Wrapping up an exciting win over the Dallas Mavericks today at the Q:

The Good:

AP Photo/Tony Dejak

-  First star goes to Joe Smith today.  The Cavaliers started this game with zero energy, missing shots and letting the Mavericks get anything they wanted inside.  Then Smith came into the game, and brought the rebounding, energy and offensive efficiency the team was lacking.  We’ve seen the starters in this kind of funk from a couple of times this season, and usually it has been Anderson Varejao who has come off the bench and kept the team close while the starters find their legs.  With Andy now in the starting lineup, that role fell to Smith today, and he came through with 12 points and 13 rebounds.  Smith’s performance was highlighted by a three-pointer at the end of the first quarter that was so good, the scoreboard operator gave the Cavaliers six points for it.  (The error was remedied before the start of the second quarter.)

I’ll be the first to admit that I was wrong about Joe Smith.  As was pointed out to me in the last post, a month ago I wasn’t sure that Smith would be able to contribute any more to the Playoff rotation than J.J. Hickson.  Now Smith has proven to be a vital component to this team, especially with Ben Wallace still recovering from his broken leg.  Mea culpa Mr. Smith.

-  While Smith was the sparkplug, the way the entire team defended in the last three quarters was nothing short of astonishing.  After surrendering 30 points in the first quarter, the Cavs held Dallas to 19, 11, and 14 points in each of the following three quarters, allowing only 44 points in that 36 mintues of play.  The Cavaliers held the Mavericks to just 74 points, 27 below their season average of 101.1.  

-  LeBron James had 12 assists and 0 turnovers today.  That is the ninth time this season that a player has managed at least 12 assists without committing a turnover, and the second time it has happened to the Mavericks (Steve Nash did it to them earlier this season).  The Cavaliers committed only 4 turnovers on the day, which was vital given the hole they dug for themselves in the first.  The team just did so much right in those last three quarters, it’s hard to believe just how bad they looked at the start.

-  I thought the crowd did a great job of getting the team back in the game.  The fans desperately wanted to explode, and when the Cavs finally got rolling, the crowd let them hear it.  By the end the fans and the team were having a great time, clowning around as the team coasted to the first 60-win season in team history.  Even the chalupa lovers got their wish.

The Bad:

-  The first quarter was miserable.  Jason Kidd-to-Eric Dampier was looking like Stockton-to-Malone.  The Cavaliers got down by fifteen points, which was their largest deficit at home this season (thankfully, The Diff was able to handle that unexpected situation).  Be honest, you were shaking your head and screaming obscenities in that first quarter.

AP Photo/Tony Dejak

-  LeBron was on the floor for a while after colliding with referee Derek Richardson, getting the wind knocked out of him.  That was by far the biggest drama of the second half, and, well, what the heck is Derek Richardson made of, concrete?

-  Brian Windhorst has a note today about Tarence Kinsey being agitated, maybe because he couldn’t get into the game until the very end despite the big Cavalier lead in the fourth.  While there has been a lot of chatter lately about the wisdom of the Cavs resting some players down the stretch, if anything Mike Brown has been even more restricted in his rotations of late.  While they have kept quiet, guys like Kinsey and J.J. Hickson probably feel that they have proven enough this season to earn minutes, but they’re still seeing more DNP-CDs.

The Questions:

-  Were you surprised at how ineffective LeBron was in the post to start the game?  LeBron got the ball on the low block repeatedly in the first quarter, but the Cavs ended the first in a 10-point hole.  LeBron will eventually be a beast in the post, but like his jump shot, there’s still a lot of room for refinement at this point.

AP Photo/Tony Dejak

-  Did you know Jason Kidd can shoot now?  Kidd is a career 40.2% shooting on all shots, but he is shooting 40.4% from three-point range this season, including 2-for-3 today against the Cavaliers.  That flexibility will help him stay in the league as he gets up in years - Kidd turned 36 last week - but I think his days of contributing to Championship-caliber teams are done.  So don’t count me on the list of people wondering if Kidd could be a Cavalier next season. 

-  Did you see that the Lakers got crushed by the Atlanta Hawks (86-76) today?  That means that the Cavaliers have a two game lead for the best record in the NBA with nine games remaining.  Obviously anything can happen, but I’m not sure I see the Cavs losing two more games this season.

Go Cavs.  Seriously, how great was that third quarter?

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 29th, 2009 at 9:09 pm and is filed under Postgame Quick Hits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.