The Good:

- The Cavs put up a great fight on a night where LeBron, Z, Mo and Joe Smith didn’t play, and Delonte West and Anderson Varejao played very limited minutes. There was no reason for the Cavs to over-exert themselves tonight, but they did.

- Daniel Gibson was very good tonight (with the exception of one major play). Gibson finished with 28 points on 12-24 shooting, while adding 7 assists, none bigger than the one which found Sasha Pavlovic for an open 3 late in overtime. Gibson had a rough season, struggling to find his shot and his role in the offense. But for at least one night, he was able to take advantage of his opportunities, and set a new regular season high in points (his career high is 31 in the Playoffs).

- Wally Szczerbiak was great tonight, scoring 21 points while adding 8 rebounds and 8 assists. He even added a dunk. Wally was showing off a confidence that we’ve only seen a few times since he put on a Cavs uniform. With the laid-back, anything-can-happen vibe of last night, it was fun to let a couple of fan favorites like Wally and Boobie get some shots, and for the most part they came through.

The Bad:

- Not getting a shot off on that last possession was disappointing. After all the good stuff that Daniel Gibson did late in the game, his slip and fall was absolutely deflating.

- Official Joe DeRosa as awful tonight. If a call was going against the Cavaliers, it was being called by #14. At one point it took the two other officials nearly getting into a fist-fight with DeRosa to convince him that he had blown a blocking call that should have been called a charge. I have not complained about the officiating once this season, but DeRosa was butchering last night’s otherwise very entertaining game.

The Questions:

- Are you excited about Saturday’s Game 1 against the Pistons?

More as the day goes on…

Go Cavs

“More Than a Game” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2008, and was the first runner-up for the Cadillac People’s Choice Award for the festival, finishing second to the Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionaire.”  I was lucky enough to attend the Toronto premiere, and you can see my takes on the film here and here.  In short, I thought it was fantastic. 

The film is tentatively scheduled for an October 2, 2009 release, with a premiere here in Ohio sometime prior to the wide release.

morethanagame

The Good:

-  LeBron James finished with 37 points, five rebounds and five assists, highlighted by a couple of monster dunks off of Mo Williams passes.  

-  Anderson Varejao may have been the only starter not to score in double-digits, but he was a huge factor in this game, getting to the loose balls and rebounds that helped the Cavaliers keep the Pacers at bay.  Andy finished with 7 points, 11 rebounds and 4 steals, and his energy was off the charts.  The Pacers had no answer for the way he was going after the ball.

-  There wasn’t a slouch over the other three starters either, with Delonte West dropping 20 points, Mo Williams adding 18 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas contributing 16 more.  The starters combined to shoot 33-for-67 (49%) from the field.

The Bad:

-  The Cavs allowed 37 points in the third quarter.  Not unexpected on the second night of a back-to-back to have an energy lull, but it’s still not something to be proud of.

-  While the starters were excellent, the bench left something to be desired, scoring just 19 points combined.  This after a day of 35 combined bench points yesterday.

The Questions:

-  Didn’t I tell you that Danny Granger was a special scorer?  Granger dropped 38 points tonight, scoring from all over, including a nifty little 10-foot pull-up jumper that Cavs fans would love to see LeBron add to his reperatoire.  I would put Granger on the same level as Carmelo Anthony, but like Anthony, Granger might be better off as a second-fiddle scorer while another player takes on the leadership role.

-  Did anyone know that Brandon Rush could score like that (28 points tonight)?  Rush was a star at Kansas, but he slipped to the end of the lottery (13th overall), where Indiana snapped him up.  Rush is averaging 16.3 points per game over the last twelve games, including a pair of 29-point outings last month.  

-  Now that the Cavs have clinched the best record in the NBA, how do you feel about Wednesday’s game?  Do you care about matching the best home record in NBA history, or do you want the Cavs to fold up the tent and call it a regular season?

-  Looks like the Cavs will face the Pistons in thee first round this season.  How do you feel about that?

Go Cavs.

-  Ben Wallace will not play tonight with a knee contusion, and is likely to miss Wednesday’s game as well.  The Cavs don’t know when Wallace will return, but it’s a shame.  The Cavs could really use Wallace’s strength inside defensively off the bench, especially later in the Playoffs.  Here’s hoping he can come back quickly and effectively, but there’s always a chance that this turns into a Kevin Garnett-esque lingering injury.

