Running Thoughts from today’s big game against the San Antonio Spurs:

-  Anderson Varejao is out of today’s game with a wrist contusion.  So Darnell Jackson will get the start against, yeah, Tim Duncan.  I’m sure that will go well.  

-  The Cavs need to win today to keep the best record in the league, as the Lakers face the Clippers tonight.

-  I love NBA basketball on sunny spring Sundays.

First Quarter: 

-  The Cavaliers cannot start this game slow again.  Lately the team has suffered through way too many scoring droughts.  

-  Matt Bonner just tipped in an offensive rebound over Jackson.  I don’t expect Jackson to match up with Duncan (and he’s not to start, Z is defending Duncan), but he has to be at least as productive as Matt Bonner if the Cavs are going to win today.

-  LeBron goes into the “post” four times.  The first time the ball was tipped away by Manu Ginobili and it turned into a Spurs fast break.  The second turned into a 15-foot made jump shot.  The third turned into a sky hook in the lane.  The fourth was another 15-footer over Michael Finley.  LeBron putting the fear in the opponent early is something we haven’t seen lately.  That sky hook could become the scariest weapon in the Playoffs if LeBron and the coaching staff choose to exploit it.

-  Mo WIlliams is in for a tough day today, defending Tony Parker.  Mo has got to give the Cavs more useful offense tonight than he’s been giving over the last two games.  

-  The aggressive LeBron is here for the first quarter.  He looks fantastic.  Think how good the game could be if the rest of the team wasn’t 1-for-6.

-  I was listening to the radio this morning, and WKNR’s Aaron Goldhammer was wondering aloud if the Cavs had the talent on the roster necessary to win the Championship this season.  It is a legitimate question, something I touched on Friday night when I said that the peak performance of the Magic is probably higher than that of the Cavaliers.  It has been my contention all season that the excellence of this Cavalier team has been more the result of LeBron James being uncanny than it has been the other pieces of the roster that much better than past teams.  Sure, there’s been a solid increase in talent, but let’s not forget that this team is still paying Wally Szcerbiak and Ben Wallace a combined $28 Million, and Darnell Jackson is starting today (though that’s mostly Mike Brown’s persona pecadillos, as Joe Smith could and probably should be starting, but Mike doesn’t want to screw up his rotation).  In a straight-up talent comparison, the Cavs are in the conversation, but they’re probably not at the top of the list.

-  I write all of that just to make this point:  When LeBron is playing the way he has played in this first quarter, the Cavs are the best team in basketball.  He makes these slightly-above-average players into a championship-caliber team.   

-  And a final aside on Goldhammer:  I know that he’s trying to get people riled up a bit to get them to call the show and yell at their radio.  But you do not judge a team based on its worst recent loss, just like you don’t judge them on their best recent win.  The Orlando Magic might have beaten the Cavs badly on Friday, but that same Magic team lost at home to the Toronto Raptors earlier last week.  The Lakers got their butts kicked in Atlanta, then lost to a below-.500 Bobcats team on thier recent trip.  This Spurs team got beat by the Oklahoma City Thunder in San Antonio last week.  The Cavs won’t play some mythical perfect team in the Playoffs; they’ll be playing one of these teams, and every one has a disappointing performance or two on their recent schedule.

-  Tony Parker is eating up Mo Williams and Daniel Gibson to start this game, and has 14 points.  LeBron will be guarding Parker at the end of this game.  The Cavs defense hasn’t been especially intense, but give Parker and the Spurs credit for making plays on the offensive end to get good shots and knock them down.

-  But on the offensive end, LeBron has done it by himself, scoring 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting, while his teammates have just 10 points on 3-for-10 shooting.  If it’s any consolation, this has been by far the most entertaining first quarter in a long time.  At the end of one, the Cavs lead 28-27.  

Second Quarter:

-  Tim Duncan looks more earthbound today than I’ve ever seen him.  Those legs do not look lively today.

-  Good run by the Cavs bench to start the second quarter, running off the first six points of the quarter.

-  Delonte West with a steal and a dunk, and he follows it with a nice 17-footer to stretch the Cavs lead to 11.  West’s ability to find his role in the offense will be vital in the Playoffs.  Prior to his wrist injury, Delonte was in the right spot more often than not, and his shot was as pure as anyone on the team.  But when West went down, Mo Williams took an even greater role in the offense, taking quite a few of the shots that used to go to West.  When Delonte returned his role was slightly diminished, and he’s still trying to feel out when he should shoot, when he should create, and when he should just swing the ball around the perimeter.  With LeBron and Mo being the focal point of opposing defenses in the Playoffs, there will be opportunities for Delonte to take advantage and score some points.  There will be games when his performance will be the difference, and the Cavs need him to come through in those situations.

-  West is now guarding Parker.  That’s a good idea.

