Overview: The Cavaliers bounced back from a loss to the Mavericks by being the first team to beat the Suns in the US Airways Center since last March, holding the Suns to less than 100 points and getting 53 combined points from LeBron James and Mo Williams.
Cavs-Related Bullets:
-Well, that was a bit better.
-In the first quarter, LeBron James came out on an absolute MISSION on both ends of the floor. LBJ had twelve points, an assist, and a steal in the first quarter, and was absolutely everywhere on the floor, jumping into passing lanes, filling the lane on the break, and going at absolute maximum speed for the full twelve minutes.
-The Suns were able to keep it even in the first quarter by exploiting the Amare-Shaq matchup for 10 points in the first six minutes of the game, but once Shaq went to the bench with foul trouble, Amare was never able to get back into that early offensive groove, and was in foul trouble himself almost the entire game, with three of his five fouls being offensive.
-When LeBron went to the bench, Delonte provided a massive spark off the bench, and was a big reason the Cavs were able to overwhelm the Suns off their big start rather than fizzle out. Despite not making a shot from deeper than 10 feet all game long, Delonte was a huge difference-maker.
He scored or assisted on baskets that amounted to 12 points in the second quarter, which ended up being the Cavs’ highest-scoring quarter of the game. Defensively, Delonte was an absolute monster, getting in passing lanes and getting three steals, pressuring his man and rotating back to provide help. And to top everything off, Delonte led the Cavs with six assists. I’ve been skeptical of MB’s plan to start Anthony Parker and bring West off the bench, but tonight we saw what he wants to happen by staggering his talent like he does. With Delonte coming off the bench, the Cavs never let up on the Suns, and by the fourth quarter their constant energy and pressure had clearly broken the Suns down a little bit, and that was what allowed the Cavs to break the Suns’ home winning streak.
-LeBron cooled down a little bit after his hot first quarter, and got baited into taking some bad jumpers, but he still ended up deciding the game down the stretch.
After LeBron got called for traveling and Jared Dudley got a layup on the other end, the Cavalier lead was six points with 6:39 to play. Then, Mike Brown took a timeout.
***(ATTENTION: MIKE BROWN COACHING SUCCESS COMING UP)***
Out of the timeout, instead of letting LeBron pound the ball around the perimeter, the Cavs got LeBron the ball in the middle of the floor and ran their corner dive play, setting Mo Williams up with a three behind a Varejao back-screen, which he knocked down. On the next possession down, the Cavs set up like they were going to run the same set, but Varejao slipped the screen and cut backdoor, and LeBron was able to feed him with a beautiful dime for a layup.
After Amare Stoudemire missed two shots directly at the rim and got a frustration tech, LeBron hit a tough fadeaway out of the post from the baseline and a “no…no…no…no…YES!” three for the dagger, with a layup the next time down for the icing on the cake before LeBron went to the bench. Six possessions used, 12 Cavalier points from a LeBron basket or assist, lead pushed from 6 to 19, game over.
-Miscellaneous LBJ notes:
LeBron really looks like he’s being more aggressive in going to the post and made some nice plays from down there, but it’s clear that his footwork hasn’t caught up to his pure power and speed down there, and that’s limiting his impact. He settled for a few too many high degree-of-difficulty fadeaways instead of just shooting over his man, committed an offensive foul by just barreling over Jared Dudley, and looks like he’s rushing everything a bit too much.
The PHX broadcasters called some slight BS on the “LeBron would dominate in the post if he just decided he wanted to go there” meme, saying that you’d much rather have LeBron posting than driving, and they’re right. If LeBron wants to be anywhere near the same kind of force on the block like he is off the drive, he’s going to have to put the same kind of work into his footwork down there as he has on his shot with Chris Jent over the years.
LeBron had 12 points on 14 shots outside the paint tonight, missing all five of his shots from 10-15 feet (easily his worst area on the court over his career), and hitting 4 of his 7 shots from 16-23 feet, where he’s far more comfortable from.
-Also: Small-Ball. The Cavs closed out the game with LeBron at the four and Varejao at the center spot, and it worked beautifully. The Mo-LBJ pick-and-roll is a simple but devastatingly effective play that can be run at the end of games, and tonight it got the Cavs an open Mo Williams look from three after some beautiful ball movement around the perimeter, among other good looks. More small-ball at the end of games, please, especially after Jamario recovers from his injury.
