Cavs 97, Kings 93
–Eek. Consider this: No Mike Bibby, Kevin Martin or Ron Artest. Kings shoot 55 percent. Kings score 54 points in paint (season high allowed by Cavs). Kings hold Cavs to 38.5 percent shooting. Now consider this: Cavs have season-low nine turnovers. Cavs force a season-high 22 turnovers. Cavs bench scores 37 points. So was this a good game or a bad game for the Cavs? An ugly win, I suppose.
–Then again, tonight Dallas only beat Miami without Shaq and Wade by five at home, the Spurs only beat the Knicks by four at home and the Celtics only beat the Grizzlies by four at home. So, it’s the NBA, a win is a win.
–Anderson Varejao has been playing some high quality basketball over the last three weeks. After looking slow and out of sync in the first few games, he’s back in a big way. He’s also making jumpers….more jumpers than Sasha Pavlovic has been making. And that’s not a joke. Tonight he took two charges and made two big hustle plays to get loose balls in the final minute.
–LeBron James scored two points in the fourth quarter in this game, 17 less than the other night against Atlanta. But his impact was almost as big, he had five assists in the fourth. Also, when he turned up his game in the first half when the Cavs were down 12 and got the rest of the team to follow was a big moment. That is leadership right there. He also didn’t want to come out of the game as usual to start the second quarter to keep the run going. Several times during the game he was getting on teammates in the huddle as well. During one timeout, Mike Brown didn’t even talk, LeBron led the huddle.
–Devin Brown has been solid since getting a chance to be in the rotation, which is stable for the moment. By the way, I think he’s got five dunks this season and four of them have been against the Kings.
–On Daniel Gibson’s clutch 3-pointer with 11 seconds left he was lucky to fumble the ball, because it got him space to get the shot off. Don’t think it should’ve come down to that, but it was a big clutch shot. He’s established himself as probably the best clutch jump shooter on the team.
–Sunday’s game at Toronto will be interesting. The Cavs have won four of five, but they did not play good defense tonight. If they don’t play good defense up north, they’ll get run out of the building.
Tonight’s recap
Pregame
Starting lineups
Kings: Beno Udrih, Francisco Garcia, John Salmons, Mikki Moore, Brad Miller
Cavs: Larry Hughes, Sasha Pavlovic, LeBron James, Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas
–LeBron is OK after missing practice with a sore right big toe yesterday. He says he doesn’t know how it happened and it won’t limit him. We’ll see, it may be an excuse not to be aggressive early on.
–The Kings are without Kevin Martin, Ron Artest, and Mike Bibby. So there is zero excuse to lose this game. However, the Kings are coming off a win and these are your 07-08 Cavs we are talking about.
–Salmons has really picked up the scoring, filling the void. He will shoot from the mid-range and attack the basket. Plus Moore shot about 80 percent against the Cavs in the playoffs for the Nets last season.
Halftime — Cavs 49, Kings 49
–The first quarter was about the lowest effort level the Cavs shown all year. They allowed 24 points in the paint and were beaten to every lose ball. LeBron was so angry that he refused to come out to start the second quarter and his energy turned things around. He created three straight turnovers and it turned the lead from 12 down to four in about a minute of court time. He was showing leadership there.
–The Cavs forced seven turnovers in the second quarter and they had 10 fastbreak points, which got the game back even. They are now showing more energy. Then again, the dreaded third quarter awaits.
–LeBron has 19 points on just nine shots. His outside shot is falling and he’s been aggressive for the most part. Could be another big night. The Cavs are 9-4 when he score more than 30 points.
–Sasha and Larry are right back on normal pace, they are 2-of-13. On one possession late in the first half, LeBron was in midair and he had both Sasha and Larry open. What a decision! He picked Larry…he missed.
–The Cavs halftime shows at home this season have been really, really lame. They have cut the budget big time. A few weeks ago, it was Mr. Slinky. Right now there is someone doing trick pool shots. Seriously.
