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.

Darnell Jackson returned to the Erie Bayhawks, the Cavs’ affiliate in the NBA D-League, for a game last night against the Austin Toros.
It was his second trip to Northwestern Pennsylvania for the minor league team.  In his first appearance, he scored 24 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Post mortem:

Early lackluster play doomed the Cavaliers tonight.  In the first quarter they weren’t as aggressive as they have been in going after the ball.  The Hawks beat them on the boards throughout the game with the Cavaliers only winning the fourth quarter by a single board. 

This team’s dilemma is that they’ve grown accustomed to be able to turn things on at will.  The problem:  With center Zydrunas Ilgauskas and guard Daniel Gibson gone, they do not have that luxury.  They have to play intelligent basketball throughout the quarter.

In the fourth quarter their defense failed them.  It reminded me of those days when they were close to grasping a win only to have it yanked away becuase they couldn’t get a defensive stop.  The Hawks’ Joe Johnson burned them with 11 points in the fourth quarter and even Coach Mike Brown admitted that they didn’t have an answer for him.

It didn’t hurt that the Hawks shot 39 free throws to the Cavs 23.

On the good side:  they erased a 14 point deficit to make things close and even had the chance to tie the game on separate three-point attempts by Mo Williams and Delonte West that both landed with thuds.

Both got good looks, but neither shot fell.  I don’t necesarily know that there’s such a thing as a good win.  However, with their win streak now gone, this one can serve as a reality check that in their current roster configuration, the Cavs need to play four quarters of basketball, not just over two.

Quotable:

Coach Mike Brown on the disparity in free throws:

We didn’t lose the game because of that, but I was a little shocked with the way the disparity was. You question some calls, but I’m sure when we win come games, our opponents question some calls too, so I’m OK with it.

LeBron James on the loss:

It was just a matter of who got more stops in the end, and the Hawks came up with more than we did.  We definitely had our chances tonight, but the Hawks just made more plays.

At the half:  Atlanta 47, Cavs 38
The Cavs suffered through their lowest scoring first half of the season.  What’s surpising is the Hawks’ margin of victory isn’t greater.  They had opportunities to blow this one open and couldn’t.
Another observation:  Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ value to this team is even more evident.  The middle of the court is congested.  Z’s ability to hit from the outside forces teams to protect the perimeter – not to tonight.  Because of that you see Anderson Varejao trying to pick up the slack, but he’s not Z, he can’t be relied upon to hit that open 15-19 foot jump shot.  He needs to play his game and quit worrying about whose shoes he’s filling.

Game: Cavs (20-3) at Atlanta Hawks (13-9)

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

Starters: Cavs: Anderson Varejao (F); Ben Wallace (F); LeBron James (F); Delonte West (G); Mo Williams (G).  Hawks:  Marvin Williams (F); Josh Smith (F); Al Horford (C); Joe Johnson (G); Mike Bibby (G)

Injuries:  Cavs:  Daniel Gibson (sprained left toe); Zydrunas Ilgauskas (left ankle sprain), Eric Snow (knee).  Hawks: Speedy Claxton.

Officials:  Mike Callahan, Derek Richardson, Scott Wall

Streaking:  Cavs tied a club record Friday night with its 11th consecutive win.  Atlanta won its last outing beating the Miami Heat.

Last time:  The Cavs beat the Hawks 110-96 at Quicken Loans Arena.
What to watch:

• This is the second week out of three that the Cavaliers have had contend with two back-to-backs in a week.  The last time out they went 4-for-4.  Although the goal is to continue winning, look to see whether mental and physical fatigue has set in.
• Anderson Varejao stepped up in a major way to fill the shoes of an injured Zydrunas Ilgauskas with 17 points and seven rebounds.  For the Cavaliers to continue to win, Varejao will have to continue to deliver.  It would make a big difference if Darnell Jackson, who looks as if he may have moved ahead of fellow rookie J.J. Hickson continues to rebound.
• Delonte West on Joe Johnson.  Some fans wonder why West gets so much ink and airtime in the area.  It’s simple, don’t just look at the box score.  West’s value shows up on the defensive side of the ball.   Tonight he’ll have his hands full with the Hawks’ Joe Johnson who stands about four inches taller and averages 23 points per game. During their first game earlier this season, West held Johnson to just four points.  Understand the value now?

Quotable:

From the coach’s office:

Mike Brown on why he doesn’t simply try to out score opponents and relies on defense:

It’s happened time and time and time again with teams that try to go that route. They’ll go that route three or four years, win a ton of games, but then all of a sudden we have to figure out a way to play defense and the whole team is dismantled and usually the coach is gone.

