As has become a tradition on the blog, I am posting the ballot I sent to the NBA office for the league’s annual awards. I spent quite a bit of time looking at stats, speaking with other beat writers, and consulting my own experiences. My 2007 ballot is here,. Here is 2008:

Most Valuable Player

1. Kobe Bryant, Lakers
2. Chris Paul, Hornets
3. LeBron James, Cavs
4. Kevin Garnett, Celtics
5. Dwight Howard, Magic

Comment: There was a time this season I was sure my vote was going to LeBron, especially after I watched him outplay Kobe twice head-to-head. Yet there is no doubt that the Cavs’ average finish hurt LeBron’s chances with me and everybody else. I feel strongly that this was LeBron’s best ever season, even better than two years ago when I gave him my MVP vote. But a component of the award now, in previous years and in the future is team success. Which is why LeBron himself told me on Wednesday that he didn’t deserve the award. It is a season-long honor and while he may have been my choice at several times during the season, he was not at the end.

When it came to choosing between Bryant and Paul, it was very hard. I was so impressed with how Paul contributed to everything the Hornets do. However, my fiercest criticism of Bryant over the years was he was not a team player. I felt his 81-point game, for example, was a reason I would not vote for him. I was even more turned off when he asked for a trade last summer. His actions this season, however, have followed what I have always wanted to see out of him. People I greatly respect felt the same way. Ultimately, that made up my mind. I want to make it clear I am not giving to him as a “career award” as some have suggested the media will do. The Hall of Fame is a career award.

Coach of the Year

1. Byron Scott, Hornets
2. Mo Cheeks, Philadelphia
3. Jeff Van Gundy, Magic EDIT: Make that Stan Van Gundy. And, yes, I did send it into the league wrong.

Comment: All three of these men did something that impressed me, they designed systems to take advantage of the personnel they had. Scott’s use of Paul’s talents and the rest of the his players was especially meaningful to be. The Cavs have struggled for years to get the most out of their players with different systems. Scott found a way.

Defensive Player of the Year

1. Kevin Garnett, Celtics
2. Marcus Camby, Nuggets
3. Josh Smith, Hawks

Comment: Camby had better stats but he was on a poor defensive team. Garnett, however, set a great tone for the Celtics, who played some of the best defense seen in the NBA in years.

Most Improved Player

1. Jose Calderon, Raptors
2. LaMarcus Aldridge, Blazers
3. Rajon Rondo, Celtics

Comment: I may be the only one who votes for Calderon, last year I was one of two who gave it to Al Jefferson. He has blossomed into one of the 10 best point guards in the NBA and I believe he has a great career ahead of him. I know Hedo Turkoglu from the Magic will probably win but I don’t find him to be, as the NBA puts it, “an up-and-coming player” in the award guidelines.

Rookie of the Year

1. Kevin Durant, Sonics
2. Al Horford, Hawks
3. Al Thornton, Clippers

Comment: Horford had a great year, but Durant is a special talent and he played on a team with very little protection or veteran leadership.

All-NBA Team

First Team
G – Chris Paul, Hornets
G – Kobe Bryant, Lakers
C – Dwight Howard, Magic
F – LeBron James, Cavs
F – Kevin Garnett, Celtics

Second Team
G – Steve Nash, Suns
G – Manu Ginobili, Spurs
C – Amare Stoudemire, Suns
F – Dirk Nowitzki, Mavs
F – Tim Duncan, Spurs

Third Team
G – Deron Williams, Jazz
G – Tracy McGrady, Rockets
C – Marcus Camby, Nuggets
F – Paul Pierce, Celtics
F – Antawn Jamison, Wizards

Comment: The first team was easy, it was my MVP ballot. In my mind, Howard is the best center in the NBA hands down and he had a great season but he may not be on all ballots. On the second team I had Stoudemire at center, where he played more than half the season before and a little after Shaquille O’Neal. Also, it took a lot from Paul to knock Nash off my first team after three years up there. On the third team, I righted a wrong from last year and put Williams on there. I think very, very highly of the guy. Jamison probably won’t make many ballots, but he replaced Carmelo Anthony after his actions this week. Not excusable as a team leader after everything he’s been through. Jamison helped carry the Wizards with Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler out.

Cavs vs. Pistons

Abbreviated blog tonight, I will update after the game.

Starting lineups

Pistons: Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Antonio McDyess, Rasheed Wallace
Cavs: Delonte West, Damon Jones, Wally Szczerbiak, Ben Wallace, Anderson Varejao

–LeBron and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are sitting, I imagine Ben Wallace will not play much. I’d be surprised to see Detroit’s starters log much more than 20 minutes or so.
–The Cavs signed Billy Thomas to a contract for the rest of the season before the game. He will add a little practice depth with Sasha Pavlovic out for the first round.

