Cavs 98, Lakers 95
–First things first, Danny Ferry was not on the trip to Los Angeles. I can only assume he’s trying everything in his power to put together a package for Jason Kidd at this moment. I don’t think it is likely, but I’ll bet he’s trying to do something. More to come on that.
–So, it’s Monday morning and here’s the recap from Sunday afternoon. So sorry I am late but I made a rookie mistake with my travel plans. Even though the Cavs are staying in L.A. thru tomorrow, for some reason I flew to Portland from LAX last night. Which is stupid for many, many reasons not to mention it is 70 in L.A. and 35 here. The Cavs players had begged to stay in Miami last weekend but Mike Brown didn’t let them come down until Sunday so the tradeoff was an extra day in L.A. and I didn’t get the message in time. I didn’t get to Portland until midnight and was too tired to blog. Sorry!
–Anyway, I filed this story for ESPN.com from the rental car bus last night. A good look, I think, at how LeBron has been taking it to Kobe for several years now.
–Didn’t help with my tight schedule that the game took forever and then LeBron refused to talk to the media until he got his suit on. Finally, I yelled into the locker room that all the cameras had left and he came out.
–The Cavs got a terrible break losing Varejao and I suspect he’ll be out for awhile. I talked with some people close to him and they told me it was a grade-2 sprain, which means a partial tear of a ligament, which means a couple weeks. To lose two rotation players in four days in terrible to any team.
–One of the great moments was watching the coaching huddle after Zydrunas Ilgauskas fouled out. You could see Mike Brown and his assistants talking about who to put in. They considered Donyell Marshall, who will now be getting some time, and decided to go with Ira Newble. Ira, by the way, was great down the stretch. The man started the game at shooting guard and finished at power forward. He held down the fort, got a couple of rebounds, and sent a little message with his dunk.
–Larry Hughes has played two excellent games in a row. His jumpers have been falling, which was bound to happen at some point, but much more important his defense in L.A. was simply off the charts. He made at least five great defensive plays in the fourth quarter including taking a charge on Kobe with a minute left and his two-man defense with LeBron on the final play. I’d suggest calling the Nets with this information.
–LeBron is flat cold-blooded in the fourth quarters this season. He was a master at both ends. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but do you hear anyone complaining about his clutch play of late? Me either.
Pregame
Starting lineups
Cavs: Larry Hughes, Ira Newble, LeBron James, Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Luke Walton, Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown
Officials:
Ed Malloy, Tony Brothers, Mike Callahan
–Early game here in L.A., but since the Cavs are still on East Coast time it might not affect them as much. But I must say LeBron seemed a little groggy before the game.
–I expect Kobe to be looking for some payback. First off the Lakers are coming off losses in San Antonio and Dallas and are about to leave on a nine-game road trip. So they really need this win. Second, Kobe was a little hurt last month in Cleveland and didn’t play that well down the stretch and may be in the mood to settle the score. LeBron has gotten the better of him the last few times out.
–Every time I watch the Lakers on TV, it seems like Lamar Odom can’t make a shot. But against the Cavs he seems to hit everything. Gooden has never been able to handle him, we’ll see if that continues today.
–Who says LeBron loves the glitz and glamour? He pulled out a new quote I’d never heard from him before when ask about whether or not he’s on the bucket list when Nicholson or others sit courtside here. He said: “All I care about is if there’s a floor, two baskets and one ball, I don’t care who is sitting courtside.” Since he almost always does care, I think this is bull, but it sounds like this could be in the cliche rotation soon.
–Last time the Cavs were at the Staples Center for the Clippers in November, OJ Mayo was hanging out outside the Cavs locker room waiting to chat with LeBron. I guess he’d gotten some tickets from Mike Dunleavy, at least that is what I remember hearing. Since OJ has since been slapped by the high and mighty NCAA for getting free tickets and access after Carmelo Anthony gave him two tix for a Laker game last week, I guess he won’t be here today. But I remember after that game when Mike Brown was done talking to the media, he walked over and shook Mayo’s hand. As he was going back into the locker room I complimented Mike on being highly aware of his surroundings. He just winked at me.
