Cleveland Cavaliers Blog – Page 126 – NBA Blog

May 10: Cavs 108, Celtics 84

The AP reports: LeBron James scored 21 points on another off-shooting night, but Delonte West scored 21, Joe Smith had 17 and the Cavaliers raced to a large, early lead in Game 3 in a 108-84 victory Saturday night over the road-challenged Boston Celtics to pull within 2-1 in their playoff series… James was only 5-of-16 from the floor, but his teammates stepped it up, going a combined 32-of-54 (59 percent). Cleveland roared to a 32-13 lead after one quarter, led by 17 at half, 16 after three and easily withstood a few Boston counter punches… The Cavs played a nearly flawless first quarter. They shot 65 percent (13-of-20), had 11 assists on those field goals and didn’t commit a turnover. Beyond that, Cleveland didn’t rely on James to carry them, as six other Cavs combined for 27 of the club’s 32 points… The Cavaliers were leading 39-17 in the second quarter when this series had its first moment of tension. As he was driving to the basket, James was grabbed around the neck by Posey and fell awkwardly in the lane. He laid face down on the floor as both teams exchanged angry words and Anderson Varejao and Posey earned technicals for their exuberance.

InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Cavs shot 53.6%, the Celtics just 40.5%. The Cavs nailed 10-of-19 three-pointers, the Celtics just 5-of-16 (Ray Allen 0-of-5 threes). The Cavs got to the free throw line more, rebounded a bit more, and won the assists total 29-18. Turnovers and steals were around even.

For the Cavs, LeBron James (5-of-16) had 21 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks. Delonte West (7-of-11, 4-of-6 threes) had 21 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists. Joe Smith came off the bench to shoot 7-of-8 for 17 points and 6 rebounds. Wally Szczerbiak took 10 shots for 16 points. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 12 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.

For the Celtics, Kevin Garnett (8-of-13) had 17 points, 9 rebounds and little else. Paul Pierce (just 3-of-8) had 14 points and 5 assists (but 4 turnovers). Kendrick Perkins (4-of-8) had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. Ray Allen was just 4-of-12 for 10 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. Sam Cassell shot 0-of-6 and Eddie House shot 0-of-3 off the bench.

In Celtics-Cavs Game 3 ref calls unfair quick tech on Doc Rivers

I’m watching Game 3 of the Celtics-Cavaliers series, in Cleveland, and as the Celtics came up the court Kevin Garnett got called for an offensive foul call, as he bumped into Delonte West but possibly appeared to shove him in the process, causing West to fall down. It possibly should have just been a no-call. It certainly wasn’t a charge.

Anyway, mere seconds after the call, referee Bennett Salvatore called a technical foul on Celtics coach Doc Rivers. I absolutely hate that sort of call, when a tech comes that quickly. Players and coaches should be allowed to vent for a few seconds, or even longer, without fear of the ref responding by doing something that hurts their team and possibly gets them thrown out of the game.

This all came at around 3:42 in the first quarter with the Cavs enjoying an early 18-8 lead.

Ben Wallace doubtful for Game 3 Saturday

Cavaliers forward/center Ben Wallace experienced dizziness with 8:20 remaining in the first quarter of the Cavaliers game last night at Boston and did not return to the game. Exams and testing done at The Cleveland Clinic today determined that he has allergies and a viral inner ear infection in his left ear with dizziness. He is currently listed as doubtful for Game 3 versus Boston tomorrow night (Saturday) at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

May 8: Celtics 89, Cavs 73

The AP reports: Paul Pierce and Ray Allen found their shooting touch. LeBron James can only hope he left his in Cleveland. Pierce scored 19 points, Kevin Garnett added 13 with 12 rebounds, and Allen broke out of a seven-quarter scoring drought with 16 points to help the Boston Celtics beat the Cavaliers 89-73 on Thursday night and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. One game after going 2-for-18 from the field and missing his last six shots, including a layup to tie the game with 8.5 seconds left, James missed his first three tries and finished with 21 points on 6-for-24 shooting… James will have a more welcoming crowd for the next two games than the Boston fans who serenaded him with a chant of “Over-rated!” as he went 1-for-11 over the second and third quarters. This time, the poor shooting was contagious: The Cavaliers shot 35.6 percent in the game, hitting just 11.8 percent in the second quarter as Boston turned an eight-point deficit into a nine-point lead. From early in the second quarter to early in the third, a span of 13:41, Boston outscored Cleveland 36-10. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 19 points for the Cavaliers, and reserve Anderson Varejao had 10 rebounds in 32 minutes after forward Ben Wallace went to the locker room just 3:40 into the game due to dizziness.