Postgame

Pistons 84, Cavs 74

–There is not much to discuss about the actual game. It was close with the backups playing and when it came down to third strings late, the Pistons won out. Nobody got hurt, which was the main goal for everybody.
–I think it is interesting that Mike Brown played Wally Szczerbiak 42 minutes tonight and started him instead of Devin Brown. It appears this is the direction he’s going to go in the playoffs. Devin has been reasonably consistent all season and Mike wants consistency off the bench. He obviously decided he wants Devin as part of the second unit with Daniel Gibson and Anderson Varejao. Wally has been all over the place, but his jumper has seemed to come around a tad over the last two weeks. Anyway, we’ll see. The interesting thing is the Cavs used 21 different starting lineups this season and they’ll be using a 22nd different one when they play the Wizards in Game 1.
–Damon Jones finally got some playing time tonight…and went 1-of-12. His frustration level, I imagine, is pretty high.
–I don’t think any more can be said about this game.

Cavs 91, 76ers 90

–A couple of truths here. One, Samuel Dalembert did foul Devin Brown and it did happen before the red light went on. Two, Devin might have made that shot outright if he was not bumped into, with everyone swarming to the basket Dalembert’s swat was like a pass right to him. Three, Zydrunas Ilgauskas probably committed a loose ball foul on Dalembert before the fateful foul. However, that actually happened six or seven feet from the actually play so it was hard for the officials to see it. Four, over 82 games, karma ebbs and flows. Devin had to make the free throws and he did.
–Official Greg Williard, who made the call, gave an interview to the media afterward. Basically he said that is why there is replay, to look and see if the foul called happened before the horn. I think he felt fine with what happened.
–This was like a playoff game, a little low scoring and lots of late drama. Overall, the Cavs played very well. They were victimized by a couple of odd bounces on offensive rebounds and when Andre Iguodala was all set to turn the ball over and Louis Williams ended up hitting a contested 22-foot shot. On offense, the Cavs did an excellent job of moving a driving the ball under pressure which got them excellent shot attempts by players other than LeBron. It was excellent execution, that should be referred back to.
–It figures that when the Cavs win a game like this that it has a cost. Sasha Pavlovic is probably done for the season. At the very least he has a severe ankle sprain. Because he was landing from a jump shot and the foot went sideways, there is a good chance that there are torn ligaments although that will be determined in an MRI tomorrow. Then you consider that it is the same foot he had a sprain in earlier and it’s just a bad end to a bad season for him. He had to leave the game in a wheelchair. Obviously he had not contributed much lately, but he was an offensive option and now the Cavs have less depth. Interesting that even with him out, Wally Szczerbiak still did not play in this one and neither did Damon Jones (again). Maybe Mike Brown will just tighten the rotation.
–The Cavs have not been shooting free throws well lately and were 11-of-19 in this one until Devin made his two. Not a positive trend heading into the playoffs. LeBron was 6-of-12 tonight.
–LeBron showed extreme quickness and excellent jumping tonight, you daresay that he may be just about over the back injury based on his activity. But he said he is still not 100 percent.
–You want to talk about a bad moment, this was fan appreciation night in Philly. Off probably the worst loss of the season, the PR folks had to pull the players out of the locker room and get them to give away their uniforms and shoes. Lots of faked enthusiasm by the public address announcer.

Recap:

Pregame

Starting lineups

Cavs: Delonte West, Sasha Pavlovic, LeBron James, Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Sixers: Andre Miller, Willie Green, Andre Iguodala, Reggie Evans, Samuel Dalembert

Officials
Greg Williard, Mark Wunderlich, Ed Malloy

–Sasha Pavlovic has moved into the starting lineup, replacing Devin Brown. I understand that ideally you don’t want Brown as a starter and Pavlovic is a better offensive player. But I have no idea what Devin did to lose the job and I have even less of an idea of what Pavlovic did to earn. Supposedly he played better defense last night, but in my mind Sasha has only played maybe four good games all season. We’ll see how the rotations go.
–Mike Brown said before the game that he was concerned about the team’s chemisty. There was lots of chatter in the huddle and on the court last night. Also, with everyone’s minutes changing regularly I can see why there is unrest. Then again, almost getting beat by the Heat will do that to you.
–The Sixers need this win, they are tied with the Raptors for the No. 6 seed. They are also an uptempo team with an excellent push it guard in Miller. However, in the halfcourt I believe the Cavs can have success guarding them because Philly doesn’t have jump shooters and Miller doesn’t break down the defense on the dribble. The key is to keep it a halfcourt game, and you don’t do that by chucking jumpers at the other end.

