Running Thoughts for tonight’s game against the 76ers…

First Half:

-  The Cavs are going to need a big night for Lebron tonight.

-  Mo Cheeks is not a great head coach.  But he has identified the one flaw in the Cavaliers defense (the transition defense) and he is charging his players to exploit it.  All 5 Sixers points are off the break to start.

-  With Z down with the injury, Anderson Varejao has a chance to earn himself a lot of money by proving he is a starting center in this league.  So far so good, as Varejao has 4 points and is looking very effective.

-  Keeping a running tab, that’s 8 of 12 points created by the break for Philly.

-  Rim is not being good to LeBron so far, 0-for-4 from the field.  Not the start he nor the Cavs was hoping for.  Fortunately he fixes that on the first play after the timeout.  

-  Anderson Varejao goes after an offensive board he had no chance of getting, is slow getting back on defense, and Brand gets an easy layup.  I know you can’t change a tendency overnight, but without big men clogging the lane, the Cavs have trouble defending.  That didn’t look like a transition bucket, but for all intents and purposes it was.

-  Two games ago, the only Cavalier on the Elk & Elk Injury Report was Eric Snow, who has essentially called it a career.  Now it has Ilgauskas and Gibson on it, and that makes a big difference for this team.

-  Good to see LeBron pushing more, keeping the Sixers on their toes.  Unfortuantely it could create a problem for tomorrow night’s game in Atlanta.  Sixers are also opting to foul LeBron more when he goes to the hoop, but so far he is making his free throws and making them pay.

-  LeBron in the post leads to a wide open 3 for Delonte West.  Sasha gets a wide open 3 because the the Sixers try to deny the ball getting into LeBron in the post.

-  Darnell Jackson has now passed J.J. Hickson in the rotation.  He’s clearly getting the Mike Brown philosophy much faster than Hickson.  That’s not a huge knock in Hickson, he is 3 years younger than Jackson after all.  But it should temper fan expectations around the young man from NC State.

-  I like Reggie Evans, one bad, bad, bad thing he did to Chris Kaman notwithstanding.  If the Cavaliers can add him on the cheap at some time this year, I would be in favor of that.  He’s a lot like Anderson Varejao in the way that he drives the opposition crazy and always works hard.

-  Wally has gone to the basket strong twice.  Which might be twice more than he did at any point last year.  I still endorse moving Szczerbiak to improve the team, but even I have to admit that the balance this team has, with everyone making two or three plays each night, is something Danny Ferry has to be cognizant of.

-  Willie Green has 11 first half points and is doing his best Andre Iguodala impression.  Between Green and Thaddeus Young, the Sixers probably have another Iguodala equivalent in the fold, making Iguodala’s re-signing this Summer a little questionable.  The Sixers had to do it to keep up appearances as a contender, but I don’t think there’s any way that Iguodala will be a lead player on a Championship-caliber team.  But the Sixers re-signed him, because that’s just what NBA teams do.  

-  Not sure how a lineup of Mo Williams, Wally Szczerbiak, Sasha Pavlovic, Darnell Jackson and Ben Wallace is supposed to score consistently, but so far it has gotten the Cavaliers out to a small lead.

-  Mo Williams is heading to the locker room.  More on that later, but this is getting ridiculous.

-  Williams’ absence means that Tarence Kinsey is in the game.  I don’t think that’s going to work so well, but this is exactly why he is on the team, as deep insurance.  He made a nice hustle play running down a lose ball, so at least we know he’ll give maximum effort.  But his overall talent level is where I have concerns.  If Williams is out, however, Kinsey will definitely get his chance.

-  And if anyone else goes out, Jawad Williams might actually see the floor.  He’s active for what I believe is the first time this season.

-  Great hustle by Varejao to get the offensive rebound, the bucket, and the foul.  Andy with 13 first half points and is proving himself every minute he’s on the floor.  Cavaliers are out-hustling the Sixers all over the floor at the moment.

-  LeBron is having the quietest 15 points, 5 rebound and 5 assist half I can remember.  

-  Mo Williams is back and looks fine.  Thankfully.  

-  There is no doubt in my mind that Joe Tait is completely honest in his patronage of DiGiornio Pizza.

-  Just a great, great, great defensive second quarter for the Cavaliers.  They stopped the break, they defended brilliantly in the half-court, and the Sixers obliged by missing the few open shots they got.   The Cavs held the Sixers to just 12 second quarter points after allowing more than twice that in the first quarter.  At the half, it’s Cleveland 52, Philadelphia 38.  As always, more to come.

Halftime:

-  Turned over to the Celtics-Hornets game on ESPN.  First thought, after seeing the score is tied, is man, those new Hornets road jerseys are pretty ugly.  

-  The Celtics are playing some great basketball, there’s no denying it.  But as the Cavs are starting to realize, it’s a lot harder to grind through the regular season when rotation players go down with injuries.  If the Celtics go through this whole season with Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce missing less than 10 games combined, it would be some kind of miracle.  

-  Chris Paul is lightning in tennis shoes, but I wonder about the rest of the Hornets’ team speed.  Their players do not strike me as overly athletic, and that allows good defenses to jam them up a little bit more than I’d expect.  If you keep Paul from getting into the lane, I’m not sure that the Hornets have anyone else who can penetrate consistently.  Newly acquired guard Antonio Daniels might help that a little bit, but at 33 Daniels is certainly not a burner.

Second Half:

-  Delonte West knocks down a 22-footer for his 11th point of the game.

-  LeBron with a bucket, a block, and a monster rebound in the first few minutes here.  Then he comes up with a huge block on an Iguodala layup.  Then fouls Elton Brand to prevent a point-blank layup, and Brand obliges by missing one of the free throws.  In short, he’s doing everything you could ask and more at the moment.  

