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Photo: AP/Darron Cummings
I could only imagine how ticked off Mike Brown had to be after watching the first 24 minutes of basketball tonight. His team had a five point lead heading into the break, but had given up a whopping 61 points, not defending one bit along the way. After a 17-2 Indiana run to start the half, the team seemed to get the message. The Cavaliers gave up just 17 points in the final 17:41 of the game, LeBron hit the fourth quarter takeover button, and the wine and gold notched their ninth win of the season.
Wild Thing back in action: Anderson Varejao returned after missing two straight games with a hip contusion. Varejao had an immediate impact, with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal. His defensive effort was fantastic in 28 minutes tonight, and he cut to the basket at exactly the right time as always. Shaquille O'Neal missed his fourth straight game with a shoulder strain, and he'll likely be out tomorrow night as well. Delonte West was active, but he did not play. For the Pacers, Troy Murphy returned to action.
Matchup issues: With Murphy out of the starting lineup, the Pacers have been playing small, with the 6'8" Danny Granger playing power forward and the 6'6" Dahntay Jones playing the small forward spot to go with a T.J. Ford-Brandon Rush backcourt. This caused problems for the Cavaliers on defense as James guarded Granger and J.J. Hickson had to cover Dahntay Jones. Before anyone could blink, Granger had a quick dozen, most of them due to Hickson giving him a cushion to shoot from the outside.
An early night: Pacers coach Jim O'Brien got a quick hook tonight, barely six minutes into the contest. O'Brien was displeased with the calls that James was getting and the lack of calls the Pacers were getting. Apparently, the techs came from two different officials, and that's pretty surprising for a coach to get sent home so early. It was O'Brien's first ejection as a head coach, and assistant coach Lester Connor took control after O'Brien's early exit.
Big Z slumpin': It doesn't take much to see that Zydrunas Ilgauskas is struggling mightily right now, especially shooting the basketball. The mighty Lithuanian was just 1-of-12 from the field tonight, but he did pull down 11 rebounds, block 2 shots, and he was a big part of the defensive play late in the game, stopping Roy Hibbert and Ty Hansbrough several times. It's obvious that Z is showing his age, but it is magnified with extended minutes in the absence of Shaq. Ilgauskas had 29 minutes tonight, and that is just too many minutes. J.J. had 33 minutes, and Andy had 28 minutes as well, but Darnell Jackson had just 4 seconds of action. Either D-block should get another 5 minutes or so or the Cavaliers must play small with Moon or James at the 4 a few more minutes a game.
Snooze button at intermission (again): In the last two games, Cleveland has been absolutely blown out of the water to start the third quarter. Tonight, it was a 17-2 Pacers run that found the Cavaliers down 78-68 just six minutes in after taking a five point lead into halftime. This type of run cost the Cavaliers in the nation's capital, and it would have cost them tonight if it had not been for their phenomenal defense from that point on. The Cavaliers will have to work on bucking that trend as the season progresses.
Come from behind with James on his behind: With the Cavaliers down five at the end of the third, LeBron James as usual went to the bench. While on the pine, though, the team started moving the ball on offense and continued to ratchet things up on defense. J.J. Hickson scored six points during that stretch as he is turning out to be a clutch scoring option late in games. When James returned with 7:07 to play, the Cavaliers were +6 in the quarter.
Cavaliers attack on offense: In the second and third quarters, the Cavaliers were content with jacking up jumpers on the offensive end. In the second quarter, it worked. In the third quarter, it did not. Just as things were looking like the Cavaliers would be working on starting a losing streak, LeBron James and Mo Williams decided to attack the basket and get to the foul line. The duo made 24-of-25 free throws, and Mo's 11-for-11 from the line was huge because he shot just 3-of-11 from the field. Most importantly, this aggressiveness opened things up for the likes of Anthony Parker and J.J. Hickson, and it made the Pacers work on the defensive end of the floor.
MVDs: The Cavaliers in this transition of style of play have gone away from at least some of their defensive mentality and effectiveness. Tonight, I hope they laid the foundation for progressing on that end of the floor moving forward. Giving up just 34 points in the second half is phenomenal, and giving up 17 points in the final 18 minutes is even more impressive. It was part Indiana's unwillingness to attack and part Cleveland's increased intensity and flatout effort that did the job. There were simply more hands in the Pacers' faces as they shot the ball, and the Cavaliers rebounded the ball well defensively, winning the battle of the boards 47-41. The whole team gets to wear the title of MVD tonight for their late effort: Most Valuable Defender(s).
 goes to: LeBron James, and what a game for the King. James posted his first 40 point game of the year on 13-of-25 shooting, adding 9 rebounds, and 7 assists. His only three of the night came with :52.8 seconds remaining over Dahntay Jones, and there was not a bigger shot hit from anyone all night. Up four, if the Cavaliers miss that shot, they could have been in trouble.
Team Grade: B
This may be a bit high considering how the team defended in the first two and a half quarters, but that is how well they played defensively to close this one out. Their offense with the exception of the third quarter was run efficiently for most of the night, and they shot 46 percent and almost 80 percent from the foul line. They also had five guys in double figures (James, Williams (18), Hickson (15), Parker (12), Varejao (10)).
The Cavaliers close out their four games in five nights stretch with a game against the Philadelphia 76ers in Quicken Loans Arena tomorrow night.
All for one. One for all.
Kirk
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