Wally Szczerbiak’s left knee strain that will keep him out for much of the rest of the regular season will require Mike Brown to shift his rotation once again.  In Szczerbiak the team lost some flexibility.

Brown said after Thursday’s morning shootaround that Sasha Pavlovic, because of his size, will see his minutes increase.  Some may view that as a good thing, others a bad.  What is known about Pavlovic is that when he gets extended minutes, he usually produces.

It also represents another oppportunity for Daniel Gibson to try to get untracked.  Gibson, who has received DNP-CDs  (did not play – coach’s decision) the past two games, has been inconsistent all season.  In fairness, part of that has been due to a toe injury, but he said recently that it’s 100 percent. In short:  there should be no excuses for a lack of production now.

***

Rookie forward Darnell Jackson will rejoin the team tonight after his oh-so-brief appearance with the Erie Bayhawks of the NBA D-League.  Jackson scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in a 114-106 win over the Austin Toros.

Post mortem:  Cavaliers didn’t look their best tonight.  Luckily the 76ers weren’t especially impressive either.

After locking down on opponents in previous games, LeBron James didn’t look particularly dominating on defense against Andre Inguodala, allowing him 21 first half points.  In the post game he said that Coach Mike Brown challenged hm to return to the form he’d been exhibiting the past few games against some of the league’s better forwards.

Having lost Daniel ”Boobie” Gibson to a sprained left big toe earlier this week and center Zydrunas Ilgauskas in this game, the Cavs needed someone to step up.  Enter Mo Williams who tossed in 27 points and Anderson Varejao who added 15 points and eight rebounds.

Say what you will about the ugliness of this game, but last year at this is time this is one the Cavs would have rolled over and played dead in or they would rely strictly on No. 23.  Not this season.  Williams displayed tonight by getting a season high 27 points that he can step up and fill that void when needed.

Quotable:

From the coach’s office:

Mike Brown on the game overall:

Obviously both teamd didn’t have their best game; that happens sometimes.  It’s good for us, coming off a back-to-back to come into somebody’s building knowing that we did not play our best basketball and still get a win.

From the locker room:

LeBron James on closing the 76ers out tonight:

It’s always tough in the league to come fof back-to-back, especially with a running team like this.  It’s just the mindset that we have that we want to come out every night, no matter whatever it is, we just try to win.  Tonight we took care of business.

Game: Cavaliers (13-3) at Philadelphia (9-13)

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

Starters:  Cavs:  LeBron James (F); Ben Wallace (F); Zydrunas Ilgauskas (C); Delonte West (G); Mo Williams (G). 76ers:  Andre Iguodala  (F); Elton Brand (F); Samuel Dalembert (C); Wilie Green (G); Andre Miller (G).

Streaking:  The Cavaliers have won nine in a row.  The Sixers lost their last game.

Three things to watch:

• Look to see how effective Elton Brand is. He returns to the line-up after.  He missed games against the Detroit Pistons and New Jersey Nets.  Hammys are notoriously difficult from which to recover and it could hinder Brand, who averages almost 17 points per game.
• Who will step up for Daniel Gibson? This is the first significant speed bump the Cavaliers have hit in the season as Gibson is expected to miss at least two weeks with a sprained left toe.
• Mo Williams vs. Andre Miller:  if you recall, Williams and Mller got into a little tussle during the pre-season.  Williaims stated that the bad blook goes back to his days in Milwaukee.

Quotable:
From the coach’s office:

Mike Brown on what has to happen given the loss of Gibson:

We’ve talked about having a deep team, now it’s going to have to come in play a little bit, missing one of our key guys. 

In the locker room:

Delonte West on what Gibson brings to the team:

He spreads the floor. He’s capable of handling the ball also.  That’s always dangerous when you have a guard that bigger (shooting) guards have to match up with who can out quick them.  He can put them in plays – point guard plays…we’re definitely going to miss that aspect of our team.

CLEVELAND –  A blooming Derrick Rose comes into Quicken Loans Arena to take on a Cavaliers team coming off a 1-1 road trip and after putting together their best game of the young season.

Rose is averaging more than 17 points a game and has picked up some recognition nationally for his skills.

Game:  Cavaliers (2-2) vs. Chicago Bulls (2-2)

Broadcast:

TV:  ESPN

WAKR (1590 AM); WTAM (1100 AM), WHBC (1480 AM)

Starters:  Cavs:  Mo Williams (G); Delonte West (G); LeBron James (F); Ben Wallace (F); Zydrunas Ilgauskas (C). Bulls:  Derrick Rose (G); Thabo Sefolosha (G); Luol Deng (F); Tyrus Thomas (F); Drew Gooden (C).

Officials:  Mark Wunderlich, David Jones, Eli Roe

Streaking:  Cavs have won one

Three things to watch:

1)      Let’s see if Mo Williams can build on what he started in Dallas.  For those he missed it.  With LeBron James on the bench, he took over the game scoring 9 points in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Mavericks and seal a victory.

2)      Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas is having an excellent, albeit unnoticed, start to the season averaging 15.3 points per game and 6.8 rebounds.  With Drew Gooden playing on him, it will be interesting to see how they match up.

3)      In general the team should continue to build on their success in some areas.  The defense is solid, although Coach Mike Brown expects it to get better, but what’s instantly noticeable is that the team isn’t leaning on LeBron as much as in prior years.  Five players currently average in double figures.

Quotable:

Mike Brown on what he did election night: 

‘’It was exciting just for the fact that we witnessed something that was historic and it doesn’t matter who you voted for or how the race went – whether it was good or bad, just to be able to witness something like that was spectacular.’’

