Cleveland Cavaliers

By Doc319@yahoo.com (David Friedman) San Antonio Spurs 91, Phoenix Suns 90 Cleveland Cavaliers 93, Washington Wizards 89 The Cavs have been cruising along this season against the weaker teams but they were snoozing along for most of the game versus the Wizards before making just enough plays to win 93-89. Mo Williams led the Cavs with 24 points and also had six assists, while Delonte West added 18 points, a team-high seven assists and three steals. LeBron James had 18 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Antawn Jamison scored a game-high 28 points, while recently acquired guard Mike James had 26 points and shot 5-8 from three point range. Caron Butler put up a strange stat line: six points, six rebounds, 10 assists.   [read the full post]

By Doc319@yahoo.com (David Friedman) Much has been written and said about how well the Lakers and Cavaliers have played so far this season but the team with the best record in the NBA is still none other than the 2008 NBA Champions, the Boston Celtics. A victory tonight in Washington over the struggling Wizards--a 10.5 point underdog according to BetUS.com sportsbook--would not only be Boston's ninth straight road win but would mark the best start to a season in the franchise's storied history, 21-2 (two other Boston teams began seasons with 20-2 records). The Celtics have won nine road games in a row and 13 straight games overall, Boston's longest winning streak since a 14 game run by the 1985-86 championship team.   [read the full post]

By Doc319@yahoo.com (David Friedman) Another NBA TV "Fan Night," another Cavaliers rout. Three weeks ago, the Cavs dismantled the Knicks in the game that fans most wanted to see that Tuesday and yesterday the Cavs wiped out Toronto 114-94. The L.A. Lakers have had their share of blowout wins this year but even in some of those games they needed to bring Kobe Bryant off of the bench in the fourth quarter to stabilize matters. That is not the case with LeBron James and the Cavaliers; the Cavs have a league-best 13.6 ppg point differential and have been taking care of teams so easily that James has not played a single minute in six of their past eight games. For more details about the Toronto game and the incredible season that the Cavs are having, check out this article at CavsNews:   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(Doc319@yahoo.com) The Celtics and Lakers bolted out of the gate with impressive records but the Cleveland Cavaliers are right behind them. Meanwhile, Dwyane Wade has continued to display the form that he flashed in the Olympics and he currently leads the NBA in scoring; if he stays healthy and LeBron James and Kobe Bryant continue to play reduced minutes due to their teams' success, Wade could claim his first scoring title. 1) Boston Celtics, 18-2 2) L.A. Lakers, 15-2 3) Cleveland Cavaliers, 15-3 4) Orlando Magic, 14-5 5) Portland Trail Blazers, 14-6 21) Chris Paul, NOR 20.6 ppg 34-35) LeBron James, CLE 7.1 rpg 34-35) Jason Kidd, DAL 7.1 rpg   [read the full post]

By Doc319@yahoo.com (David Friedman) Cleveland opened with a 13-0 run, led 33-14 after the first quarter and completely dominated Oklahoma City in a 117-82 victory. Even in the most lopsided blowouts the losing team usually makes some kind of a run but Cleveland led by at least 29 points for the entire second half. The easy win enabled LeBron James to play a career-low tying 17 minutes but he made the most of his limited court time with 14 points, three rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots and one steal. Zydrunas Ilgauskas led Cleveland with 17 points and seven rebounds. Chris Wilcox paced Oklahoma City with 14 points. Kevin Durant scored 13 points on 6-16 field goal shooting and only had one rebound and one assist. The Cavaliers set three franchise records in this game:   [read the full post]

By Doc319@yahoo.com (David Friedman) 1) L.A. Lakers, 8-1 2) Boston Celtics, 10-2 3) Cleveland Cavaliers, 9-3 4-5) Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, 8-3 1) LeBron James, CLE 29.5 ppg 2) Dwyane Wade, MIA 28.2 ppg 3) Chris Bosh, TOR 25.5 ppg 4) Joe Johnson, ATL 25.3 ppg 5) Dirk Nowitzki, DAL 24.7 ppg 6-7) Kobe Bryant, LAL 24.3 ppg 6-7) Danny Granger, IND 24.3 ppg 8) Amare Stoudemire, PHX 23.3 ppg 9) Tim Duncan, SAS 22.8 ppg 10-11) Vince Carter, NJN 22.6 ppg 10-11) Al Jefferson, MIN 22.6 ppg 18) Chris Paul, NOR 20.7 ppg 1) Chris Paul, NOH 11.9 apg 2) Jose Calderon, TOR 8.8 apg 3) Jason Kidd, DAL 8.3 apg 4) Baron Davis, LAC 8.0 apg 5) Dwyane Wade, MIA 7.8 apg 6) Steve Nash, PHX 7.5 apg 7) Chris Duhon, NYK 7.2 apg 8) LeBron James, CLE 6.9 apg 9) Rajon Rondo, BOS 6.7 apg 10) Stephen Jackson, GSW 6.5 apg   [read the full post]

