It would be easy to explain what happened to the Cavaliers in Indianapolis, but sometimes it’s best to hear it with your own ears.  In the audio, Brown, LeBron James and Mo Williams are talking about referee Joe Crawford’s controversial call:  brown-james-williams2

Game: Cavs vs. Indiana Pacers

Broadcast:  TV: FSOhio
WAKR (1590 AM); WTAM (1100 AM), WHBC (1480 AM)

Starters: Cavs:  LeBron James (F); Ben Wallace (F); Zydrunas Ilguaskas (C); Wally Szczerbiak (G); Mo Williams (G).  Pacers:  Danny Granger (F); Troy Murphy (F); Roy Hibbert (C); Jarrett Jack (G); T.J. Ford (G).

Injured and inactive: Cavs: Eric Snow, Tarence Kinsey, Delonte West.  Pacers:  Mike Dunleavy, Jeff Foster, Jamaal Tinsley.
Officials: Joe Crawford, Bernie Adams and Eric Dalen
Streaking:  Cavs have lost one, as have the Pacers.
Two things to look for:

• LeBron James on Danny Granger – James had a so-so game against the Los Angeles Lakers and will be looking to ”redeem” himself.
• The Cavs interior defense took a beating against the Lakers.  It needs to be shored up and fast.  Lamar Odom loked like he was being escorted ot the hoop on many occasions Sunday.

 Quotable:

From the coach’s office:

Mike Brown on Mo Williams making the All-Star Game:

“It was great to be able to take that news to Mo Williams. That was definitely one of the highlights of my time here.”
 

From the locker room:

Mo Williams on making the All-Star Game:

It kind of worked out as a great situation. Obviously LeBron has been there every year supporting the organization.  It says a lot when you have two players and the whole entire coaching staff.   We’re battling injuries and still winning basketball game so that says a lot about the coaching staff and the players on this team.

Post-mortem:  Cavs 101, Raptors 83

Believe it or not, the game shouldn’t have been close.  The Cavs jumped out to a 23 point lead at one point, but the Raptors proved ferocious cutting it to eight on a few occasions.

The difference in the game:  the fourth quarter when the Cavs got back into a defensive frame of mind.  Coach Mike Brown was still in awe of two plays that LeBron James made in that period, the most obvious being a monster rejection of a would-be Chris Bosh dunk.

The second involved turning what could have been a Jermaine O’Neal dunk into a turnover.

But just as much credit goes to Daniel Gibson for pacing the Cavs with 10 four quarter points.  He hit 4-of-4 shots in the quarter, including two three-pointers.

Overall the Cavs held the Raptors to 39.7 percent shooting in the game and a rather anemic 8 percent from the three-point arc.

Quotable:

Mike Brown on the defensive effort in the fourth quarter:

In the fourth quarter, LeBron came out and set the tone defensively.  He was really good at that end and everyone followed  and when that happens it’s exciting to see.

LeBron James on scoring his 12,000th career point, the youngest to do so that quickly:

It’s definitely an honor to go out there every night and do the things I do as an individual.  I was blessed with a god-given ability.  I’m getting better every year and everyday and never taking a day off. To be able to do it all in a Cavs uniform is great.

At the half:  For all practical purposes this game is over.  Feel free to send someone to section 128 in press row to awaken me when it’s over.

The Cavaliers are shooting a ridiculous 61 percent from the three-point line at the half.  LeBron James has his inside and outside games working and eight players have scored.  With a team record 23 consecutive wins on line, it looks like it’s a foregone conclusion at this point.  I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

Game: Cavs (37-9) vs. Toronto Raptors (19-30)

Broadcast:  TV: FSOhio. Radio:  WAKR (1590 AM); WTAM (1100 AM), WHBC (1480 AM).

Starters: Cavs:  LeBron James (F); Ben Wallace (F); Zydrunas Ilguaskas (C); Wally Szczerbiak (G); Mo Williams (G).  Raptors:  Jermaine O’Neal (F); Chris Bosh (F); Andrea Bargnani (C); Anthony Parker (G); Jose Calderon (G).

Injured and inactive: Eric Snow (knee); Delonte West (wrist); Tarence Kinsey (ankle).  Raptors Kris Humphries.

Officials: Tony Brothers, Derrick Collins, Eric Lewis.

Streaking:  Cavaliers have won two consecutive. The Cavs have lost two consecutive.

Two things to look for:

• No Sasha tonight, so what will Wally Szczerbiak’s first start look like? He’s been shooting at a 70 percent clip in his last three games (12-of-17).
• Chris Bosh will forever be dangerous; forget about the talk that’s swirling around him and not re-signing with the Raptors in ‘10.  He can shoot outside and he’s got a strong interior game.  Whether he gets much support remains to be seen.

Quotable:

From the coach’s office:

Mike Brown on Mo Williams’ renewed chances of making the All-Star team:

‘’If he can go to the game, it doesn’t matter how he gets there because they’re not going to put an asterisk by it or anything like that.   He’s not going to have an asterisk by it when he tells  his grandkids.  He’s an all-star and that’s what we believe he is.  That’s the way he’s played for us, so hopefully it does happen.’’

From the locker room:

Williams on his All-Star chances:

‘’Why wouldn’t I?  That’s a great opportunity.  It’s a dream. I always want it to happen, but you kind of just let it happens.  If it does, it does. You just want to try to keep an open mind about it.’’

In case you hadn’t heard, Mo Williams still has a shot at making the NBA All-Star Game because the Orlando Magic’s Jameer Nelson suffered a separated shoulder against the Dallas Mavericks Monday night.

Already the jockeying has begun for other teams to get their players on the spot – most notably it comes from – of all places – New York as media there make the case for David Lee, last year’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week.  And with his stats:  16 points, 11.7 rebounds per game can’t be overlooked, but sorry, and maybe I’m biased.  Actually, I’m likely to be biased here.

You see, although they play different positions, Mo Williams’ numbers with respect to scoring compare favorably with Lee’s at 17.3 points per game.  But because their positions are different an apple-to-apple comparison proves virtually impossible, so what does that leave us with?

For me it’s simple: impact.

The Cavaliers would have likely won at least 45-50  games without Williams this season and grabbed a mid-range seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs bracket, but with him they challenge for the No. 1 see and are on pace to win more than 60 games and Williams is the primary reason.

Ben Wallace said it best last week when he called it a shamockery that Williams didn’t make it on his merits last week.  In his last five games he averaged 25 poitns per game and, more importantly, he is the one player on the roster who can maintain a lead or takeover a game.

Given Williams’ impact and the Cavs’ record, the NBA – that means David Stern in this case – has the chance to right an injustice.