Category: Cleveland Cavaliers Blog

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Cavs must step up in Orlando tonight

After sweeping through the first two rounds of the Playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves in, if not a must-win situation, at least an almost-must-win scenario tonight in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT). The Orlando Magic leads the series 2-1 as it continues its success over Cleveland. In NBA history, only eight teams have been able to wipe out 3-1 deficits to win best-of-seven series. It happened last in 2006 in the first round the Playoffs, as the Phoenix Suns defeated the Los Angeles Lakers after dropping two of the first three games. It’s occurred twice in the conference finals: Washington (vs. San Antonio) in the 1979 Eastern Conference Finals and Boston (vs. Philadelphia) in the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals.

Versus the Cavaliers, Orlando has won 10 of the last 14 games played at home, and three of the last five at Cleveland. Orlando is 5-2 this postseason at Amway Arena and has an all-time postseason home record of 27-18 at home. The Magic finished 32-9 (.780) at home during the regular season, which was the most wins at home since going 37-4 in 1995-96.

After allowing only 78.1 points per game over the first two rounds, the Cavaliers are surrendering 101.0 points per game to Orlando. Five Magic players in this series are averaging double figures in scoring: Dwight Howard (21.3 ppg), Rashard Lewis (20.0 ppg), Hedo Turkoglu (16.3 ppg), Mickael Pietrus (13.0 ppg) and Rafer Alston (11.0 ppg).

In three games against Orlando this postseason, LeBron James is averaging 41.7 points on .531 shooting, 5.7 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.7 steals. In 11 playoff games this year, James is averaging 35.3 points on .531 shooting, 8.8 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.9 steals. James’ 28 career 30-point games is the most in the NBA since he made his playoff debut in 2006. He has seven career 40-point games in the postseason, including three this year, which is also the most in the league since 2006. James is the third player in NBA playoff history to compile at least 300 points, 80 rebounds and 60 assists in the first 10 games of a single postseason. It marks the second time in his career that he amassed these totals in a postseason.

Notable: There have been 19 games this postseason decided by three or fewer points, which ties the mark for most games decided by three points or less in an entire postseason (2006). For the first time in NBA history, the conference finals began with four games decided by three points or less. The 12 2009 first round games decided by three or fewer points tied the mark for most such games in the first round. There were 12 games decided by three or fewer points in the first round in 1984.

–NBA News

Balanced Magic get 51 free throw attempts, beat Cavaliers 99-89

The AP reports: Dwight Howard scored 24 points—14 on free throws—and Rafer Alston added 18 as the Orlando Magic, sick of seeing replays of LeBron James’ dramatic buzzer-beater to win Game 2, downed the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-89 on Sunday night to take a 2-1 lead in the series. A physical game from start to finish, there were 86 free throws attempted, 58 personal fouls called, two technicals, and a flagrant. The officials spent half the night stepping between players on both sides as tempers flared inside an overheated Amway Arena. In the first half, Mo Williams had his left eye split open by Orlando’s Anthony Johnson, who nailed Cleveland’s point guard with an elbow… James scored 41 on just 11-of-28 shooting and missed five free throws in the fourth quarter. And once again, Cleveland’s superstar didn’t get enough help from his teammates. Williams, Delonte West and Zydrunas Ilgauskas shot a combined 13-of-37.

InsideHoops.com notes: The Cavs were quiet in the first quarter, but the Magic went cold in the second, leading to a 41-41 halftime score. The Magic then outscored the Cavs by six in the third quarter and by five in the fourth.

The Cavs shot just 37.2% from the field and only hit 5-of-26 (19.2%) three-pointers.

Orlando lived on the free throw line, getting 51 attempts, hitting 39. Dwight Howard hit 14-of-19 free throws, Hedo Turkoglu 12-of-12. The Cavs went 26-of-35. LeBron James alone had 24 free throw attempts (hitting 18), while the rest of Cleveland went to the line 11 times.