Halftime — Cavs 47, Sixers 41

–Cavs have done an excellent job on the boards, putting up 14 second chance points to zero for Philly. Basically, they are saying there is going to be a penalty for all your players trying to take off an run the other way.
–LeBron’s dunk in transition late in the first half was his best dunk of the year. I am not sure seeing it on TV does it justice because you can’t appreciate the speed at which he was moving and the way he changed speed. Maybe in the top 10 in his career, maybe.
–Andre Iguodala has not played well so far tonight because they Sixers have had a lot of fastbreak chances. We’ll see if that holds.
–The bench did an excellent job again with LeBron on the bench in the second quarter, getting the Cavs the lead. There is some depth being shown there.

Postgame

Stars
LeBron, 27 points, five assists
Ilgauskas, 22 points, seven rebounds
Miller, 26 points, six assists
Lou Williams, 21 points

Quotes

Devin Brown: “I heard a whistle, it was just a matter of them going back and looking at it. I didn’t think they were going to change it because I wear 33, not 23.”
LeBron: We were due for a break, we had some calls go the wrong way and some plays go the wrong way, it was good to see it go our way for a change.”
Dalembert: “After I jumped and I blocked the shot and I got pushed. Ilgauskas pushed me and I was off-balance. He pushed me. You can see on the play. His forearm. He pushed me in the air.”

Cavs 84, Heat 76

Glass half full: The Cavs got a win over the Miami Heat, reducing their magic number to clinch homecourt for the first round of the playoffs to 1.
Glass half empty: The Cavs were down to the worst team the NBA has seen in years, complete with five rookies and five guys who were in the D-League this year heading into the fourth quarter. If they continue to play like this, what does it matter where the first two games of the playoffs are played?
Half full: LeBron James only needed to play 35 minutes and when he was out the Cavs went on a run to take the lead for good.
Half empty: For the eighth time in 11 games, the Cavs had a better plus/minus with LeBron off the floor than on it. It’s +46 in 113 minutes without him and -46 in 410 minutes with him. Yes, there were some blowouts in there, but look closer and most were close games. It is a weird trend that hints at how the new group has failed to gel with the superstar.
Half full: LeBron said his back is feeling fine and the Cavs seem to be mostly healthy with a week to go until the playoffs.
Half empty: As of this moment, with the 76ers and the Raptors both being at 40-40, the Cavs have one win over a team with a winning record since getting their players from trade. It was the home game against the Pistons.

There’s little need to break this game down further. The trends all hold.

Recap:

Pregame

Starting lineups

Heat (anyone want to guess?): Chris Quinn, Daequan Cook, Ricky Davis, Stephane Lasme, Mark Blount
Cavs: Delonte West, Devin Brown, LeBron James, Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Officials
Joey Crawford, Violet Palmer, Zach Zarba

–The Cavs magic number to clinch the No. 4 seed is two and this is obviously the easiest game left. The Heat don’t have much talent left, in fact they have a five-man inactive list, but they have a bunch of young guys and D-League callups who do play hard. The Cavs have been known lately to have focus issues and go stretches without giving maximum effort. If that happens today, they very well could get beat.
–Keep an eye on the Cavs in the halfcourt on offense. This facet has been decaying for a couple weeks. There have been moments when they have executed well but this team doesn’t have rhythm from possession to possession much less game to game.
–The Cavs have not played well throughout a game since they beat Philly at home two weeks ago. Might want to start considering the playoffs are now less than a week away.
–For your reading pleasure, you may be interested in what I wrote about LeBron winning the scoring title being a failure for the Cavs and Mike Brown today.

Halftime — Cavs 40, Heat 38

–Great basketball, folks. I’d be watching the Masters, but that isn’t any good today, either. The Cavs are shooting very poorly, just 34 percent. They are being aggressive on defense for the most part, Ben Wallace has three blocks and LeBron has two. Then again there was still guys dunking. They played hard for about five minutes, got a seven-point lead, and then cooled down again. That’s about par for this team right now. This would win the award for worst loss of the season if it happens, by the way.
–The one thing they are doing is looking to pass the ball into the post much more. Especially LeBron. The idea here is to catch teams in rotation as they bring help to James. Then again, that was the idea all season. Regardless, the Cavs have 11 assists on 14 baskets, which is a dream percentage for them. Also, eight of their 14 baskets have been the paint. It’s a small bright side.
–LeBron took another bad shot at the end of the half because he wanted to set up a 2-for-1, in other words shooting with about 35 seconds left to assure you get an extra possession at the end of a quarter. He has been doing this a lot lately and most of the time it is a bad shot out of flow and that makes it a bad possession so why bother?
–When Daequan Cook comes back out on the floor, it might be a good idea to not go under pick-and-rolls and let him shoot.
–They didn’t put enough time on the halftime clock and Quick Change, the best halftime act in the NBA, was out on the floor doing their thing when the players came out of the locker room to shoot. By the time they did their finale — where the woman changes dresses four times in like 90 seconds including once as a bunch of confetti falls on her — the entire Heat team was on their bench and several Cavs were sitting on the scorer’s table. Many of them gave Quick Change an ovation.

