The Cleveland Cavaliers keep on winning as they rallied to beat the Heat 107-100. The comeback began when James watched Wade steal the ball and a reverse slam later gave the Heat an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter. The comeback started with a flourish as the Cavs went on a 12-0 run sparked by two three pointers by Mo Williams, who had 15 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter. It was an excellent show put on by Lebron and D-Wade. Lebron sealed the victory by blowing past Jamario Moon and ending the possession with a thunderous one handed dunk over Jermaine O'Neal, giving Cleveland a 100-95 lead with 42.7 seconds left.
When Mike Brown was asked about that play he said "I thought, I didn’t think, I don’t know, I don’t know how he did it." Enough said! Cleveland led the Heat after the first quarter 30-26. They also led at the half 58-54. The third quarter was a problem for Cleveland again as the Heat outscored them 27-18 to take a 81-76 lead going into the fourth. Cleveland then outscored the Heat in the final quarter 31-18 to seal the victory.
There were some good things and some bad things to take from this game however. The bad was that they were outscored in the paint 52-30. Miami basically got whatever they wanted in that area. The Heat also scored 100 points which is about 10 points above the average that Cleveland allows. The Cavaliers turned the ball over 20 times costing them 28 points.
The good things were that Miami shot a horrible 5-of-18 for 27 percent from beyond the arc. Cleveland had 18 fast break points, and the Heat had just 11. Cleveland shot 22-of-25 from the free throw line, while Miami shot 17-of-22. Cleveland was also 37-of-76 from the floor for 49 percent, and a scorching 11-of-17 from 3 point range for 65 percent.
Lebron James was 13-of-21 from the field and 6-of-7 from beyond the arc. But he was also 10-of-10 from the charity stripe. That is a lot better than the previous night against Atlanta when he was just 8-of-14 from the free throw line. That is what is most impressive of Lebron; it looks like he can't hit a shot for the life of him some nights, then he puts it behind him and he comes out with a game like he did against Miami. Wade in the supporting role was 16-of-30 from the field. He also had 7 rebounds, 9 assists, and 7 steals! What a game!
Cleveland had three players finish in double figures while Miami had four players. Lebron and Mo scored a combined 72 points. That is the difference with this basketball team. Batman and Robin, aka Mo and Bron can come out and just take over games while Wade doesn't have that player on his team that can do that.
It is now Tuesday and Cleveland finished this latest road trip with a 3-1 record. After getting embarrassed by Houston, they came back and beat San Antonio, Atlanta, and Miami in 4 games in 5 nights. This team just continues to get the job done, when most of the national media doesn't think that they can. Screw them! The Cavaliers will now wait and see if they can get a veteran big man to join them on Wednesday for their next game against Milwaukee. According to various sources around the league, Joe Smith will be signed by Cleveland and in uniform on Wednesday. I will believe it when I see it.
He will be a welcome addition to this team, if it does happen. Sasha Pavlovic returned last night, and Trey Johnson was waived yesterday, so Cleveland does still have an open roster spot. So the plot thickens.
In other news, for the second time this season, Cavs coach Mike Brown was named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month. Brown led the Cavs to an East-best 9-3 record in February and also coach the East All-Star team. He also won the award in December. Congratulations to him!
Cleveland will now return home to play the Bucks on Wednesday. They are now 29-0 when scoring 100 points or more. They beat Atlanta and Miami in consecutive games after losing earlier in the year to both teams on the road. This team just continues to handle adversity by winning games. They are now 47-12, which is 35 games over .500! They now are one game behind the Lakers for the best record in the NBA. They now hold the #1 record in the Eastern Conference as well. So until Wednesday, I will leave you with this. I'll see ya!
Mo Williams has been one of the main contributors to the Cavaliers this season. His efforts however did not lead to being chosen as a reserve for the Eastern Conference All Star team. Devin Harris from New Jersey and Jameer Nelson from Orlando were chosen instead. Mo Williams numbers have been good, not great with averaging 17.2 ppg and 4 apg. But Mo has meant more to his team than anybody else has this year. He also plays for the best team in the NBA, but apparently that doesn't mean anything. The way that he has stepped up in Delonte West's and Zydrunas Illgauskas's absence has been remarkable. He scored 33 points against Portland on the road trip and then a career high 43 points at home against Sacramento.
