Running thoughts from the Cavs-Knicks tilt at the Q:

-  Before we get started, I don’t like much about the Lakers, but I do like their “Sunday whites” motif.  As the Cavs have a number of Sunday games this year thanks to their popularity, I’d love to see the Cavs make Sundays special with a specific uniform, even if it’s just the throwbacks or the blues.  The Cavs will play every Sunday in February, March and April except for All-Star Weekend and last week.  That’s nine games in eleven Sundays.  No reason not to do something special.  Then again, this is a team that somehow didn’t give away beads during their Mardi Gras game.

-  The Celtics are scuffling without Kevin Garnett, losing to the Milwaukee Bucks this afternoon to fall to three full games behind the Cavaliers for the best record in the East, and the Celtics are now just one game ahead of the Magic for the second-place spot.  The Celtics have been saying that they’re more worried about getting healthy than they are their playoff seeding, but I don’t think they want anything to do with having to beat the Magic in the second round without home court advantage.

-  Delonte West is back in the starting lineup after missing the last game with a sore back.

First Quarter:  

-  The Cavs actually raised a Central Division Champions banner before the game.  That was fast.

-  Are the “Austin Carr Facts” a desperate attempt for a CarFax endorsement deal?

-  Is it just me, or are the saturation levels for the HD broadcast tonight awful?   Everything is completely bleached out.

-  David Lee is a very solid player, very much in the Anderson Varejao mode.  Lee is slightly better offensively, be he also gets a more opportunities than Andy.  Neither player is someone that you’d want to pay $8-10 Million a year, but for $4-6 Million they both go a long way towards helping you win ballgames.

-  At the first break, the Cavs are up 15-9.

-  LeBron comes up with two steals on two defensive possessions, and he has been a force defensively so far.  He already has a block and two steals, and he is harassing the Knicks inside and out.  Then on the other side he finds Mo Williams for an open three, which he sticks to put the Cavs up 9.

-  Delonte’s rhythm is quite bad to start the game.  He’s had a 20-foot airball, and he just missed a wide-open three well short.  And just as I’m typing that, he rolls to the hoop and flips home a very tough left-handed layup.  At the second break, the Cavs lead is down to five, 24-19, with Nate Robinson free throws coming up after the break.

-  Robinson hit both free throws, knocks down a three-pointer, then slams home an offensive rebound, and all of a sudden the Knicks are on an 8-0 run and they’ve taken the lead 25-24 at the end of the first quarter.  It is still hard to recognize these D’Antoni Knicks as a team that can score in bunches very quickly, but they are the fourth-highest scoring team in the league at 106.3 ppg, and if you don’t put the ball in the basket they will run at you all night.  Expect a game of runs throughout the night.

Second Quarter:

-  Sasha Pavlovic is getting the Wally Szczerbiak isolation possessions tonight.  That says something about the faith that the coaching staff has in Sasha’s ability to create offense.

-  Darnell Jackson is getting first half minutes tonight while J.J. HIckson rides the bench.  Something tells me Mike Brown is sending a message about dedication to defense being the key to minutes.  And as I’m typing that, Sasha Pavlovic makes a nice little dump pass to Jackson who slams it home with two hands.  

-  You are seeing the evolution of Sasha Pavlovic this season.  He looks like a completely different player, playing with confidence, making plays on both ends of the court.  He’s always going to worry long-time Cavs fans who cannot forget his years of inconsistency, but he has looked very good all season.  The clutch three pointers he hit in Sacramento might have been a turning point.

-  The Cavs managed to be +5 while LeBron was on the bench to start the second quarter.  That’s a nice bonus.

-  Zydrunas Ilgauskas got whacked on his sore left hand with a no-call, and he’s frustrated.  Z has a few fingers on that left hand bandaged, and another bandage across his broken nose.  He’s headed back to the locker room to make sure that hand is okay.

-  LeBron with a pretty spin move inside to put the Cavs ahead by seven at the end of the half, 50-43.

Halftime:

-  We now know that the Cleveland State Viking and Akron Zips are both 13 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.  CSU will face Wake Forest in the first round, and it looks like Wake Forest has size that is going to be a big problem for the Vikings.  Akron will face Gonzaga, who will also have a significant size advantage.  While the Vikings and the Zips were always going to face an uphill battle by drawing the 13 seeds, they didn’t get any help by being matched up against big teams.

-  The Cavs only shot four free throws in the first half.  Typically that would be a sign that the team has not been aggressive in attacking the rim tonight.  But the Knicks haven’t offered much resistance inside, and the Cavs have a lot of points in the paint tonight.

Third Quarter:

-  I would really love to see a big third quarter to get the fellas some extra rest tonight, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.

-  Like Ben Wallace, David Lee does a great job of getting his hands on the ball to keep offensive rebounds alive.  He has 12 rebounds so far tonight.

-  Nate Robinson just got a rebound four feet from the basket, in the middle of a possession where the Knicks got three offensive rebounds before Al Harrington knocks down a three to cut the Cavalier lead to three, 57-54.  All of a sudden the Knicks are exploiting the Cavs’ unwillingness to really bang inside.

-  Al Harrington hits another three, and he has the last eight Knick points.

-  Harrington continues to roll, he has 20 points after another three and two free throws.  LeBron is supposedly guarding Harrington, though evidence of that has not yet been discovered.

-  Fortunately, Mo Williams is currently in one of those zones where even his bad shots are snapping the net.  Mo has 19 points and is 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.

-  Delonte West posting up Nate Robinson is evidence of a mid-game adjustment on offense.  I’m not sure we’ve seen many of those this season.  

-  The Knicks are fighting and the Cavs look tired.

-  LeBron goes to the hoop for the first time in the second half, gets the layup and the foul, and proves that the reason he has been held quiet tonight (15 points) is because he hasn’t been especially aggressive.

-  At the end of the third quarter, the Cavs lead is down to two points, 74-72.  

Fourth Quarter:

-  The Knicks have just seven turnovers so far tonight.

-  LeBron and the Cavs have settled for jump shots in the second half.  Want evidence of that?  David Lee, the only interior defender the Knicks have, just picked up his first foul of the night.

-  There is no excuse for Mo Williams refusing to give the ball to LeBron James on the break.  He’s done that three times in the last week.  Worst case scenario, put it off the glass and let LeBron go get it.  Settling for (missed) three pointers in that circumstance is unacceptable.

-  Sasha Pavlovic hits a much-needed three (when did they add the ice water?), and the Cavs are finally up by two possessions, 86-81, with just over five minutes remaining.  One good push and the Cavs can finally put this team away.

-  Are you watching LeBron pass from the high post?  Is there any doubt that he will be able to do that when he’s 40?  That, more than anything else, is why I’m sure he will go down in history as one of the top 5 players of all time, possibly the greatest ever.  The flexibility of his game is unparalleled in NBA history.  For now, two quick passes to Andy Varejao lead to a five-point Cavalier lead, 92-87, and LeBron has another 10-assist night.

-  LeBron knocks down a long-jumper, and it’s all over but the shouting.  It never should have taken quite this much effort to put the Knicks away, but the Cavs ultimately come out ahead, and it’s a decent start on this long home stretch.  More thoughts later/tomorrow, but for now, the Cavs are victorious 98-93.  

Go Cavs.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 15th, 2009 at 5:00 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.