-  The last time the Cavs were in Indianapolis, they lost a rough game to the Pacers after the officials called back-to-back fouls on last-second inbounds plays.  The first allowed LeBron to tie the game with two free throws, and the second allowed Danny Granger to win it with a free throw for the Pacers.  In that game, LeBron did all that he could to win the game (47 points), but his teammates refused to help in the least.  If the supporting cast doesn’t sleep through this one, the Cavs should come back home happy.

-  Speaking of Granger, he is the most overlooked 25-point scorer I’ve ever seen (or perhaps others are more overlooked, so much so that I continue to overlook them).  Granger comes into tonight’s contest tied for fifth in the league in scoring at 25.5 points per game, yet his name is rarely mentioned among the league’s elite scorers.  Between Granger, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony, the NBA might be entering a golden age of small forwards.

-  You might recall that the Pacers are one of several teams suffering in the tough economy, and are expected to lose $30 Million this season.  It’s rough to be a Pacers owner, but it’s a good time to be a Pacers fan, as $10 tickets for tonight’s game are readily available, and the team shop is having a $5 item sale.  I’m not saying that watching a losing team on the cheap is a good trade-off, but hey, cheap tickets are cheap tickets.  When I was in college I once paid $15 to sit in row 4 of the lower deck, right next to a few guests of former-Cavalier Trajan Shaka Langdon for a game against the Celtics.  That’s the lowest I’ve ever sat at a Cavs game, and it would not have been possible if the team hadn’t been particularly awful.  It’s a decent silver lining on a lost season.

-  As everyone who knows me can attest, I love dance teams.  And last season, a couple of well-done photos of the Indiana “Pacemates” were enough to knock my beloved Cavalier Girls out of the annual NBA Dance Team Bracket.  Fast-forward to this season, and all I can say is that this website is the perfect example of why teams need to hire me to manage the aesthetics of their dance team marketing.  This is a group of talented and attractive female Hoosiers, yet the photography studio that was hired to shoot them has done a terrible job with lighting and digital clean up, actually highlighting the sharp facial lines and slight asymmetries they should be softening.  As a result, the same girl can go from looking cute and fresh in one photo looks harsh and severe in another photo.  Just a poor effort by the Pacers, and a definite disappointment from a team that at least has the good sense to have a dedicated dance team website.

Go Cavs.

-  My only concern going into this game is a slow start.  The Cavs have come out of the gates a bit uninspired the past two Sundays; they don’t want to get themselves into an early hole this afternoon.

First Quarter:

-  Z with the Cavs first four points, going inside first then knocking down his patented 18-footer.  The Cavs need to exploit the fact that the Celtics are missing Kevin Garnett inside.

-  LeBron leaves the ball for Andy for a monster two-handed slam, then knocks down a three on the next possession.  Cavs are out to an early 9-4 lead, and they are executing well on both sides of the ball.  And before I finish that sentence, LeBron hits another three.  If LeBron is scoring from the perimeter, the Cavaliers are unbeatable. 

-  Mo Williams with a terrible 22-foot miss to “finish” a 3-on-2 break.  Cannot do that in the Playoffs Mo, especially if you have LeBron James on the wing.  At least if Mo would have taken a three there was extra potential value; settling for a running jumper with his foot on the line is about the worst way that possession could end.

-  Halfway through the first quarter, the Celtics can’t hit the broad side of a barn.  They are just 2-for-10 from the field, and the Cavs have an early 14-6 lead at the first break.  Andy and Z already have 8 rebounds between them.

-  The Cavs are doing a good job of getting out and running so far this game, which is a great plan.  Use the energy of the crowd to push you faster and wear out the Celtics.

-  LeBron with another transition block, erasing a Ray Allen layup.  No one else in the league can do things like that folks.

-  Cavs roll out a new play, having Z make the entry pass to LeBron on the post, then rolling to the basket when the double team follows the ball to LeBron.  It turned into a basket and a foul for Z, and it’s just another weapon for the Cavaliers.  Like they needed one.  At another Celtics timeout, the Cavs lead is up to 21-8.  Lots of game left, but the Cavs look fantastic so far this afternoon.

-  Yes, I smile every time Paul Pierce misses a shot.  Doubly so when he misses free throws.

-  Great ball movement from LeBron to Joe Smith to Daniel Gibson in the corner for three.  Then Gibson adds a little something extra, knocking down a second three from the same spot, this time with Eddie House right in his face.

-  Ben Wallace heads to the free throw line off a loose-ball foul.  If you’ll remember, last time the Celtics were in town Doc Rivers employed the Hack-a-Ben strategy down the stretch long past its usefulness.  It was an utterly classless move by Rivers, and the way things are going right now, the Celtics might need to employ it for the last three quarters.  And I don’t put it past Rivers.

