Double-Double By LBJ Key To Cavaliers “Winning Ugly” Beat Pistons 79-73

Filed Under NBA Game Recap | 1 Comment

Winning ugly. It’s a term that the Cavaliers have come to know a couple of times over the past few weeks of their current streak, and it was on display again Tuesday night in a rather brutal 79-73 win over the Detroit Pistons. The win was the 13th in a row for the Cavaliers, and they improve to an eye-popping 36-1 at home.

The game started similar to the match-up with the Mavericks on Sunday, as the Pistons got off to a hot start, leading 19-12 at the end of the first quarter. Cleveland though started to rally, as they started hitting some shots and driving the lane more as they rallied for a late second quarter surge, outscoring Detroit 31-25 in the second quarter to tie the game at 44 at the half. LeBron James hit a layup and foul in the last seconds of the quarter to tie the match-up.

The battle went back and forth in the third quarter, as Detroit tried to keep it to a half-court, slug it out affair, while the Cavs kept trying to up tempo the game, but the Pistons wouldn’t allow it. Cleveland was able to grab a slight lead, and were up by five, at 62-58 at the end of three.

Cleveland, as they have been able to do a number of times this season, were able to keep it close, and found themselves tied at 69 with 4:37 to play. That’s when they turned it on, as James hit a free throw to make it 70-69, then Mo Williams recorded a block on Allen Iverson, and Anderson Varejao hit a layup to make it 72-69 with 3:41 left to play.

A James driving layup and foul shot made it 75-69 with 2:53 left, then a key Detroit turnover and another James lay-in clinched it at 77-69 with 2:15 left. The Pistons simply could not match Cleveland’s play down the stretch, which has been a key for the Cavs all season, mostly at home where they are simply unbeatable. James had a game-high 25 points and 12 rebounds. Delonte West added 12 for the Cavs, who held Detroit to just 35 percent shooting. Richard Hamilton had 13 for the Pistons.

The team got another gift as the Lakers fell in Charlotte to the Bobcats, meaning they are now 58-16, and with the Cavs at 61-13, they have a full three-game lead over them for best record in the NBA with eight games to play. The road is calling, as the team has a matchup in DC vs the Wizards on Thursday night at 8pm

Mar

31

Not Time To Panic Yet Celtics Nation!

Filed Under NBA Analysis, NBA Injuries, SDC COMMENTARY | Leave a Comment

There were a lot of somber faces on Causeway Street in Boston on Tuesday as news from the “New Garden“ started to reach Boston Celtics fans. The “Associated Press” reported that Celtics All-Star forward Kevin Garnett is expected to miss at least the next four games due to a lingering knee injury. The “Big Ticket” has been suffering from discomfort in his knee since he got hurt against the Utah Jazz on February 19. Celtics coach Doc Rivers spoke with reporters on Tuesday. The Boston bench boss told media members “After watching him move today, we’re just going to shut him down. It probably won’t be for the year. He’ll probably play by the end, last couple of games or last three games. It’s just not progressing the way we anticipated it would progress.”

Okay Celtics Nation; stay with me now nice deep breaths! The world is not over, the Playoffs are not lost; yet. This is a good move by Doc Rivers, Boston is securely in the Post Season. If they are are playing with a healthy KG being in the third slot in the Eastern Conference can be overcome. If Garnett is on the sidelines second place will not help a whit.

Growing up in Boston as an NBA fan you learn early on there are two distinct fans of the Association. There are fans of the “Green Team” and then there is everyone else. No other team in the NBA is despised as the Celtics are, the Lakers do not provoke the hatred that Boston does. You have to go to other Pro-Sports to feel that kind of hate; the New York Yankees in Baseball the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. However no other team has such fanatical supporters.

The word fan is short for fanatic; is you look at the early days of the last century Baseball teams had songs that the rooting section sang. There is though a difference in a fan and a fanatic. A Celtics fanatic owns a Brad Lohaus game jersey and still wears it outside! (If you are under 30 you are on your own. That is why they invented Google .) They wandered in the desert for 22 years until they finally acquired what at one time seemed a permanent fixture in Boston; the NBA Championship.

I am not a surgeon or play one on the Internet however it sounds like KG will need to have an arthroscopic procedure to finally get his knee really right. There have been reports of loose cartilage in the knee, and that does not just disintegrate. The real question right now is, can it wait until after the Playoffs or not?

Can the Boston Celtics win the NBA Finals without the “Big Ticket“? No chance what so ever, he is that integral to their game. But the more important question is this; does he do further damage by playing on it? If so Doc shut him down now for the rest of the year.

Celtics Director of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge should remember all too well about a member of the Celtics that “manned up” and played through injury. That was current T-Wolves coach Kevin McHale who played through a stress fracture of the foot in 1987. Boston lost the Finals to the Lakers and McHale was never the same player.

