Wizards 108, Cavs 72
–The Cavs that you watched for six months didn’t just disappear, which you perhaps might have thought after Game 2. They are still very capable of losing their minds on offense and playing extremely passive on the road. Considering the two steps forward, one step back nature of the regular season it was perfect irony that the Cavs backed up their largest playoff win in franchise history with their most lopsided loss. Par for the course.
–I don’t think you can take too many trends out of this game. The Wizards double teamed LeBron James far from the basket and neither he nor his teammates nor Mike Brown reacted well at all to it. It’s not like he hasn’t seen that defense before, so why they kept giving him the ball on the outside to let the Wizards execute their plan was a little beyond me. Again, though, we’ve seen it before. Who needs hard fouls, when LeBron doesn’t get anywhere near the basket? The Wizards fed off all the resulting turnovers and long jumpers for easy baskets and that combined with almost all of their players getting going shooting the ball for a blowout. I expected this series to go seven games and I expect there to be more momentum swings like this. Mike Brown did a great job with changes in Game 2, Eddie Jordan came back and one-upped him in Game 3 so now let’s see who is better on Sunday.
–It was a fun night for the Wizards fans and for DeShawn Stevenson, who finally hit a few shots. To make the story better, it happened with Soulja Boy sitting in the front row. By the way, what a demonstration of pop culture. LeBron made a joking comment about Stevenson last month and mentioned Soulja Boy, who apparently couldn’t even name you all the NBA teams, and he can’t pass up the marketing chances to show up and get involved. And it was, fun. But don’t look at it as anything more than just a sidelight. Let me just say one thing, the Soulja kid was the only one I saw wearing a Stevenson jersey other than Stevenson himself tonight. But the Wizards fans should boo LeBron and chant “overrated,” too, it makes the rivalry more intense.
–The Wizards said Gilbert Arenas has a pinched nerve in his knee, but that he should play Sunday. I’m not sure how much longer Gil is going to keep pounding that knee, which obviously is not close to being right. We’ll see what happens there.
–It seems like Caron Butler and Antonio Daniels went back and watched film on how they have torched the Cavs in the past. They did it with aggressive drives, which the Cavs have struggled to defend. Expect to see more of that from both the rest of the way.
–Remember how the trade guys were so great in Game 2. Well, Delonte West had five points and four turnovers, Ben Wallace played just 16 minutes, Joe Smith fouled out in 16 minutes, and Wally Szczerbiak was 3-of-9 and got eaten up by Butler. Check back next game for further progress.
–The Wizards do this cool thing where they honor injured troops from Iraq who are recovering at nearby Walter Reed hospital. But while they were on the scoreboard tonight, one of the soldiers took off his prosthetic leg, poured beer into it and started drinking out of it. Um, it was quite disturbing to me.
Recap:
Pregame
Starting lineups
Cavs: Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak, LeBron James, Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Wiz: Gilbert Arenas, DeShawn Stevenson, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood
Officials
Jim Clark, Eddie F. Rush, Sean Corbin. Of the three, Corbin has the quickest trigger finger, he is not liked in Detroit for all the techs he’s called on Rasheed Wallace over the years.
–Eddie Jordan is playing some games, he said that Antonio Daniels would start at point guard but it appears he submitted a lineup with Arenas in there. The Cavs actually suspected this for the las t couple days, the Wiz are looking for momentum and this is a way to shake things up. It will be interesting to see if Jordan extends Gilbert’s minutes now that he’ll probably be starting both halves. I expect LeBron to be on him much of the time.
–Caron Butler is vowing to have a better game on Szczerbiak and the Wizards are vowing to move the ball better on offense, which indeed would help against how the Cavs play. They are due to hit some shots, but the Cavs are preaching poise on the road.
–We’ll see if the Cavs can continue to take care of the ball. They have just 19 turnovers in the first two games and it has kept Washington out of fastbreaks. There will be extra pressure tonight and they will be out of their comfort level, so this will be a test. Especially for West and Daniel Gibson.
–Supposedly this game is not sold out, but I still expected a good crowd. It was reasonably lame in the playoffs the last two years but when I was here a month ago the crowd was very much into the game. The Cavs have not played well on the road since the trade, but they played very well in Philly last week.
–David Stern is at the game and he met with the media a few minutes ago. He said he watched a bunch of replays on the Haywood foul on LeBron, he thought it was the right call to eject him and he didn’t have a problem with him not being suspended. This is no surprise, of course he is going to back up his office’s decisions.
–How many time will we hear the Soulja Boy song tonight? My guess is quite a few.