The Magic had balance: Dwight Howard had 24 points and 9 rebounds, Rafer Alston had 18 points and 3 steals, Mickael Pietrus (4-of-9) came off the bench for 16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks, Rashard Lewis (5-of-8) had 15 points (but little else), and Hedo Turkoglu shot a miserable 1-of-11 but his 11-of-12 free throw shooting resulted in 13 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

For the Cavs: LeBron James (11-of-28, just 1-of-8 threes) had 41 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals, Mo Williams (just 5-of-16) had 15 points, 7 rebounds but more turnovers than assists, and Delonte West (5-of-11) had 12 points and more turnovers than assists. Other than Zydrunas Ilgauskas contributing a mere 9 points and 9 rebounds, barely anyone else on Cleveland did much of anything.

Fans discussed the game live as it happened in this forum topic.

LeBron buzzer-beater lifts Cavaliers over Magic

The AP reports: LeBron James dropped a 3-pointer from the top of the key over Orlando’s Hedo Turkoglu as the final horn sounded Friday night to give the Cavaliers, their season a heartbeat from major trouble, a 96-95 victory over the Magic that evened the Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece… Taking the inbounds pass from Mo Williams, James only had time to turn his shoulders toward the rim and fire. As the high-arcing shot dropped through, James sprinted into the arms of his delirious teammates as 20,562 stunned fans hugged in disbelief… One second before James’ shot, Turkoglu hit a 12-footer in the lane to give the Magic, who overcame a 23-point deficit in the first half, a 95-93 lead. Cleveland called a timeout and set up a play for James, the league’s MVP who finished with 35 points… Rashard Lewis scored 23 points and Turkoglu had 21 for the Magic, who have now lost four games at the buzzer in these playoffs. Dwight Howard scored 10— 20 below his Game 1 performance—and added 18 rebounds. Williams had 19 points—on 7-of-21 shooting—and Zydrunas Ilguaskas had 12 points and 15 rebounds for Cleveland.

Read LeBron James post-game quotes, discussing his awesome shot and more.

Magic stun LeBron, Cavaliers 107-106

The AP reports: Dwight Howard scored 30 points, Rashard Lewis added 22 and the Orlando Magic rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit to hand James and the Cavaliers their first loss of the postseason, 107-106 on Wednesday night in the Eastern Conference finals opener. LeBron James finished with 49 points, eight assists and six rebounds, but the league MVP limped off the floor after Cleveland’s loss—just its third in 46 home games… Lewis made a 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds left and the Magic, who dethroned the champion Boston Celtics in seven games in the previous round, survived two shots by Cleveland in the closing seconds… Hedo Turkoglu scored 15 points with 14 assists for Orlando… Leading by 15, the Cavs got complacent and lost their offensive rhythm in the third quarter. They stood around either waiting for James to do something or settled for jump shots that didn’t fall.

NBA Playoffs conference finals schedule

In the 2009 NBA Playoffs, the Nuggets will play the Lakers in the Western conference finals. And the Cavaliers will play the Magic in the East. Here are the updated schedules:

Nuggets vs Lakers Schedule

Game 1 – Tue  May 19 Denver at L.A. Lakers     9:00PM ET ESPN/R
Game 2 – Thu  May 21 Denver at L.A. Lakers     9:00PM ET ESPN/R
Game 3 – Sat  May 23 L.A. Lakers at Denver     8:30PM ET ABC/R
Game 4 – Mon  May 25 L.A. Lakers at Denver     9:00PM ET ESPN/R
Game 5 * Wed  May 27 Denver at L.A. Lakers     9:00PM ET ESPN/R
Game 6 * Fri  May 29 L.A. Lakers at Denver     9:00PM ET ESPN/R
Game 7 * Sun  May 31 Denver at L.A. Lakers     8:30PM ET ABC/R

Cavs vs Magic Schedule

Game 1 – Wed  May 20 Orlando at Cleveland    8:30PM ET TNT/R
Game 2 – Fri  May 22 Orlando at Cleveland    8:30PM ET TNT/R
Game 3 – Sun  May 24 Cleveland at Orlando    8:30PM ET TNT/R
Game 4 – Tue  May 26 Cleveland at Orlando    8:30PM ET TNT/R
Game 5 * Thu  May 28 Orlando at Cleveland    8:30PM ET TNT/R
Game 6 * Sat  May 30 Cleveland at Orlando    8:30PM ET TNT/R
Game 7 * Mon  June 1 Orlando at Cleveland    8:30PM ET TNT/R

*The final three games of each series are “if necessary.”