By Doc319@yahoo.com (David Friedman) In contrast, James has improved tremendously as a defensive player. Fratello credits some of that to James' experience as a teammate of Kobe Bryant's on Team USA. Fratello mentioned that Bryant made the commitment to shut down the top perimeter player on each opposing team and Fratello concluded, "LeBron saw that. LeBron saw the commitment that Kobe was willing to make and I think that LeBron took some of that home." In fairness to James, his defense has improved each year that he has been in the league--not just this year--but there is no doubt that he and other members of Team USA certainly were influenced by the example that Bryant set. I'm sure that Nuggets' fans wish that some of Bryant's attitude, focus and intensity would have rubbed off...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) LeBron James scored a season-high 41 points on 13-23 field goal shooting and 15-16 free throw shooting as his Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Chicago Bulls 107-93 in Cleveland; the teams will play a rematch in Chicago on Saturday night. James also had nine rebounds, six assists and four steals despite twice tweaking his left ankle, once early in the game and then again late in the fourth quarter. This was the 20th 40-5-5 of James' career; he ranks fourth among active players in that category, trailing Allen Iverson (28), Kobe Bryant (23) and Tracy McGrady (22). James averaged at least 25-5-5 in four of his first five seasons and has a good shot of breaking Oscar Robertson's record of nine such seasons.   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) As usual, the Cavs did a good job on the boards, outrebounding the Celtics 41-36, and the Cavs also played very well defensively, particularly in the first half when they held Boston to 41% field goal shooting (the Celtics shot 44.6% from the field overall). Zydrunas Ilgauskas contributed 15 points and eight rebounds and Anderson Varejao scored nine points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. In his first regular season game as a Cav, Mo Williams scored 12 points and passed for two assists but he had five fouls and four turnovers. Garnett split a pair of free throws after Ilgauskas committed a loose ball foul and on the ensuing possession the Cavs ran a much better offensive set: Varejao set a great screen for Williams, who buried a three poi...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) Several Eastern Conference teams clearly improved in the offseason--most notably the Philadelphia 76ers, who acquired Elton Brand. The Cleveland Cavaliers hope that Mo Williams will not only solidify the point guard position but that he will also be the best second scoring option that they have had in the LeBron James era; no James sidekick has averaged 17 ppg, a mark that Williams has exceeded each of the past two seasons. The Miami Heat not only added second overall pick Michael Beasley but they look forward to having a healthy and explosive Dwyane Wade for a full season. The New York Knicks will almost certainly improve now that Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni are running the show but there is no reason to believe that even in the Eastern C...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) Cleveland's 2007-08 Record: 45-37 Key Losses: Devin Brown, Damon Jones, Joe Smith Key Additions: J.J. Hickson, Darnell Jackson, Tarence Kinsey, Mo Williams, Lorenzen Wright The Cavaliers traded Joe Smith and Damon Jones to Milwaukee as part of a three team, six player deal that brought point guard Mo Williams to Cleveland. The Cavaliers hope that Williams--who averaged 17.2 ppg and 6.3 apg last season for Milwaukee--will not only be the best playmaker that they have had at the point guard spot since Andre Miller but that he will also be a bona fide second scoring option who can create his own shot; no Cavalier other than LeBron James has averaged more than 17 ppg since James joined the team in 2003-04. 5. Will LeBron James win his first NBA MVP?   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) For this year's edition, I wrote the Sacramento Kings preview for the third year in a row, the Phoenix Suns preview for the second year in a row and I wrote the Cleveland Cavaliers preview for the first time, ending my run of writing three straight previews about the Denver Nuggets. For the sidebar stories that accompany each preview, I wrote about Ron Artest, Shaquille O'Neal and the Cavaliers' underrated defense respectively. Editor Roland Lazenby contributed a very interesting story about Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant titled, "In Michael's Image." Lazenby has long had a very close working relationship with Tex Winter, the inventor of the Triangle Offense who coached both Jordan (with the Chicago Bulls) and Bryant (with the Lakers...