Overview: Despite showing inconsistent effort throughout the game, the Cavaliers were able to hold on late against the Pacers, 99-94. LeBron James came a rebound and an assist away from triple-doubles on consecutive nights, and Antawn Jamison added 17 points for the Cavaliers. With the win, the Cavaliers clinched the Central Division title.
Cavs-Related Bullets:
-The Pacers kept pace with the Cavs by using a three-pronged attack of Roy Hibbert, contested jumpers, and exploiting the Cavs’ second unit. In the first quarter, the Pacers made 10 of their 17 shots from outside of the paint, including three of their four three-point attempts.
Some of the jumpers were on good looks because the Cavs fell asleep on Murphy on the perimeter, a few were shots by Earl Watson, Brandon Rush, and Dahntay Jones that the Cavs were happy to live with, and a few were Roy Hibbert draining hooks from the 10-12 foot range.
Hibbert was doing the most damage, which is understandable. When a strong 7-2 center with good footwork and touch with either hand goes up against a team missing its centers, there are going to be problems. He wasn’t getting layups against Varejao, which is about all that Varejao could have been asked to do. The Cavs brought a few doubles at Hibbert eventually, but they didn’t change up their entire gameplan and give the Pacers a chance to get hot from outside.
-In the second quarter, the Pacers went cold from outside, but were able to get in the paint against the Cavs’ second unit. The Pacers scored 10 points in the five minutes LeBron sat, with all of their points coming on dunks, layups, or free throws. The second unit is the squad that really feels the loss of Shaq; without him, they don’t have anybody who can defend the rim or get shots at the basket, and the bench has become much more of a weakness since Shaq got hurt.
LeBron actually compounded the problem by recording three turnovers and missing a shot on the Cavs’ first four possessions after he came in. When the dust settled, the Cavs were down 37-42, and Mike Brown decided it was time to have a chat. The Cavs settled down on both ends after that, and held a slim lead going into the half.
-In the third quarter, the Cavaliers absolutely dominated. They locked down the Pacers on defense, started moving the ball, and then LeBron got hot from the outside. LeBron hit four long jumpers in the third, and after his fourth the Cavs were up 76-61 and the game looked pretty much over. Unfortunately for the Cavs, they knew that all too well. LeBron and the Cavs started to play a little too loose, and the Pacers were able to catch the Cavs’ second unit napping at the beginning of the fourth.
-The Pacers went on a 12-4 run during the four minutes LeBron sat, which was enough to cut the Cavalier lead to 10. The Pacers kept draining deep jumpers and getting to the line, and the Cavs couldn’t get any of the open threes that fell against Detroit to go. With 4:13 to go, the Pacers had cut the lead to one.
-That’s around when LeBron decided that he’d had enough of this. LeBron found Andy for a layup, finished an alley-oop from Andy, and took the ball to the rack to put the Cavs back up eight. Then he took a horrible jumper, missed it, and promptly stole the ball back, went coast-to-coast, and found Jamison for a layup. After A.J. Price hit a three to cut the lead to four, LeBron hit a fadeaway in the lane to put the game away for the Cavs. In three minutes, the game had gone from scary to in the bag, all thanks to LeBron. Only Cavs fans understand that this statement is almost as much of an insult as a compliment, but LeBron is just too good sometimes.
Other notes:
-Riddle me this: LeBron almost never turned it over that much while he was running the point full-time, but with Mo finally back on his game he’s turned the ball over 10 times in his last two games.
-Brandon Rush blocked LeBron’s layup in the fourth to slay the decoy pick-and-roll. Congratulations to that young man. He defeated the Kracken. (By the way, would it be most helpful for me to refer to that play as the “Decoy Pick-and-Roll,” “My Favorite Play Ever,” or “The Kracken,” from now on? I just kind of like picturing the team going over to the bench and Mike Brown saying “Release the Kracken!” during a time-out. I’ll stop talking now.)