-I’m 900 words deep already, and I haven’t even mentioned the defense yet. It was superb. The Cavs did a fabulous job pressuring the Suns on their signature high pick-and-roll sets, always a staple of Mike Brown’s Cav teams, and did a phenomenal job chasing the Suns off their threes. The Suns came into the game making 9 threes a game at the league’s highest percentage, but the Cavs held them to a 4-19 shooting night from behind the arc, which took a lot of the teeth out of their vaunted attack.
Particularly promising was the Cavs’ ability to limit the production of born-again stretch four Channing Frye, who never got many good looks from behind the line and only went 1-4 from beyond the arc. That’s a good omen for when the Cavs see that pesky Rashard Lewis fella again.
-Not only did the Cavs finally win the turnover battle, scoring 26 points off Suns turnovers to 15 Suns points off Cavs turnovers, but they actually outscored the Suns 17-4 in the fast break.
-AV just doing his thing, peeving opposing broadcasters, cutting to the basket and getting four of his five field goals off of assists, getting up in Amare’s kitchen and shutting down his production, crowding Nash when his man sets the screen, getting himself a bird and an and-1 off that up-fake that somehow still manages to fool people, and finishing with a +21.
Bullets of Randomness:
-Jared Dudley is now a bona fide three-and-D guy. What is it about the Suns that makes everyone healthy and good at draining open threes? Is there a spring they’re taking these guys to?
-Didn’t Steve Nash feel pretty shut down in this game? He finished with 18 points and 10 assists on good percentages. Although his botched break on an attempted behind-the-back handoff that led to a Cavs fast-break and two Mo Williams FTs ended up being a mini-turning point with the Suns down two midway through the third quarter; the Suns never regained the lead after that.
-Let’s play “Adventures in lip-reading.” Steve Nash to a ref after a no-call on his drive: “(Freaking) call something!” The Suns let the refs get them off their game a little bit in this one.
-For a more fun adventure in lip reading: Delonte gets a steal in the fourth, runs the break, converts the and-1, crashes to the floor, and then says “I love this game” to the camera. I mean, you gotta love it. Until tomorrow, everyone.
Delonte’s “I love this game” quote after the layup was priceless.
I hate to do this, because you never want to downplay a win (especially on the road against a team that had yet to lose a home game), but how much of the Cavs’ success was predicated on the backdoor cut? My point is, that was one of the worst defensive showings I’ve seen from a team that at least tries on D. There were at least 5 points in the game where I just said out loud to no one in particular, “Amare is SO bad on D it’s crazy.”
13 points, 2 blocks, 1 assist and 4 rebounds. That was Andy’s line for the game. Yet after watching that game, he was possibly the 2nd best player on the court. It is absolutely amazing the stuff he does that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet. You said in your post that Nash felt pretty shut down..that is in due part because AV shows so well on those high screen and rolls and has the foot quickness to stay in front of Nash. Amare was completely taken off his game by Andy in the fourth, pestering him on both ends and just getting in his head. His off the ball movement is something that I never hear brought up when talking about this strengths either, and he’s really good at it. He just does all the little things that kind of glue our team together.
If we do indeed make a trade for one of the stretch 4s Windhorst mentioned, I’m curious as to how that will affect AV’s playing time. It is obvious to me that Andy is our best big and I don’t think that will change even if we bring in Jamison. A small lineup will see more minutes if we make a trade for one of these guys, no?
Our defensive rotations were great tonight, the Suns announcers couldn’t stop talking about how well we run players off the 3 point line. Now we just need to find a way to continue doing that every night, as well as not getting stagnant offensively. (Which happened in the third quarter, as we jacked up jumper after jumper). Overall, quality game from us though.
@Colin: Someone will pay big (maybe max) money for Amare’s horrible D next year. The Knicks? Yes. The Knicks.
