Recap: Cavs 100, 76ers 95 (Or, It turns out LeBron helps the Cavs win games)
2010-03-13
Overview: With LeBron returning to the lineup and Mo Williams getting out of his slump, the Cavaliers were able to survive a 30-point performance from Andre Iguodala on their way to a 100-95 win. Elton Brand added 24 points for the 76ers, and Delonte West had 17 points off the bench for the Cavaliers.
Cavs-Related Bullets:
-The Cavs were content to engage in a shootout at the beginning of this one. It was a 36-34 first quarter, and the 76ers might have had the better looks. The Cavs were hitting from outside and LeBron was getting inside, but they were getting beaten down the floor and to the rim time after time on defense by the 76ers. Everything was in the paint for Philadelphia early. Way too many easy transition dunks for Andre Iguodala, and Elton Brand was able to get deep position time after time. Of course, these are the 09-10 Cleveland Cavaliers, so Philadelphia scored 38 points in the second half after scoring 34 in the first quarter.
-The best news of the night: Mo looked like himself tonight. He looked confident running the offense, his shot looked like it had much more arc, and he was knocking shots down from everywhere on the floor. My one problem with Mo in this one was that he took too many shots early in the clock down the stretch. I know the Cavs’ offense is supposedly too predictable down the stretch, but if the Cavs come up empty on a late possession and LeBron doesn’t touch the ball, someone screwed up. Hopefully this will help Mo’s confidence down the stretch down the road, but he should be more judicious with his shot selection late in the game.
-Speaking of LeBron, he was back in the lineup on Friday night. He had 23 points, 10 assists, six rebounds, and three huge blocks, and it was well below what we’ve come to expect from LeBron. LeBron was making good passes and was taking the ball to the rack early as well as knocking down outside shots. Later in the game, he fell in love with his deep jumper a bit too much, and didn’t have a field goal in the last 5:35 of the game.
-LeBron went 3-10 from deep tonight, which looks bad. But when you consider that LeBron took only one deep two, nine points on 11 jumpers isn’t all that bad. And hey, 4-10 from deep looks great on the box score.
-LeBron did unleash that massive double-pump slam early in the game, but either the injury or rust did seem to be getting to LeBron a bit. He didn’t have a very good game defensively, fell in love with that jumper, and didn’t quite have the bounce in his step he normally does. Also, free throws.
-Gotta love Delonte West. Boundless energy, drive after drive, good passes, and 17 points on 7-12 shooting from the field. And then there was the game-clinching steal. It was a heady play by Delonte, but that ball was thrown right to him. That was not a good moment in Jrue Holliday’s career.
-Not a good night for Leon Powe. He didn’t look like a rotation player, to put it bluntly. Hopefully the Cavs are in some blowouts soon so Powe can get a look, but the frontcourt is going to be crowded when Jamison and Ilgauskas come back.
-Jawad Williams had the worst +/- on the Cavs tonight, and he looked like the worst player on the floor. He is stopping the ball way too much for a player of his talent level. Catch and shoot, catch and pass, or try a drive and quickly pass if it’s not there. Only Jamario has more frustrating possessions than Jawad, and Jawad doesn’t make up for it with freak athleticism like Jamario does.
-I’m not sure if I’ve seen anyone miss a midrange jumper as bad as J.J. Hickson did on Friday night. He showed good energy on defense, but Brand and Thad Young were able to get the better of him more than a few times on that end.
-Varejao: 12 and 12, four big offensive boards, and even three assists. Just another night at the office for him.
Alright, that’s all for me tonight. Have a good weekend, everybody.
@Rick- Yeah I think your right, the frustrating thing as fans is all we can ever do is speculate. On a side note, thats why we are so lucky to have a beat writer as good as Windhorst, he really gets alot of information on that kind of thing and Id love to know his take on why gibson time is so limited.
As far as the issue of who gets time goes… I think the one key element that we fans can’t really see is how the players practice and respond to the coach. We already know that Mike Brown isn’t going to do on the fly matchup moves. He’s got his set rotations that he is comfortable with and feels work and for the most part, barring injury, those are what he’s going to look to be playing. Judging by the prior story on how his “gut feelings” are really “discussed heavily with the staff and office”, it’s hard to say… Read more »
@HoopsDogg — agreed on Powe — he’s a legit backup big. Does a couple valuable things well.
Not too worried about D-Block being on another team, as I’m sure he’d be buried on the bench there too. Plus, he hasn’t shown us anything (not even a capacity to make his presence felt).
And again, I think Hot Wad has value — he seems to have some midrange game, and is a well-coached defender.
Don’t worry about any player we cut going to another team for this year’s playoffs. They won’t be eligible to play. The release deadline passed at the beginning of the month.
Powe showed you what he does best: drawing fouls, and position defense: with his move against Brand and the charge he drew. He probably won’t get his explosiveness back until next year, and until then he’s pretty slow and earthbound. Jawad stinks. I’d rather see him cut than Green or D-Block when Z comes back. I’d rather see Green get his minutes now. I’m really worried about cutting D-Block and him ending up on a team like Miami, Charlotte, or Milwaukee. Great for him. Bad for the Cavs in the playoffs if he’s laying fouls on people. Jamario’s not so… Read more »
Where has Boobie been?!? I would much rather see Boobie start than Leon Powe…
Again I’ll say, just move some people around and give Jawad’s minutes to Gibson. Jawad is an offensive flow killer. IF there is some sort of rhythym to the offense and the ball is moving and we are looking good, just insert Jawad. Soon as the ball touches his hands, he goes mini-LeBron and stand with it for 5-7 seconds…and he isn’t LeBron so there is no light at the end of that tunnel.
Everytime they play a sporting event in Philapdelphia, they have to show a vendor making Philly cheesesteaks. It was cool the first time I saw it, but god, please stop. Everybody knows Philly likes to eat/make cheesesteaks.
Why isn’t Boobie playing, at all? Does anyone know? Did he say “my offense is my defense” to MB?
I actually like Jawad — he doesn’t get lost on D, doesn’t get baited to go for the block (Jamario has that unfortunate tendency) and then pick up a stupid foul. Jamario has a tendency to not box out and instead use his leap to go for boards. That drives coaches like MB craaaazy.
-I’m not sure if I’ve seen anyone miss a midrange jumper as bad as J.J. Hickson did on Friday night. Jason Smith did. Leon looked pretty bad. This game pretty much means we won’t be seeing Boobie unless Mo gets hurt. Down 3 rotation players (Shaq, Z, Tawn) and still no Boobie. It seems like a shame to me. In a game when the Cavs are chucking 30 3-pointers, I gotta believe having Boobie in there shooting 5 or 6 of them is better than Jawad or Jamario. Watching this game made me realize 2 things. 1.) It’s impossible to… Read more »
Im confused about Leon Powe. He was pretty solid with the celtics, I remember. But then, this was his first big chunk of minutes for a LONG time. And JJ took a while to be worked into the rotation. I guess its just far too late in the season to show that kind of patience.