-Antawn Jamison’s trigger on mid-range jumpers is still too quick. The Cavs’ offense is capable of finding a better look than a 19-foot jumper with 15 seconds on the shot clock. If it’s wide-open, take it to keep the defense honest — this is how Big Z makes his living. But Jamison’s too eager to let that thing fly right now. Worst of all, I fear he’s become a bad influence on JJ, who’s off the mid-range jumper wagon right now.
-To be perfectly clear: STOP SHOOTING MID-RANGE JUMPERS, JJ. If you need one of Jerry Lucas’ memory books to remember this, that can be arranged.
-Anderson Varejao creates angles on the pick-and-roll so beautifully. I feel like we must remind ourselves of this every few days.
-I’ve noticed this for a while but can never remember to put it in a recap: Does Anthony Parker ever drive to his left? Ever?
-Jawad Williams makes the dreaded pretty mistakes. He handles the ball well, his stroke is very nice, he’s got good footwork. The issue is that he often uses those skills to set himself with contested jumpers off the dribble early in the clock, which looks nice on the micro level but is horrible on the macro level.
Worst of all, Jawad seems to be keeping Jamario out of the rotation. Jamario makes hideous mistakes, but he also brings a lot of very good things to the table when he plays, and he doesn’t need the ball to do it.
Bullets of Randomness:
-In day two of the “See? Trading for me wouldn’t have been so bad!” tour, Troy Murphy went 4-7 from deep, had 15 rebounds, and somehow made five assists. I still think the Cavs are worlds better off with Jamison — I don’t trust a 7-footer who can have a good game and shoot 2-7 from two-point range.
-A.J. Price does not lack for confidence. He’ll be a solid scoring guard if he gets a little bit more discipline — how does he take three more shots than Roy Hibbert in this game?
-From what I saw tonight, I don’t see how Mike Dunleavy’s career can be salvaged.
“The Kracken” sounds like an appropriate name for it…I wonder what it’s true shooting percentage is?
Also…The Cavs had a choice between Hibbert and Hickson in the draft; did they make the right choice?
Everyone is on the “Cavs are so much better without Shaq/Z” bandwagon and this game reminded me why I didn’t get on in the first place.
Having bigs that can score stabilizes your offense. Sure, it’s nice to be able to “get out and run” and “turn defense into transition buckets” but having guys 7 foot plus that can put the ball in the hoop and require some serious boxing out from the offensive glass is invaluable. See: Lakers.
Roy Hibbert kept Indiana in the game. Without him, all the streak shooting that Indy had means nothing. And on the flip side, the Cavs offense has had some problems since Shaq went down. It’s not that the ball movement isn’t good or that the offense is “stagnant” but simply that it’s harder to get easy buckets in the half court. This leads to streaky play, which, coupled with 60% energy levels leads to close games against horrible teams (because it’s STILL the NBA).
The Cavs have really lost a lot of their “versatility” with Shaq and Z out. Getting out and “running” works better as a change-up. When you’re using it as your fastball over and over, it eventually loses it’s effectiveness.
It’s painful to watch JJ shoot 20 footers, but I really don’t mind it. Why? He’s probably not going to play any meaningful minutes in the playoffs. He’s going to be behind Shaq, Z, Varejao, and Jamison in terms of “getting minutes” and Varejao/Jamison will be playing heavy minutes in the playoffs. Therefore, I say let him work on his game. He has a good stroke and if by this time next year he is knocking that shot down with confidence, the Cavs will be that much more deadly on offense.
-Did anyone see that one three AP put up in the 1st half? Maybe the ugliest shot since David Wesley’s layup. Even AC was like “whoa…THAT was a brick…”
-I loved Austin’s reactions to Jerry Lucas. In particular, after Lucas left the booth, Austin said: “I mean, can you even IMAGINE writing SIXTY books?”
-Hickson and LeBron both had pretty monster throw downs in the first half.
-When LeBron started heat-checking, I crossed my fingers that we would get another 3rd-quarter-Milwaukee. (Just because I wanted the bench to go APE again) Alas, he did the right thing and started using his “on-fire-ness” to get open looks for his teammates, who missed, and then he missed a few, and that was that.