Halftime — Wizards 49, Cavs 33
–As would be expected to a degree, the tables have turned a little so far. The Wizards are playing with a lot of energy and the Cavs are playing tentative. When the Cavs have had the ball, the Wizards have tried to extend their defense a little and force pressure on the outside and the Cavs have not handled it well, especially Delonte West and Daniel Gibson. They already have 15 turnovers and actually I think the stats crew may have missed one or two. It has only cost them 18 points, which is actually remarkable because it could be worse. When the Cavs have gotten into their offense they’ve gotten good shots, but it hasn’t happened that much. They had just four points in the paint in the second quarter and LeBron had just one basket, a fadeaway jumper. The Wizards, meanwhile had 30 points in the paint. Obviously, they will need to get some poise back to have any chance.
–The Cavs played some pretty decent defense early on, they contested some shots and forced the Wizards outside. But as is their custom, without much offensive mojo they let down on the defensive end. That and the Wiz were due to make some shots. They are going to have a game or two or maybe more in this series when their offense is clicking and this is looking like it is going to be one of them.
–Caron Butler is attacking more off the dribble, which is what he probably should’ve been doing all along against Wally Szczerbiak. The defenders are therefore giving him more space and he’s going to his pull-up game. He’s an excellent player and he’s showing it tonight. I expect LeBron to be on him in the second half for stretches. The reason is because we may have seen the last of Arenas for tonight. He was limping badly on that bad knee and it is obvious that he isn’t right and maybe shouldn’t be playing at all.
–The Wizards’ second unit, especially Antonio Daniels, Roger Mason and Andray Blatche, outplayed the Cavs reserves. Again, it felt like an energy issue. Devin Brown and Anderson Varejao played out of control. Daniels has been effective with dribble penetration especially.
Postgame
Stars
Caron Butler, 14 points, four assists
Roger Mason, 18 points
DeShawn Stevenson, 19 points
LeBron, 22 points, seven rebounds
Quotes
Mike Brown: ” “They were the aggressors, they came out with the right mindset. You have to take care of the ball on the road if you want to win in a hostile environment.”
LeBron: “They caught us off guard at times and made some adjustments that we weren’t ready for. We have to better prepare ourselves mentally.”
Jordan: “We read them the riot act after Game 2 in Cleveland and the next two days we told them out great they were. It is risky this late in the season, but you have to lay it on the table.”
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Time to put em to sleep. 3-0 would take a huge load off the Cavs and keep the pressure on Boston to sweep their series. Man, that’s gonna be one helluva series.
Anyone think the officiating is a little one-sided so far? 5 fouls on Cavs in the first 6 minutes, 0 on the wiz.
Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy!! Too many turnovers!!!!
For a team playing at home in basically a must-win game, you’d think Washington would be shooting better and taking better care of the basketball. They’re not playing particularly well though.
I see a big opportunity here for the Cavs to get a stranglehold on this series if they would just rachet up the intensity.
Sideshow is killing this team right now!! Why does he not sit?
Could the Cavs play any worse???
38% from the field, 62% from the line, 15 Turnovers.
Maybe they have played worse, but this is the worst half of basketball that I’ve seen them play this year.
Peeeeeeeeeeyou!!!!
wow, could we look any more scared. yes the officiating has been one way, but seriously, we look very timid, lebron included. the timidness is whats leading to all of these turnovers. we need to start hitting some of these wide open jumpers. to be shooting the percentage we are shooting at the half with the looks we are getting is inexcusable
yeah, it’s the officials making the cavs play like garbage. give me a break. i wish death all on the people who bring up the officials.
sideshow bob and west look like total crap. and where is the fire from the cavs? well lebron, you’ve got your work cut out for you. time to do it!!!
This is two hours of my life I’ll never get back.
by far west’s worst game as a cavalier, you can tell hes had 0 road playoff experience. hopefully this game helps him learn for game four. gibsons getting no lift on his jumpshot and no one else can do a single thing to help. ps seriously give joe smith more playing time
never been in the game from the start…. lebron is back to dribbling at the top of the key, varejao looks dumb again, and gibson, delonte, wally and z all look like they’re going on a roller coaster for the first time. look like scared little girls. Oh well, I wish just once we could have some back bone, and where the hell is damon jones? here is a perfect time to play him, but NOPE!! thanks mike brown!!
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This game is killing me. If they don’t care, I don’t care. I’m going to bed…
This game is a joke. And don’t even bring up the officials….they aren’t the ones missing the shots and turning the ball over. Don’t stoop to the Wizards’ level and blame the refs….it’s a cop out. I’m not even mad about the loss….it happens. What ticks me off is that all these cocky Wiz fans are going to think that they are the shiznit. For having lost 8 straight games to the Cavs, they are a arrogant bunch of mo fos.
