Photo: Tracy Boulian/The Plain Dealer

It wasn't pretty, the offense was in complete disarray at times, and the Cavaliers even had to use three guys that weren't in the rotation three weeks ago, but it was a wine and gold winner on the backs of LeBron and Shaq, adding in Daniel Gibson's phenomenal fourth and clutch bucket to give the team the lead for good. Cleveland has now won four in a row and has pulled to a virtual dead heat once again with the Lakers for the best record in the association.

Another one bites the dust: Delonte West's left ring finger, injured during the fourth quarter of the Lakers game, is in fact broken, and he missed tonight's game because of it. West is currently listed as day-to-day, and the Cavaliers plan to re-evaluate the situation early next week. Losing Delonte couldn't have come at a worse possible time, happening just hours after learning that Mo Williams would be in a suit for the next 4-6 weeks. This left the Cavaliers with only Daniel Gibson as their only "true" point guard, although you could certainly debate that. In response, the Cavaliers signed former Cleveland State point and Erie Bayhawk Cedric Jackson to a 10-day contract. The 6'3" Jackson was averaging 15 points and 8 assists with the NBDL's Bayhawks, and he is known as a solid defender.

Different cadence evident early: With Boobie running the show, just like with Delonte the other night, it was apparent that the Cavaliers were feeling out the different offensive pace. The Cavaliers are unbelievably prone to turnovers this season, but some of the head-scratching lazy or unwise passes early had to be a result of missing the two best ball-handlers on the team. Some of the Cavaliers possessions were truly ugly, no other way to put it. Even some of the plays that they converted were near-turnovers or helter-skelter. The way, the only way, to remedy that in these next couple of games is to let LeBron handle the point for most of the time that he's out there. We've all seen that Boobie plays much better as a shooting guard, and this plays into that setup.

New faces: One consequence of losing your top minutes leaders at the guard positions is learning about some of the guys at the end of your roster. Danny Green is one of those guys; Danny had played just 19 minutes all season long scattered over 7 games before tonight. He stepped up into the rotation tonight, however, and performed pretty well for a rookie with little experience. Green hit a corner three, took a charge, and dished out a couple of impressive assists in 11 minutes. Being a four-year player, much like Darnell Jackson last year, Green's fundamentals are more ingrained than someone like J.J. Hickson. Coming from a winning program, a national championship team, certainly doesn't hurt either. In my limited time of seeing him in the NBA and at North Carolina, Danny seems to be one of those guys that will do whatever you ask him to do in order to win: defend, rebound, distribute, score, or hustle. Also, Cedric Jackson didn't waste any time getting started with his NBA career; Ced got two one-minute bursts of P.T. at the end of the second and third quarters. Amazingly, the Cavs were +8 in the short time Cedric was out there, and he had a couple of nice contests on Thunder point Russell Westbrook, forcing him to take jumpshots where he struggles mightily. And, of course, let's not forget about Jawad, who scored 12 points, nine coming in the first quarter, shooting 5-of-7 overall and battled Kevin Durant for a portion of the game, where he picked up five fouls. If you haven't noticed, this Cavalier team is deep, the deepest in the league. Of that, I am certain.

Buckeye bum: I'm as pro-Ohio State as any other Buckeye student, but I never liked B.J. Mullens. Not only was he soft with an unintelligent basketball IQ, but he left tOSU after one lackluster season for a top-flight recruit to go to the NBA and be a 7-footer who can play simply because he can stand there and put his hands up. I understood why Oden left, and I could even make a case for Koufos, but Mullens was just downright stupid for leaving. Back to last night's action, Mullens played about a five minute stretch in the second quarter, and in that short amount of time, he managed to talk some trash to LeBron. LeBron was fouled by Mullens, and "Byron" was talking smack to LeBron while he was getting ready to shoot his first foul shot. If you have good hearing, the court mic gave us a glimpse into a couple of the choice words LeBron had for Mullens as he tried to convery his displeasure to the officials. LeBron missed that first shot, but he made the second, and the next time down, went right at Mullens again and drew another foul, making both free throws. Well, B.J., I'm sorry "Byron", that stretch was much like your career at OSU: worthless and disappointing.

Let's get physical, Shaq!: The Big Diesel did a fantastic job of stepping up the scoring production with Williams and West missing. He reached a new Cavalier-high with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting, and his physical post presence on both ends was way too much for the center-less Thunder to contend with. The only black eye on O'Neal's performance was his foul shooting, 6-of-15 including missing his last four attempts. Shaq would've grabbed a game ball of his own if he weren't for that, but his foul drawing capabilities were spectacular in this game. He got both Nenad Krstic and Nick Collison into foul trouble, but to be fair to them, neither is a true center. The easiest formula with Mo out is to give Shaq more touches, and in the first three and a half quarters, there's no reason not to do that. However, Shaq has to at least be able to split a pair of free throws if they go to him late in the game. What I feel good about is that Shaq seems to be raising his field goal percentage, and those flat laser-beam shots are fewer and far between.