-  At the end of one, the Cavaliers are putting on a clinic, dominating both ends of the floor for a 22-point lead, 33-9.  The offense is rolling, while the Mike Brown defense has held the Celtics to just 3-for-20 (15%) shooting in the first quarter.

Second Quarter:

-  ”That’s a cold crowd when they boo a little baby wearing a Boston Celtics jersey.” - Joe Tait.

-  The last time these two teams met, it was Joe Smith’s first game back in a Cavaliers uniform, and he had a terrible game.  Smith has been a completely different player this afternoon, as he already has five points and 3 rebounds, while drawing fouls on both Mikki Moore and Kendrick Perkins in the last two possessions.  If Joe can bring this kind of production off the bench in the Playoffs, then he is this year’s P.J. Brown.

-  It’s midrange jumpers for Mo and Delonte, and it’s another Celtics timeout.  The lead is out to 27, 38-11.  The Celtics have no energy, no execution, no fight and no answer for the Cavaliers.

-  We’re halfway through the second quarter, and the Celtics are getting nothing going to the basket.  Everything is a jump shot, and they’re being taken by guys like Glen Davis and Eddie House, not Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.  You’d think that super-duper-he’s-so-wonderful-even-if-you-can’t-really-tell point guard Rajon Rondo could create a few more shots, but apparently he’s saving himself.  Wouldn’t want him blowing your mind too soon or anything.

-  We’re at another break, and the Celtics have managed to stop the bleeding at just a 27 point deficit, 45-18.  At least the Celtics should score more than 11 points this quarter.  

-  No way Doc Rivers finishes this game without picking up a technical foul.

-  I know this is going to come as a surprise to some people, but Tony Allen is not a suitable replacement for James Posey, and has no chance when trying to guard LeBron one-on-one.  

-  Uh-oh, another break, and this time the Cavalier lead is down to 26, 49-23 (though Anderson Varejao free throws are coming after the break).  At the moment there’s not much more to add, the Cavs continue to hold the Celtics at bay, holding Boston to just 26% from the field (9-for-35) while executing well on offense.  LeBron hasn’t even had to do much in the second quarter, as he doesn’t have a point in the period.

-  The Celtics go on an 11-0 run late in the quarter, as the Cavalier offense has stopped attacking, and they’ve gotten a little careless with the ball.  They’re also in the penalty, so they will need to avoid giving the Celtics points at the free throw line.

-  Three more points by Ray Allen after an offensive possession where LeBron didn’t touch the ball, and the lead is down to 16.  LeBron took his foot off the pedal in this quarter, and as a result this group that is used to having him creating everything on offense was pretty direction-less after LeBron came back into the game in the second quarter.  

-  Fortunately, LeBron restores order with an And-One basket with 3.7 seconds left in the half, and three points later the Cavs head into the half ahead by 19 points, 52-33.  When LeBron is aggressive, the Celtics have no answer this afternoon.  Still a great first half, a dominating performance from a team that is putting the league on notice.

Third Quarter:

-  The Celtics cannot get the close shots to fall this afternoon.  Give the Cavs some credit for that, but Boston is failing to convert even their good looks into points with NBA-level proficiency.  Glen Davis couldn’t even take advantage of Mo Williams defending him at one point.  

-  LeBron adds his 18th point on yet another basket-foul-flex triumverate, and the Cavalier lead is back out to 27, 65-38.  Even with the Cavaliers running away with this one, the scary part is that they LeBron is capable of taking the offense to another level if he needed/wanted to.

-  Somehow LeBron James found himself alone in the middle of the key, where Mo Williams found him for a monster right-hand crush of both the basketball and the Celtics.  Still quite a few memorable moments for a game that has been nothing short of a coronation for this excellent Cavaliers team.

-  Well Mr. Varejao, you are a better man than I.  I don’t know how to explain what happened to Andy in a family-friendly blog, but let’s just say that Andy withstood a blow that would have most men calling it a day and looking for some ice.  

-  Though I have no idea how the refs could give Andy a technical foul after that play.

-  LeBron James with back-to-back ridiculous threes to put the capper on this one.  He’s pretty good folks.

-  At the end of the third quarter, the Cavs lead by 26 points, 82-56.  The Celtics continue to shoot just 33% from the field, and the Cavs are outrebounding Boston by 17, 38-21.  Just an all around pummeling administered by the guys in white.

