade Powell and Kyle Kuzma as they traveled into Milwaukee Wednesday night, but LeBron and Giannis put on a show for the ESPN audience anyway; Milwaukee had their own problems, as Jabari Parker was out with a bruised tailbone.

The Cavs overbought on power forwards this offseason (and even brought in Kyle Kuzma for Cedi Osman -- so a lot of players have to play out of position), but the length of Ryan Anderson and Ersan Ilyasova has paid dividends against the Kevin Durant's and Giannis Antetokounmpo's of the world; a critical Ilyasova swat on Giannis lead to a Clarkson three, helping the Cavs ice a back-and-forth affair and finally pull away.

Cleveland hopes to make it four in a row Friday night as they travel into Bankers Life Fieldhouse Friday against a 7-8 Indiana team that gave them fits last season. The Pacers remain mainly unchanged from last season, bringing in JJ Redick and Nerlens Noel on one-year deals.


Giannis with an amazing And-1.


Former NBA Finals adversaries faced off; Tony Paker is on a one-year deal with the Bucks in his twilight years.

Box Scores
[Cleveland]
[Milwaukee]

NBA NEWS
• Pauls Millsap (framed for murder of wife by one armed man) expects to play against Clippers -- wtf is up with these headlines? I'm not making this up; this is on the side of the home page, and this isn't the first time I've seen stuff like this.

Like seeing Parker on the Bucks. My favorite PG of all-time.

Are those headlines randomly generated by the game?

Like seeing Parker on the Bucks. My favorite PG of all-time.

Are those headlines randomly generated by the game?

Yup; they are so bizarre I asked about them on Operation Sports... apparently it is based on a real Twitter account (NBA Injury Report), and is good for all insane kinds of fodder.

Thanks for checking in! I thought this thread was invisible, but I did receive NBA Live 10 today and plan on starting that story pronto, so I'm not sure of the fate of this story, but I learned to never say never.

I had wondered about those Tweets as well, but when I found out it was a real parody account, it certainly made a lot more sense and seemed less silly. Just another fun bit of world building.

Whoa, I just realized we have the same style in making game recaps. Must be a case of great minds thinking alike
Or maybe it's a very comprehensive format...

But how are you gonna balance this with your Rockets dynasty?

Whoa, I just realized we have the same style in making game recaps. Must be a case of great minds thinking alike
Or maybe it's a very comprehensive format...

But how are you gonna balance this with your Rockets dynasty?

This is so funny you bumped this; that's the million dollar question. I'll share my thoughts:

So I have the LeBron edition of 2K19 arriving on September 7 (didn't realize it was so soon), and the Cavs are gonna make a hella interesting story team this year (kinda waiting to see what happens with Hood). I totally fucked up this story because I didn't have the mindset of continuing it when I plowed through the offseason and did a bunch of fucked up shit like letting players like Hood and Nance walk (didn't realize you could go over the cap to re-sign players), could've packaged the 3rd pick for a win-now player and then I had to trade some players cause I signed too many, so now I'm stuck with LeBron, Love, Clarkson, Kuzma, the third pick and a bunch of old role players. In some ways it is more interesting than a sure-fire contender.

The two things I don't like about my Rockets dynasty is the lack of depth gameplay-wise, and the lack of a save & quit feature; 12 min. quarters are daunting in one sitting, and in the newer 2K games it only takes about 9 min. quarters for me to get realistic stats and I can save and quit. As for the gameplay, it gets redundant: I feature Yao in the post, and there are only so many moves I can do over and over again, but it is still playable (unlike the dumpster fire that is NBA 09: The Inside).

The one thing that has me ecstatic for 2K19 is historic draft classes in MyLeague; that means it'll be easier than ever to get a story set in say '07-08 in the game.

On top off all this, the good thing about a 2K19 story is I can net VC for a MyPlayer while running a story. I tossed around the idea of importing this story to the best of my ability into 2K19 so I wouldn't have to start a new thread (because making a million threads is how you lose followers), though this section has been kind of dead lately anyway... actually, we're seeing a bit of a resurgence, but yeah, restarting with the current Cavs would make amends for me fucking up this story in my head.

Anyway, thanks for checking it out dude. And I'm really glad you did, because I wanted to say all this regardless. Right now, just consider me running this and the Rockets in tandem, because I have been feeling the itch to get back on 2K lately cause the gameplay is so good. And it's kind of funny we mentioned Thierry in your thread; I used to be Thierry Jr. at the beginning of the decade, starting and abandoning stories cause I wanted to keep changing teams; now, I can't settle on a game (which to me is more plausible).

Let me know what you guys think; I don't think I'm ever gonna abandon the Rockets story, but do you think I should try to start fresh with the real-life Cavs in 2K19, or import this team into there so I don't have to start a new thread? I might get a few more games in with this team before 2K19 drops.

I wouldn't worry about starting a new thread. This board has gotten more active lately, but it's not like the days where story spammers crowding the front page was a huge concern.

Whatever you have the most fun with will be the most fun for us to read.

Starting over fresh might be for the best. It certainly won't be spamming, and hey, sometimes stories fall apart, especially if you're not happy with some of the decisions you make at the beginning. A new topic and a fresh start sounds good.

I haven't played any of the current gen 2Ks aside from one afternoon during the 2014 playoffs, so it was awesome to learn that they have a "Start Today" option for MyLeague.

But back on topic, I agree with Breems

Whatever you have the most fun with will be the most fun for us to read.

Glad to hear you guys are thinking the same.

It's hard to stay committed to these once a new game comes out. I played seven full seasons (82 games + playoffs played) on Live 10 and loved it, but eventually I got a bit tired of it and moved on to 2k13.

There is probably no point continuing this one if your mind is already focussed on 2k19.

It's hard to stay committed to these once a new game comes out. I played seven full seasons (82 games + playoffs played) on Live 10 and loved it, but eventually I got a bit tired of it and moved on to 2k13.

There is probably no point continuing this one if your mind is already focussed on 2k19.

Right. That's what I'm thinking. Hopefully they soon implement a MyLEAGUE importer for us story creators.