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) 6) The Cleveland Cavaliers remain one of the most misunderstood and underrated teams in the league. All season long I heard "experts" talking about how the Cavs would not even make the playoffs, a ludicrous idea that I consistently rejected. The Cavaliers' formula for success is the brilliance of LeBron James, defense and rebounding. Everyone except Skip Bayless realizes that LeBron James is a great player but few people appreciate or respect the way that Coach Mike Brown has turned the Cavs into San Antonio East in terms of defense and rebounding. What happened to the Cavs in the playoffs is that they ran into a Boston team that matched their commitment defensively and on the glass and had three All-Stars to match James' offensive product...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) 2005 NBA Finals: The Spurs led the Pistons 58-42 at halftime and rolled to a 97-76 win to take a 2-0 series lead. The Pistons outrebounded the Spurs 45-36 but shot just .402 from the field compared to .468 shooting by the Spurs; the Spurs also shot much better--and much more frequently--from the free throw line, making 18 more free throws than the Pistons. 2004 NBA Finals: Kobe Bryant hit the tying three pointer with 2.1 seconds left in regulation and then dominated the overtime as the Lakers stole homecourt advantage, evening their series with the Pistons at 1-1. Three keys for a Celtics victory in game two:   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) James shot .476 from the field and committed 3.2 turnovers per game in the 2006-07 season but he shot .356 from the field and committed 23 turnovers (5.8 per game) in last year's NBA Finals versus the Spurs; this season he shot .484 from the field and committed 3.4 turnovers per game but against Boston he shot .355 from the field while committing 37 turnovers (5.3 per game). San Antonio and Boston successfully employed the same defensive strategy against James: wall off the paint to minimize his driving opportunities while sagging off of him on the perimeter, conceding the jump shot and hindering his ability to complete passes. James shot 4-20 (.200) from three point range in the 2007 Finals and he shot 9-39 (.231) from three point range versus the Celt...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) Other than James' record setting--and not in a good way--field goal percentage, this series has followed the script that I predicted it would when I said that Cleveland's best shot to win in Boston would come in game one and that if the Cavs lost that game then the Celtics would eliminate them in seven. Nevertheless, it still would be interesting to see the Celtics pushed to the brink for the second series in a row and there is always the chance that James could do something remarkable in that circumstance. It certainly would be anticlimactic for the Celtics to close out the series in Cleveland on Friday, because any true basketball fan outside of Boston surely would like to see James battle the "Big Three" in a seventh game.   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) LeBron James had 21 points, 13 assists, six rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. He shot just 7-20 from the field--and he only made two shots outside of the paint, a pair of three pointers--but James is the dominant player on the court in this series, a fact that Boston Coach Doc Rivers understands all too well. Asked after the game if he is surprised that the series is 2-2 considering that James has shot just .256 from the field, Rivers replied, "You think LeBron is struggling? He had 21 points, 13 assists, six rebounds. He probably forced 15 fouls. We don't look at LeBron as struggling. You only look at field goal percentage. We don't; we look at the way he's playing his total game and making plays. The (Daniel) Gibson threes and (shots made by...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) LeBron James and Delonte West had 21 points each to lead a balanced scoring attack as the Cleveland Cavaliers routed the Boston Celtics 108-84 to cut Boston's lead to 2-1 in their second round playoff series. Joe Smith added 17 points on 7-8 field goal shooting, Wally Szczerbiak scored 16 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 12 points, eight rebounds and a playoff career-high six assists. Ben Wallace, whose playing status was uncertain until right before game time due to allergies and an inner ear infection, contributed nine points, nine rebounds and a lot of high energy hustle plays that do not show up in the boxscore. West and Smith each tied their playoff career-highs in scoring. Kevin Garnett led the Celtics with 17 points and nine rebound...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) Cleveland's three trumps are usually defense, rebounding and the brilliance of James but the Celtics won all three categories, holding Cleveland to .356 field goal shooting while shooting .403 themselves, outrebounding Cleveland 45-39 and doing an excellent job against James, the 20...

