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Photo: Tracy Boulian/Cleveland.com
The Memphis Grizzlies came to the Q riding high after defeating the L.A. Lakers Monday night. The Cavaliers knew the Grizzlies would be tired considering the tight win over the Lakers the night before, and the game was Memphis's fourth in five nights. Cleveland lost to the Grizzlies in an overtime game at the hands of Mike Conley Jr. earlier in the season and was looking for revenge. The Cavs set the tone establishing a physical presence on the defensive end and finding easy dunks on the offensive end. The Cavs had a 12 point lead after the 1st quarter and never looked back on the way to their 9th straight win.
The Hickson Effect - J.J. Hickson scored 6 of the Cavs first 13 points on dunks. Hickson has become very important in the beginning of games. With Mo Williams out, Shaq has started to dominate down-low and teams are having to pay more attention to him. Also, opposing teams do not want to leave Gibson and Parker open because they are both in the top five in 3-point percentage. So, most teams sag off of Hickson, and Hickson can make them pay if he continues to cut to the rim because the Cavs have very able passers. When Hickson is productive, the Cavs are almost unbeatable; when Hickson scores 10 or more points the Cavs are 12-0. When Hickson scores less than 10 points the Cavs are 27-11.
Hot and Cold - Offensively, these teams were polar opposites in the 1st quarter. Cleveland shot 60% from the floor on 12 of 20 shooting. On the other hand, Memphis shot 32% from the floor, making only 8 of their first 25 shots. In the 1st quarter, both teams' All-stars set the tone for their squad as LeBron went 3 for 3 from the floor for 6 points for the Cavs, and Zach Randolph went 0-6 from the floor for 0 points.
Shaq Be Nimble - In the 2nd quarter, Shaq had one of those sequences that coaches want to bottle up and re-open come playoff time. With 7:22 remaining in the 2nd quarter, Shaq entered the game for Jamario Moon. In the next 6 minutes, Shaq compiled some outrageous numbers; Shaq grabbed 6 rebounds (1 offensive rebound), handed out 2 assists, blocked 3 shots, and scored 7 points on 3 of 4 shooting from the floor. If you take that 6 minutes and put it on a 48 minute pace, Shaq would score 56 points, grab 48 rebounds (8 offensive boards), hand out 16 assists and block 24 shots. Now, this in unrealistic, but I am just putting into perspective what the big man did in that 6 minutes and what he has left in the tank.
Halftime - When the buzzer sounded for intermission, the Cavaliers put up more dominating numbers, and the Grizzlies were looking like more of a bottom feeder than a playoff contender. LBJ was still perfect from the floor shooting 5 for 5 for 13 points and dishing out 7 assists. The Cavs shot 64% in the 1st half to the Grizzlies 35%. Zach Randolph and O.J. Mayo combined for 9 1st half points, and Cleveland owned a 55-37 halftime lead.
Gay Gets Angry -With 1:06 left in the 3rd quarter and the Cavs up 82 to 58, Rudy Gay got a little angry after Jawad Williams picked his pocket. Gay was upset there was no foul called (or that he was the only person on his team playing like he gave a damn) and tried to push his way through an Anderson Varejao screen on the defensive end. What happened was he pushed Andy over into a shooting Jawad Williams. Williams drained the 3-pointer, and Varejao was awarded a free throw for Gay's foul. The Cavs converted the rare 4-point play and essentially ended any chance the Grizzlies would have for a comeback attempt.
No Give Up In the Griz - With the game in hand, the Cavs could have very well sat LBJ out for the 4th quarter, but James started the 4th quarter and Cleveland looked like they were already watching the highlights on ESPN. The Cavs played their only poor stretch of basketball to start the 4th; Memphis went on a 9-2 run. Cleveland had the game in hand and there was no doubt about that, but if you are goint to start the 4th quarter up 25 points and play your starters, they better give the same effort they did in the first 36 minutes or you are wasting valuable minutes for rookies and players you are trying to develop.
Milestones and Career Highs - With the 105 to 89 win over the Grizzlies, coach Mike Brown recorded the 250th win of his career and is the 3rd fastest active coach to do so. Also, LeBron James tied a career high with 15 assists.
Highlights and Low-lights -LeBron James added another highlight to his dazzling reel with his 13th chase-down block of the season. James ran the entire length of the court to chase down O.J. Mayo and slammed the ball off of the backboard. Check out the video evidence... the Q might need need a new backboard!
The low-light was definitely a wide-open missed dunk by Anthony Parker. Parker had time to collect himself, dribble, and go up for the slam. The only problem was he forgot to put the ball in the hoop. I do not mean to pile on, but AP should be ashamed and I bet his sister gave him a call that night to check out this clip.
 goes to: LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal: James tied a career high with 15 assists; LBJ also scored 22 points on 7 of 14 shooting and 7 of 7 free-throws, ripped off 6 rebounds, and had 1 ridiculous chase-down block and 1 steal. Shaq turned back the clock on the previous stated 6 minute domination, and he turned in a solid effort with 13 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 2 assists. Shaq did this all in 21 minutes.
Team Grade: A-
Why not a solid A? Well, despite the solid effort the Cavaliers continued to turn the ball over at an alarming rate. Cleveland had 18 turnovers which led to 17 Memphis points. Also, after holding one of the league leaders in fast-break points to 0 in the 1st half, the Cavs gave up 17 fast-break points in the 2nd half. The only other downfall for the Cavs was the 9-2 run to start the 4th quarter during which coach Mike Brown left LBJ in the game. Despite some of the deficiencies, Cleveland shot the ball extremely well through the first three quarters; Cleveland was shooting 59% from the floor going into the 4th quarter and ended up at 49%. The Cavs also owned the rebounding advantage at 43 to 40. The painted area is where the Cavs won this game. Cleveland defended the paint with a nice level of physicality holding the Grizzlies to 34 points in the paint, and on the offensive end, the Cavs owned the Grizzlies with 64 points in the paint.
The Cavs play host to the D-Wade and the Miami Heat tonight, and Kirk will bring you the recap.
BURN ON!
-J.V.
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