Postgame

Stars
Delonte West, 18 points, four rebounds
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, 14 points, 14 rebounds
LeBron, 13 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists
Ricky Davis, 17 points, seven assists

Quotes
LeBron on the win: “You can’t be disappointed. I can’t sit here and lie and say it’s easy to get up for a team like this, the crowd expects you to blow them out.”
LeBron on being assured of playing the Wizards in the first round: “Yay, that is so fun, I am excited. I wanted to play somebody else, but if we have to play somebody I’m glad it is Washington. This is the third straight year of trash talk. I’ll read the clippings and it’ll help me get some more gas under my belt.”

Three reactions from me: 1. The first line he said with heavy sarcasm. 2. LeBron said he wanted to play someone else like he meant he was tired of playing Washington, but I sensed truth in his voice. 3. I have no idea what he means about getting gas under his belt. I assume you want gas out from under your belt. Isn’t that was Beano is for?

LeBron on his back: “I feel good. We’re going to see how it reacts, I haven’t had back-to-back since the back (got hurt).”

Bulls 100, Cavs 95

–The Cavs felt the media more than the Bulls felt the Cavs tonight. In the locker after the game two different players got stepped on my media members (none of them me, luckily) including one that caused Daniel Gibson to utter the first curse word I’ve ever heard out of his mouth. That was more pain than they inflicted on the Bulls, who had themselves a dunkfest while the Cavs stood and watched. It got so bad at one point that Dwayne Jones was giving instructions to teammates during a timeout to “Go (blank) those guys up.” Lance Allred heard him but the rest of the Cavs didn’t, just like Mike Brown’s pleas. Maybe Dwayne should’ve gone in there himself.
–This season, 17 percent of Joakim Noah’s baskets have come on layups or dunks. Tonight all four of them came on layups and dunks and he also got to the foul line 13 times. 14 percent of Tyrus Thomas’ baskets come on layups and dunks, tonight four of his nine baskets were on them. The Bulls have scored over 100 points twice in the last six games…guess who they were against?
–Mike Brown was in rare form after the game, here are his quotes. He only took like three questions, he said all he needed to say:

“Something’s gotta change for us to go into the playoffs the right way. Because right we will get our behinds kicked if we are not focused and not trying to play the right way…Our help defense is awful. Right now we are really a passive team, nobody feels us, it evident by the Bulls getting dunk after dunk. After somebody gets a dunk or two, you’d hope the next time somebody comes down the lane he’s not getting a dunk even if I have to give up my body. That did not happen tonight and that is disappointing…LeBron got hot, he had whatever he had in the first quarter, and then everybody stood and watched. We have to get some movement to generate something offensively.”

–This has been the case on several occasions this season, a great offensive spurt by LeBron ended up hurting the Cavs in the long run. Why? Because for whatever reason, the Cavs shut down when LeBron gets hot. In the first quarter, when he went 10-of-10, seven of those baskets were assisted. Which actually meant the Cavs were running plays for him to get hot. He only had one more assisted basket the rest of the game. He was part of the problem, he didn’t get his first assist until there were five minutes left in the game. The Elias Sports Bureau is currently looking up if he set some sort of dribbling record. OK, that’s a joke, but if you watched the game you get my point. The blame is shared, Mike Brown has to get them to run something, the players have to move and LeBron has to play ball. This, however, is a recurring problem because the Cavs don’t have an offensive system that LeBron trusts and often he’ll just stop everything.
–The Cavs can complain about a lot of things going wrong for them this season, but there is no explaining this: They have nine losses against the Nets, Bulls and Bucks.
–I re-state my case for Joe Smith getting more plays called for him, especially in halfcourt sets. He had 20 points tonight on 9-of-16 shooting 53 percent as a Cav.
–Anderson Varejao complained earlier in the season that he doesn’t like being compared to Joakim Noah because people just assume they are alike because of their hair. Well, I know why he wants to avoid it now. Look at these stats in their three meetings with each other, when they both spent a lot of time guarding each other: Varejao 2.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 22 percent shooting (4-of-18); Noah 13.3 points, 12.3 rebounds 46 percent shooting (13-of-28).

–Over the weekend, I will be filling out my ballot for NBA Annual Awards. This season I was given the full range of votes from Coach and Rookie of the Year to the All-NBA Team, Most Improved, Defensive Player of the Year and, of course, Most Valuable Player. As in the past, I will post my full ballot here because I think you shouldn’t be afraid to say who you voted for. For the most part, I have made all the major decisions. But it should still be a good conversation piece come early next week.