Second round playoffs notes

Nineteen teams have recovered from 2-0 deficits to win a best-of-seven series, including two last postseason.

The Utah Jazz defeated the Houston Rockets 4-3 in their first round series after dropping the first two games, and the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Detroit Pistons 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals after falling behind 2-0.

New Orleans, which owns a 2-0 lead in its Western Conference semifinals series against San Antonio, is out-rebounding the Spurs by an average of six rebounds (50-44) and is shooting .491 from the field, while San Antonio is at .417. Game 3 is tonight in San Antonio (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

New Orleans’ Chris Paul has recorded a points/assists double-double in six of his first seven playoff games, including three 30-point, 10-assist games.

The Celtics own a 1-0 lead in its best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals series against Cleveland, with Game 2 tonight in Boston (7 p.m. ET, ESPN). In their 76-72 Game 1 victory, the Celtics held LeBron James to only 12 points on 2-of-18 shooting. James, however, fell one rebound and one assist shy of a triple-double, finishing with 12 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. James has made fewer than two baskets once, on Dec. 29, 2004, when he shot 0-of-5 against Houston.

The Los Angeles Lakers took a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals series against Utah, defeating the Jazz 120-110. One of the reasons the Lakers are in control of the series is the defensive effort their frontcourt has made against All-Star Carlos Boozer. Boozer, who led Utah in scoring during the regular season (21.1), was limited to 15 points in Game 1 on 6-of-14 shooting. In Game 2, he was held to just 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting.

The Lakers are averaging a playoff-high 114.7 points, out-distancing the next closest team, New Orleans (102.4 ppg) by 12.3 points. L.A. also is shooting a postseason-best .491 from the field and averaging a playoff-off 26.5 assists.

The postseason’s best defense belongs to Boston, which is allowing only 85.3 ppg on .397 shooting from the field.

Orlando scored a 111-86 home victory in their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals series against Detroit to avoid going down 3-0. Rashard Lewis recorded a playoff career-high 33 points, shooting 11-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-6 from three. In the first two games of the series, played in Detroit, Lewis scored a combined 38 points, shooting 15-of-41 from the floor and 2-of-12 from three. During the regular season, Lewis shot .483 in home games compared with .429 on the road.

– NBA News

May 6: Celtics 76, Cavs 72

The AP reports: “This was two heavyweights, just body-punching,” said Kevin Garnett, who scored 28 points to make up for an off night for the rest of Boston’s Big Three. “There was no finesse, no jabs, just an all-out, beat-down, defensive fight.” Boston held James to 12 points on 2-for-18 shooting; only once in his career has he made fewer baskets. He missed three drives and a 3-pointer in the final minute, including the potential game-tying finger roll with 8.5 seconds left… Paul Pierce and Ray Allen of the Celtics weren’t doing any bragging, either. Pierce scored four points on 2-for-14 shooting, and Allen was 0-for-4 from the field for his first scoreless performance in his last 852 games since 1997… Sam Cassell made two free throws to tie it 72-72; James missed again, but this time Ilgauskas was there to tip it in and tie the game. Garnett moved across the lane to give Boston back the lead, 74-72 as Cleveland called a timeout with 22 seconds left. James dribbled at the point before finding a lane to the basket, but his shot wouldn’t fall and James Posey was fouled after grabbing the rebound. He hit both free throws.

InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Celtics shot 42.6%, the Cavs just 30.7%, but the Cavs took 7 more shots and had 22-of-26 free throws, the Celtics 14-of-18. Both teams were similarly miserable from three-point range. Rebounding, assists and turnovers were all fairly close.