It’s painful to watch Z on the road. His jumper doesn’t fall, he doesn’t rebound and he can’t defend.
I expected Washington to win 1 game. They came out very hot this game and our guards folded. I think we’ll regroup and win on Sunday. IF we don’t then we have a series on our hands, but you had to expect the Wiz to get one at home. Just make the adjustments and don’t let that fool Stevenson dance around anymore. Funny he was the same guy sulking on the bench just two days ago.
GO CAVS!!!!
Why do they even show up to the arena when they’re going to play like this? It’s a complete embarrassment. They’ve managed to give back every bit of momentum they established from the first two games and then some. I just don’t understand how a team can look so good one night – perfect passing, defense, shooting, taking care of the ball – and look completely inept the next game. Washington played better in this game, and they’re at home. But you don’t lose games by 30 points during the season or in the playoffs when you play hard. It’s always about effort with these guys, and they only play hard when they have to, or they’re challenged in some way. It’s so frustrating trying to be a fan of this team.
You’d think the team would pump fake a few passes, because the Wizards have been jumping passing lanes. Also, their shots are short and the team is making a lot of mental mistakes. I thought they’d get it corrected in the second half, but not so.
Since the Wizards are more aggressive tonight, their confidence has increased. That’s not a bad thing. Let’s face it, Cavs also need to play some more games to build chemistry. As long as no one gets hurt, they really need this series of playing together to go 7 in order to have the best shot against Boston. At this point, the worst thing to happen to this team is a quick four/five game series. Yet, I have no doubt that the lights out in the Verizon Center as the Cavs keep playing.
Lastly, PLEASE don’t act like wizard fans and blame the officials. By the way, the wiZARDs are the only team in the NBA that needs a lot of touch fouls called against opposing teams for them to win… which is why the comment about the Detroit bad boys was so funny. They could never hang against the bad boys.
Means nothing. Cavs up 2-1 on way to 4-1 victory. Washington played a perfect game and the Cavaliers played one of their worst games ever. Will not happen again. This series is over.
David, yes, the Wizards played perfect tonight. But guess what, the Cavaliers played their best game of the season in game 2. So essentially, these are two even teams and the Cavs are a tad bit better because the Wiz are clearly banged up. Cavs lose in 5 or 4 against Boston, no doubt.
How good is Kobe Bryant by the way, is there any doubt in the world that he’s the best? Had he been looking for his points all year (they didn’t need him to), he would have easily won the scoring title. LeBron has a fourth of the moves Kobe has and an eighth of the defense.
Did anyone notice Lebron only took one driving layup? I don’t know if he’s afraid of the contact or what, but I hate how he doesn’t bring his best every night.
Seriously.
The Cavs seemed overconfident from the beginning. I don’t know why they came in that way but they did. Something happened on that layup Lebron had in the first quarter that he got fouled on. He couldn’t stop smiling/smirking from the time he hit the layup to when he hit the +1. After that, it was ALL Washington. The team is not good enough to be over confident on anyone so they better come back in game 4 with that chip on their shoulder.
Oh, and welcome back Douglar. Hopefully, it wasn’t a coma you were tending to during the first 2 games – that seems to run rampant around these parts. But nothing a 49 point game combined with a Cavs loss can’t cure I suppose.
Don’t have much to say about this one. I think game 4 will be close and could go either way. If the Cavs win it, they’ll finish the series in 5. If they lose, it’ll go 7. The Cavs will play hard and have intensity this next game since they don’t want to go back home 2-2 plus they just got embarrassed. I’m just trying to think how this bunch will be able to beat Boston just once in the Garden the way they’ve been playing on the road since the big trade. Maybe in game 7 if Lebron has one of those games like he had in game 5 against Detroit last year.
As Lebron James goes the Cavs go.
Boy I wish that title was on the cover of the Beacon Journal Sports section for tomorrow. It should be put in big bold print in the Cavs locker room “as # 23 goes the Cavs go”, If Lebron plays passive like he did in game 3, then the cavs play passive and have 15 turnovers at halftime looking like a team with no point guard, wait a minute they don’t have a point guard that’s right. Still this is my team and has been my team for 20 years since i was 12 years old and I want them to win a Championship, I mean Lebron James is the best basketball player on this planet. But for some reason he and his teammates forget that and let NBDL All-Stars like DeShawn Stevenson embarass them like that. If the Cavs have any pride about themselves they better destroy them in game 4, I believe we’re about to really see what # 23 and the rest of the Cavs are made of on sunday.
Yeah we lost but I’m not concerned. Cavs just came out flat and played like chumps. It will not happen again this series. Cavs in 5.
Biggest win in Wizards playoff history.
Biggest loss in Cavs playoff history.
And it’s all on the script. Did anybody think the on again, off again Cavs would go into Washington and take this one? No, but nobody thought it would be this bad.
http://www.lecavs.com/2008/04/nothing-to-see-here-folks.html
Let’s just get ready for Game 4. That’s when we see what the Cavs are made out of.
The playoffs are the time when the losers (and there are plenty among cleveland fans given our sports history) all come out. The reality is the Cavaliers have to win 4. I they do it in 5, great. 6, great. 7, great. Same difference. And, as for Boston, don’t know if any team had had 3 big losers like Pierce, Garnett, and Allen. None of them have won a thing in the league. And what is with the ridiculous commercial with Garnett portraying him as some kind of Jordan. I can’t wait for the Cavaliers to knock the Celtics out and spoil there season. By the way, for the idiot who thinks Bryant is easily better than James consider this. 30, 7+, 7+ this year. Only 2 other players in history have done it. O, M.J., and nor LJ. Kobe couldn’t average assists if his life depended on it. And, give Lebron just Lamar Odom and he wins the title hands down. So enough about the rapist.
I can say with near certainty that, in the four seasons prior to this one, I can count on one hand the number of times the Cavaliers have thrown the ball away on an inbounds pass from the baseline after the opponent scored.
This year alone, you need a friend to help you count the number of times this has happened.
Can anyone explain to me why this is happening? It’s pathetic, and extremely frustrating. I realize that this team seems to take enjoyment out of ignoring fundamental basketball principles (e.g. free throws should be made, out of control 6 foot 11 forwards should not move with the ball, etc.), but this one is perhaps the most boggling.
“If Lebron plays passive like he did in game 3, then the cavs play passive”
But why is this? Why, if Lebron plays passive, and he did, do the other guys have to play passive? Their roles don’t change. Lebron, and to a much lesser extent Z, is the guy who teams gameplan for. He’s the guy that sees double and triple teams every night. All those other guys have to do is make wide open shots. That’s it. I don’t buy that line of thinking. Their all professionals. If James is down, then someone should be able to pick him up. The troll above doesn’t understand that that is the difference between James’ team and Kobe’s team. Kobe had a shitty game one and was carried to victory by a teammate. Kobe wasn’t the best player on his team for that particular night. That is NEVER the case with the Cavs. When Lebron has a subpar game, they lose big. And when James and Z both have subpar games, they lose by 36.
And Boobie, Wally and Delonte should all be absolutely embarrased today. They sucked. They just absolutely sucked. Oh well, like was mentioned before, it is just one game. We’re still up 2-1. Hopefully, the shooters (Boobie and wally) can make their open shots the next game.
Absolutely miserable performance last night. Not much more to say than that. Here’s hoping it’s an anomaly, not a trend.
Great effort Cavs. Way to make us Clevelanders proud. D-bags.
no coprende este Cavaliewrs. A veces Bueno aveces Malo
Every NBA team will look good one night out of 86 games.
Note to Cavs: Win on the road…
Apparently LeBron’s 1/8 of Kobe’s defense is enough to stop Kobe. Amazing how those numbers work out.
this is pretty typical of the cavs. and it’s also why we don’t stand a chance against the celtics if we advance. they get it done every night. guys like wally and delonte – one night they’re hot, the next they suck. if we can’t be consistent (and we haven’t been all season) then how are we ever gonna take a 7 game series from anyone?
If the Wiz win Sunay, this will be an interesting series.
If the Wiz win the series, LeBron has one Nike out the door.
If, if, if…
This series will be over in 5 games and the Wizards will remain the face of mediocrity and stupidity in the NBA.
The supporting cast should definitely be embarrassed… I saw fear last night.
I’m gonna keep asking it until I figure out the answer… When did Anderson Varejao get neutered and who is responsible? He plays like a WNBA player on defense, and on offense he seems to think he’s the next Tim Duncan. If that continues in game 4 and Mike doesnt glue his nappy curls to the bench, I’m gonna be sick. I dont care what happened last night, give the minutes to Joe Smith. At least he give the effort.
Sunday is gonna be a tough game, and the Cavs would be wise to take advantage and win it. No need to let this bush league bunch of 12 year olds get up off the mat. A nice 40 pointer out of LeBron would be nice.