Recap:

Pregame

Starting lineups

Cavs: Delonte West, Devin Brown, LeBron James, Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Bulls: Kirk Hinrich, Larry Hughes, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah

Officials
Jim Clark, James Capers, Eli Roe

–It will be interesting to see if the Cavs keep up the momentum from the way they played the other night. As I have written on here many times before, the Bulls are a jump shot team and if you contest the jumpers you will do will.
–Chicago is also a good offensive rebounding team, keeping them off the glass is important. Ben Wallace played very well against them in Cleveland last week, it was one of the reasons the Cavs got such a big lead in that game.
–The Pistons are playing the Wizards at home tonight. While they are resting their players, it will still be a tough game for them. If the Cavs are able to get a win here tonight, and the Bulls haven’t won since they were in Cleveland, then they may be able to virtually lock up the No. 4 seed. Then again, it could easily go the other way.
–Since going 11-of-17 in Cleveland, Larry Hughes has gone 11-of-30 from the field.

Halftime — Bulls 53, Cavs 47

–LeBron put on quite a show in the first quarter, making 10 straight shots and scoring 24 points. But as we have seen in the past, these scoring binges are not always the best thing for the team. Often it seems to knock them out of rhythm, because the priorities change. In the second quarter the Cavs went 3-of-18 from the floor, primarily because they were forced to play halfcourt offense. Against a shrink the floor defensive team like the Bulls, they will not be successful in the half court very often. Especially when they are limited to jumpers. The Cavs scored just six points in the paint in the second.
–The Bulls are having too much success on the inside for the Cavs to win the game. Luol Deng and Tyrus Thomas can’t be able to get to the rim. Playing Devin Brown on Deng is no good in my opinion, because he can just post him up. LeBron has to defend him. If Ben Gordon makes 3-pointers with hands in his face, then you live with those. But the Cavs allowed the Bulls 22 points in the paint in the first half, which is too many if you want to beat them. Considering this team has one win in the last 10 games, and it’s against the Cavs, it was a pretty weak effort. With the Cavs, though, who knows how they will play on defense in the second half.
–If the Cavs are concerned with LeBron’s back, you wouldn’t know it. Mike Brown broke with tradition and let him start the second quarter because he had the hot hand. That is fine, it is the smart move when you have a hot player. But still, it is not what they had been doing.
–Sometimes I think all the attention hecklers have gotten for getting on LeBron encourages them. After LeBron missed a jumper in the second quarter to go 10-of-12 in the game, a guy in the first row got on him about taking a bad shot. LeBron said: “Have you been watching what is going on?”

Postgame

Stars
Tyrus Thomas, 20 points, 14 rebounds
Joakim Noah, 17 points, 11 rebounds
Luol Deng, 21 points
LeBron James, 34 points
Joe Smith, 20 points

Quotes
See above

Cavs 104, Nets 83

–A 51-16 run over the last 19 minutes, the Nets make 3 of their last 31 shots and go 1-of-20 in the fourth, the Cavs hold them to 14 points in the paint for the game. Digest that for awhile.
–Sometimes these Cavs are a total mystery to me. I do not understand why their focus level is haywire. I understand why the energy level it like that at times, but the way they are able to turn on or stay off is mind boggling. There were a few offensive possessions during the third quarter when I was laughing at their offense. Anderson Varejao was dribbling driving, guys were going 1-on-4 and at one point I got dizzy watching LeBron James dribble in a circle. Meanwhile, Gana Diop was dominating them on defense. Next thing I know they are defending the basket like it’s some sort of mythic idol and Daniel Gibson, a guy who has done nothing but take 3-pointers since he came back from injury, is doing a Jason Kidd impression.
–I asked a few players and no one had a good answer as to why the Cavs just turned it on the third quarter. My guess was they looked at the scoreboard and saw they were down 14 points to the Nets at home. But James did make four baskets and have two assists to start the run and he did it with aggression. His back looked fine in that period.
–I am not sure what to think of the defense, other than to say when the Cavs give effort they are not bad. The Nets just went cold in this one, especially from the outside where they were living. When they had their 14-point lead, they were 8-of-15 from 3-point range. But also they were the victims of some horrible calls. This was one of the worst officiated games I seen this season. Tony Brown was blowing his whistle on everything. What was bad about this one is that the officials made wrong calls rather than no calls at all. Still, it didn’t decide the game it just helped push the Nets toward the edge.
–It isn’t that the Cavs are a great fastbreak team, it’s that they are such a terrible halfcourt offensive team. So they must get some easy chances in transition. This is why at times Delonte West can be so effective because he pushes the ball. For the first time in a long time, Gibson looked comfortable running the floor and he was able to create the same sort of chances in the second half. The Cavs didn’t even shoot the ball that well tonight, but they did get themselves a lot of good shots and a lot of fouls by attacking. Who knows if that message will take with Gibson or anybody else. Your guess is as good as mine.
–Mike Brown said playing Sasha Pavlovic was one of his “gut feels.” Yes, he has a lot more talent than Devin Brown, but you just never know what you’re going to get. Still, he had a few good minutes in the second half and Devin is playing too many minutes and taking too many shots so I expect Sasha to be back in a slightly expanded rotation on Friday.