Halftime — Cavs 49, Lakers 40
–Quick survey: Was there more time spent playing or more time during timeouts in the first half? This is going to be a night game.
–So the Lakers say roofers clothes that were wet and put down on a catwalk to dry was the source of the leak. So there’s leaks in the roof and roofers working on the leaks but the water didn’t actually come from a leaky roof? Uh, OK, anyone else smell something?
–In the first quarter the Cavs allowed dribble penetration and it led to all sorts of issues defensively as the Lakers shot 63 percent. In the second they kept the Lakers, save for Kobe, out of the lane and the Lakers shot 30 percent. That seems like it will be a crux.
–LeBron is really pushing the ball and attacking the glass. When he does, the NBA is his oyster. Kobe is a tremendous scorer but he still relies on having to make jumpers a lot. LeBron can control the game with his size and speed and therein lies the difference. Kobe may have a different mental makeup at this point and therefore he’s got certain advantages, but nobody in the NBA has LeBron’s size and skill and you are seeing that today.
–By the way, every time LeBron goes to the basket he looks over to the corner floor seats and gestures to buddy Maverick Carter and Kanye West. Yeah, he doesn’t know who is sitting courtside at all.
Postgame
Stars
LeBron, 41 points, nine rebounds
Z, 16 points, 11 rebounds
Hughes, 16 points
Kobe, 33 points, 12 rebounds
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missed a call there – Z wasn’t blocked, that was a foul! If Bryant’s arms go down, and Z’s are going up, and the ball goes up, you know he hit his arm! Come on ref!
If they can’t fix that leak they gotta stop the game.
Have LeBron and Kobe switched bodies for this game? LeBron is hoisting shot after shot while Kobe is picking his shots and getting some assists. At this point LeBron is 6-13 with no assists while Kobe is 3 for 3 with four assists and five boards.
Z is an underappreciated guy, he’s got better #’s than most centers and has been very solid, if not spectacular, for years in Cleveland. I don’t get why some Cavs ‘fans’ pick at him so much. GoZ!
You dudes read way too much into percentages. It’s like ‘whoa dude D. Fisher is 0-3, why is he still in? that’s wack’…
Good half for the Cavs.
Let’s hope they can keep it up in the 2nd half. I like the way Devin Brown pushes the tempo anytime he gets a rebound. That’s one area he is much better than pavlovic, he can push it without turning the ball over.
I don’t understand the timeout between foul shots at the end of the half. Don’t you want to call it after the free throw to set up a play? They certainly didn’t have a play ready – unless Gibson from 60 is in the playbook.
Good half, but the third will make or break it. You have to think Kobe is going to get his.
Bill Walton just called Lebron a “phemon.”
Is Shannon Brown the guy they would move for Jarrett Jack?
Ugly start to the second half. Long ‘Bron jumper and a Newble 3. Yuck.
obvious foul missed as Fisher rolled around the screen by Gooden underneath and undercut Lebron. Terrible opening to the second half.
hey chuck, do u have anybody to talk to at home, gosh!!!!get a life dude, GRACE AND PEACE, BILLY.
OKAY I AM ACTING LIKE CHUCK, but is it my imagination or do luke walton look like a young poor man elvis presley? well the game is tied at 51, maybe we will not luck up and win, but they will hang out on the west coast until wed, hey bw u did not report that, got to go, lakers on a 10 to 2 run, go lakers.
okay chuck, i am sorry, but who is this guy that sound like “tiny tim”, is voice is killing me, its worst the “munch” on wknr., dude please shut up, your voice is killing me. please tip toe out of the staples center….grace and peace, billy
I knew it was too good to be true. First Sasha goes down and looks like Andy will be off the court for awhile now too.
no timeouts left again at the end of the third? could have used one to set up a play….
Down by 6, on the verge of getting away… they need to keep going inside.
Getting killed on the boards, quit playing small!
ya we don’t need a pg
V P and Z are all out. This is gonna be cool…
Thanks Phil Jackson!
