DENVER: The vitriol Cavs guard Matthew Dellavedova can incite in opposing teams and coaches has reached an all-time high. While complaining about a crucial illegal screen called on Phoenix Suns center Tyson Chandler late in the Cavs’ win Monday night, Suns coach Jeff Hornacek accused Dellavedova of using an old veteran move to draw the call.
There was only one problem: Chandler fouled Iman Shumpert. Dellavedova wasn’t even in the game at the time.
“You see picks all game long that are illegal, and then all of a sudden they’re going to call that one,” Hornacek said. “I’m sure whether it was legal, illegal, I can guarantee Dellavedova probably pulled Tyson. It’s the trick. You watch these games on tape, he does it all the time. So I guess that’s a smart play, he suckered the guy into calling it.”
Chandler wiped out Shumpert on the screen, not Dellavedova, who was sitting on the bench at the time of the play.
“I guess me and Shump look pretty similar,” Dellavedova cracked.
Dellavedova’s tenacious style labeled him as a dirty player during last season’s playoffs when he injured Hawks guard Kyle Korver diving for a loose ball. He also incited Bulls forward Taj Gibson into an ejection when he locked Gibson’s leg after a fall and he pulled Warriors forward Draymond Green on top of him during the Finals, drawing a double-foul call.
Dellavedova insisted he isn’t trying to fool officials.
“I think as a point guard you got a lot of other things to worry about,” he told reporters. “Making sure we run our right stuff, trying to protect our defense. That’s usually the first line of defense. So, that’s the furthest thing from my mind.”
At least this time, he is innocent of all charges.
“If he’s calling out a guy that wasn’t on the court, I guess that sort of says it all, doesn’t it?” Cavs coach David Blatt said. “I don’t think I need to respond to that, that says everything in and of itself.”
No Irving
For the first time since returning from knee surgery, Kyrie Irving looked like himself in Monday’s victory against the Suns. But it still wasn’t enough to get him on the court for Tuesday’s game against the Nuggets.
Irving sat out as planned, but expects it to be the last game he misses all season. Making a big 3-pointer in the final minute to seal the victory only added to his motivation.
“As a competitor yeah, hell yeah I want to play [against the Nuggets],” Irving said. “There’s no fighting that or what’s going on. We’re on the same page every single day on what I need to do to prepare for the games coming up. … I’ll take these two back-to-backs [sitting out against the Blazers and Nuggets] with a grain of salt and support my teammates like I’ve been doing on the bench, come back after the New Year and be ready to play every game.”
Kevin Love said Irving has looked like himself during practice and knew it was only a matter of time before his shots started falling.
“All his movements in practice, he looks good,” Love said. “So eventually that stuff is going to come to him. He’s a rare talent, he can get his shot off, set guys up whenever he wants. It’s good to see him starting to get back into form and the Kyrie Irving that we know. Heading into the New Year we’re excited for him … he’s slowly having really big breakthroughs for us.”
Lineup change
Tristan Thompson has replaced Timofey Mozgov as the starting center, a move that might stick for a while.
“I just felt like we needed to be a little faster around the court starting the game, a little bit more mobile,” Blatt said. “Just to shake it up a little bit.”
Dribbles
LeBron James entered the game against the Nuggets four assists shy of passing Tiny Archibald (6,476) for 21st all time. … James entered the game having scored at least 20 points in his past 14 games against the Nuggets.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.