Postgame
Stars
LeBron, 24 points, 10 assists, five steals
Ilgauskas, 14 points, 15 rebounds
Daniel Gibson, 13 points
John Salmons, 22 points, seven rebounds
Quotes
Reggie Theus: “We have all the built-in excuses we need…but I can’t help but thinking we gave them a gift. I think we outplayed them.”
Mike Brown: “We found a way to win the game. We lost the hustle game at times but we won enough catagories to win.”
LeBron: “I just took what the defense gave me. Our bench did a great job of coming in and bringing energy.
{ 3 trackbacks }
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
I CANT STOP VOMITING!!! SASHA AND LARYY!! GAG ME!!! ITS NOT WORTH CHEERING FOR THEM UNTIL FERRY DOES SOMETHING!!!!! DOES ANYONE HAVE HIS EMAIL?!!! BOOOOO
When is the last time Damon Jones played? I see him sitting over there on the bench and he looks sorta sad. Maybe they should send him down to the D league to keep him fresh? Anybody? McFly?
Speaking of cut-backs, the promotional items really suck this year.
Leap year game? Are you kidding me? Where’s the second bobble head?
PATHECTIC. I DONT CARE IF WE WIN!! THIS TEAM STINKS. SACRAMENTO HAS NO ONE AND WE BARELY WIN! I WISH INSTEAD OF SITTING ON HIS HANDS, THAT FERRY WOULD AT LEAST COME OUT AND BE HONEST AND SAY, NO I AM ANOT DOING AANYTHIGN WITH THIS TEAM. INSTEAD WE ALL WISH AND HOPE FOR A MIRACLE BECAUSE THIS TEAM IS GARBAGE!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I may be in the minority, but I don’t even enjoy going to Cavs games much anymore. Dan Gilbert has completely ‘dumbed down’ the game experience.
# mike Says:
January 4th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
I may be in the minority, but I don’t even enjoy going to Cavs games much anymore. Dan Gilbert has completely ‘dumbed down’ the game experience.
I refuse to go to Cavs games anymore because I find the atmosphere to be nauseating. The noise and the constant crap they throw at you is simply too much for me to bear
Damon can sit on the bench and mope all season for all I care. He is a waste of valuable bench space.
what happen to usher and his promise of a big show at the “Q” and he was not talking about the cavs, well it is all good, im glad this team sucks, but do not expect them to do anything untill they lose contracts, then by then hopefully they will have a gm who knows how to evaluate talent… I still want to know who told dan gilbert to pick danny ferry as his new gm, do anybody have any ideal.
Gibson does it again. 13 points; 5 assists; and the game clinching 3-pointer! Plus an awesome hustle play on the baseline to finish off a Kings turnover. Call off the suicidal trade for a 30 year old point guard making $20 million who will be toast right around the time LeBron’s contract is up in 2010. The kid is only going to get better. Get him back in the starting line up.
Meanwhile, Sasha and Larry: 6-22 and riding the bench at crunch time?? That’s the problem. Watching a guy like John Salmons consistently hit open jumpers drove me crazy tonight. And in the NBA those guys DO grow on trees. We just keep picking the rotten fruit. We need a shooting guard who can hit 15 footers NOW.
I also thought LeBron was ready to go for 50 points after he saw the rest of the team playing like crap in the first half. Instead he exhibited incredible maturity by keeping his teammates involved and dishing out wonderful assists. That’s why he’s the best player in the game.
Andy played good tonight, but that break away traveling call was just plain embarrassing. I’d say the mid-level exception was just about right. Yeesh!
Who is it that performs the trick shots? Is it one of Ferry’s buddies from college? Maybe Gilbert’s bum brother-in-law?
I guess they thought if they could convince fans that Varejao was asking for $12 million a year, they could also convince fans that trick-shot pool is cool.
Gibson’s going to keep getting better. He’s performed whatever role he’s been given at particular times and is probably the team’s second best player. If they ever give him 15 shots a game he’ll average 20.
