Jan

18

Cavaliers Avenge Finals Sweep Squeak By Spurs 90-88

Posted by Jeff Sack under Main 

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Sports is all about defeating demons, and overcoming obstacles when it comes right down to it. Let’s take the Cleveland Cavaliers for an example. Last year Cleveland made it to the NBA Finals for the first time in team history. To accomplish that feat, they had to vanquish their demon the Detroit?Pistons in?the Eastern Conference Finals. However they ran into an?obstacle they could not overcome in the Finals, the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs made it the shortest possible series by sweeping Cleveland in four games. Thursday night the first meeting took place between the two teams since their Finals match-up, Cleveland won 90-88, finally getting through yet another obstacle.

In many ways this has been a very disappointing season for the Cavaliers. They have not played like the reigning Eastern Conference Champions this season. At 21-18 after this win they are currently tied for the fifth slot in the playoff race in the NBA East. That puts them 11 games behind conference leading Boston, and 8 games Central Division leaders the Detroit Pistons. The reasons have been many, injuries to LeBron James, and Larry Hughes, late signings by?Sasha Pavlovic, and Anderson?Varejao.?Not having a legitimate point guard on the roster except for the ancient Eric Snow, but the bottom line is getting it done.?Make no mistake about it, this game was Cleveland’s biggest of the season, it was also a huge step in their long term development as a team.

San Antonio jumped out to a substantial lead in the first quarter, as they had a 26-19 advantage at the end of the period, Cleveland though had the upper hand in the second period and went into halftime with a 50-43 lead. The Cavaliers led in the third quarter 70-59, when the Spurs made their run grabbing the lead at 78-77 on a Tony Parker layup. In the past this is when Cleveland would get caught up in the moment, and eventually lose the contest. It did not happen Thursday night as James penetrated with 33 seconds left in regulation to give Cleveland their final 2 points, making it 90-88. Incredibly San Antonio had 2 chances to tie the game and did not capitalize. Tony Parker missed?2 at the line, Manu Ginobili missed an outside shot,?and Anderson Varejao?grabbed the rebound and clutched the ball to his chest.

LBJ shot 9-24 from the floor, 1-5 from outside the arc, 8-12 from the line, for a team high 24 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks. Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist, Varejao came off the bench to record a double-double 12 points, a game high 14 boards, 1 steal. Daniel Gibson also had a nice night off the bench, 11 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound.

Ginobili came off the bench to score a game high 31 points, including 4 treys, he also had 4 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. Parker had 23 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, Tim Duncan recorded a double-double for the Spurs, 20 points, 11 boards, 4 blocks, 1 assist, in the loss at home. Cleveland has now won its last 3 consecutive games to get to 21-18, the Spurs are 25-12.

? Copyright 2008 thesackattack.com


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Comments

One Response to “Cavaliers Avenge Finals Sweep Squeak By Spurs 90-88”

  1. Russ Loede on January 18th, 2008 7:35 pm

    Sorry, But what a “TRUE” Definition of a “FLUKE” Win and it’s a great abberration… Cleveland does not have anywhere close to a good team right now and they are nowhere towards the track they where on last season. SA does this all the time ~ sleepwalking and then turning it up to being one of the best – they are CHAMPS. No one should look into this ~ it’s WAY TOO EARLY to tell who’s who in the NBA ~ except for the Upper Echeleon teams and the cellar dwellers.

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