The best thing about the Cavs win over Washington Tuesday night was that Shaquille O'Neal played so well. The second-best thing was that LeBron James did not have to be spectacular in the win.
This game might have shown the strength of the combination of two superstars better than any since the season started a brief time ago.
James was excellent, but the Cavs took control of the game when they pounded the ball inside to Shaq, who made 7-of-9 shots, scored 21 points and had eight rebounds.
The Cavs basically took Shaq off that silly high pick-and-roll spot he had been in and permanently settled him on the low block, where he can be most effective. If teams single-cover him, he can score. If they double, he can pass.
It worked very well.
And as Mike Brown pointed out, O'Neal gets the other team into foul trouble, which gets the Cavs into the bonus quicker. Brendan Haywood fouled out of the game, and Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee both had four fouls.
"We had 12 fouls from the bigs alone (in the first half)," Haywood said. "You read in between the lines what you want to. It's not hard. The game is played a certain way until a certain point."
There were questionable calls, but no more than usual.
Too, does Haywood expect to get calls in the Q against O'Neal and James? What he did say that was accurate was the fouls took away the Wizards' aggressiveness. The Wizards had an 18-point lead in the first half that disappeared pretty quickly.
"What happened was that we had bigs setting good screens and doing things," Wizards coach Flip Saunders said. "And when the bigs got into foul trouble, it was tough to get some of those and they (the Cavs) put a little more emphasis and we didn't have as much of an inside presence at that point."
The key point: The Cavs had an option with O'Neal they've lacked in the past. If another team has foul trouble like Washington had, the Cavs can go to Shaq on the block.
Things pretty much worked the way they were supposed to work for the first time this season.
And it was nice to see.
The Delonte saga isn't going to end well…all the Cavs and us as fans can hope for is that the case gets continued until after the playoffs are over. From the sounds of the DA in Maryland, that probably won't happen.
Without Delonte, Shaq doesn't matter. Losing a lockdown defender will devastate the Cavs chances.
delonte's charges are all misdemeanors. no way he gets jail time. especially in maryland where they can't afford to put people like delonte who aren't career criminals in the slammer. i doubt it even gets to trial. court ordered counseling and a fine are likely.
Hope you're right Terje…
I don't know Terje. On one hand, he has his mental-health issues "going" for him. But on the other, it doesn't sound as though this DA takes kindly to gun charges. It doesn't help matters that since he has been back, West has been all over officials, to the point that Mike Brown had to pull him from the game for the remainder of the night.
I hope you are right Terje, and that I am wrong, but at the least, it is a horrible distraction.
yeah, obviously delonte's got his work cut out for him. i just can't see a cash strapped court system putting a rich guy in the can for misdemeanors.
I was worried about his previous record from before college.
It appears as though someone is going to have to be with him 24/7 and shove his meds down his throat.
If Delonte didn't have loads of cash he likely would see some jail time…since he can hire the best lawyers, I just see a fine, probation and community service.