For the Celtics, Garnett shot 13-of-22 for 28 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals. Rajon Rondo (5-of-8) had 15 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists (but 4 turnovers). Sam Cassell (4-of-8) scored 13 off the bench. Paul Pierce had 4 points and more turnovers than assists. Ray Allen was scoreless with 4 turnovers compared to 1 assist.

For the Cavaliers, aside from Ilgauskas’ 22 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks, Wally Szczerbiak (just 5-of-14) had 13 points and little else. LeBron James shot 2-of-18 for 12 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists and 10 turnovers (yes, ten). Ben Wallace rebounded well. That’s about it.

Kobe officially wins MVP

Kobe has officially won MVP. Coming in second, as expected, was Chris Paul.

Kevin Garnett came in third, LeBron James fourth, and Dwight Howard fifth.

Bryant finished the season ranked second in the league in scoring at 28.3 ppg, having shot .459 from the field, .840 from the free-throw line and .361 from three-point range. In addition, Bryant added 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game. The 6-6 guard led the Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference (57-25, .695), a 15-game improvement over last year (42-40, .512), and the franchise’s 19th Pacific Division title.

Discuss the results with other fans here.

May 2: Cavs 105, Wizards 88

The AP reports: LeBron James had the last word. In an NBA playoff series filled with trash talk, hard fouls, 13 technicals, one ejection, one suspension and plenty more, James was everywhere and did a little bit of everything in Game 6. And, in what’s become his personal rite of spring, he led the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Washington Wizards. James compiled 27 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists for his third career playoff triple-double, all the while helping slow Caron Butler at the defensive end, and the Cavaliers beat the Wizards 105-88 on Friday night to close the contentious series… It’s the third consecutive postseason that the Cavaliers eliminated the Wizards in the first round—ending each of those series on Washington’s home floor… He was more of a passer than a scorer early, with twice as many assists (four) as shot attempts (two) in the first quarter. That allowed his teammates to get in a rhythm, and Wally Szczerbiak scored a career playoff-best 26 points, Daniel Gibson added 22, and they combined to make 10 of Cleveland’s 11 3-pointers… Antawn Jamison led Washington with 23 points and 15 rebounds. The Cavaliers were ahead 56-48 at halftime, thanks in large part to a 15-0 run during the second quarter and 7-for-12 shooting on 3-pointers. The Wizards? They were 3-for-12 on 3s to that point.

Report: Kobe Bryant will win MVP

The AP reports: Kobe Bryant has won the NBA’s MVP award for the first time, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site Friday night, citing anonymous sources familiar with the outcome of voting by media members. The newspaper reported that commissioner David Stern will be in Los Angeles next week to present the trophy to Bryant.

Eddie Jordan talks playoffs

Here’s Wizards coach Eddie Jordan, talking about his team’s first round playoff series against the Cavaliers, who lead the series 3 games to 2.

Eddie Jordan on playing without Gilbert Arenas in Game Five:

“Our guys responded well. I felt that we got better as the game went along. We took care of the ball in the second half. We withstood their run and we withstood their crowd. It was a great effort and we got it done.”

On sustaining momentum:

“We have to keep the momentum. It’s how you play and how you execute. It’s how you rebound. You can’t allow them to have highlight plays. Now we have to stay poised. We want to keep attacking and playing defense well and keep our offense going.”

On winning a close game:

“It was great. Finally, we got one. It’s what we had talked about. They hadn’t missed (in that type of situation). Whether it was someone in the corner, or somebody at the top, or LeBron (James)…over the years, we hadn’t experienced a miss. Hopefully, we can play better defense so he doesn’t get to that point again.”

On the game plan without Gilbert Arenas:

“It’s a different flow for us. We had the highest scoring trio in the league when Gilbert was playing and healthy. We were the best team in the Eastern Conference (last season with Arenas). Now there will be a lot more post-ups. We try to get more pick-and-rolls for our big guys and for Antonio Daniels to get to the basket. We depend on our jump shot last. We try to get Caron (Butler) his opportunities in his sweet spots at the top of the key and off the pick-and-rolls. He wouldn’t have those volumes of opportunities if Gilbert was here because Gilbert has those great drives and great threes.”