AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Loose is the best way to describe the Cavaliers as they prepared to take on the Detroit Pistons in Game 3 of the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. 

Leading the series 2-0, there’s no way they shouldn’t be.   Some might expect that the Pistons are more dangerous at home.  Well, that’s not quite the case.  Earlier this week when Detroit forward Tayshaun Prince said that his team didn’t defend home very well.  Given they own a 21-20, he was right.

It’s quite possible, however, the Pistons would be in a different position had they not traded point guard Chauncey Billups who currently has the Denver Nuggets up 2-0 on the New Orleans Hornets.  Mike Brown, for one, is glad he doesn’t have to see Billups – yet.

Chauncey is a great player; we had our hands full with him every time we played these guys. If I can help it, I’d love to not have to play against Chauncey Billups at any time.

The main guy the Pistons got in that trade – guard Allen Iverson – is done for the season with an apparent back injury.

It hasn’t exactly gone viral – yet – but the Cavs spoof of the now infamous Heineken beer walk-in closet commercial, but it has still racked up over 300,000 hits.

Coach Mike Brown was asked about the obvious glee that the players took in doing the commercial, which began showing at Quicken Loans Arena during playoff games.

Again, that’s our guys being our guys.  They are a group of guys that hang out together, a group of guys that eat together.  A group of guys have fun together and that commercial is just their personality, their being – at least this year. 

You can understand the looseness the Cavs have considering that the Pistons have only offered answers for their second team as opposed to the starters, especially in the case of LeBron James.

The Pistons’ Coach Mike Curry played him straight up and then they sent half the team and Bill Laimbeer and John Salley after him to no avail. When asked what he’d do, Brown said.

You’re going to have to ask Michael Curry.  I can’t help him.  I can’t try to help him.

Injury update:  Rookie forward J.J. Hickson hasn’t been cleared to participate in any activities yet…Expect Ben Wallace to play another 10-15 minutes against the Pistons.

Cavaliers rookie J.J. Hickson will miss the next 2-3 weeks with a stress-related back injury, it was revealed today.

The Cavs decided to shut down the rookie, who had a flare up approximately three months ago, after he began suffering symptoms 7-10 days ago.  More details will be revealed later today.

Hickson averaged four points and 2.7 rebounds in play this year, but has seen his playing time cut in recent weeks with the return of Joe Smith to the Cavs and the development of fellow rookie Darnell Jackson.

Some might wonder where the minutes that Joe Smith will play will come.

You won’t hear Zydrunas Ilgauskas complain about losing a few.  Ditto for Anderson Varejao.  Coach Mike Brown said as much today when asked if Smith would see action tonight against the Celtics:

I’m going to try.  I’m probably going to throw him out there.  Being gone as long as he was, he’s going to be a little bit behind offensively, but we really won’t know defensively until he gets out there into the flow of the game. He’s got to react.  We’ll see if it’s instinctive or if he’s got to think about it and he gets there a little late.

Smith gives Brown some much needed flexibility and depth with his big men, even more so once Ben Wallace returns from injury.  He’ll also be able to dial back Ilgauskas and Varejao’s minutes, but guess who’s going to take the big hit?  The rookie.  J.J. Hickson.  Since Wallace went down his minutes are up significantly and they are about to vanish.

When the Cavs lacked that depth at those positions, they almost had to have Hickson ready to contribute during the playoffs.  Once Wallace – who is expected to return for the playoffs – is back and providing they stay healthy, that’s less the case.

Hickson has grown throughout the year, but if you listen closely to Brown and pay attention to the way he chooses his words regarding his rookie big man, it’s easy to discern that he’s not exactly ready to trust him right now, primarily because of his defense.

If Smith can show that he still knows the defense, you can expect him to gobble up Hickson’s minutes – quickly.

Cavs 93, Raptors 76

The Cavaliers should have won this game in the first half.  It’s that simple, but they were their own worst enemy.  They went into the locker room leading 47-41, but that could have easily been double digits.

The problem:  they committed 11-of-20 of their turnovers in the first half leading to 10 Raptors points.  Ultimately, fans cannot quibble with the end results, which was  victory sparked a return to the defense they featured earlier in the season.

They held the Raptors to 36.5 percent shooting from the field, blocked seven shots and had seven steals.  They also crushed the Raptors on the boards 48-32, led by  a season high from Anderson Varejao with 14.