Related articles from LOY's PLACE a celtics green and more.

By David Friedman 1) The Celtics employed essentially the same defense that the San Antonio Spurs used against Cleveland in the 2007 NBA Finals: they built a wall around the paint by trapping James aggressively after every pick and roll that involved him and they sent waves of defenders in his direction an...

By David Friedman New Orleans Coach Byron Scott is just the latest example of a Coach of the Year who has been wrongly blasted for years by fans and media members who don't know the first thing about evaluating whether or not a coach is doing a good job; you cannot go strictly by wins and losses because some team...

By David Friedman The Cavs chipped away at Washington's lead in the second quarter as Ilgauskas scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting. Washington led 45-43 at halftime. Butler had 16 points on 6-10 shooting, Ilgauskas had 12 points on 5-6 shooting and James had only 10 points on 2-8 shooting. I joked that the Cavs should send their training staff to the Wizards' locker room and patch up Arenas just enough so that he could play in the second half. Cleveland used a 9-0 run to take a 59-53 third quarter lead. It seemed like the Cavs were about to take control of the game and the series but that turned out to be Cleveland's biggest lead of the game. A Jamison layup, a Butler put back and three pointers by Jamison and Butler helped the Wizards tie the score at 63. By the end of the quarte...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman In my Cavs-Wizards series preview article for CavsNews.com, I predicted that this series would start out 2-2 before the Cavs prevail in six games. I said that the keys for the Cavs, as always, are the brilliance of LeBron James supplemented by team defense and rebounding, while the Wizards must focus on teamwork and ball movement on offense while limiting James to near his average on defense, thus forcing other Cavs to perform very well. I also predicted that--contrary to all suggestions from the Wizards--Arenas would rejoin the starting lineup, most likely in game three. So far, the series has played out according to the script that I described. The Cavaliers stayed true to their recipe for success in the first two games while at the same ti...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman The Washington Wizards talked trash, delivered hard fouls and muscled their way to an 11 point first half lead--but the Cleveland Cavaliers had the last word because they have LeBron James and the Wizards don't. James scored a game-high 32 points on 12-19 field goal shooting, leading the Cavs to a 93-86 game one victory at Quicken Loans Arena. James also had six rebounds, four assists and just one turnover. The Cavaliers' three part recipe for success is defense, rebounding and James' brilliance. Cleveland enjoyed a slim 43-42 rebounding edge and neither team shot well from the field so James proved to be the difference, as he did several times when these teams met in the playoffs in 2006 and 2007. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had a strong game (22 poin...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Last year, the Cavs designated the home finale "Fan Appreciation Night" and gave away more than $500,000 worth of prizes to the fans while also providing free massages and a large cake for the writers and photographers. The Cavs did the same thing on Wednesday--and they increased the total value of the prizes awarded to over $1,000,000, including a 2008 Kia Spectra 5, an hhgregg home entertainment system and a free year of Time Warner HDTV cable. The shoes and jerseys worn by the Cavaliers versus the Pistons were also given away to fans. The fans clearly appreciate what they are seeing from the Cavaliers throughout the season, because Cleveland set franchise records for sellouts (33) and average attendance (20,465).   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers eliminated the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals by relying on excellent team defense, strong rebounding and the brilliant all-around play of LeBron James. Several of the faces have changed in Cleveland--and things have not always gone smoothly since the big trade--but that tried and tested formula resulted in an 89-73 home victory over Detroit on Wednesday night. James did his part with 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists, shooting 11-19 from the field and producing a +15 plus/minus rating while playing a team-high 41 minutes. The Cavaliers outrebounded the Pistons 46-39. Ben Wallace and Zydrunas Ilgauskas each had eight rebounds and Anderson Varejao added six rebounds o...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman LeBron James posted his seventh triple double of the season (24 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds) as the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a 13 point first half deficit to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 88-80 at Quicken Loans Arena. With starting center Zydrunas Ilgauskas sidelined by a back injury, the Cavaliers needed their other bigs to pick up the slack offensively, defensively and on the glass. Joe Smith finished with 18 points, five rebounds and a game-high plus/minus rating of +13. Anderson Varejao scored a season-high 16 points while also grabbing nine rebounds. Ben Wallace started at center but had five rebounds and no points in less than 16 first half minutes; at halftime, the team announced that he had back spasms and would not re...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman The Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls recently took part in one of the largest trades in NBA history but Cleveland's 95-86 home victory over Chicago on Sunday once again showed that the biggest difference between the squads is one player who was not dealt: LeBron James had 37 points, six rebounds and six assists, including six points and one assist in the final 3:10. Former Cav Larry Hughes led the Bulls in scoring (23 points) and assists (four) while also grabbing five rebounds. Former Cav Drew Gooden also had a good game (11 points, 10 rebounds). Newly acquired Cav Wally Szczerbiak, who arrived in Cleveland from Seattle along with Delonte West as part of the Cleveland-Chicago trade, was the only Cav other than James to reach double fi...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman It was not particularly pretty and--except for a few sensational dunks by LeBron James--it was not particularly exciting but Cleveland played solid defense to earn a 92-84 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. James finished with 30 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds; he sprained his ankle in a 92-87 loss at Boston on Wednesday but seemed to have plenty of spring in his step versus Minnesota. After the game, James said that his ankle is fine, but he soaked both of his feet in a bucket of ice water while he spoke with the media. James banged his right thumb on the rim during one of his dunks, reaggravating an injury from earlier in the season; he joked that he will have to try to not dunk the ball so hard the next time. Al Jefferson led Minnesota with...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman The Houston Rockets pounded the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers on the glass and cruised to a 92-77 home win. Yao Ming had 22 points, a game-high 12 rebounds and four assists. Tracy McGrady spent most of the day in the hospital due to a severe upper respiratory infection but gutted out 32 tough minutes, producing eight points, seven rebounds and four assists. Bonzi Wells provided a nice boost off of the bench with 13 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Rafer Alston (17), Shane Battier (15) and Luis Scola (10) each scored in double figures, a mark that only two Cavs reached: LeBron James (32 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two steals, two blocked shots) and Larry Hughes (13 points, four rebounds). Injuries sidelined Cavs' big men Drew...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Anthony, Legler, Rose and the rest of the basketball fans in America could all agree on one thing: the Miami Heat have authored the worst performance. Anthony minced no words on this subject, calling the Heat "the most embarrassing team in professional sports in America." That about sums it up. The only thing that I can add is that we need about a five year moratorium on anyone trying to even suggest that Dwyane Wade is as good as Kobe Bryant. I understand that Wade is battling some injuries but so is Bryant and every other top player in the league; Wade is healthy enough to play over 38 mpg and score 25 ppg, so his physical condition is not the primary problem in Miami. Last year, some people questioned the significance of Kobe Bryant's string of 40 an...