Post-mortem:  Cavs 99, Nets 89

The good:  There ain’t a whole lot of good to take from this one, but let’s go with the combined play of centers Shaquille O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.   It probably worked just the way coach Mike Brown drew it up (facetiousness) – Shaq inside and Z from the outside. 

LeBron James took over the game in the third quarter at one point scoring seven consecutive points to give the Cavs a healthy cushion.  Statistically they dominated the game shooting 58 percent, grabbing 41 rebounds to the Nets 36 and putting up 58 of their points in the paint.  But they lacked focus and energy.  Once again: they play to the level of their competition.

The bad:  Delonte West went back to the inactive list after looking as if he were back in the flow with respect to his teammates.   At times it’s easy to wish the team would cut times to him, but anyone who’s been paying attention knows what he is capable of when he’s right.

The ugly:  It was unintentional, with LeBron James even offering him support, but Devin Harris’ foul on Jamario Moon looked beyond ugly.  Thankfully Moon wasn’t hurt in the process.  Harris received an ejection from the game.

Game: Cavs vs. New Jersey Nets
Broadcast:

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

Starters: Cavs:  LeBron James (F); J.J. Hickson (F); Shaquille O’Neal (C); Anthony Parker (G); Mo Williams (G).  Nets: Josh Hassell (F); Josh Boone (F); Brooke Lopez (C); Courtney Lee (G); Devin Harris (G).

Injured:

Cavs:  Daniel Gibson (right pinky sprain) – GAME TIME DECISION; Leon Powe (knee surgery) – OUT

Nets:  Tony Battie (sore right hip flexor) – QUESTIONABLE;  Chris Douglas-Roberts (left knee sprain); Kenyon Dooling (sore hip flexors); Jarvis Hayes (strained left hamstring), Yi Jianlian (upper lip laceration) are all OUT.

Officials:  Bennett Salvatore, TBD

• The Nets are losers of three straight and own a 3-22 record with the latest loss coming at the talons of the Atlanta Hawks.  It would be embarrassing for the Cavs to lose this game, but this year they tend to play to the level of their competition.  They are just 1-5 against sub .500 teams this season. 
• The Nets still have a couple of weapons; in fact, their starting five is pretty solid with center Brook Lopez leading the way with 19.5 points, 9.3 rebounds per game.  Point guard Devin Harris averages 16.5 points per game and Chris Douglas-Roberts averages 16 points per game when healthy.  But if beng honest this is a team that’s been decimated by injuries early on and still.  They’re not as bad as their record indicates.

You can never accuse the Washington Wizards of having long memories. The team that injuries decimated last season is healthy, has a new coach and, apparently a new life.

Some things never change, however and that’s the fact that the Wizards kinda, sort of, well…detest the Cavs and, it would seem LeBron James in particular.  But the level of vitriol was taken to a new level – I’ll leave it to you to decide whether it’s high or low – the other day during a practice.

Mike Miller, a player the Wizards acquired in the offseason from the Minnesota Timberwolves and a good friend of James, wore some of the Cleveland superstar’s signature shoes in practice.  The reaction was immediate according to the Washington Post.

Miller has been wearing Adidas since he was a sophomore in high school but switched to Nike after signing a contract with them this summer. He’s been urged by Deshawn Stevenson, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison to wear any pair but the ones donned by the could-be King.

Much of this is apparently being driven by Deshawn Stevenson, a second-tier player who has an on-going thing with James.

“We already talked about that,” said Stevenson, a noted James agitator. “He got to get ‘em out of here. We already had a discussion. He said he going to try some new shoes. Me, Caron, Antawn told him about how we feel about them. LeBron shoes — we off that. We already got war against them. He can’t wear that. It’s all beef right there.”

 James has had a short week of feuds and controversy.  You can’t blame him for wanting to put things behind him.

‘’I don’t have feuds with anybody.  Everybody has feuds with me.  I don’t know why,’’ he said.

Bad news Cavs fans:  The Cavaliers aren’t the favorite, even with the additions of Shaquille O’Neal and Anthony Parker, to win the NBA’s championship this season.  They’re not even the favorite to win the league’s Eastern Conference – at least not with the league’s general managers.