Recap:

Pregame

Starting lineups

Nets: Devin Harris, Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson, Nenad Kristic, Gana Diop
Cavs: Delonte West, Devin Brown, LeBron James, Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Officials
Eddie Rush, Derek Richardson, Tony Brown

–LeBron was cleared to play this morning, though I never had any doubt despite him sitting out the last few practices. He hasn’t practiced much since the All-Star Break. I mean, everybody says they are worried, but LeBron played 42 minutes Saturday and he spent eight hours shooting a commercial on Monday.
–I do not believe the Nets have much interest in being here, I don’t see why they would. Meanwhile, the Cavs are sort of playing for something here so we’ll see what the focus and energy level is. The big issue for the Cavs will be keeping Devin Harris in front of them and making Carter and Jefferson shoot jumpers instead of getting easy drives.
–The Nets are a so-called “shrink the floor” team, which means on defense they protect the middle and allow outside shots. Remember Donyell Marshall burning them in the playoffs with that. But the Cavs haven’t been making jumpers lately. The Bulls are a shrink the floor team and the Cavs banged away on them in that loss last week.

Halftime — Nets 53, Cavs 49

–If the Cavs have urgency to win this game I am not seeing it. Jefferson and Carter are both being active but there is no reason the Nets should be shooting 52 percent. The Cavs have been switching their defense back and forth between zone and man, but they still can’t seem to cover the weakside where Marcus Williams and Boki Nachbar are getting free jumpers.
–Sasha Pavlovic played five unexpected minutes in the first half and did absolutely nothing with them. Seriously, he did not even commit a foul. Also, I don’t think he’s wearing socks which makes me wonder whether he knew he was going to play or not. Mike Brown didn’t put him out there vs. Vince Carter, who he did pretty well against in the playoffs last year, either. I have no idea why.
–LeBron is doing a very nice job moving the ball. He has five assists and could have several more. The issue is no one else on the Cavs is moving the ball very well. They are doing OK on offense but they way the Nets play they are being too stagnant and that may show up in the end.
–Devin Harris hit a 3-pointer from the corner that banked off the upper corner of the backboard. That’s quite a trick shot, I’ve never seen anything like it. Derrick Rose would be proud.

Postgame

Stars
LeBron, 33 points, seven rebounds, eight assists
Gibson, 12 points, five assists
Wally Szczerbiak, 14 points
Vince Carter, 19 points, six assists

Quotes
Mike Brown: “I thought our sense of urgency picked up in the second half. When our defense picked up, everything else kind of picked up after that.”
LeBron: “A few days off of practice really helped me. The training staff has done a great job at helping me regain the strength that I need.”
Wally Szczerbiak: “With the team we have, we are so much better when we can push the ball and get easy shots. That is the way we need to play.”

Magic 101, Cavs 86

–Remember when the Cavs were one of the best fourth-quarter teams in the NBA? Today they were 4-of-23 shooting and got run over, Thursday they were 6-of-23 when the Bulls sped past them. The offense was reduced to taking nothing but jumpers on both occasions. Some of this is because LeBron James’ back is preventing him from being aggressive in going to the basket. While he seemed to jump just fine today, I think it affects him when he runs and when he drives. Also, I don’t think he is the same player after halftime because it tightens up. It has not helped the two games had long halftimes because they were national broadcasts.
–Based on the reaction at the arena today, I sense that many in the fan base will want to pin this loss on Mike Brown’s decision-making and his offense. As someone who called for Mike to hire an offensive coordinator two years ago and then detailed his two new offenses since then, I would like to agree with you. I have pointed out many times I disagree with who he plays when, especially in regard to Damon Jones, Joe Smith and Zydrunas Ilgauskas of late. However, I cannot say what has happened the last two games is his fault. The Cavs scored 118 points in Charlotte on Wednesday. Thursday they had 85 points and were shooting 54 percent through three quarters. Today they had 55 points in the first half and 16 assists on 23 baskets and 30 points in the paint. They had four points in the paint in the second half. The same players are running the same plays in the second half as the first half, to me they look like they are just tensing up and dumping it all on LeBron. They are not as crisp, they are not as aggressive, they all settle way too much. Today I watched Brown go through a timeout in the fourth quarter where he’s drew on his dry erase board the whole time and another when he just looked everyone in the eye and yelled in the huddle. It is one thing to say that his rotations are off and he’s slow to make adjustments, that all may be true. But I just don’t believe he told them to go out there and fire up nine 3-pointers in the fourth (after taking a total of eight in the first three quarters). It wasn’t the Magic, they played a little more zone, but it wasn’t like they turned into the Celtics out there.
–LeBron said after the game he would not take any extra rest and miss games. The Cavs have the next three days off, I assume he’ll not have any contact at practice and get treatment. He also vowed to play better after his last two performances.
–Daniel Gibson went 1-of-7 today and is 5-of-24 since coming back. Mike told me he doesn’t plan on cutting his minutes and he’ll let him play through this. Seems like he has made the decision that Sasha Pavlovic and Damon are sitting and that is final.
–Ben Wallace played another pretty solid game today (other than another missed dunk). He had nine rebounds, four blocks and a steal. He also did a nice job on help defense on Dwight Howard. He seems to be coming around.