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman 3) After three quarters, Bryant had shot more accurately and less frequently than the "pass first" James and Bryant had more assists than James did. The Lakers led 71-69 at that point and were still clinging to a one point lead when Jackson benched Bryant. As the saying goes, if he wanted to send a message then he should have used Western Union. This was a good road win for Cleveland, sparked by a great individual effort by James combined with solid team defense and rebounding (45-42 advantage for Cleveland despite Bryant's game-high 12 boards); the only down note for the Cavs is that valuable reserve Anderson Varejao sprained his ankle, had to be helped off the court and did not return to action.   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Many commentators wrote off the Cleveland Cavaliers before the season began but I have consistently maintained that Cleveland will be a tough out come playoff time. We are starting to see signs of that already: the Cavs beat the Spurs 90-88 on Thursday night in the first game between the teams since San Antonio swept Cleveland in the 2007 NBA Finals. The Cavaliers have won three straight games and nine of their last 11 to move within two games of Orlando for the third best record in the Eastern Conference. LeBron James had 27 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and a couple blocked shots against Tony Parker to nullify layups by the speedy guard who won last year's Finals MVP. James shot just 9-24 from the field, including 2-8 in the fourth quart...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman LeBron James had 24 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals as Cleveland cruised to a 95-79 home victory versus Seattle. The Cavaliers have a season-high tying four game winning streak, have won six out of seven games for the first time this season and improved to 4-0 in 2008. The Cavaliers maintained control throughout most of the game and Cleveland led 81-62 by the 8:36 mark of the fourth quarter, enabling James to sit out the remainder of the game so that he will be well rested for the second half of the back to back, which takes place in Atlanta. James received strong support from Daniel Gibson (17 points, 5-8 three point shooting) and Anderson Varejao (14 points, nine rebounds, a game-high plus/minus rating of +16). Zydrunas I...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman TNT analyst Mike Fratello made an excellent point during the broadcast, reiterating something that he mentioned last week during Cleveland's 94-90 win over the Lakers: continuity is vital to any team's success and three of the top eight players in Cleveland's rotation from last season (Anderson Varejao, Sasha Pavlovic and Eric Snow) missed all of this year's training camp either due to injury (Snow) or holdouts. The Cavaliers hit their stride last season when they had a starting lineup of James, Ilgauskas, Hughes, Pavlovic and Drew Gooden, with Varejao, Snow, Daniel Gibson and Donyell Marshall providing support off of the bench. That rotation (minus the injured Marshall) is now set again, so--as I wrote after Cleveland's recent v...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman With their rotation finally set up in optimum fashion, the Cavaliers began the game with a 9-2 run, with all of the points scored either in the paint or at the free throw line. Cleveland led 25-17 at the end of the first quarter. Riley switched to a zone defense to try to keep the Cavaliers out of the paint and the Heat enjoyed some success with this strategy, eventually taking a 47-43 lead by halftime. Riley, like many NBA coaches, generally disdains zone defenses but the zone is a good change of pace defense to use against Cleveland because it takes advantage of two of the team's weaknesses: the lack of a true point guard and a dearth of outside shooting in the starting lineup. Last season, Cleveland Coach Mike Brown would sometimes attack the zone...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Kobe Bryant had 39 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and two steals as the L.A. Lakers built a 25 point lead and held on to post a 95-90 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Early in the third quarter, Bryant scored the 20,000th point of his career, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to reach that milestone, beating Wilt Chamberlain by 12 days. Of course, Bryant got a head start by jumping straight from high school to the NBA, so Chamberlain still easily holds the record for reaching 20,000 points in the fewest number of games (499; it took Bryant 811 games). The Lakers finished their road trip with a 3-1 record, with the only loss coming Thursday night in Cleveland. After that game, Bryant vowed to go back to the gym and...