The Orlando Magic came into tonight's game as the best 3 pt shooting team in the NBA. Early Orlando was held in check, but they caught fire late from the outside perimeter. Cleveland had problems early with the size of Dwight Howard. They did a good job defensively on the outside shooters early though. The Cavaliers shot 58% in the 1st quarter, and led 32-25. They would shoot very poorly the rest of the game though.
Dwight Howard dominated this game. He finished with 22 points and 18 rebounds. He had two blocked shots, but he changed a lot more of them throughout this game. The final of this game was 99-88 in favor of the Magic. Cleveland shot 34 of 82 from the floor for 41%. Orlando shot 36 of 80 for 45% from the floor. Orlando shot 11 of 31 from beyond the arc for 35%. The Cavs shot 7 of 14 for 50% from beyond the arc. Orlando also had 19 fast break points. Cleveland only had 7.
Orlando however caught fire from 3 point range in the 3rd quarter. They hit four three's in a row at one point. The third quarter was also the turning point in this game for Orlando. Lebron James continually went to the basket tonight, got hacked, and no fouls were called after blatent contact from Hedo Turkoglu on consecutive plays. Mike Brown was incensed at the no calls and received a technical foul, followed by Mo Williams receiving one as well. The officiating in the 3rd quarter was just horrendous! After three quarters, the Cavs trailed the Magic 79-72.
In the 4th quarter, the Magic outscored Cleveland 20-16. Orlando just ran away with the game as they were up by 21 points with a little more than 5:00 left. Cleveland then closed out the game with scoring 11 straight points to make the score a little more respectable. Turkoglu had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Rashard Lewis had 19 points as well. Nelson finished with 18 points, as he hit some big outside shots down the stretch for the Magic.
Lebron James had another off night this evening as he shot 10 of 27 from the floor. He was definitely complaining most of this game due to the lack of foul calls. So he was slightly distracted. Still he just took some awful shots tonight. There were some bright spots in this loss though for Cleveland. J.J. Hickson was 6 of 9 from the floor for 13 points. He played 24 minutes. Hickson also was a bright spot on the defensive end as well. He continues to get better each night. Wally Szczerbiak was hot in the 1st half for 14 points, but then Cleveland kind of moved away from him, and that was the start of their demise. I thought Cleveland should have continued to go to Wally, but they did not and it cost them.
Cleveland has to put this one behind them quickly as they have another game tomorrow night at home. They will take on the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers are having another off year, but they are getting back Marcus Camby and also Baron Davis. Cleveland has not lost back-to-back games all season. They will look to move that home record to 22-0 with a victory. The good news for the Cavaliers is that Zydrunas Illgauskas is expected to return to action tomorrow night. Then Anderson Varejao can go back to being that spark off the bench.
This was just one game. It will be interesting to see how this team will respond moving forward. If this is anything like it has been throughout this season, Cleveland will bounce back with a victory tomorrow night. Only time will tell to see what this team is made of. Cleveland fans this is one game, don't stop cheering because of this loss. This loss was something that can be built upon in the future. The Cavs still have two more chances against the Magic. This one tonight definitely had a playoff feel to it though.
So after tonight, Cleveland falls to 35-9 while Orlando moves to 35-10. Mike Brown still had a chance to become the head coach of the Eastern Conference All-Stars, but you can bet that he is already thinking about the Clippers and not about the all-star game. I bet Mo Williams is disappointed about being snubbed for the all-star game, but his focus is on the team. He cares about the team, not about individual accolades. That is why this Cavalier team is special. I am not worried about this loss. Cleveland will take something from this game and move forward.
Send Message
Add Friend
Block User
Invite to Group
Report User 
Leave a Comment | View All Comments