I can’t even begin to express my anger. About 2 minutes ago, Derek Fisher bearhugged LeBron on a “screen” for Kobe. He grabbed LeBron and pushed him away from the play so Gibson had to switch onto Kobe. 2 FT. UNBELIEVABLE. I’m breaking furniture. For 3 years I’ve had to sit and watch the Cavs get no respect from the Refs. I figured now that LeBron is the best player on the planet, the Cavs would get some respect. NOPE.
Clutch D
Clutch Jumpers
Clutch Free Throws
Best player in the world. And yes, it’s not even close – it’s LeBron James.
Nice! Hughes had a good game, I thought. Z too. What can ya say about LBJ? That was awesome, all the way around.
1. Big Props to Newble. Played crunch minutes and came up with big big defense and effort.
2. Even in extended minutes Gooden contributed very little to this game. Against teams without a real big 4 like Odom would rather see Newble alongside Brown than Gooden.
3. It’s almost too bad Kobe never came to the Bulls. LeBron vs. Kobe is an instant classic every time and it only happens twice a year.
That may have been the best game I’ve watched all year. Lebron was awesome, and the clutch free throws were a nice cap. Are we finally seeing the Larry Hughes we hoped for? He hit some big shots, and looked very confident in doing so.
I was little put off by the ABC team talking up Kobe as the shoe-in MVP and the “greatest player in the world”. Lebron put the clamp on him when it mattered and then nailed the game clincher right in his face after calling off the pick. Don’t get me wrong, Kobe is flat out awesome and spectacular, but if he is better than Lebron, I didn’t see it today.
I really enjoy your work Brian. It will be a sad day when you leave Cleveland ( I can’t in good conscious say “if”, you are really that good). Lebron wanted this game; who was sitting in the stands just might have given him that extra umphh.
Since you are so well read, please stop bringing attention to this.
Bring attention to whatever you want. I find the behind the scenes information fascinating.
I didn’t think this was one of Lebron’s best games; in the second half he settled for jumpers and he wasn’t getting others involved well enough throughout the game. But the greatness always shows with him; clutch situations no longer bother him at all.
Larry has now shot over 50 percent for two straight games…what’s going on!?
“I really enjoy your work Brian. It will be a sad day when you leave Cleveland ( I can’t in good conscious say “if”, you are really that good). Lebron wanted this game; who was sitting in the stands just might have given him that extra umphh.
Since you are so well read, please stop bringing attention to this.”
Uhh … Michael, are you for real? If it will make you feel any better, James probably assumed Kanye West was actually a tanned Mayor Frank Jackson. So there ya go, James is staying in Cleveland through 2020.
HURRY UP BRIAN!
Fine win by the Cavs tonight. They’re 2-1 so far on this crucial 12-game swing leading up to the All-Star Break, and that just as easily could be 3-0. I really like the fact that they’re winning so many close games. Hopefully Andy will be OK going forward.
Looking forward to seeing Marshall. Wonder if he’s packed on the pounds. Probably not nearly as much as Sean May, but poundage. My guess is this is all just a standard dog and pony show for the insurance company, and Gilbert & Co. will get the disability insurance to pick up the tab for his bloated contract for the entire 2007-2008 season. He plays, he’s still in pain, and they say, “See, we took all reasonable steps short of surgery, yet he still is not rehabilitated and is unable to play.” It will make Bush’s tax refund look like chump change.
Brian – great post on ESPN.
But why not update the blog? I’d rather read this and get your personal opinions. Don’t shaft your faithful readers!
And yes I read your ohio.com article – also very well done.
But give us some insight into all the stuff going on in that 4th quarter. Things were getting kinda chippy, and why did Phil Jackson take Kobe out in the 4th? etc etc
“Uhh … Michael, are you for real? If it will make you feel any better, James probably assumed Kanye West was actually a tanned Mayor Frank Jackson. So there ya go, James is staying in Cleveland through 2020.”
Tongue in cheek. I love the behind the scenes stuff as well. I just hope that the main stream media doesn’t make a big deal of how James performs when there are “big people” in the stands.
Thoughts on the Cavs win in LA:
- That LeBron guy is pretty good. One more nail in that “can’t handle the pressure of national TV” coffin.