Recap:

Pregame

Starting lineups

Magic: Jameer Nelson, Maurice Evans, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, Dwight Howard
Cavs: Delonte West, Devin Brown, LeBron James, Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Officials
Duke Callahan, Sean Corbin, David Guthrie

–Before the game Mike Brown told us LeBron has been battling back issues for a couple weeks. LeBron said he is not 100 percent. He may start out OK, but pay attention to how he plays in the later stages of the game.
–The key whenever playing the Magic is to try to stay attached to their shooters. For the Cavs to do this they have to control Nelson’s penetration and try to handle Howard 1-on-1 or if you bring double teams bring them from the weak side.
–To win this game the Cavs are going to have to score a little and it will probably have to come from someone besides LeBron. Wally Szczerbiak seems like he could be on the verge of a breakout because he’s been showing signs. We’ll see.
–If the Cavs lose, the Magic clinch the No. 3 seed.

Halftime — Cavs 55, Magic 47

–Cavs have played with great teamwork so far. Especially on the boards and while operating the offense. They have a shocking 32-11 rebounding edge and 16 assists on 23 baskets. Delonte West is playing excellent at both ends, especially with his penetration and controlling Nelson at the other end. LeBron has 11 points and is shows signs that the back is bothering him while he’s standing still but you could never tell they way he’s jumping.
–Dwight Howard has just two points and one rebound. This is shocking. Ilgauskas and Wallace have been trapping him and boxing him out. Still, Howard isn’t showing much fight and seems to be willing to let his teammates shoot. My guess is Stan Van Gundy may be in his ear a little in the locker room. The Cavs energy is swallowing in the Magic, we’ll see if they push back.
–Daniel Gibson has struggled to keep Nelson in front of him and it caused trouble when Hedo Turkoglu and Pat Garrity got free on the outside. The way the Cavs play, as I have written when playing the Magic, it is hard to cover their outside shooters and deal with penetrators and Howard. They Magic are capable of making runs with that offense.

Postgame

Stars
Turkoglu, 23 points, five rebounds
Rashard Lewis, 21 points
West, 19 points

Quotes:
LeBron: “It has been frustrating, but we have to figure it out and I’m going to figure it out. I’ve always been able to bounce back in situations where I haven’t played particularly well. I have a few days to reflect.”
West: “At the end of the day, you can play great defense and have great spirits but the ball has to go in the hole,” said Delonte West, who led the Cavs with 19 points. “We went through a stretch where we got the plays we wanted and did a good job of executing and the ball didn’t go in.”

