The Cavaliers have locked up their 2nd straight Central Division Championship with a hard fought 99-94 win over the Indiana Pacers. The 20,592 in attendance tonight wouldn't know that - the team made no mention of the 'accomplishment' at The Q. I understand - the division crown is hardly what the Cavaliers are after - but it's good to stop and smell the roses, to appreciate every step in the journey.
Not that I will criticize the Cavaliers too much - at 54-15 the team is steamrolling towards the post-season. Tonight's win was the Wine and Gold's 24th straight against teams under-.500. The Cavs haven't lost to a team with a losing record since dropping one to the Wizards on November 18th.
The Pacers made it difficult, however, despite missing 4 of their regular contributors. The Cavaliers were sleepwalking through most o the first half, eventually taking a 2 point lead into the locker room(50-48). They came out looking like a team ready to finish the game off early, starting the 3rd quarter on a 11-2 run to take a 61-50 lead. The Cavs continued to add to the lead stretching it to 16 heading into the 4th quarter. Down 18(83-65) early in the 4th Quarter, and with LeBron on the bench ready to take the rest of the evening, the Pacers mounted a furious comeback.
Behind Troy Murphy and A.J. Price, the Pacers out-scored the Cavaliers 22-5 to close within 1 at 88-87 with 4:03 to go. That's when Anderson Varejao and LeBron James do what they do best - make all the plays to take over the game. In the final 4 minutes, LeBron scored or assisted on all 11 Cavalier points. He also forced 2 steals and had two monster blocks. People say Kobe is the ultimate closer - well, I'll take LeBron James, not because he'll bury buzzer-beater after buzzer-beater but because he makes plays in the final 5 minutes of games - on both ends of the floor - to close out opponents.
The Cavaliers continue to win games, despite being at a size disadvantage almost every night. Tonight was no exception with Roy Hibbert having his way inside with 20 points on 8-12 shooting. Murphy was solid too, scoring 19 points and grabbing 15 rebounds - giving the Cavaliers a glimpse of what could have been if the deal for Antawn Jamison wasn't made.
It was a lot of LeBron James for the Cavaliers. James scored 32 points to go along with 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Jamison had 17-9 while J.J. Hickson was a spark early on with 13 points.
Mike Brown had little to say after the game, visibly annoyed with how his team was dominated for the first half of the 4th quarter. The Cavaliers are winning, but they aren't winning the way Brown would like them to win. Division Champs or not, there is plenty of work to be done - the playoffs start one month from today.
0 recs | 14 comments
The Cavaliers will never win a championship because that is not Lebron James’ priority. His priorities are wealth and status. He wants to be the sports world’s first billionaire. He hangs out with Warren Buffett, not any special trainers or coaches. He’ll jump ship to New York just to sell extra jerseys.
MadTown Hoops - March 18, 2010
Ignorance is bliss. He had trainers with him during the last off season, even when he went overseas. So please if you’re going to start debates here, go for it, but at least know your facts before you speak.
CavsLebronFan - March 18, 2010
ilamuku - March 18, 2010
Obviously, you haven't heard
but Tiger already is the worlds first sport billionaire. We are just glad LeBron is going to be the first Sports Billionaire from Cleveland.
lifelongvike - March 18, 2010
All that Wisconsin cheese has clogged your critical thinking abilities MadTown.
care to explain how your Bucks managed to lose to the dreggs of the NBA Clippers last night?
Juannieboy - March 18, 2010
Oh my god! Abandon all hope, his Bucks fan has enlightened us!
hans - March 18, 2010
Yeah, ‘cause winning a championship hasn’t earned Kobe or Jordan any more money or endorsements or jerseys sold. Thanks for sharing your intimate knowledge of Lebron’s personal and private motivations, though.
Lebron’s priority is to be the best ever. That’s what he wants more than anything. To be that…if you already are a great player, the only way is to win championships.
I’d say he’s pretty well situated with those two already.
Let’s examine more in depth.
Wealth? Check.
Status? Check.
Yeah. I was right.
He’s already going to be a billionaire. He’s well on his way…it’s only a matter of time. The idea that a player has to play in a large market to be any more famous or wealthy has LONG been proven to be absolutely incorrect. If you had any goddamn idea what you’re talking about you would know this.
And yeah, like lifelongvike said, you uuhhh…forgot about Tiger.
Please show me your detailed knowledge of Lebron James’ daily activities and his workout regimen during the offseason.
johnnyphoenix - March 18, 2010
Sigh....
So whenever a LeBron jersey is sold, Lindsey Hunter of the Chicago Bulls makes the most money off of it.
Oh, wait. He just reinjured it rolling over during a mid-day nap. He’s out another 18 months.
Jeff at the BBC - March 19, 2010
Hmmm
That should have read 1-2-3. SBN’s software automatically switched it to 1-1-1.
Jeff at the BBC - March 19, 2010
We really need to get Z back....and Shaq
Hibbard had his way down low and kept the Pacers in the game for the first half. Our defense plays with great intensity when they turn it “on” but the energy required can’t be sustained for full quarters at a time. We really miss Z and Shaq when the tempo slows down as other teams take advantage of our lack of lenght.
Without Z and Shaq the Cavs have adjusted and continue to win but the margins are not what we would expect over sub-mediocre teams like the Pacers, Pistons, etc.
Thank God we have a deep team good enough to win w/o our bigs. Oh…..and having Gods gift to basketball does not hurt either.
Juannieboy - March 18, 2010
Frankly, I can't think of another team who could win . . .
at the rate the Cavs are winning while missing both their first squad center and second squad center. The Lakers without Gasol and Bynum would be a .500 team. Kobe would be jacking up 40 shots a game with zero assists.
Meanwhile, LeBron CLEARLY showed the effects of playing two games in two nights by ONLY getting 9 rebounds and 9 assists to go with his 32 points.
bobdevo - March 18, 2010
IN A LAST MINUTE DECISION THE CAVS CHOOSE TO SIGN 80'S ACTOR PATRICK DUFFY OVER BIG Z IN HOPES OF A SERIOUS PLAYOFF PUSH...
HA HA EARLY APRIL FOOLS!!!
eye_was_born_ready - March 18, 2010
why o why?
look i love the cavs and the city of cleveland as much as anyone but why must all you diehard fans fall for the obvious troll who is obvious? he posts here so he gets responses like the ones he got. when will you all learn.
abr420 - March 18, 2010
because
it’s fun to taunt them?
Juannieboy - March 19, 2010
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