Offensively, they accomplished something they’d not done in a while which was getting center Zydrunas Ilgauskas established in the low post – giving him a couple of easy shots.  For them to have success in the post season, they will have to do this more.

At the half:  The Cavs got off to a shaky start as you might expect after a prolonged break, but turned it around.  They seemed to find their defensive rhythm again, holding the Raptors to under 40 percent in the first half, with Anderson Varejao leading the way with three blocked shots and nine rebounds. 

But where there’s good, there’s bad and in this case it comes in the form of turnovers by the Cavs as they’ve given up 11 in the first half leading to 10 Raptors points.

Game: Cavs vs. Toronto Raptors

Last time:  Cavs beat the Raptors 101-83 on Feb. 3.

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

Starters: Cavs:  LeBron James (F); Anderson Varejao (F); Zydrunas Ilguaskas (C); Tarence Kinsey (G); Mo Williams (G).  Raptors:  Shawn Marion (F); Joey Graham (F); Andrea Bargnani (F); Anthony Parker (G); Jose Calderon (G).

Officials:  Greg Willard, Tony Brown, Kevin Fehr

Injured and inactive: Cavs:  Eric Snow (knee), Ben Wallace (lacerations); Delonte West (wrist).  Raptors:  Chris Bosh (knee).

Streaking:  Cavs have won one in a row, the Raptors two.

Two things to look for:

Home, new home:  How Shawn Marion reacts to his new environs, having recently come from the Miami Heat.

Rust, rust rust:  First game afte rthe All-Star break, it’s certain that both teams will have to shake off some rust tonight.

Quotable:

From the coach’s office:

Mike Brown on J.J. Hickson’s play:

He’s gone through his ups and downs, but he’s probably had more ups than downs.  That’s going to continue the whole year and it may continue into his second year.

From the locker room:

Hickson on rumors of his being traded:

Coming into the league I already understood that the NBA is a business, things have to happen.  At the end of the day, that’s why they call them trade rumors. I’m not paying attention to that, I’m just focusing on this game.

You’ve likely read it here and here and here:

The Cavs are in the market for the Phoenix Suns’ Amar’e Stoudemire according to those reports. OK.  I get that.  They’re so close that they can taste.  An NBA championship or two over the next couple years will likely be enough for LeBron James to stay put.

On some level, dealing with the Suns makes sense:  Danny Ferry and Suns GM Steve Kerr have a relationship dating back to their Cavs days.  You think that Pau Gasol trade from the Grizzlies to the Lakers wasn’t helped by the fact that Jerry West had ties to both teams?

Will the Cavs do something?  I wouldn’t put it past Danny Ferry, given the trade he pulled off at the deadline last season.  But a source close to the team said Saturday that they’re not looking to do anything before the deadline.

Do you believe it?  It’s pro sports.  What’s true one day isn’t necessarily so the next.

So this is Memphis.  Ummm…OK.  What do I think? Can’t say just yet, but things didn’t get off to a rip roaring start when getting to the rental car place only to discover that they ummmm…well…didn’t have a car for us.  C’est la vie.

It got worse when I received a phone call from my wife telling me that a family member was calling because they needed a quick $800 so their car wouldn’t be repo’d.  Yes, that’s right.  I’m 600 miles away and I’m dealing with that.

Nevermind that this family member currently owes us $800.  It’s less than a month after Christmas, my wife and I were generous in helping other family members who were trying to help themselves get a head and this comes.  Nevermind that this person had recently found the money to join her husband in Florida when she was asked by him not to because they couldn’t afford it.

Yes, this is the way one of my family members thinks during a recession. The family member in question is extremely close to me.  The call unnerved me.  Considering I had still had to eat, I figured the best way to calm my nerves was with a double shot of Jack Daniels.  Jack Daniels.  Tennessee.  No problem.  Right?  Wrong.

First of all, dinner was at Carraba’s Italian Grill.  No, the irony didn’t escape me.  I’m in Memphis, capital of barbecue and I’m eating Italian.  Second of all, we had a wonderful server named Rachel.  We e put in our drink order, our dinner order and boom things are going swimmingly.

You see, growing up in blue collar Northeast Ohio, I learned at a rather young age from my grandfather that shots are taken straight.  No water.  No ice.  No mixer.  And you think that they’d know that in Tennessee the home of good ol’ No. 7, right?  Wrong.