Fans like Eddie are the idiots who booed the Cavs tonight when they were down by 8 in the first quarter. What a joke some of these fans are. They started out slow, so they get booed? Cleveland has bad fans.
we had every right to boo. throughout the night, the defense was atrocious. we won this game on a little bit of luck and key plays. this very easily could have been lost because of the horrendous defense that left one guy open at all times. rotating is good when it’s done right. we don’t seem to do it right very often.
The Kings don’t have that bad of a team. Artest is a shell of his former self and Bibby is 1 dimensional. Don’t be too upset that the Cavs won a close game at home to a bad team. They’ve also beaten very good teams this year.
I don’t understand why Damon Jones isn’t getting minutes. I thought he played very solid basketball early on. Hit lots of shots even a few jumpers off the dribble.
Don’t understand Mike Brown playing Larry and Sasha. They are just terrible right now. Sasha’s ball handling skills are at an all time low and now he can’t hit jump shots.
LeBron James is the best player to step onto an NBA court since Michael Jordan.
you can sum this win up with one word – “lucky”. there’s just no excuse for the cavs not to blow this team out by 30. the kings were without top scorers mike bibby, kevin martin, ron artest or shareef abdur-rahim who account for 70% of their scoring and yet they were right in the game right up to the very end simply because the cavs play with about as much fire and passion as salesman at an insurance seminar. their play sometimes makes me want to vomit. while they certainly got some decent production off the bench this time with daniel gibson, anderson varejao and devin brown all scoring in double figures, the fact remains that they still do not get any sort of consistent scoring from off their bench which is exactly the problem with why they have such bad 3rd quarters all season long because nobody on the roster has any idea whatsoever how to spark the offense at such a critical time. this is why they need to stop kidding themselves and think that it’s going to come internally, when nothing could be further from the truth. if they had the ability to do it internally, that person would have stepped to the fore already. obviously, they have no such player and as such, they need to just bite the bullet as far as the salary cap and luxury tax are concerned and just go out and sign a veteran free agent for the veteran minimum and that veteran is earl boykins. while he is certainly going to be at a disadvantage heighth-wise on defense, he creates so many more problems for opponents with his offensive ability that he more than makes up for any defensive shortcomings with his ability to spark the offense from off the bench. anytime the offense would go into their usual 3rd quarter funk, it would just be a matter of taking out whichever guard is sucking (take your pick between larry or sasha) and inserting earl for an instant offensive surge. end of problem. the question is, does danny ferry have the balls to make such a move??? we can only hope.
The other weird thing is that Shannon Brown hasn’t played the last few games either. We could use his energy and monster dunks but him and DJ are handing out towels during timeouts.
ladies and gentlemen, the award for quote of the night goes to commenter “eddie” with “I CANT STOP VOMITING!!!!!”. bravo, sir.
coincidentally, eddie also wins the award for douchebag of the night for commenting in all caps.
mike is right….with the exception of the Browns, Cleveland sports fans are embarrassing. They are some of the least loyal fans in all of sports. I mean, hell, just look at this post….you’ve got the likes of eddie and billy…guys who express delight with the Cavaliers losing. It’s pathetic. Wanting the team to be better is one thing, enjoying them losing is something all together different.
oh my god!! thnks god we didnt lose the game…i think that they should trade sasha and larry for one point guard that can help lebron james…he’s the best player on the nba court but he needs help..comon man he cant scored 100 points every night!! the owner and the GM better do something to help him out if they are thinkin about champi-on-ship…they should get a mike bibby or a kris hinrich from the bulls or even jason williams from miami..would be a good deal for some garbage players that we have….byeee….a fan from NEW YORK CITY…
Um, nobody enjoys them losing. Don’t know what your talking bout.