Can't we stop 'em?: The Thunder scored on a frightening 14 straight trips in the third quarter as the Cavalier defense took a little break. Nenad Krstic couldn't be stopped in a short burst, pouring in 7 of his 9 points in a three minute stretch. For eight and a half minutes, the Cavs couldn't shut down the Thunder. That's partially a credit to the Thunder, who seem headed to the playoffs with all of their young talent, but it's also another case of the Cavalier defense taking a holiday and only showing up when they "have to".

Big ticket showdown: The increasingly entertaining showdown of LeBron James and Kevin Durant took center stage in the fourth. Both players took their teams on their backs and made this one a thrilling finish.  LeBron scored 13 points in the final quarter, while Durant had 11 in the fourth. While Durant only shot 10-of-25 from the floor, he got to the line almost at will, and he made 12-of-13 attempts there. Actually, the Thunder as a team made their free throws at a solid rate, hitting 28-of-33 (85%), and they are among the best in the league at FT shooting. Meanwhile, LeBron outnumbered the Thunder's misses alone with six of his own. The Cavs shot a stomach-churning 50%, missing 20 of 40. 15 of those misses came from the LeBron-Shaq duo. The Cavaliers' free throw shooting MUST improve. Back to LeBron, though, he truly rose to another level having to distribute, create, defend and finish all by himself for most of the fourth. If this isn't an MVP campaign, I don't know what is.

Clutch three, rejection at the other end: The final minute was littered with exciting plays. The Cavaliers, down one, got a defensive stop by forcing Russell Westbrook to shoot a contested 12-foot jumper. Then, LeBron raced up the court with all five sets of eyes on him. He found Gibson running up the left side of the floor, found him, allowed him to step right into a wide-open three. Boobie buried it to give the Cavaliers a one-point lead with 8.7 seconds left. This play was almost setup by the end of the game play against Los Angeles. OKC was so worried about LBJ streaking past them for a layup that everyone made sure they knew where he was. That caused a cluster of defenders and no one picking up the shooters, mainly Gibson, in transition. The Thunder had a chance to answer, but the Cavaliers shut the door as they so often do on that end. Durant drove from the top of the key and got to within about 6 feet. LeBron got help from Anthony Parker, then elevated over the top of A.P. to reject Durant's shot just before its highest point. LeBron's two free throws iced the game and made a Durant three at the buzzer meaningless.

FSN, are you kiddin' me!!!!: That final minute was wild, but yours truly didn't get to see much of it. WOW! Cable down here in Columbus often has to put the Cavaliers on an alternate religious channel when the NHL's Blue Jackets are on FSN. Tonight, the 10:00 hour rolled around with about 45 seconds left in the game, and the religious programming returned, leaving me Cavalier-less for the phenomenal finish. I called WOW! (which must stand for, WOW! we are a terrible cable company), and they placed the blame on FSN, saying that they have no control over programming, which I don't believe for a second. Make no mistake, on Monday when FSN offices open, they are going to get a piece of my mind.

 goes to: LeBron James and Daniel "Boobie" Gibson. Sometimes, game balls come from an overall dominating performance. Sometimes, it's from a winning play, one that turned the tide of the game for good. Tonight, I provide one of each variety. LeBron's dominating overall showcase included 37 points on 9-of-19 shooting, 9 rebounds, 12 assists, and 1 block. That three point slump must be over, because he drilled 6-of-10. The two hiccups for LBJ in this game were 6 turnovers and 6 missed free throws. Gibson was pretty awful the first three quarters, but his fourth quarter was needed for the W. He scored 8 of his 13 points in the fourth, drew a key offensive foul, create the defensive stop on Westbrook, and hit the triple to win it. Gibson finished with 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting (3-of-8 from three), 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 34 minutes.

Team Grade: C

I'm being hard on the Cavaliers here, but some of these trends are staggering even without their full complement of guards. You rarely miss 20 free throws, turn it over 17 times, and give up 17 offensive rebounds and expect to win. But, that's exactly what the wine and gold did with a 49% field goal percentage, hitting 12 threes, and holding OKC to 38% shooting. The Cavaliers are going to have to take some bumps and bruises without Mo, but tonight wasn't one of those games thanks to LBJ.

The Cavaliers head to Miami for the always enjoyable LBJ-Wade showcase. Kobe, Durant, and Wade all in a row without Mo Williams. Do you think LeBron can pull it off? Tune in Monday to find out.

All for one. One for all.

Kirk

Comments (0)

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment