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Photo: Tracy Boulian/The Plain Dealer
Last night was an eventful one at the Q with a world record broken, a player rushed to the hospital, and an LBJ injury. Lost in all that was a highly competitive game, where the Cavaliers snoozed in the first half and trailed by as many as 21 points in the second quarter before mounting a tremendous comeback, taking their first lead in the fourth quarter and winning their sixth straight game. Coupled with the Lakers' loss in Charlotte, they now hold a three-game lead on Los Angeles for the best overall record and homecourt throughout the playoffs.
Some coming and going: Delonte West returned to the lineup, while Daniel "Boobie" Gibson continues his absence with the birth of his first child. He is expected to miss today's game in Milwaukee as well. As for the Pistons, who have been riddled with injuries all season long, center and former Cavalier Big Ben Wallace was held out with a knee injury, that was suffered earlier in the week and looked eerily similar to the injury that held him out of the stretch run of last season. Here's hoping that Ben can get back into action real soon.
Put on a Snuggie!: It was Snuggie night at the Q, and as one person on Twitter put it, the Q crowd looked like they belonged to a wine-clad cult. The sellout crowd of 20,562 donned the blankets with sleeves for a five minute period as a representative for the Guinness Book of World Records was on hand to verify the record. Video evidence will bring that figure down a little bit, but it was an impressive spectacle to see, and I imagine it was even more neat inside the Q. LeBron James even made rookie Danny Green head out to warmups wearing his custom Snuggie.
Ok, guys, take the blankets off!: Everyone in the Q seemed so preoccupied with the world record that they, including the Cavaliers, forgot there was a basketball game taking place. The Pistons did not forget, and the ghosts of playoffs past empowered both Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton to start the Pistons firing on a sizeable advantage. DEE-troit was 8-of-13 to start, and the undersized frontcourt of Jonas Jerebko and Jason Maxiell was flatout abusing Antawn Jamison and J.J. Hickson. In what should have been one of their easier assignments, the Cavalier bigs gave up three very early and costly offensive putbacks. With that, the Cavaliers trailed by as much as 13 in the first before closing the hole to just nine after twelve minutes.
No, seriously!: It got even worse for Cleveland in the second as their helpside defense went into complete disarray with driving Pistons finding open lanes to the basket and outside shooters seeing clear-as-day views at the hoop. The Cavaliers were a step, sometimes two, late on every single rotation, and the Pistons looked like they were poised to split this baby wide open. With a lead of 21 early in the second quarter, the Pistons even took time to poke fun at the Cavaliers' picture-taking adventures. Mike Brown wasn't having too much fun on his 40th birthday, and he chewed his team out in that huddle for a general lack of effort. He couldn't have been more spot-on, and whatever he said, had a profound effect on the Cavalier intensity for the rest of the game.
Andy's the first to get off the couch: It gets a bit repetitive saying it game after game, but Anderson Varejao really kept the Cavs in this one with his relentless effort in the second quarter. That's one thing you're never, ever going to question about Andy, and that's a big reason why he's a 50 million dollar man for the wine and gold. Varejao saved possessions, drew an offensive foul, and played strong, tenacious defense when others weren't, and it gave the Cavaliers a faint pulse. Varejao was the one photographed in a Snuggie for the press release, but he was the first one to throw the figurative Snuggie aside and start playing ball, except for maybe LeBron. With Andy's help, the Cavs ripped off a 18-6 run in the last seven and a half minutes of the second to close the gap to just nine at the break.
Stuckey hits the deck: A scary moment happened late in the third quarter last night when Piston point Rodney Stuckey collapsed while on the bench during a timeout. He never lost consciousness, but there were hectic minutes where Cavs trainer Max Benton went sprinting over to the Piston bench as well as several cardiologists just to be safe. Stuckey actually had a similar thing occur in the locker room in New Orleans earlier this season. He left in an ambulance and was to be monitored overnight at The Cleveland Clinic. All signs point to Stuckey being just fine, but there was concern on the faces of both sides as they got together after the game in prayer for their colleague. I wish all the best for Rodney going forward, and I hope this isn't anything serious.
'Tawn grabs the lead, Cavs don't look back: With LeBron James sitting on the bench to start the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers made their move. Down two at the start of the quarter, Antawn Jamison rattled three straight shots home and his 7-0 minirun gave the Cavs the lead for good. That's a great luxury to have with LeBron out of the game with Mo Williams and Jamison both with the ability to score for themselves. Delonte West also capped off a nice evening in the fourth with strong play. Delonte finished with 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists after missing the previous game. In the four minutes LeBron was out of the game in the fourth, the Cavaliers used a 13-5 spurt to extend their lead and set up closing time for King James.
Game ball goes to: LeBron James and Anderson Varejao. LeBron ripped apart several Piston defenders, including Tayshaun Prince, on his way to 40 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks, 1 of those a chasedown block on Rip Hamilton. As for Wild Thing, he posted another double-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists in heavy minutes (39) with J.J. Hickson struggling. He hit 8-of-10 shots from the floor also.
Team Grade: C
Indeed an uninspired effort for most of the first half, the Cavaliers rebounded to put forth a defensive-minded second half that was more than enough to smother the Pistons, ahem, pedestrian offense. Detroit did manage to shoot 49%, but that was down from 52% in the first half, and they scored just 37 points in the second 24 minutes. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, posted a 51% mark and narrowly won the boards 37-36. They also had 25 assists with just 12 turnovers.
Heading to Milwaukee tonight, the Cavaliers look to extend their winning streak against another division opponent. Late-breaking news, however, is that they'll attempt it without LeBron James, who is sitting out via Mike Brown's decision combined with an ankle injury he tweaked twice in the game last night, once running onto the back of Jason Maxiell's foot.
All for one. One for all.
Kirk
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