Useful playoff stats and info

This will be the Lakers 46th Game 6. The Lakers are 26-19 in Game 6 (any round) all-time. In series that go at least six games, the Lakers are 33-12 all-time (28-12 Los Angeles, 5-0 Minneapolis). When winning Game 6, the Lakers are 23-3 all-time (20-3 Los Angeles, 3-0 Minneapolis). When losing Game 6, the Lakers are 10-9 all-time (8-9 Los Angeles, 2-0 Minneapolis). When leading a series 3-2, the Lakers are 30-4 (any round) all-time (25-4 Los Angeles, 5-0 Minneapolis).

So far, there have been 14 playoff games decided by three or fewer points. All time, the most games decided by three points or less in an entire postseason were 19 in 2006.

Boston’s Glen Davis is averaging 16.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 37.8 minutes during the playoffs after averaging 7.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 21.5 minutes during the regular season’

The Nuggets have advanced to the Western Conference finals for the third time in franchise history and the first time since 1985.

Chauncey Billups is going to the conference finals for the seventh consecutive postseason. Only four other players since 1970 have advanced to seven or more consecutive conference finals (Magic Johnson, Michael Cooper, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kurt Rambis — all Lakers). He is 17-4 all-time in close-out games in his career.

Dirk Nowitzki finished the series with Denver averaging 34.4 points, 11.6 rebounds and shot 53.4 percent from the floor. He is the fifth player since the merger (1976-77) to average 30-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and shoot 50-plus percent and lose a best-of-7 series.

In Houston’s two playoff series, the team that has led after the first quarter has now won all 11 games.

Cleveland is 8-0 this postseason, winning every game by at least 10 in sweeping both the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks. The only other team to sweep the first two rounds of the playoffs since the NBA went to an opening best-of-seven format in 2003 is the 2005 Miami Heat. The Cavs have also won each of their eight games by 10 or more points, setting the NBA postseason record for consecutive playoff wins by double digits, surpassing the 2004 Indiana Pacers streak of six games. The Cavaliers have outrebounded their playoff opponents in every game, have never trailed at halftime and have not surrendered 100 points yet in the postseason.

–NBA News

Brad Daugherty says old Cavs could beat current squad

The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Mary Schmitt Boyer) reports: Former Cleveland center Brad Daugherty thinks his Cavs teams would beat the current edition. Writing on ESPN’s Media Zone Water Cooler, Daugherty, now an ESPN NASCAR analyst, said, “It’d be very difficult matching up and defending LeBron, much like the problems we had to guard Michael Jordan. LeBron continues to groom his outside shot, being able to make 15- to 18-footers, and that’s what’s making the difference in him being the player he is today as opposed to the player he was three years ago. “If we played them, and he started making 18-foot shots consistently, he’d be a problem. But I think we could have altered some of his shots, and we could have thrown a couple of really top-notch defenders at him. Larry Nance could guard out on the perimeter, he could guard a 3 or a 4, and Hot Rod Williams was an excellent defender. When you got past them to go to the basket, the game was still on because they could come from behind you and block your shot.”

Official 2009 All-NBA Teams

2009 all-nba teams

LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the 2008-09 Most Valuable Player, was a unanimous selection to the 2008-09 All-NBA First Team, the NBA announced today. Joining James on the First Team are Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat.

James, who earns First Team honors for the second straight season, ranked second in the NBA in scoring (28.4 ppg), eighth in steals (1.69 spg) and 10th in assists (7.2 apg) to go along with averages of 7.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. James guided the Cavaliers to a franchise-best 66-16 record overall and a 39-2 mark at home, both tops in the league. James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month four times (November, January, March, April), tying Kevin Garnett (2003-04) as the only players to receive the award four times in one season since the NBA began voting for Eastern and Western Conference Player of the Month separately.

Bryant, the 2007-08 Most Valuable Player, finished third in the league in scoring (26.8 ppg), while averaging 5.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists. Bryant led the Lakers to a Western Conference-best 65-17 record. Bryant earns his fourth straight First Team selection and seventh overall. Among active players, only Tim Duncan (nine) and Shaquille O’Neal (eight) have more First Team selections.