-  The Sixers are wearing their white throwback jerseys, which I really like.  I’ve never been a big fan of their current jersey typeface, with the big “76″.  

-  LeBron’s feeling that jumper here in the third.  That’s great to see as a Cavs fan, but it has to be completely deflating for opposing defenses.  And before I’m done typing that, he rims out a three-pointer and misses a free throw.  I’ll stop the jinxing for the moment.

-  Darnell Jackson doesn’t not have huge amounts of talent, but his “want to” is certainly NBA-caliber.  

-  Sixers are hanging around…

-  And even as I’m talking about LeBron’s jump shot, just the threat of him in the post makes defenses wet themselves.  He won’t become a really dominant post player until much later in his career, when his unearthly speed starts to wane.  But when he does it will be the reason why he’s still winning championships in his 40s.

-  No dribble penetration = unimpressive offense over the last 6 minutes.

-  The only Cavaliers who scored in the third quarter were LeBron James (10) and Delonte West (7).  Fortunately, the defense was still solid, holding the Sixers to just 19 points in return.  Still, this one is far from over.

-  Darnell Jackson just picked up his fifth foul.  That’s going to happen to rookies, but it’s not getting J.J. Hickson any closer to the court.  The Cavaliers organization and the players have been very supportive of Hickson, but I’m sure that this setback is hard on the young man.  Wonder if he’s been promised minutes for tomorrow night.

-  Where is the creative scoring Mo Williams from Wednesday night?  Williams has just 7 points and 1 assist.  Wonder if there’s something physical that’s not right with him tonight.

-  Then Jackson earns his minutes with another offensive rebound, drawing the foul.  If Jackson keeps playing like this, he’ll be everything the Cavaliers would want to add in Reggie Evans.  In fact, there are a lot of similarities between those two players, as both are slightly undersized bigs who get by on guts and energy more than talent.

-  Sasha with a big three pointer with the shot clock expiring, pushing the lead out to 15.

-  Then the Sixers score the next 4 points to stay in the game, trailing 77-66 with 4:44 left in the game.  Give the Sixers credit, they have kept fighting.  They just cannot execute well enough to really scare the Cavaliers at this point in the season.

-  Mo Williams comes in like a change-of-pace running back who breaks off a big run in the fourth quarter, after the bruiser back has been punishing the defense all day.  He scored 7 straight points in about two minutes, and put the Sixers away for the night.

-  And with a minute left, here comes J.J. Hickson, with “JJ” shaved into his hair…

-  …with Jawad Williams!  Welcome to the NBA Jawad.  Be sure to get a picture of yourself in those classy gold unifroms.

-  Tarence Kinsey is not an NBA-quality ballhandler.

-  And Williams gets a bucket!  His first NBA points, and in a Cavalier win.  Can’t get much better than that.  

-  And that ends the game.  The Cavaliers win 88-72, stretching the win streak to 11 and the home win streak to 13.  The Cavs did not play especially well in the second half (36 points), they didn’t shoot well (41% from the field), but they forced 17 turnovers and they kept the Sixers from finding any kind of rhythm offensively.  That’s how you win these shorthanded games, and we’ll see if they can keep that going tomorrow night.

Go Cavs.

What to watch for tonight:

1.  How will the Cavaliers handle the loss of Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Daniel Gibson?  

With Z on the bench with his ankle sprain, look for the Cavaliers to try to get out and run, as the offense will no longer benefit from waiting for Big Z to get down the floor.  The Cavaliers will likely look for more early offense as well.  But the mostly likely change, at least for the first few games, will be more LeBron isolation in the half-court, whether it be on the perimeter or in the post.  

While Z is getting plenty of praise all around this season, even I was surprised to see that Ilgauskas is putting up 14.8 points per night in just 26 minutes.  The Cavaliers have to find a way to make up some of that production, and a number of players are going to get that opportunity.  Hickson will likely get the first chance to pick up some points in the paint, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if Darnell Jackson shows off that solid 12 footer from the corner, a spot that is often open in the Cavalier offense.  

When you add the loss of Gibson’s scoring (9.4 points per game), the Cavaliers are looking at a deficit of 24.2 points per game.  Expect LeBron to cover about 6 of the missing points, and Mo Williams to cover another 4.  That leaves 14 points for the rest of the players to make up.  Even though the Cavaliers are currently beating their opponents by a whopping 13.36 points per game, they need to find some more points from the other guys if they want to keep this win streak rolling.

2.  How will the Cavs handle the 76ers break?

The 76ers had 26 fast break points on Wednesday while scoring only 93 points overall.  That means that 28% of their total point output was through the fast break, and anyone watching the game could see that the only way the Sixers were effectively scoring was when they were running in transition.  If the Cavaliers want to shut down the Sixers tonight, they have to keep them from running.

To do that, there are two things the Cavs need to do offensively.  First, they need to avoid taking too many long jump shots.  The jumpshot is the perfect catalyst for the transition game, and the Sixers were certainly giving the Cavaliers a little extra space on Wednesday, daring the ballhandlers to shoot.  The Cavaliers have to resist that urge and focus on moving the ball and getting into the lane.

The Cavalier bigs should also crash the offensive boards a little less, instead getting back on defense when the shot goes up and the rebound is legitimately out of reach.  I know the Cavaliers thrive on getting offensive rebounds, especially at home where the hustle is quickly rewarded by the fans.  But discretion is the better part of valor, and with the 76ers having no luck against the Cavalier halfcourt defense, I think the Cavs would be well-served to give up a few of those offensive boards for better defensive position on the other end.  Again, I think the Cavs should go out there trying to win this game 80-60, because the Sixers have no idea how to score effectively in a slowdown game right now.