-  The Spurs are not shooting very well today, despite decent looks at the basket.  With 4:48 left in the second quarter, the Spurs have made just one field goal in the quarter, and that was Drew Gooden’s powerful two-handed dunk, which we’ll call a “high-percentage shot.”

-  Mo Williams is back into the game, and he’s guarding Parker now.  I’m not sure I wouldn’t leave West on Parker and take my chances with Mo guarding shooting guard Michael Finley, who can’t hit the broad side of a barn today.

-  Great first half by the Cavs, with LeBron leading the charge with 26 points going 9-for-12 from the field.  Mo Williams (finally) hit a few open threes, Delonte West was active, and the defense was able to hold the Spurs to just 15 points in the second quarter.  Still a long way to go in this one, but so far it’s a feel-good performance at the Q, with the Cavs ahead 55-42.

Third Quarter:

-  Delonte West with one of his prettiest moves of the season with a little hesitation to slip Manu Ginobili and finishing with a nifty 10-foot runner.  

-  I know that some Cleveland fans are pretty anti-Drew Gooden, but he’s a pretty good fourth option.  He’s been the Spurs’ most consistent offensive weapon today, and has really stepped in with Bonner out with foul trouble.  Gooden is 6-for-8 for 12 points already.

-  LeBron gets his pocket picked for the third time today, and it turns into two more Gooden points, and the lead is down to 5.  The Spurs have ratcheted up the defensive intensity to start the second half, and they’re getting out and running, the biggest defensive weakness of the Cavaliers (and let’s face it, every team) this season.

-  Mo Williams with some much-needed scoring, dropping 5 straight points to get the lead back out to ten and forcing a Spurs timeout.  With 6:29 left in the third, the Cavs lead 67-57.    

-  I love the way that Manu Ginobili always attacks Delonte West’s left hand, especially when West is open in the corner.  Manu has given West the baseline at least twice now, and each time West did not feel comfortable attacking the basket off the right hand.  Great gameplanning by the Spurs’ coaching staff, great execution by Ginobili.  Now West needs to adjust (and just launch those threes instead of dribbling).  

-  LeBron break away - WHAM WITH THE RIGHT HAND!  Those are so much fun.  This game has been a blast.  At another break, the Cavs lead is 11, 71-60, with 2 Zydrunas Ilgauskas free throws coming up.

-  Nice to see that Daniel Gibson is consistent in his terrible shooting.  His wide-open looks have been miserably short, an ailment that has also afflicted Wally Szczerbiak and Sasha Pavlovic this afternoon.  

-  I’m really liking the close-out defense by the Cavaliers here in the third quarter, something that was sorely missing in Orlando on Friday.  The Spurs are moving the ball well today, and they’re getting decent looks at the basket, but the Cavalier defense is closing those gaps quickly and really putting pressure on the Spurs’ shooters.

-  At the end of the third quarter, the Cavs are up by 15, 78-63.  Only 21 points for the Spurs in the third, and they continue to struggle from beyond the arc, just 3-for-14 on the day.  

Fourth Quarter:  

-  It’s more a remnant from the Finals two years ago than anything else, but Manu Ginobili is still the clutch shooter I fear most.  Manu has been hampered by injuries over the last two seasons, and he doesn’t seem as scary, but when he plays this season his numbers are actually above his career averages.  I don’t want to see him with the ball should this game get close.

-  Roger Mason has been a great offseason acquisition for the the Spurs, and he has made more than his share of big shots this season.  But he’s been goose-egged twice in the last four games, and he has just 4 points today.

-  Tim Duncan has been a complete non-factor offensively, scoring just 6 points against a Cavalier front line that is missing Anderson Varejao and has been abused by quality post players lately.  I don’t know what Duncan’s overall health situation is, but he has been interestingly absent today.

-  No, I have no idea why I would poke at the Spurs’ most dangerous scorers before this one is over.  That was stupid.  The Spurs have cut the lead to 9 with 7:00 remaining, 84-75.  The fourth quarter has been all jumpers for the Cavs.

-  But the jumpers start falling again, with LeBron hitting a tough-tough 20 footer, followed by a Delonte West three on a great skip pass from Mo Williams.  That might have done it folks, as the Cavs lead is back out to 14, 89-75.  Have I said how much fun this game has been?

-  The rest of the game goes as planned, highlighted with a couple of nice jumpers by Delonte West, who was an offensive revelation today.  The Cavs held the Spurs to just six points in the last seven minutes of the game, and go on to win 101-81.  

-  LeBron was brilliant, scoring 38 points on 14-for-21 shooting, while adding 7 rebounds and 6 assists.  But as good as LeBron was today, Delonte West was nearly as important, scoring 22 points on 10-for-15 shooting and providing the much-needed third offensive option that has been missing lately.  When West is playing this well, the Cavs are the best team in the league.

-  To borrow a phrase from LeBron’s new website, I really, really, really, really, really, really enjoyed this game.

Go Cavs.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 5th, 2009 at 1:00 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.