Fourth Quarter:

-  The Cavs have started the fourth quarter with the normal rotation, with the exception of Ben Wallace who left in the second quarter with a knee issue.  Darnell Jackson is filling in for Ben to start the period.  I don’t expect LeBron to play in the fourth, but I wonder how long Williams and West will play.

-  Cleveland starts the fourth with an 8-2 run, and the Cavs have their biggest lead of the game, 90-58.  Hopefully all of those people who saw the Cavalier losses in Boston and Orlando as evidence of major weaknesses will notice that the Cavs can and are just as dominant when they are playing host to the rest of the league’s elite.

-  After getting throughly worked by Louis Williams on Friday, Daniel Gibson has had one of his best performances of the season, exploiting the unenthusiastic perimeter defense of the Celtics to score 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting.

-  Delonte West has a +/- of +32 today.  

-  Hey, Tarence Kinsey got into the game, and winds his way to the rim for a nifty left-handed layup and chalupas for everyone.  I guarantee that a good chunk of the Cavalier fan base will be calling for Kinsey to get more minutes after the first Cavalier loss in the Playoffs.

-  Wally Szczerbiak pulls a LeBron James and blocks a transition layup by Bill Walker.  The bench, as expected, goes crazy.

-  And that will do it, the Cavs destroy the Celtics by 31 points, 107-96.  Huge win for the home team, and a great exclamation point on what has been a fantastic and historic regular season.

More as it comes later, but for now, Happy Easter, and Go Cavs!

-  I have no idea why the national media isn’t making more of this game, as it is the last chance for this current Celtics team to preserve the all-time home wins record set by the 85-86 Celtics.  While the home wins record isn’t as sexy as the season wins record, and it’s not a guarantee of a Championship (though the Celtics did win in ‘86), it’s still an impressive feat that has only been accomplished by one other team in NBA history.  Why doesn’t that legendary “Celtic Pride” include defending the record of one of the all-time great Celtics teams?

-  If the Cavs once again walk all over the Celtics, they will be the prohibitive favorite in the East.  If the Celtics win, they will have a solid psychological edge if the two teams meet in the Eastern Conference Finals.

-  Paul Pierce has been the key in the three Cavs-Celtics matchups this season.  In the two Celtics wins, Pierce has scored 27 and 29 points.  But in the Cavalier victory in January the defense held Pierce to just 11 points.

-  I also think the Delonte West-Ray Allen matchup will be important today.  West doesn’t have to match Allen point for point, but if he can generally keep the Cavs even at the shooting guard position, that would be a major plus.  Allen remains a very dangerous scorer, but he can disappear from time to time.

-  In the last matchup between these two teams, the Celtics won by dominating the points in the paint and generally outmuscling the Cavaliers inside.  Ben Wallace will be charged with restoring a little order inside off the bench, and it will be interesting to see how effective he can be as he continues to test that healed injury.

Should be interesting…

First Quarter:

-  I think the Sixers have the worst front-jersey wordmark in the league.  And the court design is also pretty bad.  This team needs another logo reinvention.

-  Anderson Varejao having a tough time early, missing three easy shots and keeping the Cavs scoreless through the first two minutes.  The Cavs are getting good looks (LeBron also missed a layup), but so far they can’t finish them.

-  It could just be where Joe Tait is sitting (the crowd sounds from FSN are pretty muted tonight), but Delonte West seems to have more than a few fans here in Philly.  West was a major contributor to the St. Joe’s team than went undefeated in the regular season a few years ago, when he teamed in the backcourt with Jameer Nelson, now with the Orlando Magic.  Nice to see the Philly crowd 

-  Former Cavalier Andre Miller knocks down two jumpers in the first five minutes.  Shooting is not Miller’s specialty (unlike Mo Williams, who answers with his second jumper as I write), but his compact tip-toes jumpers are pretty efficient, and he keeps all his energy going towards the basket on the release.

-  Wham with the right hand!  LeBron with the monster dunk right over Willie Green, about as hard as he has dunked a ball in two months.

-  Finally see Delonte West use his right hand to drive along the baseline.  He missed the layup, but it’s good to see that he will use that option as he’s been finding himself alone in that right corner a lot lately.  So much that he calmly knocks down a three from that same spot to beat the shot-clock on the very next possession.  

-  Andre Iguodala slips free for his second transition dunk of the night, this one a LeBron-esque glide-and-crush with the right hand.  It’s easy to forget just how athletic some of these players are, maybe a little moreso because the Cavaliers only have one elite-level athlete on the team (in NBA terms).  I like Iguodala, but even in this fifth year in the NBA his game still needs significant refinement.