3.  Will the crowd have an impact in the game tonight?

The Cavaliers are 11-0 at home, and given the terrible season the Browns are currently finishing, the city has turned it’s attention to the very impressive Cavaliers.  That can lead to some very excited fans filling up the Q, and that extra boost might be just what the team needs to help them weather the storm with Z and Boobie on the bench.  With a rough road stretch coming up next week, it is very important that the Cavs end tonight with that home winning streak still intact.  The Sixers put up a tough fight on Wednesday, and I imagine they will be even tougher tonight.  Here’s hoping the home crowd stays loud and involved, and carries the good guys to victory.

Go Cavs.

More running thoughts tonight…

First Half:

-  Catching up a bit here at halftime.  The Cavaliers are getting major production from LeBron James (14 points) and Mo Williams (15 points), and they have been doing just fine offensively (51% from the field).  Unfortunately, they have done a good job of getting to the line, taking only 2 free throws to the Sixers’ 10.

-  As far as I’m concerned, Andre Iguodala can keep taking those shots.  The numbers say he’s not going to keep up this absurd pace, and I’d encourage the Cavs to keep doing what they’re doing against him.  That backwards layup off the glass isn’t going in again.

-  The Cavs are also struggling with the transition defense, and that’s why this has been a game of runs.  When the Cavaliers are scoring, they get back in defense and are shutting down the Sixers in the halfcourt.  When the Cavs are missing shots, the Sixers are running and scoring with relative ease.  In the second half, part of the Cavaliers’ defensive plan will be making sure they execute effectively on offense.

-  The Cavaliers have held the Sixers’ young guns Willie Green, Louis Williams, and Thaddeus Young practically silent for the first half (4 points combined).  That is the biggest reason the Cavaliers’ bench was able to eliminate the early deficit and take the lead.

-  I know it was a two-for-one situation, but LeBron’s quick-trigger 3 with 27 seconds left was unnecessary.  The Sixers were in the middle of a run.  You need one good bucket there, you don’t need to worry about getting two.

Second Half:

-  Great alley-oop to Ben Wallace to start the scoring, after Wallace came up with a big block defensively.  Great pass by Delonte West.

-  Very quick 9 points to start the third quarter, forcing Sixers head coach Mo Cheeks to call two timeouts in the first 2:03 of the second half.  Nearly identical to the run the Cavaliers started in the third quarter against the Toronto Raptors last night.

-  Good foul by Z when Iguodala got too close to the hoop.  If there’s one thing that I would change about the Cavalier defense of late,  I would like them to take more fouls when they are beat near the rim.  Ben Wallace especially could stand to lay a little more wood on opponents, but he’s only averaging 1.3 fouls per game.

-  They are allowing a lot of contact near the rim right now.  That should benefit the Cavaliers if that remains the case.

-  Mo Williams with mid-range fadeaway while drawing the foul.  Mo is really having a night tonight, just punishing the Sixers for not having an enforcer inside.

-  The Sixers do not have a field goal in the first six minutes of the second half…

-…but end that stretch with an “and one.”  Still a 14-point lead with the Cavaliers up 66-52.

-   TNT announcer Mark Jones just said that LeBron writes with his left hand.  I did not know that.  He shoots right-handed.

-  Elton Brand might be getting the boos, but Samuel Dalambert has been pathetic this evening.  2 points, 2 rebounds and a complete non-factor.

-  Varejao does a great job creating angles when he goes to the hoop.  He is making it so that you cannot double team off of him, which just makes the Cavaliers offense that much more dangerous.  It wasn’t long ago that Andy was a complete liability offensively.  He’s still not Kareem, but he has made significant strides over the last 12 months.

-  Wow, when did the lead singer of Foreigner start working for Cleveland Jewelry Exchange?  That is some amazing hair right there.  I’m not mocking, I’m jealous.

-  Wow what a dunk by West!

-  And Lou Williams matches it with a tough layup to end the 3rd Quarter.  But the Cavaliers have a 19-point lead with twelve minutes to play, 84-65.  The Cavaliers held the Sixers to 18 points in the second quarter and 19 points in the third.  They are now regularly holding the opposition to less than 20 points in two quarters a night.

-  LeBron was sporting his special red “Beats by Dre” headphones for that quick 24 second bit between quarters.  Those things still look pretty sweet.

-  Z is having a rough night tonight, shooting just 4-of-12 for the moment while turning the ball over 5 times.  Still, despite his off night, he’s still putting pressure on the Sixers, who don’t have anyone who can match up with the large Lithuanian.

-  I’m putting together a “Christmas wish list for the Cavalier fan in your life.”  And while it’s not Cavs-related, that foam crossbow in that Bass Pro Shops commercial might still make the list.

-  The Cavalier throwback bench jacket is definitely making the list.  Unfortunately for those out-of-town Cavalier fans, they only place it is available is in the Cavs team shop.  It’s not available online, but I’m sure if you call the shop directly you can get them to send you one.

-  Uh-oh.  Z rolls the ankle, could be a sprain.  More as it comes. 

-  It’s a sprain, no x-rays yet, its in a bucket of ice and Z is done for the night.

-  The Sixers have absolutely no chance against the Cavalier halfcourt defense.  None.  

-  But they do when the Cavaliers offense stagnates, as it has right now with 5 minutes remaining.  Louis Williams just made a layup to cut the lead to 9 points.  That’s exactly the situation when the Cavaliers should take the foul and send him to the line.

-  LeBron is holding the ball too much at the moment…but then he heads right into the lane, gets the and one, and essentially ends the game.

-  Mo Williams takes an ill-advised 3.  Here’s hoping that doesn’t come back to haunt the Cavaliers here.

