Recap: The Cleveland Cavaliers got the first double-digit win of the season against the Miami Heat. The Cavs shot 9 of 17 from beyond the arc, and J.J. Hickson led the Cavaliers with 21 points and 12 rebounds. LeBron James led all scorers with 27 points, and recorded his fourth triple-double of the season in defeat.
That could have gone much worse bullets:
Right from the beginning, the Cavs came out with a lot more energy. Baron Davis showed that he belongs in the starting lineup, at least in games that the Cavs really want to win. The Heat thought that they could walk right over the Cavaliers; if the Cavs had played like they did at the beginning of Sunday’s game, they would have been right.
But this was a different Cavs team. Baron started the game by drilling a three, and the Cavs never trailed after that. Early on, the Cavs were scoring, getting stops, and getting the crowd involved, and that energy was the deciding factor in the game.
The Cavs did two things exceptionally well — they controlled the paint defensively and they made threes on offense. Ryan Hollins was physical all game, and he absolutely gave Chris Bosh fits under the basket with his length, athleticism, and hustle. Bosh shot 5-14, Anthony didn’t make a field goal, and Dampier didn’t attempt one. The Cavs out-worked the Heat inside, and that was the key to keeping them from establishing their offense.
When the Cavs had the ball, the best thing they did was make threes. Baron had the one to start the game and that crazy buzzer-beater at the end of the 1st half. Eyenga hit a MONSTER three just before the end of the third quarter, although that was negated by LeBron’s 75-footer. Parker was an absolute assassin with timely three-pointers. Every March, we learn that outside shooting is the great equalizer, and that’s just as true in the NBA as it is in college ball.
Apart from the threes, the biggest thing the Cavs had going for them was the level of activity inside. Hickson and Hollins never stopped working, and they combined for 22 free throw attempts because of that. The Heat’s zone forced the Cavs to give up the massive lead they built in the third quarter, but eventually the Heat had enough timely shooting and good energy to take advantage of the Heat falling apart on offense.
Huge plays, great hustle, and you can’t say enough about the crowd effect. We’ve seen this team fold down the stretch time after time down the stretch, and despite the “The Heat choke” meme, they’ve been destroying people down the stretch since the advent of the Wade/LeBron pick-and-roll, and we’ve seen LeBron take over fourth quarters while wearing a Cavs jersey too many times to count. But the crowd was not about to let the Cavs lose tonight. The Heat couldn’t focus, and the Cavs refused to believe that they were going to miss. Unbelievable. Great performance.
Every court is just as wide as the next. The three-point line is in the same place. The lane is just as wide. The charge circles are painted the same. And yet there’s something about a special crowd that can change the outcome of a game. That’s what happened on Tuesday. A great win, and one the fans deserved.
Almost a perfect game to watch. Only thing that would have been nice was Hollins fouling LeBron like a man late in the fourth.
Really scary thought for Heat but Ryan Hollins would be the best Center on their roster. That’s……………….wow.
Great effort tonight. First time all-season I have only positive things to say about the entire squad.
Krolik, more than the fans, you deserved it.
Lines of the night:
Chris Bosh -24
Ryan Hollins +33
I’m in major sleep debt and needed to go to bed early tonight but it’s been to tempting to watch highlights and read the recaps over and over again! Go Cavs, way to create a great memory in this trying season.
Was at the game and it was great. Felt like a playoff game from the early part of their playoff run. Like one of those games against Washington when the teams really started to really not like one another. Absolutely great effort and great crowd. Go Cavs.
I’m a Bulls fan but who the hell cares about the last second shot by lebron…Go Cubbies!!!
I’m watching the replay of this game on NBAtv and am getting emotional. I seriously can’t believe how well this Cavs team played. Tears of Joy. ALMOST made up for a lost season…
just think had Bibby not shot the ball so well we wouldve won this game by way more like 20+. Lebron had a triple double and Wade had a solid game along with Bibby’s monster game and yet we win by double digits. this game showed once we get a quick pure point guard and a solid wing guy who can shoot from the outside and also penetrate inside we can really improve. i know this game was just on pure emotion and the lebron factor but we also beat up the celtics early on and the lakers….as long as the lottery plays in our favor we can fill most of our holes right away for next season.