From the locker room:

LeBron James on the contributions of Anderson Varejao:

Andy’s been playing exceptionally well.  He kept up his performance like he did when he was coming off the bench last night by starting.  We need that same effort until Z gets back and I think he’s ready for the challenge.

Post Mortem:  Sorry for no halftime fellas, but my laptop is getting a bit buggy with wireless.

Tonight proved to be a night for the record books as Z and LeBron set individual ones for rebounds and steals respectively and the team set a league record by winning their ninth consecutive game by 12 or more points.  They also extended records already established by winning their 12th in a row at home and 17-of-18 their last 18.

But let’s get down to the nitty gritty.  This is one the Cavs won with offense and defense in the third quarter when they out scored the Raptors 31-16.  They had five steals, forced nine turnovers and had 11 fastbreak points to blow the game open. 

Defensively, they held Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal to a combined two points in the quarter. While LeBron led them in scoring, he got help from guard Mo Williams with seven points.  James continues to impress with his lockown defense while, Wililams may have played his most balanced game on the year tonight.

From the way they’ve extended this win streak, one thing is becoming abundantly clear.  The blase attitude that it only matters as long as they get to the playoffs is gone.  They understand the value of beating teams early and often.  It’s the right attitude to carry throughout the season and, yes, the playoffs.

Quotable:

From the coach’s office:

Mike Brown on the team coming back with the right attitude in the second half:

For a little bit there, I thought we got distracted by the referees and it kind of took us away from what our objective was for a little bit there,’’ Brown said.  ‘’The exciting thing about it was our group bounced back as a whole.  I didn’t even have to say anything to them about it.

From the locker room:

It means a lot more to me what Z did more than I did myself.  With everything he went through early in his career with foot injuries then going from losing season to losing season to losing season…to put his name in the record books is unbelievable for Z and after he’s done his name and jersey will hang in the rafters in Cleveland.

Game: Cavs (18-3) vs. Toronto Raptors (8-12)

Broadcast:  TV: FSOhio
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). Raptors:  Chris Bosh (F); Jermaine O’Neal (F); Andrea Bargnani (C); Jose Calderone (G); Anthony Parker (G).

Inactives:  Cavs:  Eric Snow, Jawad Williams, Lorenzen Wright.  Toronto:  Nathan Jawai.

Officials:  Joe Crawford, Matt Boland, Joe Frote

Streaking:  The Cavaliers are winner of eight in a row, 11 at home.  Toronto has lost four-in-a-row.
Three Things to Watch:

• The Raptors start three forwards in Jermaine O’Neal, Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh.  Bosh will get the lion’s share of points, but depending on which of these guys starts at the center position, Zydrunas Ilgauskas could find himself on the bench early depending upon matchups.  He’s looking to break the team record for rebounds that is currently held by Brad Daugherty.
• The teams do not matchup well at all because of those starting forwards.  What’s key is watching who LeBron is defending and who’s defending him.  Lately, he’s been a beast on the defensive side of the ball holding Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace and Indiana’s Danny Granger to one and four points respectively.
• It’s a night for records to fall.  Ilgauskas, as mentioned, is four away from the rebound record and James needs just one steal to best Mark Price’s team record in that category.Quotable:

Quotable:

From the coach’s office:

Mike Brown on the possibility of his team breaking a record for consecutive wins by 12 or more points, which is currently eight:

That was news to me when they told me. If you get a record, great.  I know for me, I’m not searching for records. There’s only one thing I’m searching for.

Things started a bit rocky with the Pistons going on a 7-0 run.  No problem as the Cavaliers shook off a slow start to take a 49-38 lead into the locker room.  Why the difference?  The Cavs are getting some serious calls. They’ve went to the foul line 15 times to the Piston’s..umm…ahem…three.  They’ve hit 12 of those shots.  They have a slight advantage in rebounds 23-19, but are losing the shooting battle.  They’ve shown more defensive intensity in this first half with 5 blocked shots to the Pistons 1.  LeBron James said before tip-off that this game would have a playoff feel to it.  So far it’s as advertised.

Broadcast:

TV:  FSOhio

Radio:   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).  Pistons:  Tayshaun Prince (F) Rasheed Wallace (F); Kwame Browns (C); Richard Hamilton (G); Allen Iverson (G)

Injuries:  Cavs:  Eric Snow (knee); Wally Szczerbiak excused for personal reasons.  Pistons:  None.

Officials:  Joe DeRosa, Ron Olesiak, Olandis Poole

Streaking:  Cavs have won 8 consecutive games; the Pistons have won three-in-a-row, all on the road.

Two things to watch:

1)      How Allen Iverson fits with the team.  He and Chauncey Billups are two polar opposite players in that Billups looked to get teammates involved in the game before taking his own shot.  Iverson – pure scorer.  Obviously they’ve done something right as the Pistons came off a mini West Coast swing with a 3-1 record on that trip.