-  Hey Cavaliers:  You know that the Sixers have no way to score on you unless they are running on the break.  Then why are you taking long jumpers?  The Sixers want you to take those shots, the long rebounds make it that much easier to run.  If you keep going to the basket, they can’t stop you and they can’t run.  Please remember this for Friday as well.

-  Also, stop crashing the boards!  Get back on defense and set up!  This game is over if you don’t let the Sixers get into transition.  Six point game right now with 2 minutes left.  95-89.

-  Mo gets the nice bounce and pushed the lead to 8.  That should do it.  But I’ll breathe much easier in one minute and forty seconds.

-  Ben Wallace with an exclamation point of a slam off the LeBron miss.

-  I love how Hubie Brown never gives up on a game.  Rightly so with the way the 76ers keep fighting tonight.  But it’s too little too late.

-  The name of the movie is “More Than a Game” Mark.  There’s no “just.”

-  Whew.  Cavs win 101-93.  LeBron finishes with 29 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks.  Mo Williams finishes with 27 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.  For the Sixers, Andre Iguodala finishes with 27 points, while Louis Williams dropped 22 points in the second half to keep Philadelphia in the game.

-  Winning road games on the second night of a back-to-back is a feat, no matter who you are playing.  I’m sure the Sixers feel like they can give a good effort on Friday.  If I’m Mike Brown though, I would challenge my team to try to beat the Sixers 80-60 on Friday, committing completely to stopping the break.

Go Cavs.  Nice win tonight.

What to watch for tonight when the Cavs head to Philadelphia to take on the 76ers:

1.  The Elton Brand-Ben Wallace matchup will be a key tonight.  Wallace has been playing excellent defense in his 23.2 minutes per night, and he was a major factor in frustrating Chris Bosh (9 points) and Jermaine O’Neal (8 points, 6 turnovers) last night.  He and the rest of the Cavalier big men have to keep Brand from getting into a rhythm, as the Sixers are much easier to defend when the other players are forced to create for themselves.

2.  Andre Iguodala is having a rough start to the season, as his offensive numbers are down across the board.  He has seen significant drops in points ( 14.2 v. 19.9), FG% (42% v. 46%), 3P% (33% v. 26%) and FT% (70% v. 72%).  His turnovers are up, while his steals are down.  It seems that Iguodala is having a tough time figuring out when he should be aggressive, and when he should defer to Brand.

3.  The Cavalier are going to have to cover for Daniel Gibson’s absence for the next two weeks.  While Sasha Pavlovic and Wally Szczerbiak have been solid of late, they don’t bring quite the same skill set to bear.  The Cavaliers have really thrived as the players found clearly defined roles, but with Gibson out, someone’s role will have to change.  In the past, Mike Brown has opted to move a little-used reserve into the place of the injured player, rather than taking a rotation player out of his pre-assigned role.  We’ll see how Brown decides to deal with it tonight, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he just replaces Gibson with Tarence Kinsey, rather than trying to adjust the roles of Pavlovic or Szczerbiak to fill the void.  

A couple of extra thoughts:

-  LeBron bought his teammates “Beats by Dre,” high-end headphones designed by rap icon Dr. Dre. Video of the gift-giving (including rookie J.J. Hickson being passed over) is here: http://vimeo.com/2457780?pg=embed&sec=2457780  (via RealCavsFans).

-  So much for that small lineup: the Pistons lost to the Wizards last night despite the lineup changes.  Things are pretty rough in Detroit these days, and it’s not just the auto industry.

Go Cavs.

Trying something a little different with some unfettered thoughts about tonight game.

First Half:

-  LeBron James breaks the Cavalier all-time steals record in the first 30 seconds of the game, punctuated by a might slam.  Just another record for the phenom.

-  But I do wonder every time I hear that “he’ll have many more Cavalier records before he’s done.”  While that’s no doubt that LeBron will indeed break a number of records, 1) there aren’t that many more for him to break, and 2) if the national media has its way, LeBron only has about 150 game left to break those additional records.

-  The Raptors absolutely refuse to rebound.  One of the most overlooked aspects of Mike Brown’s time in Cleveland has been his ability to get the bigs into good defense positions that also translate into good rebounding positions.  The Raptors couldn’t be further from accomplishing that.

-  Darnell Jackson off the bench in the second quarter instead of J.J. Hickson.  That’s a surprise, though Jackson didn’t do much with those minutes.

-  Mo Williams is one of the most creative scorers in the league.  He gets more junk baskets than any Cavalier point guard in history.  He takes so many questionable shots, but he hits enough of them to make it effective.

-  LeBron has had his best collection of dunks tonight.  Seriously, wow.

-  Then LeBron picks up a cheap Technical Foul.  Joe Crawford seems to know that this game is on NBA TV.  Ditto the one for Ben Wallace.

-  Raptors have used the 3-pointer (5-for-11) to get back in the game, while the Cavaliers got lazy on defense (including you LeBron).  They also did a great job getting to the line, going 12-for-17 in the first half.

-  None of the big men were getting much help from the referees, with cheap traveling calls on O’Neal and Bosh and a cheap offensive foul on Z.  

-  First missed dunk by Ben Wallace in a while.  Sure haven’t missed those.  

-  51 free throws in a row for Jose Calderon.  Raptors have taken a lot of free throws in the first half.

-  And with 1:52 left in the first half, Z becomes the Cavalier record-holder for rebounds.  Call it a longevity record if you will, but it takes something special to be able to be effective in this league for a long time.

-  Too many jumpshots in the second quarter, after a first quarter where the Cavaliers found all the holes in the Raptor interior defense.  I think they might have gotten a little winded, with the Raptors maintaining a very quick pace throughout the first half and the Cavaliers growing accustomed to easy games of late.