I’m with Tait on halftime shows. Dogs and Frisbees. They never fail. It would cost penny-pinching Dan Quicken next to nothing, and they’re always enjoyable for both young and old alike. I remember one halftime show at Richfield, the dog took a dump on the court. High entertainment quotient. Hey, how ’bout dogs playing pool? D.Q. oughta get these talented mutts to perform when the Frisbee dogs are unavailable.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thevelvetstore.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/dogs%2520playing%2520poker22.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thevelvetstore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv%3FScreen%3DPROD%26Product_Code%3Dva004%26Category_Code%3D11&h=334&w=450&sz=241&tbnid=HHdQfc7HIymg5M:&tbnh=94&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddogs%2Bplaying%2Bpoker%26um%3D1&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2
Yes, please get rid of Larry and Sasha they just want a free ride. I’m sick of it.
Cavs need a coach and gm now or Labron is on his way to the Lakers when his contract is up. He may like the N.Y. teams in baseball, but the Lakers always have a star and they always get what they want, check out their history. Brown doesn’t play Shannon Brown but for about 3 or 4 min a game, then all at once he is a starter for a few games, then back to no playing time at all!! Larry and Sasha starting!! The man is in over his head. When LaBron leaves, everyone will be in the, they should’ve could’ve mold, so something should be done now. The only thing Brown has gotten right, is sitting loud mouth Jones down. Has he heard from the Heat yet, i don’t think so. It’s call talking the talk, but can’t walk the walk. Also, leave Kidd with the Nets, He can’t shoot. We need a Nash, Parker,or Bibby type of point, one who can score. Also, how can you be a great defensive team and give up 30 to 40 points a night on lay-ups and you have 7-3, 6-10, and 6-8 under the bucket???? On top of that, your offense is, give the ball to LaBron and PRAY he does the right things with it??? The man is in over his head.
Are we really complaining about the quality of the halftime shows? Halftime shows!!! Halftime shows are novelties, nothing more. Do you go to an NBA game because of the halftime show? Does anyone?
I frankly wouldn’t care if they didn’t have them at all, but they aren’t a reflection on the owner’s willingness to pay. Pay what? Top dollar for dogs with frisbees? Please tell me that no one is buying this load of dung.
I would rather NBA teams don’t have halftime shows, Kevin. It’s always vaguely embarassing to me to sit through something like that, wondering what better ways I could be spending my time and money. The halftime money is peanuts no doubt, but the fact that BW senses the Cavs are in cost-cutting mode could be worrisome. But the lameness is just funny.
I’m torn about the recurring Bibby rumor. First, is it just more hooey to make Ferry look like he’s doing something? Second, if it’s true, would such a trade be a good idea?
Having Bibby and Gibson out there with LeBron is intriguing, but the Cavs would probably have to rely on the return of the mysteriously injured Donyell Marshall, hoping he plays well.
Then, in a year and a half, the Cavs would possibly be losing Bibby, Varejao and all those terrible veterans, plus Z would be getting up there in age.
I suppose Ferry could trade expiring contracts for some players in the meantime, but does anyone have confidence that he’ll do that well at this point? It’s entirely possible that Ferry will have to find two big men, a scorer and a bench within a year or two to keep LeBron interested.
It could be the same thing all over again–sign whoever happens to be available, overpaying out of desperation.
Kevin, what, you don’t like my dogs playing pool halftime idea? I’ll bet that bulldog could do trick shots equal to any human that money can buy. And the dogs don’t take cash, just Liv-A-Snaps. I don’t advocate dogs that smoke cigarettes, but perhaps an exception can be made just for the halftime shoes.
What about dogs wearing headsets trying to sell mortgages? That would be kind of cute.
# Mike Says:
January 5th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Um, nobody enjoys them losing. Don’t know what your talking bout.
Oh, really, Mike? Explain this:
billy Says:
January 4th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
what happen to usher and his promise of a big show at the “Q” and he was not talking about the cavs, well it is all good, im glad this team sucks, but do not expect them to do anything untill they lose contracts, then by then hopefully they will have a gm who knows how to evaluate talent
Plus, Mike, that doesn’t even include alan t who takes obvious delight in the plight of this franchise, but I’m not sure if he considers himself a fan or not. Billy for one repeatedly talks about how glad he is this team “sucks”. There’s plenty of people in here who share that outlook, and I think it’s pathetic.