I wasn’t going to do Running Thoughts tonight, but then the Cavs allowed the Nets to come back from ten down to tie the ballgame at 72-72, and it appears that the last few minutes of this one might be interesting/disgusting.

-  LeBron took his usual rest at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and his teammates decided to try their luck just launching jump shots.  Not a great plan by Mike Brown and the good guys.

-  On LeBron’s first possession back in the game, he goes straight to the hoop and draws the foul.  That’s exactly the type of aggressive trip to the hoop the Cavs were missing.

-  Then on the very next play, after a Nets miss, he takes an off-balance 20-footer that clangs away.  So much for not settling for bad shots.  The Cavs have been at their best tonight when LeBron is creating for his teammates.

-  LeBron proves my point on the next possession, when he finds Delonte West open in the corner for three to push the lead back out to five, 77-72.

-  Vince Carter reminds the Cavaliers that he is still dangerous by using Z as a screen and heading to the basket for a layup, cutting the lead back to one point.  Then LeBron can’t stop whining, and picks up a technical foul for his trouble, and we’re again tied at 77-77.  Not the right time to be chirping about the officials.  You are at home, let the crowd do the chirping for you.

-  Keyon Dooling for three (where did that come from?), and the Nets have a lead (82-81) for the first time since the score was 5-4.  This is exactly why the Cavs couldn’t afford to let the Nets hang around.  You never know when a Keyon Dooling is going to knock down a prayer and hurt you.

-  Delonte West coming right back with a three of his own!  That’s West’s third three of the ballgame, a welcome change from the miserable long-range shooting he’s been demonstrating lately.

-  LeBron finds Anderson Varejao on another baseline cut, and the Cavs are back up 86-82.  Andy does such a great job of making himself a target as he moves to the hoop.  You would think that most players playing next to LeBron would learn how to fill the lane, but Andy has been the best of that group so far.

-  Kudos to Lawrence Frank for choosing to defend the Cavaliers straight up down six points with 90 seconds remaining.  Unfortuantely Mo Williams knocked down a very tough three to end the possession, and essentially the game, 93-84.  Clutch, clutch jumpshots by Mo and LeBron on the last two possessions, exactly the kinds of shots the Cavs will need in the Playoffs, which grow closer every day.

Postgame Quick Hits:

-  Not a pretty game, but it might have been a game that demonstrated the greatness of the Cavaliers, especially at home.  In what could only be called a mediocre night, the Cavs still had LeBron James notching 22 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds, Andy Varejao with 14 points and 9 rebounds, and Delonte West with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.  Great performances all around from the starters, all of whom finished with double digit points.

-  And it’s really hard to complain on a night where the team sets a new team record for victories in a season.  Though I imagine that record will be broken quite a few more times before this season is over.  At the beginning of the season, I made a preposterous prediction that the Cavs would win 58 games this year.  Barring a disaster, it appears I short-changed them. 

-  Not such a great night for the bench, as the reserves managed only 15 points, 12 coming from reserve bigs Joe Smith and Darnell Jackson.  And even Smith (-12) and Jackson (-9) had pretty bad +/- ratios.  I know people believe that LeBron has a much better supporting cast this season than in years past, and that’s mostly true.  But the Cavalier reserves are regularly outplayed by opposing bench players, something that just shouldn’t happen this often.

-  But think of how much better this team will be in the Playoffs, when we’re seeing 44 minutes a night of LeBron James, and almost none of guys like Darnell Jackson.  The Cavs starters have played so well that getting them more minutes in the Playoffs should make the team even more dangerous.

More if I think of anything.  Go Cavs.

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