-  LeBron for 3….Thousand Dollars!!!!!!!  Congratulations Joseph James!  (Note: that’s just one thousand dollars…not 3 thousand dollars).  

More after the break…

Second Half:

-  Second half starts with another highlight dunk by LeBron.  Make that two.  Then a steal by Mo and a dunk by Ben Wallace.  The Cavs are cheating alot on passes, but they’re getting the steals.  That’s the Cavalier rule: the players are allowed to go for the steals, but they better get them if they go for them.

-  Absolutely fantastic defense by the Cavaliers in the first five minutes of the 3rd quarter.  An 8-point lead became a 19-point lead in a heartbeat.

-  Missed dunk by Bosh…at least it’s not just Ben Wallace.

-  8 more unanswered points, including 3’s by LeBron and Mo, and the lead is 27.  23-2 run.  Wow.

-  Which leads to more Darnell Jackson.  Mike Brown must really love what this kid is doing in practice.  It hasn’t translated into the game tonight, but Brown is sending a message: defense and rebounding in practice will earn you minutes in games.

-  Great elevation by Sasha Pavlovic on the dunk.  Sasha is playing slower, taking everything in stride, and he’s looking much better.  Though with the way the Cavaliers are playing right now, everyone looks great.

-  The Cavs ended an excellent third quarter up 90-67.  This team is putting all kinds of pressure on the opposition, and they’re doing it without growling, snarling, or crawling on the floor like a dog (yes, that’s a shot at Kevin Garnett’s recent ridiculousness).  I actually prefer this quiet, scary aggressiveness to the over-the-top histrionics of the Boston Celtics.  But then again, I hate the Celtics.

-  It wasn’t that long ago that Jermaine O’Neal was an elite interior defender.  Watching the Raptors tonight, it’s clear that their most dire need is for an interior enforcer to rebound and intimidate perimeter players when they come into the lane.  O’Neal should be a perfect fit for them.  Instead he looks slow and uninterested, and has just 8 points and 4 rebounds on the night.  That’s a major problem for the Raptors.

-  And as soon as McLeod and Carr start talking about the creativity of Mo Williams, he over-dribbles and passes the ball off the baseline.  It’s sometimes hard to praise Williams, because he is constantly fighting a natural inclination towards showboating and somewhat selfish play.  

-  Daniel Gibson sprained his big toe, and is out for the game.  Now there’s an injury that can nag.  The Cavaliers could really use a productive Gibson to help them through this four games in five nights stretch, but depending on the severity of the sprain, Gibson might miss the rest of these games.  

-  Looks like LeBron is done for the night.  He finishes with 31 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in just 30 minutes.  More importantly, LeBron was aggressive going to the hoop, and he absolutely took advantage of the Raptors’ weakness at the small forward position.  Andrea Bargnani is going to see LeBron in his nightmares for a month.

-  Anthony Parker had 9 points and was 3-for-3 from beyond arc in the first half.  He has 0 points in the second half.

-  Cavaliers reach the chalupa level of 100 points with 5:22 left.

-  If Chris Bosh doesn’t come back onto the floor, he will finish the night with 9 points and 11 rebounds.  The Cavaliers have played seven of the top 10 scorers in the league.  The results:  

3.  Chris Bosh: 9 points (25.7 ppg on the season)
4.  Dirk Nowitzki: 8 points  (25.0 ppg)
6.  Devin Harris: 23 points (24.4 ppg)
7.  Danny Granger 33 in game 1, 4 in game 2 (23.1 ppg)
8.  Joe Johnson 4 points (23.1 ppg)
9.  Kevin Durant 13 points (22.7 ppg)
10.  Vince Carter 12 points ( 22.5 ppg) 

Cleveland: where scoring averages go to die.

-  Wally had a great night, scoring 16 points and taking advantage of the slow rotations of the Raptor defense.

-  J.J. Hickson with a nice little lefty layup.  That was a very athletic move for a man his size, and it’s that level of natural grace that has the Cavaliers so excited about this young man.  Hickson then followed it up with a rebound and put-back.  4 points in 4 minutes for the young big man.  

-  Final Score: 114-94.  

-  The Raptors shot a respectable 45% from the field, and they got to the line 32 times, converting 24.  But the Cavaliers defense forced the Raptors into 19 turnovers, and the Cavaliers outrebounded the Raptors 45-32.  The Cavaliers are playing so well in every facet of the game, and they make even decent performances by the opposition look second-rate.

-  And on the way, the Cavaliers have won 9 in a row, all of them by at least 12 points.  That’s an NBA record.  Lots of records broken tonight, and it’s nice to have it happen at home.

That’s it for me tonight.  The Cavaliers head straight to Philly tonight to get ready for their game against the 76ers tomorrow night.  

Go Cavs.

- The Detroit Pistons will be starting a lineup of Rodney Stuckey, Allen Iverson, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace when they tip-off against the Washington Wizards tonight. That might work against the woeful Wizards (3-15), but there’s no way they expect that lineup to be able to win in the Playoffs, right?

- At least the Pistons will have Antonio McDyess back tonight. McDyess waited out his required month, and then re-signed with Detroit. He can only help a Pistons team that is a mere 7-8 since the Allen Iverson-Chauncey Billups trade.

-  Another day, more rumors about Gerald Wallace trades.  I don’t believe anything I hear regarding Bobcats’ transactions at this point, but I am confident that the best deal for G-Force will not be found in Minnesota.  It seems the Bobcats are trying to make sure everyone knows they want to move Wallace in an attempt to drive up the bidding.  Unfortunately for Charlotte, when everyone knows you want to sell, the offers are never as good.