-  Quick list of other hyper-athletic players who have become solid players but still need to find better coaching: Iguodala, Atlanta’s Joe Smith, Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace (though Larry Brown is currently helping him down there).

-  Speaking of Iggy, most times you do not want to see Wally Szczerbiak defending him late in the quarter, but Wally just locked him up and forced a shot-clock violation with some late help from Ben Wallace.

-  Boobie!  Daniel Gibson tosses in a Mo Williams missed heave at the end of the first quarter, a nifty acrobatic move that helps the Cavs end the quarter on a 6-0 run, and pushes the Cavs out to a 4-point lead at the end of the first quarter, 23-19.  

Second Quarter:

-  I realize this is the point of advertising, but I have never heard of Romeo’s Pizza before they started advertising during Cavs games.

-  Iguodala draws a triple-team, and finds Theo Ratliff rolling unmolested to the rim (like LeBron, Iggy is big enough to pass over defenses with relative ease).  But Mo Williams slips from the far side and fouls Ratliff, preventing the layup or dunk.  Ratliff hit the free throws, but I’ve been wanting the Cavaliers to take some of those layup-preventing fouls all season, and Mo (who rarely fouls well) did just that.

-  Mo follows up that with a long three, and the Cavs are suddenly up by nine, 32-23.  

-  Szczerbiak is looking a little more active tonight, that knee might finally be feeling better.

-  Ben Wallace has been doing a better job of cutting to the hoop since his return, and he’s done a great job of making the extra pass to the second big man cutting into the lane after him.  At some point teams will force Ben to take that shot rather than allowing him to pass, but for now Wallace is making himself into a useful offensive weapon.

-  Mareese Speights jumps through the roof to crush home a missed shot.  I know that Cavalier fans love (or used to love) J.J. Hickson, but if you’re watching Speights tonight, you can see that Hickson’s talents are something less than unique when compared to other big men in this draft class.  

-  LeBron to Wally to Z for a pretty little possession ending with a layup.  It’s only worth two points, but ball movement like that is always a major blow to the confidence of the defense, on par with the shot-clock-beating three-pointer.

-  Wow, Iguodala just blew right by LeBron James and dunked all over him, throwing down a two-handed slam with just 3.1 seconds left in the half.  Rewound just to take another look at that, and LeBron was tilting hard towards Iggy’s right hand, forcing him left as opposed to playing straight-up defense.  Unfortunately, Iguodala just took that left-handed lane and drove right to the rack, slamming it home long before the Cavalier help defense was able to react and cut him off.  Still, that’s a dunk reminiscent of LeBron’s dunk on Kevin Garnett last season, an exclamation point of the season regardless of the final outcome of the game/series/season.  

-  But to make my coaching point - Iguodala has 12 points in the first half, but he only took six shots (5-for-6).  Why is the Sixers’ best offensive weapon only taking six shots in the first half?  So that Willie Green can take five (1-for-5)?

-  At the half, LeBron has a pretty quiet 13 points, and Anderson Varejao can’t hit the broad side of a barn despite getting good looks (2-for-9).  But it’s Wally Szczerbiak who is doing the heavy lifting offensively, scoring 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting while adding 2 assists and 2 rebounds.  At the break the Cavs lead by six, 52-46, but the Sixers have been within striking range all night.

Third Quarter:

-  LeBron makes a beautiful one-handed forty-foot bounce pass to find Andy on the break, leading to a two-handed slam and a nine-point Cavalier lead after a slow start to the third quarter.  You wil not see a better display of vision and athleticism tonight.

-  Andre MIller remains effective tonight, as he has 14 points already.

-  ”The game is being played at a much slower pace than the Sixers want to play,” - Austin Carr.  That might be the most useful bit of analysis that AC has dropped in a month.  And it’s very true, the Sixers have not been running well tonight, likely the result of the back-to-back this late in the season.

-  Maybe the Philly court would be better if it wasn’t quite as shiny.  As it is, the reflection of the lights bounce off the slight imperfections in the wood underneath the paint, and the combined whole is just distracting to look at on television.  

-  Both LeBron and Andy have taken hard falls here in the third quarter.  They both appear fine, but hits like that are the reason Mike Brown might rest some guys next week - rather than concerns about the fatigue of the long season.