Just 17.9 percent of league GMs say that the Cavs are good enough to win this year’s championship and they’re tied with the 2007-08 champs, the Boston Celtics.  The reigning champs, the Los Angeles Lakers, are favored to repeat by 60.7 of the NBA’s top execs.

Fifty-percent of GMs expect the Celtics, who will have the Boston Three Party in tact to start the season, to reassert themselves atop the Eastern Conference.  More than 42 percent said the Cavs will find themselves in The Finals.

Individually, there was good news for LeBron James as GMs expect him to repeat as NBA MVP. 

My assessment?  Nothing wrong with a healthy dose of skepticism or a reality check for the Cavs.  Expectations by Cleveland fans desperate for a winning are so high, I suspect that they’d starte following the Cleveland City Stars, the local pro soccer team.  Yes, there is one.

The reality is the Cavs got better in the off season.  The bench has the depth that most NBA teams would scream for with the additions of Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon.  It gets better when Leon Powe is cleared to play.  But so did many teams in the Eastern Conference. 

The Orlando Magic added Vince Carter to their roster. They probably gave up a lot in Courtney Lee, who will be an All-Star in the future, but it’s quite obvious they want to win now.  As for the Celts:  they added Rasheed Wallace, a personality who’s been a handful in the past, but one that Coach Doc Rivers will be able to tame.

In short:  the Cavs won’t be dancing through the season.

When LeBron James was a junior at St. Vincent-St. Mary and Shaquille O’Neal was with the Lakers, O’Neal watched LeBron play in a tournament game in Canton, while Shaq and the Lakers were in town to play the Cavs.

LeBron said he didn’t talk to Shaq that night but the two talked the next day.

“He just told me to keep working hard,” LeBron said. “That’s what I remembered.”

Now that Shaq and LeBron are together, Shaq said he doesn’t know why there’s talk about whether or not these two superstars can coexist. He said that won’t be an issue at all. 

“Every great team with a 1-2 punch, the big man has always been that other guy,” Shaq said.

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.

Game: Cavs (64-15) vs. Boston Celtics (60-19)

Broadcast:  TV: ABC (WEWS Channel 5).  Radio: WAKR (1590 AM); WTAM (1100 AM), WHBC (1480 AM)

Starters: Cavs:  LeBron James (F); Ben Wallace (F); Zydrunas Ilguaskas (C); Delonte West (G); Mo Williams (G).  Celtics:  Paul Pierce (F); Glen Davis (F); Kendrick Perkins (C); Ray Allen (G); Rajon Rondo (G).

Injured and inactive: Cavs:  J.J. Hickson (back). Boston:  Kevin Garnett (knee); Leon Powe (strained right knee).

Officials:   Scott Foster, Bill Kennedy and Ed Malloy.

Streaking:  The Cavs have won three consecutive; Boston has won six in a row.
Things to look for:

• The Cavaliers need to play attention to Glen ‘’Big Baby’’ Davis.  Although Garnett has been out, Davis has averaged almost 15 points in his last five games. That’s something that bears watching throughout the playoffs as well because the Celtics and Cavs have a realistic shot at facing one another.
• Mike Brown said before game time that his playoff rotation is pretty much set.  It’s going to be important to see how it plays out against a team the caliber of the Celtics.  He usually goes to Gibson and Ben first off the bench then Wally and Joe Smith will find their way there.  The Celtics have owned the Cavs in the paint this year, averaging a shade over 47 points in that area in three prior games.  That will have to be slashed and it will be interesting to see whether Brown’s lineup of big men, which didn’t include all four players will do.

Game:  Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers

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

Starters:  Cavs:  LeBron James (F); Ben Wallace (F); Zydrunas Ilguaskas (C); Delonte West (G); Mo Williams (G).  76ers: Andre Iguodala (F); Reggie Evans (F); Samuel Delembert (C); Willie Green (G); Andre Miller (G).

Injured and inactive:  Cavs:  J.J. Hickson (back); Jawad Williams, Lorenzen Wright.  76ers:  Elton Brand (shoulder); Jason Smith (knee), Thaddeus Young (ankle sprain, bone bruise).

Officials: Ron Garretson, Courtney Kirkland, Eric Dalen.