-  Speaking of the Minnesota Timberwolves, they fired their head coach (and former Cavalier head coach) Randy Wittman on Monday, moving (now-former) GM Kevin McHale to the head coach position.  McHale now gets to lay in the bed he made by trading Kevin Garnett to the Celtics for Al Jefferson and a bunch of ugly sweaters.  

-  While there’s no doubt that McHale has been a less than steller GM, I do feel a little sorry for him in this regard: It has never been harder to try to win with young players than it is right now.  If your 23-year-old millionaire star player decides that he’d rather worry about “getting his” than worry about winning basketball games, there’s not much you can do.  With the Timberwolves, McHale has a bunch of young, talented players who have no idea how much they have to learn if they want to become winners.

-  Unfortunately, that me-first mentality isn’t just a problem for bad teams.  The Suns are having the same problem with Amar’e Stoudemire.  Hey Amar’e, I enjoy your complaining, but the stats say you are 40th, that’s four-zero, in rebound rate among power forwards!  You are tied for 83rd overall!  Maybe you should start working on the hustle elements of your game, rather than complaining about how many shots you want.   Cleveland fans, thank the basketball gods every day that your wagon is hitched to an unselfish superstar in LeBron James.  He isn’t perfect, but he is leaps and bounds over so many of these knuckleheads.

-  In case you were wondering, Greg Oden leads the league in rebounding rate.  Now if only he could stay on the floor.  The highest-ranked Cavaliers are (no surprise) Ben Wallace (17th) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas (19th).  

Enjoy the game tonight.  Go Cavs.

What to watch for tonight as the Cavaliers take on the disappointing Toronto Raptors tonight at the Q:

1.  Just how bad are the Toronto Raptors playing right now?  I’m going to go with “really bad.”  
The Raptors come into tonight’s game having lost four in a row, and their 8-11 record has already cost head coach Sam Mitchell his job.  Toronto was expecting much grander things this year with the addition of Jermaine O’Neal, but instead of challeging the Celtics for the Atlantic Division crown, the Raptors are last in the division and have the fourth-worst record in the Eastern Conference.  

While there is no question that the Raptors have played a very tough schedule (Boston twice, Atlanta twice, Detroit, Orlando, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah, Denver), Toronto can’t blame all their problems on the schedule-makers.  The Raptors refuse to play any defense (23rd in points allowed - 102.3 ppg, 25th in opponent’s field goal percentage - 47%) and they are being outrebounded by their opponents by an average of 4.9 rebounds per night, third-worst differential in the league.  While no team can avoid the occasional shooting slump, the Raptors are getting beat in the hustle areas of the game, something that had to hasten Mitchell’s departure.  

2.  Just how desperate are the Toronto Raptors right now?  I’m going with “really desperate.”

And that is what makes tonight a dangerous game for the Cavaliers.  Toronto is coming off of a tough loss to the Portland Trailblazers at home on Sunday, and they are desperately seeking a statement win.  The Raptors have already lost their head coach, and with the way the Cavaliers and Celtics are running away with the Eastern Conference, Toronto has to be worried that a season begun with optimism is about to slip away entirely (you know what that feels like, don’t you Browns fans?).  

But a win tonight, against a Cavalier team that is currently unbeaten at home, would go a long way towards renewing that optimism in Toronto.  The Raptors are a wounded animal right now, and the Cavaliers must be careful to treat them with caution and respect, even though the Cavs are the clearly superior team playing at home.  While the Cavaliers have been, quite frankly, amazing when it comes to keeping their focus night in and night out, tonight is not the game to take lightly.  The Cavaliers need to win tonight to get this four-games-in-five-nights stretch off on the right foot.

3.  How will the Cavaliers defend potential All-Star point guard Jose Calderon?  

Early in the season, Mo Williams was continually exposed for his poor defense, as opposing point guards were blowing right by him.  While opposing point guards are still being too productive against Williams, the Cavalier guard has done a better job of keeping opposing guards out of the lane.  Calderon is one of the most underappreciated players in the league, and if he does his job, the Raptors are a much better team.  Players like Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon and Jason Kapono are much better when they are off the ball, rather than trying to create their own shots.

Go Cavs.

The CavsHQ Postgame Quick Hits from tonight’s game against the mighty Bobcats of Charlotte.

The Good:  

1.  The Cavaliers didn’t let the back-to-back game affect their defensive tenacity, holding the Bobcats to just 74 points on 36% from the field.  The defense also had 10 blocks (Z had 5), 9 steals, and forced 19 Bobcat turnovers.  Gerald Wallace, who came into the game averaging 16 points per game, was held to just 1 point on 0-for-6 shooting and turned the ball over 4 times.  Jason Richardson, the Bobcats’ leading scorer, was held to 9 points.  Once again, the reason the Cavaliers are blowing these teams out is because of their suffocating defense.

2.  Boobie Gibson bested fellow Longhorn D.J. Augustin, scoring 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting and dishing out 5 assists for his best game since the last time the Cavaliers faced the Bobcats, in the Cavalier home opener.  Augustin was certainly no slouch himself, scoring 17 points mostly from the free throw line, but tonight Boobie came out ahead, and the notched yet another victory.  

3.  LeBron James rebounded nicely from his tough scoring night last night, dropping 25 points in just 27 minutes, while adding 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a couple more big blocks.

The Bad:

1.  It’s not a surprise, but Tarence Kinsey proved he is not a point guard, turning the ball over 3 times and picking up a foul in just 3:39 worth of playing time.  But that’s on Mike Brown for putting him out there in that role, and that’s never going to happen when the game is in question.

2.  Kinsey was part of a bench squad that let the lead fall to just 20 points when the buzzer sounded.  What’s that about?

3.  ”Drinkability” is not a word, no matter how many commercials Bud Light chooses to run.