-  Louis Williams and Daniel Gibson are great comparison players.  Williams is a better all-around scorer who can create his own shot, while Gibson is a three-point shooting specialist.  But both are stuck at that 6′2″ size, too small to play a lot at shooting guard, and neither has the passing ability and court awareness to play the point guard position.  Williams is the better player at this point, but I don’t think he’ll ever be a starting-quality player for a contending team, meaning that his usefulness is tapped at being a sparkplug scorer off the bench.  And in that regard, Gibson might actually be the more useful player to a contender, a guy with a clearly defined role who can execute it consistently, without always needing the ball in his hands to be effective.

-  This analysis of course considers the Daniel Gibson of previous seasons, not the one who has been generally lousy this season.

-  At least for the last two minutes, it’s been advantage Williams, who has drawn two straight fouls on Gibson.  Gibson just does not have the quickness to say with Williams defensively.  

-  Though Boobie gets him back with a nice layup off the give-and-go from Joe Smith.

-  And Williams answers with a jumper of his own on the next possession.  And picks up another foul on the next possession.  Yes Daniel, they are picking on you.  Yes Mike Brown, they’re picking on Boobie.  Might want to consider a different tact.

-  Not a great third quarter, but the Cavs have held the Sixers at bay and still lead by six, 76-70.   The Cavs are 52-2 when leading after 3 quarters.

Fourth Quarter:

-  The Sixers are still in this game despite being 0-for-3 from beyond the arc.  But so far it’s working, as not settling for long shots has allowed the Sixers to shoot 52% from the field through the first three quarters.  The Sixers are the worst three-point shooting team in the league though, so I guess not taking those shots is a good strategy.

-  The Sixers out-work the Cavs to start the fourth quarter, and after a Louis Williams jumper (did I really say that Gibson was in his league?), the Cavs lead is down to two, 76-74. 

-  Wally Szczerbiak answers right back with a three to create some more breathing room, and before you know it the Cavs are on a 9-2 run, with Joe Smith throwing down an exclamation point slam (from another Ben Wallace interior pass) to cap it off.  The Sixers take time out, and the Cavs lead is back out to nine, 85-76.  

-  The Z-Andy starting combination with the Wallace-Smith bench combination is the best setup for the Cavs right now.  Obviously the team will need to adjust to matchups in the Playoffs, but if I was Mike Brown I would plan on just giving 28 minutes to that first pair and 20 minutes to the second pair, and go from there.

-  The Sixers are sticking around, but Wally hits another three, pushing the lead back out to eight (88-80) with his 16th point of the night.  On a night where Z hasn’t had a great night, Wally has been a great source of extra offense tonight.

-  Z for 3 from the corner!  Ilguaskas hasn’t been able to hit anything tonight, but he knocked that one down and that will do it tonight.  Cavs are now up by 11, 98-87, and the buses are warming up.  

-  And at the final buzzer, the Cavs are triumphant, securing the number one seed in the Eastern Conference with a 102-92 victory.  Very solid game all around from the Cavs, and they are all set for the last big game of the regular season on Sunday against the Boston Celtics.

Postgame Thoughts:

-  Wally Szczerbiak was the standout player, giving the Cavaliers quality scoring off the bench with 18 points on 6-for-7 shooting and helping the Cavs keep separation between themselves and the Sixers tonight.

-  LeBron with a solid, if not iconic, performance of 27 points, 10 assists and 2 rebounds.  Mo Williams added 18 points and 4 assists.  Ho-hum quality performances from the top two.

-  I still don’t understand how Andre Iguodala only takes 11 shots tonight.  He made eight of them, and went 9-for-11 from the line to finish with 26 points.  The Cavs were trying to get the ball out of his hands, with some success, but the Sixers gameplan needed to get him more looks.

-  Caught the end of the Lakers-Blazers game, a Blazers victory which put the Cavs ahead of Lakers by two games for the best record in the NBA and homecourt advantage throughout the Playoffs.  Portland’s Brandon Roy out-clutched Kobe Bryant late in the game, with Roy making a couple of tough-tough jumpers and a nifty little hook shot late in the game, while Kobe bricked a couple of deep three-pointers as he went into hero mode.  But I’m sure we’ll hear a lot about Kobe’s failings from the national media today.

-  Speaking of great players not getting enough shots, Pau Gasol did not have a shot in the fourth quarter last night.  Gasol has been a very good late in games, when opposing defenses direct all their attention towards Kobe.  In their best games, Kobe has found Gasol for open looks at the basket.  But last night was all Kobe (and Lamar Odom, 1-for-6 in the 4th) all the time, and the result was a Lakers loss.

-  It’s unlikely, but the Cavs could still end up facing the Sixers in the first round of the Playoffs.  The 40-38 Sixers are currently the sixth seed in the East, and are 1 1/2 games ahead of the Chicago Bulls (39-40) and 2 games ahead of the eighth-place Pistons (38-40).  

