Cavs: the Blog - Cleveland Cavaliers TrueHoop Blog

Overview: The Cavs outscored the Spurs 25-19 in the final quarter to get their first win without LeBron James since March 13th, 2007. Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams each had 17 points to lead the Cavaliers to a 97-95 victory.

Cavs-Related Bullets:

Last time the Cavs won without LeBron, here were the starters:

Larry Hughes

Sasha Pavlovic

Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Drew Gooden

Ira Newble

In fact, the only player who played in that game and still remains on the current roster in Anderson Varejao. Also, the top 10 pop songs at the time included tracks by Avril Lavigne, Hinder, and Keyshia Cole, who recently had Daniel Gibson’s child.

Because of all that, I’d say that getting a win without LeBron was good for the franchise. Onto some notes:

-Thank you for showing up, Mo Williams. Only one layup is a little bit disturbing, but Mo was draining his pull-ups from the left side of the floor, getting involved with passes and on the boards. And as is custom for Mo, his one three of the night came at the perfect time. Good to see Mo starting to get his confidence back.

-Jamison was a beast when he was in there, hitting some threes and getting some tricky finishes. (His midrange game was MIA in this one.) Bummer he went out with the knee, but according to Windhorst he should be back by Friday. That gave me a scare for a moment there.

-Good Lord, Manu Ginobili. A few years ago, there were two types of serious basketball fans: people who didn’t understand per-minute or per-possession statistics, and people who were freaking terrified of Manu Ginobili. Manu lost his explosiveness before I thought he would, and he hasn’t been nearly as good as he used to be. Even in this game, Manu missed at least four layups by my count.

What Manu does still have is that evil step-back jumper of his. I’ll never know quite how Manu gets the space that he does for that thing. The release isn’t quick, it’s kind of low, and Manu barely jumps when he shoots it. He makes it work somehow, and tonight Ginobili was just raining threes. About the only thing that could slow him down was an extra coat of paint on the line that turned his game-tying three into a two. Between Kobe and Ginobili, the three-point line has really helped the Cavs out in the race for the league’s best record.

-The last five Cavalier field goals of the game were scored or assisted by Delonte West. He is one guy who will give it his all every game, no matter who’s on the floor with him. Also good news: the Cavs ended the game by making eight straight free throws.

-Possibly the best news of the night was the undersized front line keeping Tim Duncan in check, holding him to 13 points and five rebounds. Duncan did finish with five assists, but he wasn’t able to destroy the Cavs. Again, that’s a good sign.

-Last year, Roger Mason Jr. might have been the one guy I’d rather have take a big shot than anybody else. Tonight Mason was 0-8 from deep, and missed a game-tying look with three seconds to go. Every shooter is a streak shooter. Every single one. Except Anthony Morrow.

-Ultimate Jawad played a nice enough game and hit some shots. However, only two free throw attempts and one assist in 34 minutes are not promising signs.

-George Hill went 26th? I really hate the Spurs sometimes. Although there were a lot of really good players near the end of the first round in 2008.

Alright campers, that’s all for tonight. Good to get that win without LeBron. No games until Friday for the Cavs, but I promise we’ll have fun in the meantime. Be well, folks.

Overview: Without LeBron James in the lineup, the Cavs lost 92-85 to the Milwaukee Bucks. Antawn Jamison and Delonte West combined for 57 points, but were the only Cavaliers in double figures.

Cavs-Related Bullets:

Man, it just didn’t seem right without LeBron. This red-hot Bucks team was going to be a threat for the Cavs with LeBron. Without LeBron, I’m just happy the Cavs put up a good fight. Let’s go through the good and the bad for the bizarro Cavs:

The Good:

Antawn Jamison. The man can score the basketball. Antawn had the green light to shoot all game, and shoot he did. He ended up having a really nice game, scoring 30 points on only 18 shots from the field. The free throws continue to be a problem for him, though. What makes it worse is that this makes no sense. Make free throws, Antawn.