The Questions:

1.  Wow, the Cavaliers really need to get Gerald Wallace or Jason Richardson don’t they?  I believe in always trying to make the team better, regardless of how well things are going.  But with the way the Cavaliers are just dismantling the opposition, it’s hard to argue that any changing of the roster would result in a better team.  What, are they supposed to win by 40 each night?

2.  How often do you think the Cavaliers are going to win when they have just two players in double figures?  The Cavaliers had an incredibly balanced attack tonight, with only LeBron (25) and Gibson (22) scoring over ten points.  With the starters getting so much rest, their stats are dropping across the board.  Fortunately, no one seems to mind while the team is waltzing to easy victories.

3.  Why can’t I come up with a third question tonight?  Well, that’s just a mystery for the ages.

Go Cavs.  Four games in five nights this week, enjoy the two days off.

What to watch for tonight when the Cavaliers try to pick up their eighth straight victory in a road contest against the Charlotte Bobcats:

1.  Will LeBron James light it up in front of Bobcats head coach Larry Brown and GM Michael Jordan?  LeBron has made his feelings known about Larry Brown after their time together on the 2004 Olympic team, and Jordan has always held his Airness in the highest esteem.  After a rough night last night, it wouldn’t be too crazy to expect an early explosion from LeBron, though he might end up sitting through another fourth quarter if he does go off early.  

2.  Who will win the matchup between Bobcats rookie point guard D.J. Augustin and Cavalier guard Boobie Gibson?  Both Augustin and Gibson played their college ball at the University of Texas, and Augustin is off to a hot start to his rookie campaign, scoring 12.5 points per game and dishing off 4.2 assists.  Gibson on the other hand has struggled to start the season, averaging 8.9 points per game on just 38% shooting from the field and 27% from beyond the arc, an astounding 17% drop from last season’s 44% 3-point percentage.  Gibson has shown signs of snapping out of this funk recently, and has scored in double figures in four of the last five games.  It could be interesting to watch Augustin and Gibson go head-to-head for a bit tonight.

3.  Are the Cavaliers still window shopping for Bobcats players?  When the Bobcats came to Cleveland for the Cavalier home opener (a 96-79 Cavs victory), there was plenty of talk about the Cavaliers possibly acquiring either Jason Richardson or Gerald Wallace from the ‘Cats.  To get a better feel for how the Bobcats and their fans feel about Richardson and Wallace, and the likelihood of a trade, I consulted David Arnott of RufusOnFire.com (say it out loud).  His thoughts:

Gerald Wallace is the best player on the team, with Emeka Okafor the only other player giving him a run for the honor. Jason Richardson scores the most points, since the offense tends to be funneled toward him, but his defense is lacking when compared to Crash.  Should the Bobcats trade Wallace, they won’t only be trading their defensive stopper, best finisher at the rim, and best slasher, they’ll be trading their emotional center, who happens to be signed to a multi-year contract for very reasonable money.  Richardson, on the other hand, is the team’s third worst contract, after Matt Carroll’s and Nazr Mohammed’s.  In a very direct way, as long as they’re responsible for Richardson’s contract, they’ll be unable to sign a truly transcendent player, a perennial All Star type.

But try telling the average fan that the guy with the most points per game is only the third best player on the team, and there’ll be lots of resistance. If the Cats can trade Richardson for a better contract–say, as part of a package for Chris Kaman–it would be an utter coup.  It is highly unlikely, at this point, that Richardson gets traded, and somewhat unlikely Wallace gets traded, now that Zach Randolph is in Los Angeles.

Any possible trade you could see happening?

The player on the Cavs who is both expendable and would make a real difference for the Bobcats is probably Delonte West. We don’t need another spot up shooter like Wally, but his expiring deal certainly looks tasty. If I were running the Bobcats, I’d propose this trade and hope the Cavs see how it benefits both of us.

http://www.realgm.com/src_checktrade.php?tradeid=4852098

Straight talent-wise, the Cavs get the best player in the trade, Richardson, to start at the two and give LeBron the best second banana he’s ever had, so that the starting lineup is Williams, JRich, LBJ, Ben/Andy, and Big Z. Carroll is a jump shooting two for the end of the bench, and you put up with his awful contract in order to get Richardson. Felton is essentially a younger Mo Williams and is only a slight step down at the point coming off the bench, allowing Boobie to be a shooter at his natural spot at the two when the Cavs go small.

For the Bobcats, the primary attraction is converting Richardson’s long contract into Wally’s expiring deal. West is a better partner for DJ Augustin, since he’s more defensive-minded and makes more sense playing the two than Felton does.  (And we’ve seen that West can thrive next to a shoot-first point guard in Mo Williams, a guy Augustin should try to emulate.)  Hickson is a lottery ticket who might be the sidekick Emeka needs in the front court. And Pavlovic would give Adam Morrison competition for PT. Based on what Larry Brown’s done all year, he’d start a lineup of Augustin, Wally, Crash, Hickson, and Okafor.

Interesting ideas there.  Before the season started, there were (legitimate) concerns about Delonte West in the starting shooting guard spot.  By acquiring Richardson for West and Szczerbiak, the Cavaliers would be adding size and scoring firepower to the backcourt.  While Cavalier fans love Delonte West and his recent play, I don’t think any player is safe as the Cavaliers have just a 2-year window to win a Championship before LeBron James has to make his 2010 decision.  

I can’t see the Cavaliers making a move like this for a couple of reasons.  First, I don’t see the Cavaliers shipping out four players on a team that is playing this well.  Such a dramatic overhaul midway through what could be a championship season seems unlikely.  Second, the proposed trade would weaken the Cavalier front line more than it appears, as Wally Szczerbiak is actually getting a number of minutes alongside LeBron James in the frontcourt, and Hickson, for better or worse, will be expected to contribute for more minutes as the season progresses.  