That’s a solid lead this late in the season, but the problem is that the Sixers are not playing well at all, having lost three straight games to below-.500 teams, including a loss to the Bulls last night.  And Philadelphia still has to play the Cavaliers twice and the Celtics once in their last four games.  The Sixers are safe from the 8 spot if they win next week in Toronto, but should they collapse and lose all four remaining games, they could fall to that eighth spot and see the Cavs in the first round.

-  As for this game, the Sixers can only cause problems for the Cavs if they are able to get out and run early and often, much like the Wizards did last week.  I just don’t see that happening with the Sixers playing last night in Chicago and having to make the trip back to Philly late last night.

-  Former Cavalier Andre Miller continues to be the straw that stirs the drink for the Sixers, averaging 16.2 points and 6.5 assists per game.  Despite having lost some quickness at 33 years old, Miller remains an excellent point guard both in the half-court offense and in transition, and he is usually able to put his teammates in good positions to score.  Miller will be a free agent this Summer, and he will be a nice pickup for whoever grabs him, even if it’s Philly again.

-  Last season’s good first round series against the Pistons really helped Andre Iguodala secure a 6-year, $80M deal from the Sixers last Summer.  It’s easy to like Iguodala, with his off-the-charts athleticism and considerable talents, but his production has plateaued a bit this season (18.5 ppg, down from 19.9 last season), and I don’t think he can be the best player on a Championship-caliber team.  And as the Larry Hughes experiment proved in Cleveland, if you give that kind of money to anyone but a guaranteed All-Star, it can really hurt your ability to put together a real contender.  Combine the questions around Iguodala with the injury problems of the Sixers’ other big ticket player, Elton Brand, and it’s hard to see a lot of success for this Philly team in the near future.  They’re in danger of turning into a more-talented/less-distracted version of the Wizards.

-  As for the Cavs, Delonte West, Daniel Gibson and Wally Szczerbiak have been ball-faking a lot lately, opting to try to dribble toward the hoop instead of just hoisting when they get an open look.  I like having the fake-and-drive as an option, but it’s been overdone lately.  I wonder if the Cavs are emphasizing it just to give opposing teams something to think about for their defensive schemes in the Playoffs.

-  Quick note on the Bulls:  They’ve been under the radar, but the Bulls have gone 13-1 at home since the All-Star break, with the sole loss coming against the Lakers.  The Bulls have been scoring 110 points per game over those 14 home games, and they are really starting to turn it on.  I don’t think they can take down the Cavaliers, Celtics or Magic in the first round, but I think they’re going to be a handful in the Playoffs, especially at home.

Go Cavs.

First Quarter:

-  Cavs have started strong, moving the ball well and keeping the Wizards from running.  The crowd seems a little quiet however.  

-  Ben Wallace is coming in off the bench, and is part of what has already been a nine-man rotation in the first quarter.  There goes any notion that Mike Brown might tighten up his rotation before the Playoffs.

-  LeBron took one right in the chops from Antawn Jamison while fighting for a rebound.  Who says basketball isn’t a contact sport.

-  At the end of one, the Cavs lead by 12, 25-13.  That’s a pretty impressive defensive performance from the good guys.

Second Quarter:

-  I’m going to guess that Wally Szczerbiak will have a tough time guarding Caron Butler.

-  Ben Wallace seems to be moving alright in straight lines so far, but he looks a little weaker in the upper body to me.  He seems to be having a tougher time muscling up against the Wizards bigs so far; he’s getting pushed around a bit.

-  The Wizards made a nice little push back to cut the lead to six, but they’re just not making enough shots to really fight back into the game.  It’s also been nice to see the Cavs getting out in transition for the first time in a while, with Delonte West leading the charge.

-  At the half, the Cavs lead by 11, 48-37.  

Third Quarter:

-  The Cavs roll off a big run to start the third, opening with an 11-2 run to stretch the lead out to 20 early in the quarter.  

-  I’m still on the fence on LeBron’s flexing after And One baskets.  It’s a good show for the home crowd I guess, but I’m not sure I like it.  I do like the MVP chants.

-  I know it’s the Wizards, but this Cavs team looks even better when they actually have a little bit of rest.  With Playoff games often being separated by an extra day here and there, I think the Cavs are going to be really good in the postseason.

-  And the game has been pretty standare fare since then.  At the end of the third quarter, the lead is still 20, with the Cavs ahead 78-58.  Looks like LeBron will be able to call it an early night yet again, and maybe catch a couple of innings from the Indians, who again are trailing early 4-0 to the Rangers in the third inning.  The Indians do realize that they’re facing Vincente Padillia, right?

