Recap: Cavs 97, Spurs 95 (Or, The Time The Cavs Won Without LeBron)
2010-03-08
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.
Seemed like lots of 1v1 ball on offense
On the positive side, Andy and Z have chipped in with 3-point-line help as well this year.
Manu will never stop haunting my dreams. Ever.
Happy to see Mo with a decent performance. I realize he almost had a triple double but I still felt there were a lot of possessions where he was just invisible. Still not completely sold on Mo being on the court during crunch time. What Delonte West has done in the last 2 games just goes to prove that the Cavs are a far far better team with Delonte on the floor. His defense is spectacular and he can create his own offense which no one other than Lebron,(not even Jamison) on the Cavs can do. I just hope his… Read more »
Colin, I sure as hell hope so. Jamison may be less reliant on LBJ than anyone of the other “wingmen” so far, but the playoffs have a way of undressing people at the most inopportune times. I’m going to have to see it to believe it, and my hopes are high, but the poor guy hasn’t played an *important* game in his entire career. All we need is for the team to not impale itself during the 2 minute stretches that Lebron will be seated. Some combination of Shaq, Antawn, and Delonte can hopefully provide this now (thank God)…
Speaking of Antawn, Windhorst reports that his MRI showed nothing serious; he’s day to day with a sore knee.
Rich: maybe I’m setting the bar too low, but when a second-year player fights an all-star and future hall-of-famer to a draw, I’d say that’s worth an attaboy … especially on the heels of two subpar showings.
I was not so impressed w/ the Cavs offense on this one – they settled for too many jumpers IMO, but w/o LBJ that is understandable.
What I was most impressed was with the effort that they gave. The Cavs were hustling on most of the plays and, for the most part, playing pretty damn good defense- something they had to do in order to win this game. Hopefully this win will prove to improve the team altogether as role players were allowed to break out of their shell and play very well
@Dr. Z:
I think you have to include Jamison. He was on his way to another 30-point game before his knee flared up. That would have been back to back 30 point games without James.
@Hoopsdoog: Man I would be over the moon if we could bring Morrow on board.
I think it is safe to say that outside of LBJ, Delonte RedBush is the one player on this team who we can guarantee will not disappear when the real games start. We saw it last year when Lebron got absolutely nothing from the other 7, and we are seeing it now. For 2 years, his talent and versatility have actually covered Mo’s weaknesses to a significant degree. He has got to be the only player on the roster (other than 23) who has more than one bankable NBA skill AND doesn’t require Lebron’s presence to be useful. In short,… Read more »
Also, JJ played a really good game. His defense was sharp, he went after EVERY loose ball, he rebounded on defense and offense during some key runs, he attacked the basket, and he even hit a 10 footer! Yeah, he had a couple of bobbles, and yeah he had a couple walks (I thought the second was borderline), but he brought it. He’d better keep bringing it if they’re not going to play Powe, and if Andy can’t keep from picking up cheap fouls. Speaking of which, I was rather glad to see Bonner take a shot to the ribs… Read more »
Anthony Morrow should be in for an ENORMOUS payday this offseason. Any GM with a brain and cap space who can’t get one of the top guys should throw at least 7 million his way. He is the absolute best shooter in the league, and I think Nelson hides him a bit so they don’t have to overpay next year. It won’t work. The Cavs should throw at least a full MLE his way.
Anyone else notice Parker at the scorer’s table with a minute or so left, then MB calling him back to the bench until a few possessions later (a defensive possession at that)? I assume he was going to take Delonte out after he’d missed a few, then decided against it.
Needless to say it was the right decision. More time for D-West and Boobie, less for AP!
Too bad that it appears Powe is not going to be allowed to get minutes this year unless we lose yet another frontcourt player.
So we praise Hickson for this mediocre effort now? That’s the point we are at with JJ? I think he’s got enough potential and talent to warrant praise when he actually deserves it.
Hopefully Antawn’s injury is nothing. Windhorst says that LBJ’s ankle is fine, so that’s good. It must’ve been killing him not to be able to play the final minutes of this one. Agreed, JJ had an excellent game. A lot of guys stepped up when we needed them, or we wouldn’t have won that one.
How the effin hell do you not have jj’s game in your recap? I know people think I pick on you but as windy noted, jj had perhaps the game of the year. I mean for god’s sake, jj played gritty tonight! Gritty! hickson! And you don’t even mention it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, sometimes you seem to he watching a different game than the rest of us… Nice game by jawad, which you did mention. I was not happy with delonte at times as he was looking for his shot at times when Gus… Read more »
I was very impressed with the way the Cavs played in this game. They were aggressive on both ends of the floor. Delonte looked totally fearless out there even after a bunch of his shots spun out. Same for Hickson.
The fact that Hickson made Duncan completely irrelevant is hard for me to even fathom.
I thought Mike Brown did an excellent job tonight with the substitutions and game planning.
Man Ginobili and that step-back 3….
I’m not sure if Danny Green is athletic enough, but he reminds me of George Hill.
LOL’D hard. Awesome.
I almost came when we won.