The wonderful waitress brings out a rocks glass with this loaded with ice and a light brown mixture.

”What’s this,” I asked.

”Your drink,” she replied.

“I asked for a double shot,” I said.

“I’m sorry, sir.  I’ll check with the bartender,” she said.

Moments later she returned – with the same glass, filled with ice and a light brown mixture.

“I watched him pour it,” she said.  “It is a double.”

Something is getting lost in that North-South translation, I figure.

“Ummm…that’s not how you do shots,” I said.

“Huh?” she said with a puzzled look on her face.

“You do shots with no ice, no mixers and no water,” I reply.

“OH!” she said.

Moments later the restaurant manager comes up.  “Is there something wrong, sir?”

“Ummm no, not at all.  The server is great.  It’s just the drink is wrong.  I just asked for a double shot of Jack Daniels.”

“OK, sir.  We can take care of that,” he replied.

Indeed he did.  With his amiable Southern drawal, he brought me a double shot of Old No. 7 – in a snifter – a glass normally reserved for…brandy.

Ummm…I’m still not sure that I am in Tennessee.

One of the charming things in downtown Memphis

BOSTON – Opening night, at last.  Coupled with the fact that the Cavs vs. Celtics is on national TV and this is should be fun to watch. It’s rare when there’s drama associated with the first game of the season, but the Celtics raise their championship banner and get their rings tonight.  The Cavaliers said that they won’t be on the court to watch.  That I believe.  You only have to look into LeBron James’ eyes to see that will be the case

What I do not believe, however, is that it won’t serve as an incentive for the Cavaliers.  Given that they came thisclose to ousting them in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, there is incentive there to win it.  You only have to look to that first preseason game to see just how competitive this will get. The game came down to the wire and the Cavs showed intensity normally reserved for regular season games.  No amp that up.

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

Broadcast:

TV:  8 p.m., TNT

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

Starters:

Cavs:  Mo Williams (G); Delonte West (G); Zydrunas Ilgauskas (C); LeBron James (F); Ben Wallace (F).

Celtics:  Ray Allen (G); Rajon Rondo (G); Kendrick Perkins (C); Paul Pierce (F); Kevin Garnett (F)

Three things to watch: 

Delonte West is in the shooting guard spot tonight look to see how he performs there.  Coach Mike Brown said more than once that West plays bigger than he is primarily because of his toughness, long gangly arms and the afro.

Also take note of the different pace the Cavaliers have on the offensive side of ball with Mo Williams at the point guard.  It will be interesting to see if the team – including LeBron James – has the confidence in him to allow him to run the offense, or will we see more of the get-the-ball-to-LeBron-and-let-him-go offense?

It won’t be known until later in the season, but there should be some signal tonight of how the loss of James Posey affects the Celtics.  His would be replacement Tim Allen said that he’s up to the task, but Posey often provided the team a spark off the bench.  That’s not easily replaced by just anyone.  The consensus of the beat writers – the Celtics lost a little bit by losing Posey and the Cavs gained a little by adding Williams.

Quotable:

From the coach’s office: 

Mike Brown on the difficulty in getting minutes for Sasha Pavlovic and Wally Szczerbiak: 

 ‘If you ever figure it out, let me know.”

On LeBron James playing power forward: 

“We have slotted time for him to be at the four every game, which will give us the opportunity to look at him there and we have different combination of guys who will play along side him…If we like it, it’s something we may got to at the end of the game.”

On J.J. Hickson’s recent transgression and what he learned:

  Yes, it’s done.  He has to continue to learn and grow on the court, but while we’re going to give him some time to learn and grow on the court, the little things that he has to take care of off the court will always be there.

In the locker room:

(Zydrunas Ilgauskas on preseason being done):

  It’s been a long month and a lot of hard work was put in, but it’s been good for us.  We stayed from major injuries for the most part.  Guys got some playing time, got in better shape and got a feel for each other, so it’s been a good training camp.

 (Daniel Gibson on the Batman logo cut into his hair):

“It’s Halloween.  It’s that time of year, so I thought I’d do something different.”

Big shock:  ugly early season basketball.  GIve the Cavaliers credit for playing defense and holding the Celtics to under  45 percent shooting.  On any other night, that might be good enough, but not tonight.