Fourth Quarter:

-  The Cavs reserves have finally found an opposing bench they can handle, as they’re making plays against the Wizards to start the fourth.  First Daniel Gibson pump-faked Nick Young well out of the way, then made a nifty move for a layup.  That was followed by Ben Wallace making a nice interior pass to Joe Smith for a dunk, which was then followed by a Ben getting a dunk of his own in transition.  Wallace has 7 points in the ballgame, the most points he has scored since January 9th, against the Boston Celtics.

-  LeBron has sat out of the fourth quarter 12 times this season.  That’s incredible.  Though his dancing this quarter has been pretty goofy; all this recent rest must have him punchy.

-  96 points and 2:00 remaining… the chalupa fans are getting a little restless…

-  Well, once again the bench has some ugly +/- numbers, as not a single non-starter had a postive +/-, and Wally Szczerbiak (-11) and Darnell Jackons (-10) were just the worst of a bad bunch.  I still don’t have a good explanation for why the bench players are consistenly worst than other teams’ bench players.

-  Fortunately, none of that matters, as the Cavs still put this one away easily, notching their 38th home win of the season with a 12 point victory, 98-86.

A few final thoughts:

-  Last week, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison torched the Cavs for a combined 44 points.  Tonight the Cavalier defense held them to 17 combined points on 4-for-13 shooting, with 7 turnovers.  That was the difference in these two games.

-   Some say that the Wizards have a solid group of second-tier players like Nick Young, Darius Songaila and Andray Blatche, guys who would thrive if they were allowed to complement the Arenas, Jamison and Butler triumverate, it’s just that those stars are always hurt.  Personally, I look at all of those players and see a bunch of guys without enough overall talent to be starters, and without enough specialized skill to be valuable role players.  Sure, every team is going to have a bench player or two that falls into that category (Sasha Pavlovic is the Cavs’ example), but I don’t think that Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld has done a good job of building this team.  Especially with the way he overpaid Arenas and Jamison to keep them in Washington last Summer.

Go Cavs.

-  It looks like the Cavs might have Anderson Varejao and Ben Wallace back in uniform for tonight’s game.  With only five games remaining, the Cavs will be looking to get Wallace back into game shape as quickly as possible, while being careful not to reaggravate the injury.  Here’s hoping that Ben’s injury and Andy’s emergence in his absence will have Wallace playing a hyper-active 15-18 minutes a game off the bench, rather than a more stagnant 24-30 minutes a game in the Playoffs.

-  Speaking of Andy, he apparently showed up to practice yesterday with a fake “Chosen 2″ tattoo on his back.  It’s not the first time Andy used some visual humor on the Chosen One this season.   

-  Brian Windhorst just (as in two minutes ago) “tweeted” that J.J. Hickson will be out 2-3 weeks with a back injury, and that Andy and Ben are likely to play tonight.  More on that first part as it comes.

-  As for the Wizards, not even Washington Post writer Michael Lee (who’s Wizard’s blog is one of my favorites - even if there hasn’t been much love for the Cavs over the years) knows if Gilbert Arenas will play tonight.  Lee is leaning towards “no,” but Arenas says he’s a game-time decision, and you never can tell what will happen when Agent Zero is involved.  So I’ll act like he’s going to play, because whenever I do that, the player in question does not play.  And I still like the Cavs’ chances better if Gilbert is resigned to just talking smack and making stupid faces on the sidelines than if he’s actually in the game.

So yeah, Gilbert Arenas will definitely play tonight and have a monster game.  Bet on it.

(Separate note: In that same blog post, Lee implies that he will be back in Cleveland for the Finals in June.  Now like I said, I like Lee, and I’m sure he’ll be able to add a little insight into a possible Finals series.  But is there any reason he’ll have to be in the building to do that?  Is that a big enough story in D.C. that the Post sending Michael Lee to Cleveland to cover it makes sense?  I don’t get the sports media business some times.)

-  The Cavs have re-signed Jawad Williams to fill the roster spot opened up by Eric Snow, who was released after the league approved the Cavs claim for salary cap relief due to Snow’s chronic injury.

-  As if the big loss to the Cavs on Sunday wasn’t enough, the San Antonio Spurs have lost Manu Ginobili for the remainder of the season and the Playoffs.  This doesn’t guarantee the Lakers a spot in the Finals, but it certainly makes it much more likely.

Go Cavs.