From the locker room:

Former Cav Drew Gooden on matching up against Zydrunas Ilgauskas:

‘’Yes, I’m a center now and I finally get to play with Z,’’ he said. ‘’It’s the first time ever. Not even in practice.  I finally get to guard Z.  I get the match-up against the big fella.’’

He joked that he will have to be aware of one of Ilgauskas’ techniques – reaching over an opposing player’s back to get to the ball. ‘’I’m a captain now, so I have a little bit more leeway with the refs. I’m going to get on that early,’’ he said.

Post-game analysis:

Three reasons they won:

1)      The obvious:  LeBron James dropped 41 points on the Bulls with little effort.  In games where he scored 40 or more, the team is 20-5.  But it’s the way he did it and offers clues to the way they prefer to use James.  He attacked the basket relentlessly and he went to the line 16 times and hit 15 of those shots.

2)      Defense:  The Cavs held the Bulls to under 40 percent shooting on the night.  Yes, Derrick Rose got 20 points and Ben Gordon 31, but the Cavs stayed active on the defensive end of the floor.

3)      Overall guard play:  Starters Mo Williams and Delonte West combined for 29 points. Williams kept the offense in flow, but West after looking shaky during his first start at shooting guard is really starting to come on.   Playing both these guys at the same time adds a dimension to the Cavs’ offense.  It’s Williams’ team to run, but the fact that West knows the point shows up often. During the first quarter West drove the lane, drawing defenders in and found a wide-open Mo Williams for a three-point shot from the left wing.

CLEVELAND –  The Cavaliers reveal their new look to the hometown fans tonight.  After a disappointing – not disastrous – disappointing effort versus the Celtics they open at home against a team they should beat.

A certain awkwardness prevailed over their season opener against the Boston Celtics and with the exception of Zydrunas Ilgauskas almost everyone looked out of sorts to some degree.  LeBron got 22, but shot under 45 percent.  Mo Williams didn’t distribute the ball that well.  If they are going to get into a groove going into a short road trip beginning with New Orleans Saturday.

Game:  Cavaliers (1-1) vs. Charlotte Bobcats (0-1)

Broadcast:

TV:  FSN Ohio

Radio:  WAKR (1590 AM); WTAM (1100 AM), WHBC (1480 AM)

Starters: Cavs:  Mo Williams (G); Delonte West (G); Zydrunas Ilgauskas (C); Ben Wallace (F); LeBron James (F).  Bobcats:  Raymond Felton (G); Jason Richardson (G); Gerald Wallace (F); Sean May (F); Emeka Okafor (C).

Streaking:  Cavs have lost one.

Three things to watch:

1)      They need to protect the frakkin’ basketball.  Against the Celtics they had more than 20 turnovers.  Yes, they want to play faster, but they have to play with more court awareness and smarter.

2)      Mo Williams – can he get untracked  tonight?  Only two assists on Tuesday night, although he did score 12 points.  For the Cavs to be more successful he has to threaten in the paint.

3)      James.  Personally, I think that playing in Boston the night of their banner raising and ring ceremony bothered him more than he was willing to admit.

Quotable:

From the coach’s office: 

Mike Brown on turnovers:  It happened. You don’t want it to happen.  A lot of them were unforced.  Now, the Celtics play very good physical defense.  They’re grabbing you and beating on you the entire game and picking up their intensity can have some effect. Their defense had something to do with it in that regard, but we could have done a better job handling their defense and the ball.

From the locker room: 

LeBron James on appearing with Jay-Z at a concert to get out the vote for Barack Obama:   It was great.  It was great….I hope it went well for everyone in attendance.  IT wasn’t just a concert to watch Jay-Z it was a big picture thing.

Post-game analysis:

This one is easy.  Heck, you guys could tell me how they won this one.  Nevermind that they should have to start. It starts with defense and protecting the ball. 

The Cavs held the Bobcats to a meager 34 percent shooting from the field.  They blocked 11 shots and dominated the boards 46-34.  Their transition defense was also what it needed to be as the Bobcats only got 10 points off fast break opportunities.

Secondly, Cavs fans got a look at what Mo Williams can do when out on the floor.  Williams scored 17 points, dished out 7 assists and added four rebounds for good measure.

Add Daniel Boobie Gibson’s 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting and you have the ingredients of a pretty good defense, but this is just the second game of the season.

Trends that always seem to haunt the Cavs reared their heads tonight.  For instance, they shot just 66 percent from the free throw line.  More importantly, at least in this game:  they once against allowed themselves to get out played in the third quarter coming out ice cold and allowing the Bobcats to come within five at  60-55.  In the third quarter they shot a pathetic 33 percent from the floor and turned the ball over five times. They can get away with that against a team like the Bobcats – with a team like…oh, I don’t know, Boston, not so much.  Sort of like Tuesday night.

From here it’s on to the Big Easy to face the New Orleans Hornets.

Quotable:

LeBron James had to play just 30 minutes tonight.  It sounded as if that made him happy: 

‘’We had a lot of guys contribute tonight and I got a lot of rest,’’ James said. ‘’I believe in our roster so I don’t have to go out there and average 44 or 42 minutes. We have so much depth, guys that we can go to when I’m out of the ball game.’’

Coach Mike Brown heaped praise on point guard Mo Williams:

 ‘’I thought Mo Williams did a nice job in getting our team to believe that they had to get stops in order to get the win.  He brought our team together.  He kept talking about getting stops,’’ Brown said. ‘’ He got the guys to share the ball and try to run the offense at the other end.  It resulted for us in a big run.’’