And I do agree this game reminded me of a playoff game, Eyenga break away dunk, the alley oop to Gee made the crowd insane and Hollins blocking Bosh then going down to two hand slam…amazing….even Parker’s three to put us up like 21 was incredible…that shot didnt even hit the net!
i know one game doesnt salvage a season but we HAD to win a game against the Heat and Lebron and glad we did it at home!
This game did salvage the season for me…
This game, the Laker game and the Celtic game all were so damn fun to watch for their own reasons. I love a good upset, and all three happened to be at home with the best fans in sports, PERIOD!
I bet LeBron misses having real fans behind him. Now any real fans he encounters hate him
Great all around game. I’m really liking Baron’s contributions. Makes me think we could be a decent team next year with him at the point and Jamison and Andy. We add a good wing from the draft as well as a true PG the team may not be a lottery team next year. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Baron/Jamison/Rookie Wing/Andy/Rookie backup PG/SG can really change things around but not going to get us a championship. With just Baron and Jamison as two offensive threats really changes things but neither one of them is in our future and keeping them only hurts the team in the long run. Right now the team can play really hard and still not make it out of the lottery. But next year…
I have been deservingly hard on Hollins and Hick, especially defensively, in the past, so I want to make sure that I give them their props after their best games of the season. Hick has put up better numbers before and been a bit more efficient on offense, but as far as an overall game playing both ends of the floor, Hickson played incredibly well. I can’t remember any missed rotations, he rebounded with authority in the second half and continued to knock down his foul shots. Hollins was an absolute beast and showed again what a good PG can do for a big man. He has been a completely different player with Baron and defensively he is constantly contesting and fouling hard. Beautiful game for him.
I was thrilled, and yes very surprised by Parker’s game. Sometimes old guys play bigger in front of great crowds. I think the fans put some pep in his step.
Gee played a great game for him. Very active on defense and the boards, ran the floor well and played really hard. 17 great minutes.
Boobie is a big game player and played with a lot of energy in going for an interesting line of 5, 5, and 5 with 2 blocks… what?
Eyenga played a nice game, defended Bron pretty well, and that three was huge.
Sessions didn’t play D very well and turned it over a bit much, but he made some huge shots to stop Heat surges and made some nice assists.
Baron the key at plus 22 in 24 minutes. He missed some tough threes and seemed to break down at the end as one might expect from an injured, out of shape player, but he totally controlled the game when he was in there and seems amused at playing LeBron and Wade. I am pretty sure Baron thinks that he is better than both of those guys. As I have said on here before, I will fight the urge to think about what Baron could be and just focus on what he is for us. And that is a very good, game controlling PG. Baron is basically a less dominate version of LeBron for our offense. We have a lot of guys who are really good at playing off a shooter-distributor. When our guys can their their natural roles, we aren’t bad.
The whole team was attacking the glass like crazy. We had three guards with at least 5 boards. Hollins did a good job boxing out even though he only pulled down 3 himself. I love seeing some dude fly a foot higher than everyone and realize it is either Gee or Eyenga getting a hand on a board.
The defense was constant. You have to give something up to play that well against the SuperFriends and it was Bibby in this case. He was hitting and it hurt, but though Wade and Bron both got their points, neither really ever got it going and Bosh was a disaster. For all the damage Bibby did on O, Baron just abused him on the other end.
I have watched a lot of Heat basketball this year and they always lose for the same reason. They don’t have an offense. They are like the Cavs were with LeBron before the 66 win season, only with a better shooting guard and a worse LeBron. (Yes, LeBron isn’t as good any more. A lot of it should be blamed on Wade playing the same position, but he seems a tiny bit less athletic as he did before) As good as LeBron setting the pick sounds, he doesn’t really know how I roll and he certainly isn’t a willing pop player.
Very entertaining game. I was smiling almost the whole way. I know it doesn’t meant that much, but I would really like a win against the Bobcats just so I don’t have to come down from this little high yet. If we play with that kind of energy, we can win a few more games this season.
Funny, it was kind of like watching the Bron-era Cavs vs todays Cavs in the sense that lebron has a great game(Triple Double) and his team still. I just thuoght it was pretty ironic
loses, sorry missed that in there
Lebron gets a triple double. Cavs win.
Just like the ol’ days.
lmao you cavs fans compare this to a playoff game… too bad you will be watching the playoffs from your couch this season. I’m sure you believe Gilbert when he says the Cavs will win a championship before LeBron, LOL…