Streaking:  The Cavaliers are winners of two in a row.  The 76ers have lost three consecutive.

Things to look for:

• The Cavs can capture the Eastern Conference’s best record tonight with a win.  If there were a time for them to come out focused and be done with things this is it.  Especially considering the fact that the Boston Celtics arrive at Quicken Loans Arena Sunday and they are currently riding a five-game streak.
• At this point of the season, there are really two other things to pay attention to – what Mike Brown does rotation wise to prepare for the playoffs.  With four healthy big men, the Cavs should be able to match up well with other teams in that area.  How he implements that remains to be seen.  The second is in the area of rest and keeping his team healthy.  Does he risk injury to chase the record books, including the 40-1 home record his team could tie?  He might do well to pay attention to what Doc Rivers has done with Kevin Garnett by shutting him down until the playoffs.

Post mortem:  Cavs 96, Nets 88

Observations: 

• You can’t really quibble with a win and for most of the game the Cavs looked impressive, although they probably should have salted this one away.  But the Nets, winners of two in a row coming in, are fighting for that final statement of mediocrity in the East, the eight playoff seed where once again, it looks as if a team with a losing record will make it to the post-season tournament.
• The team got an inside-outside game working through LeBron James and albeit in a rather strange way – through Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao.  With the Nets sometimes triple covering James, he was generally free to choose from whomever was open – either Ilgauskas on the outside or Varejao beneath the basket.   The latter stayed open most of the night.  If they can get that working throghout the playoffs, they will be beyond efficient.
• The team tied the team record for season wins with 12 games to go, an impressive feat and are sure to establish a new mark of over 60 and center Zydrunas Ilgauskas broke John ”Hot Rod Williams” mark for blocked shots.

Quotable:

Zydrunas Ilgauskas on getting that inside-outside game working with him and Andy:

We knew that the way they play, they were going to (focus on) LeBron a lot we just had to make sure we went to the open spots. My, myself on the perimeter and Andy under the basket. LeBron did a good job looking for us and sliced their defenses.

At the half:  Cavs 48, Nets 38

Observations at the intermission:

• It was a foregone conclusion that when Joe Smith showed up that J.J. Hickson would lose playing time.  No one could see that Darnell Jackson’s minutes would rise, but it’s easy to see why.  He gives the cavs a beefy presence on the interior and consitently plays hard.
• After leading by as many as 13 in the first quarter, the Cavs could have put this away had they maintained their defensive intensity throughout the first half.  The Nets made shots difficult to come by, but they also went ice cold in the half.

Game:  Cavaliers (55-13) vs. New Jersey Nets (30-39)

Broadcast: TV:  FSOhio, NBATV. 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:  Bobby Simmons (F); Yi Jianlian (F); Brook Lopez (C); Vince Carter (G); Keyon Dooling (G).

Injuries-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.

Officials:  TBA

Streaking:  The Cavaliers are winners of eight consecutive, their second-longest streak of the year.  The Nets have won two consecutive.

This year:   The Cavs smoked the Nets 106-82 in the team’s lone meeting of the season thus far at the Izod Center.  LeBron James had 31 points in the game to lead the Cavaliers.

What to watch:

• The Nets actually have something to play for at this late date, so they cannot be underestimated in this game.  They stand just 1.5 games out in the battle for Eastern Conference playoff mediocrity and the eight seed in the post-season bracket chasing Chicago, Milwaukee and Charlotte(!?!?!!!?).  Although on a two-game winning streak, it’s difficult to see how they continue to pull things off without point guard Devin Harris.
• Although Kenyon Dooling hasn’t been a scrub for the Nets when he’s started.  He certainly merits attention as he has averaged 15.8 points and 5.8 assists in nine starts on the season.  In short:  Mo Williams cannot go to sleep on him.

Quotable:

Coach Mike Brown on the possibility of playing the New Jersey Nets in the opening round of the NBA playoffs:

We focus on our opp0nents some, but right now in the regular season we’re more worried about focusing on ourselves than coming up with some grand scheme to beat them. Having said that I’m not sitting here trying to forecast who we’re going to play in the first round of the playoffs, so I don’t look at it like that.