- But he took way too many 3’s yesterday. And wow was he angry when Devin Brown couldn’t come up with the ball after he knocked it away from Kobe on a late possession.
- I have to applaud Mike Brown’s decision to put Ira Newble into the starting lineup with Sasha out. The players are having a lot of success in their current roles, and changing that could have threatened the cohesiveness the team was building. We’ll see if the success continues, but so far the decision to start Newble has been the right one.
- I’ve been hard on Larry Hughes all season, and rightly so. But over the last few weeks Larry has been providing consistent contributions on both ends of the court. He was able to expose the Lakers’ lack of a second perimeter defender a few times down the stretch.
- Meanwhile, it’s Drew Gooden’s turn to look lost on the offensive end. But the 9 rebounds were nice.
- If anything, this game proved yet again that the Cavaliers are one of the best closing teams in the league. It starts with LeBron, and it ends with the team’s ability to take their defense up another notch down the stretch. Now if only they could win a couple of games going away…
Go Cavs. Have they had a lot of off days lately, or what?
Mike C.
Where is the postgame stuff?
Former NBA player and drug addict Chris Andersen is petitioning to be reinstated to the NBA after he was expelled from the League two years ago. When he was last in the league, he was basically Varejao-light. If Andy is out long term, Andersen could be a good replacement, assuming he’s in shape and off the smack. But is he worth the baggage?
If he could show that he could contribute in workouts, I’d offer him a shot.
Mike C.
Brian Windhorst you are such a homer it is pathetic, you might as well work for the “Lebron James saved basketball foundation”. There is not objectivity in your coverage of Lebron James and that crap that you wrote for ESPNs Daily Dimes is a joke. Apparently Lebron James hugging Clippers season ticket holder Penny Marshall qualifies as a “triumphant exit” and by the way Lebron James does not know Jason Kidd, not like your stupid article was insinuating, they just work in the same industry. If you want to crown his ass, then crown his ass, just don’t you lay your journalistic integrity on the floor like a dirty carpet to do it. James has never won anything on the professional level, nothing, not individual awards, not team awards, not championships, not gold medals, nothing, all we can say about James so far is that “He is who we thought he was”!
A few comments:
In response to my multiple in game posts – I have a life, but was home alone sick. Since you don’t see your posts right away, I had no way of knowing I’d have a bunch in a row – not that that would have stopped me.
Andersen would be a good fill in for Anderson – but the Hornets have 30 days to offer him a contract once he’s reinstated, and they are likely to resign him.
If Kobe is really such an MVP candidate, why did Phil Jackson sit him on the bench with 4 minutes left? Do MVP’s need messages sent to them at crucial moments of games? This should be a be a bigger story than it has been.
In light of the Hawks/Heat replay game, the NBA should also look closely at the clock operator at the end of this game. It is ridiculous to me that they can’t look at replay to adjust the clock.
National broadcasts can be so frustrating because the production values are so much higher (camera work and technical direction on FSN gets pretty bad, and I never get them in HD on League Pass), but the announcers so rarely do enough homework on the teams themselves. I know I watch more Cleveland games than any of those guys, but it doesn’t excuse them for giving misinformation to the audience. They went on and on yesterday about Damon Jones being a lost man on the team, when he’s been back in the regular rotation as part of the team’s resurgence. Van Gundy in particular yesterday seemed to like to hear the sound of his own voice as he rambled inanely about silly, hypothetical rule changes, as well his insistence that fans only get a “partial” say in the All-Star rosters. Isn’t that how it’s done now?
Chuck – you’re absolutely right. The national media guys don’t have any idea what they’re talking about. Yesterday Van Gundy said he was surprised Damon Jones wasn’t on the floor in the closing minutes because he was a great foul shooter. Reality? Career 72% and shooting 60% on the year.
Listening to the announcers yesterday was so annoying because they are so damn chatty. Instead of showing instant replays of crucial plays down the stretch they were chatting up dumb things like Ed Malloy’s personal life, among other things. It was more conjecture than commentating late too. I loved hearing “Kobe Bryant is the best player in the world, and quite frankly, it’s not even close.” Whatever guys.
