Post-mortem: Cavs 98, Nets 87
- The record’s behind them, this is officially the best team in Cavs hisotry as they won their 58th. I don’t even think they believe it’s enough and they shouldn’t because there’s still plenty to work on:
- Offensively, the Cavs, after opening up with tremendous momentum, looked sloppy for the rest of the game. No one is going to expect them to continue shooting at a 56 percent clip as they did the first quarter, but as Mike Brown pointed out tonight they were slow to get into their offense as evidenced by several 24-second clock violations.
- Something that continues to look impressive is that LeBron James-Anderson Varejao combination that continues to connect for easy looks near the hoop. Mike Brown will have a tough decision once Ben Wallace returns from his injury as Varejao recorded another double-double (16 points and 11 rebounds).
At the half: Cavs 44, Nets 40
- Observations: LeBron James and Anderson Varejao were able to work that backdoor a few more times as Varejao continues to find his way to a soft spot in the Nets’ defense.
- This would be a perfect game except for one factor: the Cavs are beating themselves. The Nets aren’t. They’ve turned the ball over nine times in the half and a few of those were unforced and mental errors. If they want to win this it’s going to have to stop because those turnovers allowed the Nets to creep back into the game.
Game: Cavs (57-13) vs. New Jersey Nets (30-40)
Broadcast: TV: FSOhio; Radio: WAKR (1590 AM); WTAM (1100 AM), WHBC (1480 AM)
Starters: Cavs: LeBron James (F); Anderson Varejao (F); Zydrunas Ilgauskas (C); Delonte West (G); Mo Williams (G). Nets: Trenton Hassell (F); Yi Jianlian (F); Brook Lopez (C); Vince Carter (G); Keyon Dooling (G).
Injured-inactive: Cavs: Wally Szczerbiak (left knee sprain); Ben Wallace (broken tibia) and Eric Snow (knee) are out. Nets: Devin Harris ( sprained left shoulder and sprained left deltoid) and Eduardo Najera (sports hernia) are out.
Streaking: The Cavaliers have nine consecutive and the Nets have lost one.
This year: The Cavaliers have won both games to date, with the last coming this past Sunday. They break the team record for wins in a season tonight.
Officials: Ken Mauer, Matt Boland and Jim Clark.
What to watch:
- Watch to see if LeBron James and Anderson Varejao continue to click on that baseline cut that’s been so effective in recent game, especially against these very Nets on Sunday. Varejao moves extremely well without the ball and he and James have developed that chemistry over the years to where they make it look easy. If they can keep this working, it makes the offense that much more flexible in time for the playoffs.
- Speaking of the playoffs: this is normally the time of the season when teams are peaking, but the Cavaliers just keep rolling. They must maintain as much of that momentum as possible going into the final weeks of the season. While they enjoy a comfortable lead to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, going into the night’s game they had just a one-game margin for the league’s best record with the Los Angeles Lakers right behind. Mike Brown doesn’t talk about it, but you can bet your last dollar, the team would like to have both advantages.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Brown won’t have a tough decison. On the other hand, Gilbert and Ferry will. Obviously, part of that Joe Smith deal was that Varejao would be guaranteed starter’s minutes, and he’s getting them. This is a guy with major incentive to produce every game. Wallace contributes little to nothing, and that includes defensively. He’ll get Donyell Marshall-like minutes when he gets back, 17 to 20 minutes a game, if that. In fact, the team would be better off if he stayed out until next season. Absent Varejao getting hurt, I don’t see any logical reason for Wallace to be on the court.
There are two starting big men: Z and Andy/Ben. The rotation is Andy/Ben, Joe, and Wally.
Neither Darnell nor Hickson deserve Ben’s minutes yet. Therefore, Ben will play.
The rotation is Smith backing up Ilgauskas, and now it should be Wallace backing up Varejao. And Wally? What’s he have to do with it?
Varejao should be getting 40 minutes a game in the playoffs. And during the season, too, since this team apparently requires home-court advantage. Wallace should see no more than a quarter of play unless somebody is in foul trouble. I can justifiably see Wallace out there only if they play Orlando and they have to double-team Dwight Howard. Howard can easily take Ilgauskas to the cleaners if their coach’s brain isn’t running on empty. Otherwise, Wallace is fairly useless.
andy’s made his next contract. the cavs will match whatever the offer is so they can keep him. guaransheed.
terje, I don’t know about that. By doing so, Ferry loses face in a major way. And they’re not going to have to match an offer, they’re going to have to beat it in a major way. No matter how this pans out, Ferry isn’t going to get out of this unscathed. Looking forward to another summer of him again leaking fake info to the media to justify and further his negotiating position, and guys like Windhorst spreading the BS like fertilizer. I hope Varejao’s parents now own deadbolts.
With four only teams with cap space this summer (Thunder, Grizzlies, Heat and Pacers), and guys like Villanueva, Boozer, Lee, Harrington, and Okur available. I’m not sure what the market is going to be for a guy who had to wait until an aging Wallace broke his leg to crack the starting lineup. Granted there are always idiots GMs willing to over pay for bigs but with so many teams looking at 2010, the cupboard might be a little bare the summer. I wouldn’t be surprised if he played out his option and waited for next year when there will be plenty of teams that will miss out of the Lebron/Wade/Bosh lottery and have plenty left to spend. Like the Knicks.
Scratch the Heat and Pacers and add the Pistons and the Timberwolves to my list of free agent players, copied and pasted wrong. The Raptos and Hawks will be under to but have their own free agent so deal with first.