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Bryant went out of his way not to blame the bench, saying that the Lakers' reserves have been among the league's best all season, but the sudden dramatic collapse when Bryant briefly left the game is very reminiscent of what repeatedly happened to this team last season, eventually necessitating Bryant going on a scoring binge in the second half of the season just so the Lakers would not miss the playoffs. It was also very similar to what happened the last time these two superstars and their teams faced each other in Cleveland, when a completely healthy Bryant clearly had the edge in his individual battle with James but Bryant received little help from his teammates in the fourth quarter as the Cavaliers won, 99-90.   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Regular Cleveland starters Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Drew Gooden were joined by point guard Eric Snow, shooting guard Shannon Brown and small forward Sasha Pavlovic, who usually plays shooting guard. That unit helped the Cavs take a 15-11 lead at the 5:59 mark. Then the cavalry arrived: James, Hughes and Varejao entered the game at the same time. My first thought was that it was clever to have James and Varejao come into action together so that the Cleveland fans would not boo Varejao for his extended holdout. After the game, James said, "I thought it would raise the intensity of the fans, having me, Larry and Andy come in at the same time--and it worked. I thought by coming in with Andy it might stop some of the boos Andy might get, just protecting my...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman The second article discussed the Detroit Pistons and tried to make the case that they are being disrespected. Huh? Consider these preseason predictions: The Sporting News picked the Pistons to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, CBS Sports.com ranked the Pistons as the third best team in the East, David DuPree of USA Today also had the Pistons third and Sports Illustrated called Detroit the second best team in the East. In addition, most of the NBA analysts on ESPN, TNT and NBA TV generally offer nothing but praise for the Pistons, even though Detroit has failed to return to the Finals since the departures of Coach Larry Brown and center Ben Wallace. I guess that the magazine in question wants to say that is it taking a "countercultural"...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman The NBA and the Cleveland Cavaliers, in partnership with Toyota, Disney, Lenovo and Encyclopedia Brittanica, renovated the Boys and Girls Club of Cleveland/West Side Club and dedicated a new Learn and Play Center. This is part of the ongoing NBA Cares program. The ribbon cutting ceremony for the facility was held on Wednesday afternoon. NBA legends Julius Erving, Bob Lanier, Bill Russell, Bill Walton, Austin Carr and Campy Russell headlined the attendees, along with NBA Commissioner David Stern and various other league, city and corporate officials. Does LeBron James need more help to eventually bring an NBA title to Cleveland? Is this Finals appearance part of the learning curve for James?   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Other things to consider: There is certainly the possibility that we are witnessing--to borrow a phrase--LeBron James' 1991 Michael Jordan moment. That was the year that Jordan's Bulls finally knocked off the Pistons and then beat Magic Johnson's Lakers in the Finals. Johnson was of course the dominant ring bearer of that era--winning five championships--but those 1991 Lakers were hardly in the same class as the title winning editions. James and the Cavaliers face a Spurs team that is arguably playing as well as any of the three San Antonio championship teams. It is asking a lot of James to lead this Cleveland team to a series win over this San Antonio team but if he does it will certainly be the stuff of which legends are made. This series has s...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Ilgauskas' layup at the 7:48 mark of the fourth quarter put Cleveland ahead 79-76. That was the last field goal made by a Cavalier other than James. Detroit promptly went on a 12-2 run to seemingly take control of the game with just 3:15 left. James' layup cut the margin to 88-83, though he missed a free throw to complete the three point play. Cleveland got a stop and then Drew Gooden split a pair of free throws with 2:49 remaining. That was the last point scored by a Cavalier other than James. The only points scored by either team in the next 2:18 were a three pointer and a dunk by James, putting Cleveland ahead 89-88. Billups then nailed a cold-blooded three pointer but James tied the game with another dunk. Billups missed a three pointer to end regulatio...