Howard, an All-NBA First Team selection for the second consecutive season, led the NBA in rebounding (13.8 rpg) and blocks (2.9 bpg), becoming only the fourth player to pace the league in both categories since 1973-74, the first season where blocks were kept as an official statistic. Howard led the Magic in scoring (20.6 ppg), while shooting .572 from the field. His 63 double-doubles ranked second in the league (David Lee, New York, 65).

Earning his fourth First Team selection, Nowitzki was the league’s fourth-leading scorer (25.9 ppg), while also averaging 8.4 rebounds. His .890 free throw percentage ranked seventh overall. Nowitzki finished the season by scoring at least 20 points in 25 straight games, the longest such streak in the NBA this season.

Wade earns his first All-NBA First Team selection after ranking first in scoring (30.2 ppg), second in steals (1.7 spg) and eighth in assists (6.7 apg). He also averaged 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. Wade became only the fifth player in league history to reach 2,000 points, 500 assists, and 150 steals in a single season, as well as the only player under 6-foot, 4-inches to register 100 blocks since they became an official stat in the 1973-74 season.

The All-NBA Second Team consists of New Orleans’ Chris Paul and Portland’s Brandon Roy at guard, San Antonio’s Tim Duncan and Boston’s Paul Pierce at forward, and Houston’s Yao Ming at center.

The All-NBA Third Team includes Denver’s Chauncey Billups and San Antonio’s Tony Parker at guard, Denver’s Carmelo Anthony and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Pau Gasol at forward, and Phoenix’s Shaquille O’Neal at center.

The All-NBA Teams were chosen by a panel of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. The media voted for All-NBA First, Second and Third Teams by position with points awarded on a 5-3-1 basis.

Other players receiving votes, with point totals (first team votes in parentheses): Deron Williams, Utah, 105; Kevin Garnett, Boston, 72; Chris Bosh, Toronto, 56; Joe Johnson, Atlanta, 36, Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City, 34; Danny Granger, Indiana, 25; David West, New Orleans, 12; Mo Williams, Cleveland, 10; Al Jefferson, Minnesota, 8; Steve Nash, Phoenix, 7; Antawn Jamison, Washington, 7; Ray Allen, Boston, 6; Nene, Denver, 6; Devin Harris, New Jersey, 5; LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland, 4; David Lee, New York, 4; Rajon Rondo, Boston, 2; Vince Carter, New Jersey, 1; Paul Millsap, Utah, 1; O.J. Mayo, Memphis, 1; Mehmet Okur, Utah, 1; Jermaine O’Neal, Miami, 1; Hedo Turkoglu, Orlando, 1; Derrick Rose, Chicago, 1; Caron Butler, Washington, 1; Carlos Boozer, Utah, 1; Andre Miller, Philadelphia, 1; Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia, 1.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

James scores 27 as Cavs win 84-74, sweep Hawks

The AP reports: LeBron James went with his Magic impression in the deciding game of another playoff sweep. While failing to match his offensive explosion in Game 3, the league’s MVP scored 27 points and got his teammates involved as the Cleveland Cavaliers finished off the Atlanta Hawks 84-74 Monday night to win the second-round series in four straight. Delonte West and Mo Williams showed Cleveland isn’t just a one-man squad, hitting huge shots down the stretch as the Cavaliers extended their NBA-record streak of double-digit playoff wins to eight in a row. Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao pounded the boards, leading the Cavaliers to another big rebounding edge… West scored 21 points, while Williams made four 3-pointers to account for his 12 points. Ilgauskas had 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Varejao seemed to get his hand on every miss, picking up seven of his 11 rebounds at the offensive end… Josh Smith led Atlanta with 26 points, but the Hawks were doomed by a miserable shooting night—23 of 73 from the field to finish at 31.5 percent. Joe Johnson added 18 points but made just 7 of 18 shots. Mike Bibby scored his only points on a 3-pointer in the final quarter. Flip Murray kept putting it up, but made only 4 of 15 for 14 points.