-Leon Powe makes me happy.
-Jawad reminds me of Sasha in that he can surprise you, knock down a big 3 here and there, plays SF, and pretty much hurts our team the rest of the time.
-I genuinely believe that is Mo doesn’t snap out of his funk by the 2nd round of the playoffs, Mike Brown has got to go to Boobie. It almost sounds inconceivable but the Cavs have more than enough offense to beat the Magic. But watching the Magic perimeter players continuously dominate opposing teams this past month just makes me REALLY nervous about our defense against them.
Sorry, didn’t mean to post all that as Tsunami. Something wrong with my browser.
If Mike Brown would name all of his offensive sets after Greek Mythological beasts, I think he would win COY again.
And I’m 100% positive that LeIso is called Pegasus in the Cavs playbook.
I like “the Kracken”, but we have to call it the Medusa when Andy runs it.
JK, I love your titles! Anchorman is such a versatile movie, it applies to anything!
I’m also glad we didn’t trade for Murphy. He played much better than past time we played the Pacers, but still… I’m good with ‘Tawn.
At the end of the game it was almost like you could see Lebron switch to beast-mode. Every play on defense he was going for a block or steal and looking to get back down the floor. It was great to see. And the heat-check threes went! As much as I hate when he does it, I picture him eying his guy, saying “bombs away!” and launching from 35 feet and hitting, and it actually makes me happy.
LBJ snap pass plus Tawn’s quick release under the hoop has got to be the fastest route from 3 pt line to bottom of net that I’ve ever seen. It’s like a magic trick.
WOW! Ok, Tom, so everytime Mo doesn’t hit 6 threes a game he is now back in his funk? ok then. It’s so funny how our expectations of Mo compared to Gibson work. If Gibson goes out and gets 11 points we would be praising him till the end of days…if Mo does it, then it’s a funk. Ok then. Seriously, everytime Mo doesn’t light it up doesn’t mean it’s time to suddenly declare that he is in a funk of some sort. Mo snapped out of the funk against San Antonio and has played well since.
And I’m sorry I can’t let this go but the expectations of the two players are so vastly different, but yet we act as if they are the same. Since when was going 3-5 a funk? And getting 7 assists. Again, if Daniel Gibson goes 3-5 and gets 7 assists…good lord the entire cavs nation is lighting up with joy about how Boobie is just really good. Perspective people.
Rich – as John pointed out, Mo looks lost. And yes, he almost needs to hit 6 threes to make up for his defensive deficiencies right now.
My point is this. I’ve said before that Mo brings a lot to the table that Boobie doesn’t. But if Mo is going to be relegated to only scoring when he plays off LeBron and doing most of his damage on corner 3s….Boobie will do the same thing at a higher percentage, will play better defense, and will rebound better.
obviously if Mo is going to be Mo the point guard that can create his own points and can dish to a cutting LeBron than by all means give me MO MO. But he hasn’t been doing that, and I really haven’t seen a whole lot of progress from him to be honest.
Hibbert helped people understand how much the Cavs need Shaq for Orlando. Even with MB’s defense minded strategy, if the Cavs are forced to doubleteam down low – they don’t have the size or quickness to get to the perimiter to contest 3s. I still believe the Cavs are better without Shaq (or Z) when they play teams without a true or ‘big’ center. However, they are much better with Shaq when the opposting team has a strong center.
Seeing how the team can plaly well big or small, slow or fast gives MB lot’s of options and it will be interesting how he decides to use them. Even with Mo back, LeBron may be a better option to run point some games and even with Shaq back he may have very limited minutes depending again on the opponent. The great thing about the Cavs is it seems as though they have checked their egos at the door and just want to win a ring. Shaq realizes he’s not the offensive powerhouse he use to be and seems to have accepted he’s not going to be the first or even second option on many nights. With all this said I’m looking forward to getting Shaq and Z back and making a run for the title. How MB uses his players will really be the key to how far we go.
Rich – with Jamison taking more shots, do we need a volume scorer that’s struggling to fit into the offense running the point? That’s all I’m saying. In the past we needed Mo to score 18 a game for the Cavs to have a chance against good teams. I’m not sure that is the case anymore.
I just get tired of watching him go under every screen and making heroes out of all these points guards. When he gets hot and hits a bunch of shots obviously I love it, but he seems very streaky to me. I also question his mental fortitude. He didn’t help himself (or the team) out at all last year in the conference finals with all his talk and predictions. Boobie has WON PLAYOFF GAMES for the Cavs in the past. When has Mo done that?
Obviously Mo is twice the player Boobie is. I’m just not sure how well he fits on this team since his injury. LeBron seems very comfortable in the PG role and Mo looks lost. Boobie has ALWAYS thrived playing “off” LeBron and struggled mightily when asked to handle the ball.
Mo has been shooting the ball better lately but I haven’t seen any improvement on D – and as I said, that’s what worries me. Jameer Nelson just shooting over him on every single screen.
Here’s the most important part of the game:
With the win, the Cavs are now 34-0 when entering the fourth quarter with at least a 6 point lead. Just let that sink in for a moment. The literally HAVE NOT LOST! That is insane! (Of course, I probably jinxed them… knock on wood)
Jawad: 20 minutes, 3 points, plus/minus of -19.
Jamario: DNP-CD
Gibson: DNP-CD
Something is wrong with this picture …
Im undecided on the whole boobie issue. I have alot of faith in MB’s decisions so I figure he has his reasons.
But on a couple of points; according to Basketball reference, Mo actually has a better defensive rating than boobie, 108 to 106.
And if we are going to bring up the playoff meltdown, boobie put in a .325 fg% with .357% on threes performance. His PER was 5.5, while Mo went .408 and .372, with a PER of 13.
So its hardly as clear cut as people seem to be saying. Yeah, boobie is having a great year, but he gets to take a hell of a lot fewer shots than Mo does.
Gibson’s 3 point percentages
2006/7: .419
2007/8: .440
2008/9: .382
2009/10: .483 (70/145)
They arent consistent enough that you can say if he got better minutes this season he would still be shooting .483. In fact, Id say it seems unlikely.
Now, Isaac, don’t you know the number’s gurus will only like the numbers if they support their claims. Ok, Tom, do something with that defensive rating and explain that one to me. It isn’t like Boobie is coming in and guarding anyone’s best player.
People are WAY over-hyping Gibson’s defense…I mean way way over-hyping. Again, how is 3/5 a volume scorer. The only arguement that I can see that can be made is that if Mo plays like Boobie, then Boobie should get the nod simply cause of defense…but, as the numbers show, that isn’t really that accurate.
BTW, guards need help on pick and rolls..and when Shaq or Z is on the court, there isn’t much there. It’s pretty much Mo or Parker out an island left to guard someone at the top of the key while Shaq sits in the paint and waits.
What I don’t get is your insistance on Mo being lost, but yet you never seem to criticize JJ. At least not the point of calling for Powe to be getting all of his minutes or someone else. If anyone gets lost on defense, it’s Hickson. If anyone needs to stop shooting, it’s Hickson. So, use your standard to judge all of the players and not just one.
And I’m not sure which Krolik you’re talking about, because in this write-up he said “with Mo back on his game…” Krolik has been back on the Mo bandwagon and got off of the Mo is lost train a few games back. I’m not saying everyone should, but saying that Krolik is saying he looks lost is mis-leading.
yeah, sorry just to clarify on that defensive rating, i didnt put it very clearly:
Mo williams allows 106 points per 100 (or per game? whats the metric?) while Daniel Gibson allows 108 per 100 (or whatever it is)
Here is the tiny url for their comparison:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/tiny.cgi?id=HTmSd
Plenty of interesting stuff. I think if I had ONE question to ask mike brown right now it would be to explain the thought processes on minute allocations.
Rich:
You said: “What I don’t get is your insistance on Mo being lost, but yet you never seem to criticize JJ.”