Lecavalier, I love how Cavalier fans use literally 10 total plays to determine that Lebron shuts down Kobe. That’s laughable. It’s just not a large enough sample size for you guys to act like it’s definitive proof. If he guarded Kobe the whole game (which he hasn’t done), and shuts him down, then I’ll gladly agree he can do it. And if he really can shut down Kobe, shouldn’t all of you be ashamed that he doesn’t play defense like that all the time, it’s even more of an indictment about his character if he only shows up in a few games a season on the defensive end. Kobe’s never been content to do that.
Hi Douglar, who cares about Kobe vs Lebron right now? I’m sure most Cavs fans don’t. We’ll worry about Kobe only if we somehow claw our way to the finals and the Lakers are the West representative. This, of course, seems highly unlikely right now, but who knows, it could happen. I would love to see the matchup, though.
Did anyone tonight watch the Spurs just manhandle the Suns on the road to go up 3-0? From what I recall, the Spurs last year in the WC Finals beat Utah rather easily the first two games at home, then got smoked in game 3 in Utah. They’ve learned their lesson and played hard in game 3 in Cleveland last year and then tonight against the Suns. That’s what championship caliber teams who are focused do – don’t take anything for granted and play each game in the playoffs like it’s your last. I hope the Cavs also learn from the embarrassment they suffered last game and come to play with intensity each game in the playoffs from now on.
Wiz fan here. I was searching the archives for an article Brian Windhorst wrote for last year’s Cavs/Wiz playoff series about the various levels of basketball knowledge and fandom, it’s cited here:
http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/cavs/2007/04/23/so-you-want-more-xs-and-os-eh/#comments
–but the link is dead. Anyone know where I can get a copy? Or hey maybe it can be re-posted someplace. One of the better articles I’ve read on _how_ to watch a basketball game and interpret what you’re seeing.
It’s ironic you say that, Douglars. A few years ago when Byrant was all 1st team All NBA defense many attributed it to him playing especially hard defense only on nationally televised games. Many thought the votes were based on those few performances.
LeCavalier, who is “many.” That’s called straw man argument. You should take a logic class, you’re learn a thing or to!
Coaches vote for all-nba first teams. It’s why I put more stock in that award than many others. Writers vote for MVP and defensive player of the year.
Coaches break down tape daily, I do put more emphasis in what they say than NBA writers, who only see their own team and every other team once. Coaches on the other hand have to see every team often in order to formulate gameplans. I realize that could be considered an appeal to authority, but I don’t really see that as a flawed analytical mechanism.
Douglar… a few things:
-I believe this turd belongs to you: “You should take a logic class, you’re learn a thing or to!”
Learn how to spell or go away. Maybe you should take a grammar class?
-Cavs record v the LA Kobes this season… 2-0, and LeBron outplayed your boy both times, handily. Evidently you didnt watch those games.
-The day Kobe guards LeBron for the entire game, you can make YOUR straw argument about LeBron’s defense. Wont ever happen, however, because LeBron would dunk Kobe along with the ball every time down the court. Unfortunately, Phil Jackson isnt as stupid as you are.
-This year’s MVP is actually Chris Paul. His season is among the greatest in the history of the point guard position. He’s virtually unguardable because of his exceptional passing, he’s carrying a fairly mediocre supporting cast, turning a group of outcasts the likes of Tyson Chandler and David West into a 2 seed in the West.
-Kobe’s career doesnt automatically entitle him to win this year’s MVP. By that logic, Garnett is actually more deserving. Not that you’re impartial enough to see it, but whatever.
In short, you’re wrong, which is no different than any other time you post.
Actually, Douglar, you’re very wrong. The same spaghetti-stained media folks who vote for the other stuff also vote for the All-NBA team. It’s the All-Defensive team that gets the coaches’ votes, or whoever the coach might give their card to if they ain’t in the mood or just don’t take it seriously. Kind of like Windy’s infamous Pavlovic vote, only this time some of the coaches will let their kids think up some votes between munching Corn Flakes at the breakfast table.
My mistake, I just re-read some prior posts, it appears that Douglar was indeed referring to the All-Defensive team, not the All-NBA team.
Brian, HOW COULD ANYONE NOT SEE THE CLINCHED FIST on that Flagrant foul? Stevenson clinched it, wound up and took a full swing at LeBron’s head. When is the NBA going to step in and throw idiots like that OUT OF THE LEAGUE?
If I’m LBJ and the Cavs, I’m outraged!!!!!!!!!!
And let me tell you, Stevenson had just better watch his back, because the whole world saw his lunacy…and there are some “not so nice” guys out there with very long memories. He wants to make it personal, huh? He may not know what he’s asking for.