Bulls 101, Cavs 98

–I hearby nominate Ben Wallace’s dunk attempt with 2:30 left in the loss to the Bulls as the symbolic moment of the Cavs season. Ahead by two points, it might’ve given the Cavs key separation. It was right in front of the Bulls bench and the crowd was ready to explode, which probably would’ve forced a timeout. Instead, somehow, Wallace ran into the rim on the way up. It was shocking. It looked like such a lock, the sound crew at Quicken Loans Arena had already started playing their Big Ben chime but it had to be cut off in mid-dong. This season so many times everything looked it was set up only for the execution to fail.
–This was the first game the Cavs had everybody available since mid-Janauary (except Eric Snow, but he is not a rotation player anymore). But it turned out not to last. LeBron James hurt his lower back in the third quarter and couldn’t sit down during the fourth. After the game he said it limited him during the fourth quarter when he scored only one point as the Bulls zoomed past. He wasn’t sure how he’d feel by Saturday afternoon. Although, I must say I thought Thabo Sefolosha did a quality job on LeBron down the stretch, staying close to him yet working through pick-and-rolls so as not to let him get a corner.
–Delonte West made three defensive plays in the last two minutes and two of them were good. He got a steal when he got his hand in the passing lane while helping on Joakim Noah. Then he drew a charge as Ben Gordon tried to drive past him. However, running over Gordon as he took a 3-pointer with 1:42 left was a bad mistake. That is the sort of stuff that costs games. Gordon is a 90 percent free throw shooter.
–In the second half two things happened to the Cavs. First, they allowed the Bulls to get too comfortable in their drive-and-kick game. Primarily Daniel Gibson was abused because he couldn’t keep anyone in front of him. Larry Hughes, Luol Deng and Gordon were all hot and when that happens the Bulls usually win. Second, they stopped pushing the ball in transition. They had zero fastbreak points in the second half and just nine free throws. That combination spelled doom.
–Hughes was strong tonight and he deserves credit. Most impressive to me was how committed he was to running the offense, he had nine assists and made a lot of good decisions with the basketball. If he did that more with the Cavs instead of taking spot up jumpers he would’ve been much more valuable. As for him going 11-of-17 shooting, he had one of his nights. He’d been shooting 37 percent with the Bulls, worse than he was with the Cavs.
–It is a mystery when Gibson truly will be able to get back on his feet. He is just 4-of-17 since coming back and it is obvious he is not 100 percent. I know that Mike Brown wants to create a rotation and stick to it and I respect him for that decision. But again, I believe Damon Jones should be getting chances. He has made shots all season long and he runs the offense better than Gibson does. I understand Gibson is hurting, that must be accounted for. At midseason on the last shot, I’d have said Gibson was about 75 percent. Now, you can just see his balance is off because of that foot.
–When the Cavs were struggling to score late, I question having Wallace and Anderson Varejao on the floor together. If not Zydrunas Ilgauskas then Joe Smith needs to be out there. It just makes the Cavs too easy to guard. Especially tonight because after Andy threw a bunch of stuff in last night he started thinking he could make post moves and one-handed bounce passes in the lane and whatnot tonight. That said, Wallace had three blocks, three steals, and eight rebounds and took charge. It was a quality effort.

Recap:

Pregame

Starting lineups

Bulls: Krik Hinrich, Larry Hughes, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah
Cavs: Delonte West, Devin Brown, LeBron James, Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Officials
Dan Crawford, Matt Boland, Courtney Kirkland

–Ben Wallace is going try to play again tonight. He told the Bulls media he’d actually been dealing with a pitched nerve in his bad, which we had not been told about. We were told it was a strain and spasms. Maybe it is all the same, I don’t know. Considering it is the Bulls, you know he wanted to.
–Last time the Cavs played the Bulls Joakim Noah shamed Andy Varejao. Ilgauskas did not play in that game. Let’s see if the tables turn tonight.
–Drew Gooden won’t play with a abdominal strain. He doesn’t like to miss games, so you know he is hurting.
–The Bulls are a jump shot team. The Cavs need to keep them off the offensive glass and rotate to contest shots. If they do, they will have an excellent chance to win. Chicago can get hot from the outside but it usually doesn’t last. Which is why Larry Hughes fits in so well.

Halftime — Cavs 55, Bulls 45

–The Cavs went on a nice 12-1 run late in the first half to build themselves a lead. Though the Bulls have done some nice passing to get guys open around the rim at times, overall the Cavs have been pretty aggressive on defense. The Bulls were a little hot early and then they cooled off a bit. Ben Gordon, Larry Hughes and Luol Deng are a combined 14-for-21 and the Cavs still have a 10-point lead. They have also forced 12 turnovers.
–The offense has been pushing the ball well tonight, wanting to keep the Bulls from setting up. It has resulted in some ugly fastbreaks — West made a couple decisions I am still scratching my head on — but that has allowed them to get some easy shots and forced a lot of fouls. The Cavs have 17 free throws to the Bulls’ 10. The turnovers have made it easier.
–Ben Wallace has been pretty solid in the first half. He blocked two shots, took a charge and has three baskets. When he is playing next to Z it seems like he can be effective.
–Other than a couple impressive layups in traffic it didn’t seem like LeBron had a special half, yet he ended up with 18 points. A large reason is he got to the foul line seven times by attacking, especially in transition.
–West has seemed to improve his floaters in the lane since coming to the Cavs, I didn’t know that was part of his game before he came here. I do know he’s been working on them a little bit with Cavs development coach Chris Jent.

Postgame

Stars
Hughes, 25 points, nine assists, eight rebounds
Gordon, 24 points
James, 33 points, five rebounds
Ilgauskas, 23 points

Quotes
Hughes: “That definitely felt good. We want to win for bragging rights if nothing else.”
LeBron: “”If you ask anybody how bad (a back injury) is for me, being the explosive type of player I am, it’s tough to do some of the things I wanted to do.”

I am not at the game tonight in Charlotte, George Thomas will be providing the coverage. I will be back for tomorrow’s game against the Bulls at home and every game until this thing is over.