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Anyone who expected the Detroit Pistons to make short work of the Cleveland Cavaliers was seriously mistaken. The Cavaliers' 91-87 Game Four victory tied the Eastern Conference Finals at 2-2. Last year's second round matchup between these teams also was tied after four games, with each team "protecting" its home court. Detroit is the deeper and more experienced team but Cleveland has far and away the best player on either squad, LeBron James, and he was fantastic on Tuesday night, finishing with 25 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds. He did much of his damage in the fourth quarter with the game up for grabs, producing 13 points, four rebounds and three assists while shooting 4-6 from the field and 5-5 from the free throw line. Daniel Gibso...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman The Cleveland Cavaliers led by as many as nine points but the Detroit Pistons relied on Richard Hamilton's midrange shooting plus some clutch fourth quarter plays to escape with a 79-76 victory. Hamilton finished with a game-high 24 points on 11-21 shooting, adding seven assists. Rasheed Wallace had an excellent all-around game, contributing 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocked shots, doing his part to make up for the departed Ben Wallace. Chauncey Billups seemed out of sorts for most of the game, turning the ball over seven times while having just 13 points and five assists but he scored ten of those points in the fourth quarter, including a big three pointer with 1:52 left that gave the Pistons the lead for good. Zydrunas Ilgauskas le...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Great all around play by LeBron James (23 points, eight rebounds, eight assists) and timely three point shooting by Donyell Marshall (18 points, 6-10 from three point range) carried the Cleveland Cavaliers to an 88-72 Game Six victory over the New Jersey Nets. The win earned the Cavaliers a berth in the Eastern Conference Finals, where they will face the Detroit Pistons, who eliminated the Cavaliers from the 2006 playoffs in a hard fought seven game series. James struggled a bit with his shooting (8-20 from the field, 6-9 from the free throw line) but he set the tone early in the game and made several big plays down the stretch. Jason Kidd (19 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists) led the Nets in scoring, rebounds and assists and did not commit a...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Just like Game One, the first quarter was tightly contested. Jefferson, Kidd and Moore combined to shoot 9-10 from the field as the Nets led 28-24 at the end of the quarter; the Nets shot a sizzling 11-18 (.611) but the Cavaliers were almost as hot (10-18, .556). Both teams cooled off markedly in the second quarter, but the Cavs compensated for this by snaring 10 offensive rebounds, converting enough of those second chances to take a 48-45 halftime lead; amazingly, the Nets had just three offensive rebounds in the entire game. Stern said that the NBA plans to create "an enterprise called NBA China," which will incorporate all of the NBA's businesses in China, which includes TV deals, an internet site, commercial products and more. He added that...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the injury depleted Washington Wizards 97-82 at Quicken Loans Arena in game one of their first round playoff series--but the biggest news is not the final score but how close the Cavaliers came to also being injury depleted. LeBron James sprained his left ankle with 8:03 remaining in the third quarter. He writhed in pain on the court for a few moments while the sellout crowd of 20,562 held their collective breath but he did not come out of the game. James finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Cleveland also got a strong effort from Larry Hughes, who had 27 points and seven rebounds. Antawn Jamison led the Wizards with 28 points and 14 rebounds but he shot just 10-27 from the field and could not m...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Cleveland jumped on Milwaukee from the opening tip, building a 26-11 lead less than six minutes into the game. It seemed like the Cavaliers would cruise to victory against a team that, as Kenny Smith would put it, had one foot on the basketball court and one foot in Acapulco. Instead, Ruben Patterson scored 10 first quarter points on 4-5 field goal shooting and the Bucks pulled to within 31-22 by the end of the period. It was Boykins' turn to shine in the second quarter and the 5-5 guard who briefly played for Cleveland several years ago shot 5-6 from the field and scored 10 points as the Bucks rallied to take a 47-46 lead before the Cavaliers closed the half with an 8-4 run--three James baskets plus an Anderson Varejao dunk off of an assist by James.   [read the full post]