Why?  Turnovers.  Coach Mike Brown set a goal of under 13 TOs per game.  The Cavaliers gave the ball away 21 times on the night.   The second problem?  Shots didn’t fall with any regularity.  Example:  they shot an abysmal 20 percent from three-point arc (3-of-15) LeBron James never fully got into a rhythm despite some nice moments.

Credit the Celtics with interrupting their offensive flow.  The Cavs moved the ball nicely in the first half – in the second, not so much as Boston clamped down on the defensive side of the ball. 

James said the Cavs played well enough to win.  The score says otherwise.

Quotable:

Mike Brown on turnovers:

 ‘’We are trying to play the game faster and yes we’re turning the ball over, (but) we’ve got to get to the point where we understand that we don’t want this to be a rat race.  We’ll lose a lot of games if it’s a rat race.”

LeBron James on the loss:

’We played well; the effort was there,’’ he said.  ‘’There’s some things that we could change, but all in all we played well, but they played better and they got a win.’’

COLUMBUS – It’s fun and mirth at Schottenstein Arena tonight.  This is one of those situations where I will happily bid adieu to the NBA’s preseason.  I suspect the goal in this game is as we’d expect in the fourth game of the NFL’s preseason – come out unscathed all while working up a sweat and giving the good folks of Cbus a good show.  I’ll confess, it’s difficult for me to see what Coach Mike Brown is cooking up here for the season.  To answer a couple of questions I’ve seen in the comments section on the blog: he’s not particularly worried about the two-guard spot.  About the only thing that’s sure is that Wally Szczerbiak will be coming off the bench.  Tonight look for Delonte West to start in that spot.

Game:  Cavaliers (3-5) vs. Washington Wizards (2-5)

Broadcast:

TV:  ESPN

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

Starters: Cavs:  Mo Williams (G); Delonte West (G); Zydrunas Ilgauskas (C); LeBron James (F).  Wizards:  Antonio Daniels (G); DeShawn Stevenson (G); Etan Thomas (C); Caron Butler (F); Antwan Jamison (F)

Officials: Derrick Stafford, Matt Boland, Mark Ayotte.

Pre-game:

In the coach’s office: 

On Delonte West starting tonight: 

“Delonte’s tough, he’s athletic, he can shoot the three, he can shoot off the dribble. There are a lot of things he can do offensively and defensively to help us out.”

In the locker room: 

LeBron James took a chance to needle teammate Mo Williams about his Crimson Tide connections.   Here’s what he said when asked about what he thought stood out in the college football season: 

” I think enn State has stood out.  I think the success of Texas is really good.  There’s a lot of teams success – Alabama has been really surprising.  But at the end of the day you always see the Buckeyes in the Top Ten.”

Game analysis:  It goes without saying that the Cavs gave their best effort of the preseason.  Personally, I’m just glad it’s over. LeBron James looked ready to go hitting on 9-of-14 shots for 26 points.

The good:  Defense in the paint improved.  The Cavaliers outscored the Wizards 46-26 in the paint and didn’t allow many uncontested shots in that area.  To go with it add eight blocked shots.  Overall the defense allowed the Wizards to shoot just 38.6 percent from the floor on 27-of-70 shooting.   Their transition defense looke much better as they only allowed the Wizards 13 fast break points.  Credit the fact that the Cavaliers kept their turnovers to a minimum.

Mo Williams tossed in 15 points on the good side.  On the other hand, he only dished out one assist.  Mike Brown said that he’s not concerned with that part of West’s game.  From this corner, it looks as if that elusive chemistry thing hasn’t been worked out yet and, perhaps, Williams isn’t completely adjusted to the Cavs offense.

Quotable:

LeBron James on the upcoming season: 

 Yeah, I’m ready for the season.  I told you it didn’t matter how many minutes I was going to play.  I’m prepared to go out there if it’s a regular season game. I probably would have played more if the game was a lot closer in the fourth quarter.  I got some nice work done today.

Mike Brown on rookie J.J. Hickson not seeing a lot of action: 

J.J. missed the bus this morning to shootaround and as a rookie, you especially can’t let that happen.  So he was going to sit there.  If it was a closer game, he would have probably sat the whole game.  There have been very, very few times that our guys have been late for anything.  He’s a rookie and he has to learn from his mistakes.   He should learn A) you shouldn’t miss the bus and B) if you’re on the bus after LeBron, Z, Mo and Ben, you shouldn’t get a ride with us. He has to continue to make sure he’s doing the job at hand and that means whatever business is in front of him.

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.’’