2)      LeBron James on Tayshaun Prince.  Prince has assumed more of Billups’ role as a facilitator and plays more of a point forward now.

Quotable:

From the coach’s office: 

Mike Brown on whether LeBron James has elevated his game:

Yeah, he is and obviously every year that you play in the league on both sides of the ball, especially if you’re a worker, you’re going to get better.  And he’s a worker on both sides of the ball.

From the locker room: 

LeBron James on the whether he’s surprised about the attention his ‘’imminent’’ free agency has attracted:

No, sometimes people don’t have nothing to write about. They need a story once again and keep bringing up my free agency. 

LeBron James on the Pistons without Chauncey Billups

It was definitely weird seeing Chauncey playing in that Nuggets uniform last week. It’s going to be weird going out there and not seeing him be the point guard for this team.  It is weird.  It should be weird to everyone that’s been around Detroit and been around sports.

 

 

Ben Wallace on being back in Detroit:

 It’s just strange coming in here and this guy is no longer here and that guy is no longer here and a couple more guys are no longer here…That’s a little strange because we played together for a number of years and we built that friendship – that bond. 

CLEVELAND –  The Cavaliers come into the fifth pre-season game tonight looking for their first victory against the 76ers, a team that has some serious prospects in the Eastern Conference this year courtesy of Andre Iguodala, Andre Miller and Elton Brand, who bolted the Los Angeles Clippers during the off-season for the cold and cash in Philly.

Mike Brown continues the same line that the team is only looking to get better.  They’re relaxed, focused and just looking at it as a warm-up.  I suspect there will be a change in attitude beginning next week.

Game:  Cavaliers (1-4) vs. Philadelphia 76ers  (3-2)

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

Starters: Cavs:  Mo Williams (G); Sasha Pavlovic (G); LeBron James (F); Ben Wallace (F); Zydrunas Ilgauskas (C).  Philadelphia:  Andre Miller (G); Andre Iguodala (G); Thaddeus Young (F); Marreese Speights (F); Theo Ratliff (C).

Officials: S. Corbin, E. Lewis and E. Roe.

Streaking:  Cavaliers have lost four in a row.

What to watch:  The 76ers are averaging more than 100 points per game in the preseason.  Sasha Pavlovic gets his second start in the preseason in tonight’s game as Mike Brown continues to look for his starter in that role.  The Cavs will be without rookie Darnell Jackson who fractured his left wrist at some point during the preseason.

Pregame:

In the coach’s office:

Mike Brown on Jackson’s injury:  He’s having a good camp, but now he’s got to try to figure out the other side of it which is how to stay in shape, still learn and still grow and so on and so forth. 

Brown said it could affect the next round of cuts.

On Wally Szczerbiak not playing:  “If it was a playoff game he’d be out there.  Then again with Wally’s age and the number of years he’s been in the league, if guys like that say they’re banged up or a little sore, I’d rather err on the side of being overcautious.”

In the locker room:  “Jackson said he didn’t know when the injury took place, but it’s been bothering him for a couple weeks.  It began as a pain that didn’t go away.  He eventually asked them to check it out and team doctors found the fracture.”

“You’re out there and you’re sweating, your heart’s pumping and you’re constantly moving, you can tweak something but it’s not on your mind,’’ Jackson said. ‘’You’re just focusing on the game and that’s probably what happened.

On why he didn’t seek treatment initially:  “That’s just how I am.  If it’s not killing me, I don’t care.  Tape me up.  Duct tape and I’m ready to go.”

Post game analysis:   The Cavaliers win 100-93 behind the efforts of the Delonte West-led second unit.  As much as I would have liked to see more of the starters go at it in this game, reality dictates that until the regular season starts Coach Mike Brown will be using them cautiously.  No arguments here.  Besides, offensively at least, they delivered in the limited minutes in which they played.  LeBron James had 16 points, 19 rebounds and 4 assists.   Zydrunas Ilgauskas dropped in 17 and grabbed 8 rebounds.

What has to be more soothing to Brown, however, is how guard Delonte West manned up to run the team after starter Mo Williams was ejected for a friendly skirmish with Andre Miller.  West produced a double-double with 17 points and 10 assists.   He moved into the paint crisply, dished off intelligently and what’s becoming evident is West, after having enough time to absorb the system, plays confidently within it.

Brown must also be content with a bench that delivered against the 76ers as well.  Anderson Varejao his on 7-of-7 shots and scored a total of 15, Daniel Gibson added 9 points and Wally Szczerbiak 8.