The lesson as always: Delonte is the best.
you didn’t mention that it was also JJ’s best game in weeks. and i swear sometimes it’s like you’re watching a different game. LBJ was “rushing too much?” what you call “rushing” i call much need aggressiveness. and he made 4 – yes 4 – moves in the lane at one point to get a double clutch lay-up in the first half. one of the most impressive moves i’ve EVER seen. he went after hill tonight like grant stole something from his momma.
i really would love to know what the suns announcers thought of those two horrible, “traveling calls” on LBJ. cuz we in cleveland were treated to multiple viewing of both plays and to label the calls as wrong would be to understate it greatly. there is no explanation for either call. thankfully, tonight at least, they didn’t cost the cavs…
-so maybe we can just turn it on for the playoffs…i mean, we probably assumed we would just walk over dallas without dirk, and we played them like we played memphis or milwaukee. and when we play like that, sometimes we get lucky, sometimes we dont. but when we do come out to play against the elites, we look unstoppable. this team is like jekyll and hyde, and therefore my emotions towards this team are like jekyll and hyde. after the dallas game, i couldnt wait to get to the trade deadline just to see how thats gonna pan out. after this game, i cant wait to play the lakers.
-love me some delonte. he does love this game, and it really is heartwarming to see him in good spirits
-love me some andy. as a guy who used to be the hustle guy for his basketball team growing up, theres nobody whose game i can relate to more. nobody, and i mean NOBODY outside of cleveland realizes how valuable he is to this team…and i love it. but we know. and lebron knows. and thats all that matters.
-one last love me – love me some small ball. i could care less if shaq see the floor against any other team outside of orlando and LA. i would be perfectly content with our 4 and 5 being some combination of LBJ, Andy, Moon, JJ, and Powe when he comes back.
-right after the “no…no…no…no…YES” 3, i texted my buddy – “i got a dollar that says he takes that same exact shot on the next possession” – and i woulda been right if andy wasnt SOOOO wide open.
-krolik, ill pose you the same question i posed windy – you are now the cavs gm. the trade deadline is approaching. any FEASIBLE, REALISTIC trade offer you make will be accepted for any player that has been mentioned as possibly available. what trade do you make?
NOT surprising that LBJ had a monster game as this event was broadcasted across China as part of an NBA package. Lebron knows how important China his to his image and bank account, and he always turns it up a notch when his global peers are watching. Do not bet against him when China is watching!
LBJ
Watched this game on NBA TV and just wanna bitch about that a little
bit. I don’t watch it much, but do they always use the home team’s
broadcaster’s instead of an ‘unbiased’ crew? The Suns guys they used
were puzzlingly bad…after that Delonte and-1 play, one guy said “He
doesn’t get the basket, but gets a foul call,” when the ball clearly
went through the hoop. The other guy, of course, said nothing. Later
they didn’t bother to tell us whether a Mo Williams shot counted for 3
or 2 (it showed as a 2 on the scoreboard, then after commercial had
apparently been changed to 3 – it was obviously a 3 from watching with
the naked eye).
The presentation was always strangely amateurish in general, with the
clock not working for large stretches of the 1st half and no
scoreboard either for several minutes. But the strangest thing about
NBA TV has got to be the studio crew with Eric Snow and Brent Barry.
I’ve never seen such an awkward grouping of guys – no chemistry, an
overall creepiness from Barry, and the two of them just sit not
looking at each other, waiting their turn to talk. Barry in
particular doesn’t even feign interest in anything the other guys are
saying.
Anyway, Cavs win!
@Jneids, he did travel on both plays. On the jump stop, he landed with one foot then the other. You have to land both feet at the same time. As for the other play where he caught the ball at the top of the key, he traveled big time. When I saw it in real time, I started yelling. But the replay showed he did travel.
@bitmatt, yeah, if the Knicks pay for Amare they will be sorry. Seriously, that guy might be one of the worst defensive players in the league. Anything he is able to do on O is immediately negated by his D. Not only that, but I think the play in the 4th where he went up for the dunk and got stuffed by the rim basically showed that he just doesn’t have the athleticism he used to.
JNeid, As a Laker’s fan I know exactly what you meant by the first part — Last year we had the same mentality; Playing hard against the better teams and taking games off against worse competition (Bobcats loss comes to mind).. And it came to bite us in the ass in the Houston series. Frankly, if you think you can turn it on and off, then you are in big big trouble.
Luckily for us it seems that Ron Artest’s energy fixed this problems for us.
Also, there is a very big gap between the Suns and the elite teams — Lakers, Orlando, Boston, and Atlanta all have so many weapons and except the Hawks(Not sure about them, but I assume this applies to them too) all of have superb defense. Something the suns simply don’t have.