Steve Kerr and Hubie Brown are the only TV analysts that I enjoyed listening to, along with Kevin Harlen and/or Marv Albert. The rest of these guys are terrible.
I couldn’t agree more, Tom & Chuck. How aggravating was it yesterday when the Lakers were on a game-changing tear in the 3rd quarter and the commentators were babbling on about THE SUPERBOWL?
Listening to those jackasses all game was like getting stuck sitting behind 3 sorority girls who know nothing about the game but got good seats because one of their dads is Head of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.
I’m surprised Van Gundy didn’t pull out his cell phone in the last 2 minutes and start chatting about the latest episode of “Ugly Betty.”
The announcers usually force me to mute the TV and watch without sound. Most of the time, they degrade my intelligence to the point that I want to stab my ears with forks and go deaf for the rest of my life.
JoeDallas, I hope you were joking. Maybe everyone got the joke but me. Anyways, LeBron does know Jason Kidd personally from the U.S. national team over the summer. Also, Brian does tend to be partial to LeBron simply because he has known the young man since his high school years. Finally, LeBron has achieved numerous individual records (youngest to score x amount of points, All-Star, First team NBA), franchise records (already third in Cav scoring), and team records (EC champions, Gold Medal in FIBA Americas Championship). LBJ has not won a championship, but if you look LBJ’s supporting cast, it’s completely understandable.
LeBron is incredible and maybe most impressively he steadily improves every year. Pundits expect him to work on his shooting but he seems to work on all aspects of his game over the summers. He will keep improving the next five years, and maybe the next eight or ten years. How good can he get?
I can imagine him averaging a triple double (scoring well over 30 pts. at 50 percent shooting) plus averaging 2.5 steals and 2 blocks. But you can’t put a cap on him.
Just adding to Larry D’s post: LeBron is only 23 yrs. old. Noone has done as much as LeBron before that age. He is one of the games best.
Um, JoeDallas, you do realize Windhorst is a Cavs beat writer, don’t you? It’s his job to be a homer. And LeBron doesn’t know Kidd? They were teammates for Team USA and there were tons of stories earlier in the year (by people other than BW) talking about how LeBron and Kidd frequently text each other. You win the award for ridiculous post of year so far. Congrats!
As for BW’s comment about nobody questioning LeBron’s clutch play anymore, well, that’s not 100% true……Skip Bayless still runs his mouth about how terrible LeBron in in the 4th quarters of games and how LeBron drags his teammates down. Now, granted, nobody in America takes Skip seriously and everyone knows he’s just a made up caricature by ESPN, but still, there’s at least one doubter still remaining. Well, Skip and JoeDallas.
andersen is not what this team needs. and i’m pretty sure he was still under contract with the hornets when he was banned, so they would have exclusive rights to him.
i don’t know about kidd. that’s a lot of money for a dude who’s clearly lost a step.
Actually, it’s not Windy’s job to be a homer. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, sometimes he can’t contain himself.
If you want to read some beat guys that aren’t homers, then read the New York area papers. Yeah, sometimes they go overboard, partly because there are so many newspapers in the area and occasionally they feel the need to outdo each other with their candor, but I gotta tell you, it’s refreshing to read.
No disrespect, but when somebody writes about Ira Newble’s chameleon-like versatility instead of writing that the Cavs started a guy who belongs on a court at the JCC, then you have to begin to question the credibility of everything else that surrounds each and every paragraph.
As far as the homerish LeBron stuff is concerned, I can live with that to a point. That guy is a titan, and you’d have to be a blind man not to realize he’s carrying a dumpster of trash with him game in and game out. An unreal talent. But the other stuff is just a little too much for me to handle. Newble? Come on. And who cares if Pavlovic is out? He’s a “rotation guy?” Please. The only thing he should be rotating is the wheel on “Wheel of Fortune.” The only reason it’s depressing is because Pavlovic probably could have been unloaded by the trade deadline. Now, in his current physical condition, it’s unlikely.
But that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Today is Brian’s 30th birthday … Happy birthday Brian!