But take Hickson out of that deal and you might have something.  Make it just Szczerbiak and West for Richardson and Felton, and I think the Cavaliers make that deal tomorrow, even if they have to throw in a first round pick.  Obviously we’re just kicking this stuff around, but I still wouldn’t be shocked if there are serious conversations between the Bobcats and the Cavaliers before the trade deadline.

Then again, maybe Danny Ferry and Bobcats GM Michael Jordan still have some bad blood from this.  

A last note from Arnott:

As for Saturday night, the Cats are on the second half of a back to back, and they just lost to the Bucks tonight. They’re nowhere near the Cavs’ class. The frontcourt after Emeka is totally overmatched, and the bench in general is totally overmatched. 

I couldn’t agree more.  The schedule has been great to the Cavaliers this season, and they have taken full advantage.  Even the typically dicey road games on the second night of back-to-backs have been made easier of late, because the opposition has been coming off of a back-to-back as well.  

Thanks again to David Arnott and the fantastically-named RufusOnFire.com (Rufus is the name of the Bobcat’s mascot).  Enjoy the game tonight, and Go Cavs.

The CavsHQ Postgame Quick Hits from tonight’s victory over the Indiana Pacers, setting yet another team record with the team’s eleventh home win to start the season:

The Good:

1.  Anderson Varejao made the most of Anderson Varejao Wig Night, scoring 17 first half points and knocking down a number of jump shots in the process.  After a slow start, Varejao jumpstarted the Cavalier offense, doing a great job of creating angles for his teammates and finding the soft spots in the zone.  It was yet another example of a role player providing the Cavaliers with a little lighter fluid to get the fire started.  And once the fire is started, it just grows and grows until the opposition is utterly consumed (poetic, huh?)

2.  The Cavalier coaching staff did a great job of adjusting to the zone defense of the Pacers.  Indiana was heavily tilting the zone towards LeBron James, and without LeBron opening up space for the rest of the team, the Cavaliers stopped moving the ball and tried shooting over the zone.  While the best way to beat a zone is by shooting the defense out of it, you still have to move the ball to create that little extra space for the shooter.  The Cavaliers made the adjustments, found the holes in the zone for the shooters, and proceeded to knock down shots.

3.  On the flip side, the Cavalier defense was suffocating tonight, being very physical with the Pacers.  The Cavs D held the Pacers to just 40% from the field and prevented them from scoring 20 points in any of the last three quarters.  While the Cavalier offense has been very impressive all season, the team’s commitment to defense has been the reason for the constant blowouts of late.  

The Bad:

1.  It took LeBron James a little too long to figure out how to attack the Pacer defense, as he finished with only 11 points on just 4-for-12 shooting.  LeBron was not aggressive going to the hoop, shooting only 4 free throws on the night, and he was having trouble finding space in the lane.  Fortunately, LeBron is the best player on the planet, and was able to facilitate his teammates in the second half, coming up with 11 assists to go with 8 rebounds, 3 blocks and a steal.  LeBron was also able to get under the skin of Danny Granger, holding Granger to just 4 points on 2-for-7 shooting.  The combination of offense and defense left LeBron with an impressive plus/minus of +32, the highest total on the Cavaliers (meanwhile, Granger finished -30).  So I guess it wasn’t that bad.

2.  Austin Carr’s reaction to a solid foul by Granger on LeBron in the fourth quarter was well overblown.  LeBron takes his fair share of hard knocks, but that wasn’t one of them, and LeBron clearly exaggerated the contact.  But Carr sounded like he was ready to charge the court to defend LeBron’s honor.  I actually give the Pacers some credit for getting into the faces of the Cavaliers, and that kind of passion will serve Indiana well this season.  Though they might want to save that for a game that they don’t lose by 24 points.

3.  With the Cavs rolling again, I’ll use this spot to say how disappointed I was with all the interesting games ultimately going to the better team last night.  The Lakers tried to blow a big lead to the woeful Wizards (Woezards?), but held on.  The Trailblazers couldn’t compete for four quarters in Boston against the Celtics.  I’m rooting for the Cavaliers harder than anything else, but I’m not above rooting for the other true contenders to stumble along the way.  (And damn am I sick of hearing about the leadership of Kevin Garnett.  IT DIDN’T MAKE A LICK OF DIFFERENCE IN MINNESOTA!  The talent that was giftwrapped and sent to Boston has been a much bigger factor than KG’s mythic “heart.”)

The Questions:

1.  Do you like the chippiness from the players?  There have been plenty of complaints about the lovefests that occur prior to an NBA game, as the players all gather ’round for a group hug.  But last night there was plenty of jawing between the Cavaliers and the Pacers, and there was certainly some trash talking in that Celtics-Blazers game.  Do fans want to see that from the players, or does it come across and childish and petty?  Just some food for thought next time NBA players exchange sweaters at halfcourt before a game.

2.  Over-under on number of “Varejao is doing great, despite last season’s holdout and offseason talk of trades” stories in various media outlets tomorrow? 12?  I’m not complaining per se, it’s just so easy a story.  Varejao has been excellent this season, and has proven that replacing his production would be no mean feat for Danny Ferry should he decide to move Andy.  One of the possible destinations for Varejao is the Charlotte Bobcats, who the Cavaliers face Saturday night.  Seriously, between the Ohio and North Carolina news outlets, we’re talking well over a dozen Varejao-heavy stories tomorrow.

3.  Better Cavalier player hair - Anderson Varejao or Ben Wallace?  I’m leaning Andy.

Go Cavs.  Solid win over a better-than-their-record team tonight.