Delonte West. I predicted early on that the only way the Cavs were going to win is if Delonte went into beast mode, and it nearly came true. Delonte was one of the only guys able to get to the basket off the dribble with LeBron out, and he was able to get into the teeth of the Bucks’ defense and score 27 points. Never count Delonte out of a game, or a possession.

Bogut did get held to only 15 points, and Jennings only had one field goal inside the arc. Small-ball didn’t kill the Cavs’ defense in this one.

The Bad:

The legitimate worry for this game involves Mo Williams. Way too willing to pull up for jump shots, wasn’t really penetrating, and he finished 3-17 from the field. I don’t know what to say at this point. The Cavs clearly need Mo to get his game back, but he’s just as clearly hurting them right now. His shot looks flat, and his shot selection is terrible. I don’t know what is going to happen here.

The Cavs average 44.3 points per game in the paint. They got 30 in this one. LeBron being out does help to explain that.

Hickson and Varejao: five combined points in 45 minutes. Yes, they need LeBron to be successful. Since the Cavs are built around LeBron, I don’t think this is the worst thing in the world.

Awesome that you picked tonight to find your outside shot, Brandon Jennings.

The Cavs are built around a player who’s been easily the best player in basketball this year. It’s no surprise they struggled without him, especially against a team playing as well as the Bucks are. Let’s try to erase this one from our memories, and hope LeBron returns soon. Last time Cavs won without LeBron was March 13th, 2007. Fun times. Have a good weekend, campers.

Overview: The Cavaliers came back from their biggest home deficit of the year to pull out a 99-92 win over the Detroit Pistons. However, the game was overshadowed by Rodney Stuckey mysteriously collapsing in the third quarter.

Special Note:

First of all, what happened to Rodney Stuckey was frightening and certainly made everybody realize that there are things more important than basketball. Best wishes for him and his family, and hopefully he has a full and speedy recovery. I will talk about basketball now, but Stuckey’s health is easily the most important story of the night. I trust sources better qualified than I to keep you updated on that situation.

Cavs-Related Bullets:

The Pistons got out to a big lead in the first half, but it was honestly more a product of the Pistons making shot after shot after shot than it was about anything the Cavs were doing wrong. Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince were making every jumper they looked at, and there’s no real answer for that. In the NBA, you have to dare teams to beat you with deep two-point jumpers. In the first half, the Pistons did just that, but that doesn’t mean the Cavs were playing bad basketball. Kwame Brown even hit a 17-footer, for crying out loud.

Meanwhile, the Cavs were running a layup line, but couldn’t buy a jumper. In the second half, the jumpers starting missing for the Pistons and going in for the Cavs, and they took the game.

LeBron James. Wow. Completely unstoppable when he drove, changed the flow of the game with some absolutely huge three-pointers at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth, made some great passes in the first half, and had a beautiful spinning jumper for the dageer. I’d like to single out LeBron’s rebounding. In the past, I’ve called LeBron’s rebounding the most overrated part of his game, as he often collects far more easy rebounds than easy points or assists. In this game, LeBron made a real impact on the boards. It’s not just that LeBron finished with 13 rebounds; it’s that without a center, LeBron really had to fight for a lot of those boards, and the Cavs often needed them.

The less said about Hickson, Williams, and Parker, the better. Parker at least played good defense and didn’t hurt the offensive flow. Hickson had a setback game, which is explainable; Hickson’s a player who thrives on comfort, and the Cavs were uncomfortable for much of the game thanks to the Pistons’ early scoring. Mo still doesn’t look like himself. The sooner he gets back to playing the way he can, the better. Man, that shot of his has looked flat since he’s returned.

Varejao and West were at their absolute best. Great cuts, scrappy defense, always attacking, after every loose ball. They were the difference-makers off the bench.

This is why the Cavs got Jamison. With LeBron sitting, Jamison hit some outside shots and a tough floater to put the Cavs on top, and they held that lead throughout the fourth quarter. Not many other Cavs in the LeBron era capable of doing that.

Bullets of Randomness:

I don’t think I’ve ever been as impressed by an 0-5 performance as I was by Jonas Jerebko’s effort tonight. That guy was everywhere. He’s a keeper.