I answer that in one of my comments on Krolik’s game recap. Basically, it doesn’t bother me because JJ is developing and isn’t going to really play any meaningful minutes in the playoffs. There’s no way he takes minutes away from Varejao or Jamison, so unless you think he’s going to be playing center on a team with Shaq and Z, he’s just not going to play much. And honestly I could see Brown even giving some of his minutes to Powe. So, whatever JJ does now doesn’t worry me come playoff time because he WONT BE PLAYING.
As far as the defensive stat: there is a reason very few people use DRating when talking about the best defensive players, it’s not a perfected stat. According to 82games, the Cavs allow 4 more points per 48 minutes to the opposition when Mo is on the court as opposed to Boobie, where the Cavs take away points per 48 minutes from the opposition. I’ve said before this is a skewed sample size but it is what it is. And as far as opponent PER (both guys guard PGs most often) Boobie’s opponents have a PER of 13.1 while Mo’s have a PER of 18.6!
Look I love Mo, but from where I’m sitting, his defense has been putrid since he came back from injury. On nights where he’s playing well offensively he adds another ball-handler and shot-creator to the Cavs. On nights where he’s only taking and making a few shots, I just wonder if his defensive deficiencies are hurting the Cavs more than his offense is HELPING them.
You said: “Now, Isaac, don’t you know the number’s gurus will only like the numbers if they support their claims. Ok, Tom, do something with that defensive rating and explain that one to me. It isn’t like Boobie is coming in and guarding anyone’s best player.”
I don’t even need to bring up stats to make my argument. But since you want to go there, I don’t think Boobie is a better OFFENSIVE player than Mo and the ORating stat has him at 118 to Mo’s 109! Explain THAT. I trust some stats more than others. As far as Boobie being a better defender than Mo, that is 70% observation and 30% on court/off court stats.
Boobie played horribly last year, but he was pretty darn clutch in 2006 against the Pistons. He’s been pretty darn clutch this year. When he’s not injured, he’s one of the best 3 point shooters the Cavs have ever had and he’s been money in the clutch.
I just keep asking myself this. If Mo is getting torched by Jameer Nelson all series long, what do you do? Mo doesn’t have the size to guard anyone else on the Magic, so you either play him and let Nelson shred our defense with Carter high screen and rolls (last game) or you don’t play him as much. If he plays like he did last year OFFENSIVELY, can you really afford to NOT play Boobie? Can you just keep waiting for him to “figure it out” against the Magic defense? I just don’t have confidence in his ability to defend scoring point guards at all and I’m not sure I’m confident in his playoff “clutchness” whereas I’ve seen what Boobie can do spotted up in the half-court playing off LeBron.
I just think it’s silly to have so much faith in a guy because of one series way back in 2006…that’s to long ago. James Posey has hit some really big shots in his playoff career..who’s ready to turn him loose and give him some big-time minutes on a contending team (yes, I know he plays for New Orleans…it’s hypothetical).
Anyway, the last line Krolik. Is it supposed to read “I don’t see how Dunleavy’s career cannot be salvaged?” It’s kind of confusing me. Does that mean you DO see that Dunleavy’s career CAN be salvaged? Not sure if the double negative is off-setting or what there.
I think Mo is very important to the success of the Cavs and will be in the playoffs. However, the last thing we need in an Orlando or possible LA series is a streak shooting volume shooter on a cold run. We have too many good offensive options for him to soak up shots and possessions, especially when lets be honest, he brings little else to the table. Shaq need shots, Jamison needs shots, and of course lebron needs shots. We cant have Mo shooting 4-14 and expect to win. If boobie can come in and sit in the corner and hit wide open 3s, coupled with a cold Mo, then MB has to explore finding Gibson minutes. Hes proven last year is last year and has proven he can hit big shots. Believe it or not, Gibson has more playoff experience than Mo does. Mo is my guy and should be the Cavs guy, but we cant risk losing to Orlando or anyone for that matter just because its MO. not this year.