Post-game quotables: 

(Coach Mike Brown on Delonte West):  Delonte West did a terrific job.  He distributed the ball very well and he ran the team very well when he was on the floor and he stepped in and knocked down shots when he was open.”

(Delonte West):  “Even though we didn’t have our top guns out there in the fourth quarter, that shouldn’t make a difference.  It’s on the five players on the floor at the time to try to win the game.  It was big for the confidence of the young guys out there and also for the confidence of the team.”

UPDATED – Sorry, guys.  I thought this updated before making the late-night trek from Pittsburgh.  Included are post game comments and audio.

PITTSBURGH – Did you know that the city of Pittsburgh was built on a series of winding, rolling hills?  That’s great if you’re into that type of stuff, but when you’re trying to find a college campus where two NBA teams are playing in a college arena, it’s not exactly a treat.

A fellow colleague in the media chided me prior to this wonderful two-hour drive to this scenic city for relying on my GPS.  Yes, I got the last laugh because although getting here was still an experience, I beat him by a significant amount of time?  The point?  There is none.

I’ve just learned rather quickly that when it comes to the preseason in the NBA, at least with games, there’s not a lot of new stuff to talk about, especially when you’re playing the same team from three days prior.

Game: Boston Celtics (2-1) vs. Cavaliers (0-2)

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

Starters: Cavs:  LeBron James (F); Anderson Varejao (F); Zydrunas Ilgauskas (C); Wally Szczerbiak (G); Mo Williams (G).  Celtics:  Paul Pierce (F);Kevin Garnett (F); Kendrick Perkins (C); Ray Allen (G); Rajon Rondo (G)

Streaking:  Cavaliers have lost two consecutive exhibition games (Repeat after me:  big deal).

What to watch:  LeBron James pronounced himself ready to go the other day after practice.  My guess is he’ll see about the same amount of time from the other day (13.5 minutes), enough to thrill the crowd then that will be it.

As for the rest of the team, pay close attention to rookies J.J. Hickson and Darnell Jackson – especially the latter. Coach Mike Brown singled Jackson out for his hustled and offered some serious high praise the other day.  With Sasha Pavlovic nursing a sprained ankle Wally Szczerbiak will start again at the two guard spot. While Brown liked his offensive performance against the Celtics last Friday night, he wasn’t too enamored of his defense.  Look for him to try to step it up.

Quotable:

From the coach’s office: 

Mike Brown on Ben Wallace’s situation:  I’m not too good at forecasting stuff in the future.   We have other guys that we feel can step in, but we miss his presence…What’s great is the young guys (Hickson and Jackson) will get some time tonight.  We’ve got to try to figure out who can step in in his place and play some productive minutes while he’s not here.

Is he concerned about the absence? :  Right now I’m not going to sit back and bang my head up against the wall or anything like that;  you just have to coach and go to the next play.

From the locker room:

LeBron James on Bill Walker:  He plays with a chip on his shoulder.  We’ve seen that through the pre-season already. He’s a good kid, I guess,’’ he said with a smile.   Yeah, I ain’t forgot it.

Post game analysis

I’ll be writing the same thing until the preseason is over – it’s only practice.  But looking at the time the regulars played in the first half gives you some idea that Mike Brown has been heard with respect to defense.  In the second quarter the Cavs held the Celtics to 17 total points.

After that?  It got just plain sloppy as the teams committed a combined 36 turnovers (20 for the Cavs and 16 for Boston) and went to the line 85 times combined (45 for Boston and 40 for the Cavaliers).

Some good did come from it, however, as rookies J.J. Hickson and Darnell Jackson looked lively on both ends of the floor.  In Hickson you can see an impressive combination of power and athleticism.  The first-round draft pick from North Carolina State, when he has the opportunity, moves to the basket with power and showed a nice touch with a medium-range jump shot.   He scored 8 points and pulled down 6 rebounds.

As for Jackson, he is as exactly as he’s said numerous times during training camp.  He brings energy to the floor.  He impressed by contesting shots, willing giving his body up for the ball and showed that he can hit an open jumper.

With Big Ben Wallace back in Cleveland nursing a tight back, these two made the most of their opportunities on the court.

Post game quotables:

From Darnell Jackson:  “I think I did pretty good.  It was all right.  It’s still a learning experience for me…It’s just going to take time and I’m going to learn it,’’ forward Darnell Jackson said. ‘And just whatever the coaches have me do I’m going to go in there and watch tape and just try to fix my mistakes.

Mike Brown on his rookies:  dj-mb-boston-10-14 ‘’It’s early, but did they take a step forward tonight?  Yes,’’ he said.  ‘’Can they take a step backward?  Yes, they can take many backward, but tonight I thought they took a couple of steps forward.’’