Recap: Cavs 111, Nets 92 (Or, Predictability Can Be Fun)

2010-03-03 Off By John Krolik

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Overview: After crushing the Nets in the first quarter thanks to a fast-paced attack, the Cavs cruised to a 111-92 victory on Wednesday night. LeBron James led the way with 26 points and 14 assists. JJ Hickson added 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Cavs-Related Bullets:

Not that this game deserves it, but let’s drop into a little theory:

Cavs Option 1: Give LeBron the ball at the top of the key in transition, have shooters on the perimeter, and have guys cutting on the weak side for layups. LeBron will either drive, pass, or keep the defense honest with a jumper. This is easily the Cavs’ best offensive option, but some teams are able to stop it. This means the Cavs have to mix the offense up.

Cavs Option 2: Have Mo Williams initiate the offense. He can run pick-and-roll, drive, find someone cutting, or pull up for a jumper. Not as effective as LeBron, but a good way to keep the defense guessing.

Cavs Option 3 (2 some nights): Give Shaq the ball in the post, run cutters off of him. If he’s single-covered, let him try to score in the post.

Options 2 and 3 are less effective than option 1, but good defenses are too good to get beaten without any offensive variety. The Nets defense is not a good defense. They have no way to stop LeBron in transition or driving to the rim. Doing anything else would only slow down the Cavalier offense.

Mo picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter. Delonte and Boobie (congratulations to the latter) were both inactive, so LeBron went to the point guard spot. The other players on the floor were Anthony Parker, Antawn Jamison, J.J. Hickson, and Jamario Moon. Over the next 13 minutes, the Cavs scored 35 points. During that time, the Cavs had 12 layups and dunks.

LeBron running the point flanked by athletes in a full-court game was absolutely frightening. LeBron was toying with the Nets, flying for dunks, hitting guys with no-look lasers for their own dunks from everywhere on the floor, and occasionally hitting a jumper just to rub it in. Absolute scorched-earth dominance. This is what the Showtime Lakers must have looked like against real teams.

10 assists in the first half for LeBron. Over 20 fast-break points in the first half. That was the stretch that decided the game; the rest was just gravy. Here are some other notes:

-The best news of the night may have been JJ Hickson. He was cutting everywhere, dunking everything, grabbing offensive boards, and generally lived in the paint. Against bad defensive teams, moving the ball and going at the rim will work. JJ was always moving, and the Cavs made sure to find him over and over. His defense on Brook Lopez was even better, with Brook starting the game off going 3-12 from the field. Hicksomania has come to New Jersey.

-I only have a few pieces of bad news. There weren’t many boneheaded plays during that first half, but almost all of them seemed to be made by JaMario Moon. He looked great finishing on the break, but he made me cringe a few times. I wonder if inconsistent minutes have him back to his anxious ways.

-Mo’s gotta realize that his pull-up from midrange isn’t always the best shot. The Nets were giving up layups like they were getting frequent flyer minutes for it, but Mo still seemed eager to pull up for his jumper. Mo finished 1-6 from midrange, and ended a lot of possessions earlier than they needed to end.

-Jamison was also trigger-happy. I realize there were 36 minutes of garbage time in this game, but he was way too quick to shoot the jumper. Jamison led the team in field goal attempts with 23, but only had 19 points to show for it. He still seems to be too willing to pull the trigger on those pick-and-pops, especially on deep twos. Also, it’s going to take me a while to get used to the way he splays out his legs on his release. It always looks like he’s rushing.

-Seriously, that Andy cut from out of bounds near the end of the first half was an absolute thing of beauty.

That’s all for tonight, campers. Pretty game against a very bad team. We’ll see if small-ball keeps looking so good on Friday. Until tomorrow, everyone.

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