I have not made up my mind yet on whom I am predicting to win it all in the NBA this year (although a certain town from the Midwest just may see their curse end this year!) I will wait until the end of the regular season to do that and share it with you. However the key to back to back titles in Beantown may depend on the knee of KG.

Mar

31

Slam Dunk Central NBA MVP And Runners Up

Filed Under BallHype MVP And Runners Up | 2 Comments

lebron-james-322a

Bill Gates says that Life Isn’t Fair and I’m afraid that is true. We have been asked by BallHype to provide our 2008-2009 NBA MVP as well as three consolation selections. I personally believe that there are five candidates that deserve to be mentioned; however I am a team player and I play by the rules. Unfortunately that makes my job just a little bit tougher! Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This!

Different NBA observers have different parameters as to what constitutes an MVP. To me it is literally the Most Valuable Player; not the best player in the league, the one who means most to their team. A few years ago I was offended when the Major League Baseball Writers Association awarded the American League MVP to Alex Rodriguez when he played for the last place Texas Rangers! With or without A-Rod the Rangers would have been in last place. His personal stats were amazing, by far the best in the league; but where was the value? So to me personal numbers come in second to what you mean to your team.

And so with the explanation out of the way let us then proceed to the three runners up and our MVP Choice:

4) Chris Paul-New Orleans Hornets: CP-3 is the point guard of his generation; if he stays on course not only will he end up in the Basketball Hall of Fame he will become legendary. He will be talked about with the likes of Bob Cousy, Tiny Archibald and Isiah Thomas the greatest of all time. Paul is averaging a double-double for the season 22.9 points and 10.9 assists per game. However the Hornets have not come close to scaling the heights they hit last year and with that CP-3 falls to number four..

3) Dwyane Wade-Miami Heat: Yes Pat Riley made the acquisition of the trading season picking up Jermaine O’Neal and Jamario Moon for the Playoff drive. But the reason that “Riles” made the move was due to one man D-Wade. Wade has been the reason that the Heat went from a Lottery team last year to a legitimate contender this year. The Heat will most likely lose in the second round of the Post Season but it will be D-Wade that gets them that far.

2) Dwight Howard-Orlando Magic: In the “Golden Age of the Point Guard“ Superman is a reminder of when Behemoths ruled the Association. D-Howard has no legitimate competition in the pivot position and he has yet to peak! Realistically the Magic should have dropped out of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference when they lost Jameer Nelson for the year. Somebody forgot to tell Howard that!

MVP SELECTION:

LeBron James-Cleveland Cavaliers: I was extremely fortunate to be at the right place at the right time for 3 NBA seasons. Those happened to be the first three years that LBJ was in the Association; I covered him as a Radio Reporter as Sports Betting Director for Metro Networks in Cleveland. I was also fortunate enough to cover him for the two games played at the Q Arena as the “Chosen One” played in the 2007 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. LeBron was amazing his first campaign in the NBA and he continues to grow in leaps and bounds each season. Without LeBron James the Cleveland Cavaliers are the team heading to Seattle to take the place of the Sonics. With him the Cavaliers may win their first NBA Finals in June.

Mar

31

Grizzlies Late Rally Sinks Undermanned Warriors 114-109

Filed Under NBA Game Recap | 1 Comment

Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo
The Golden State Warriors were severely undermanned in their game on Monday night against the Memphis Grizzlies; how undermanned are they? Consider they are without the services of Stephen Jackson (out for year – toe), Brandan Wright (shoulder), Andris Biedrins (left ankle) and Corey Maggette (head contusion). But nonetheless, they had a game to play. Memphis, like any true team would do, took advantage of Golden State’s shortage of healthy players, although they had to rally late in the fourth quarter. The end result? Memphis nipped Golden State 114-109 at Oracle Arena.

Despite their short-handedness, the Warriors remained close in the first half, thanks to the hot shooting of Monta Ellis and Jamal Crawford as they combined for 30 points and scored 12 of Golden State’s final 15 points in the second quarter; they would go into halftime trailing by four. Golden State led 90-81 with 9 minutes left to go in the game, but Memphis would go on a 12-0 run to take the lead halfway through the final quarter.

The Grizzlies’ O.J. Mayo, who made a free throw courtesy of a technical foul given to Ellis with 7:32 remaining, made the ensuing free throw which gave the Grizzlies a 91-90 edge; Hamed Haddadi followed with a pair of free throws then the Warriors’ Anthony Morrow drained a 3-pointer, but they couldn’t quite catch up.

Three Memphis players scored at least 21 points, led by Mayo with 24 points, 3 rebounds, 10 assists and 2 steals while Mike Conley and Rudy Gay added 21 each – with Conley making three 3-pointers, grabbing 6 rebounds, dishing out 6 assists along with 4 steals while Gay grabbed 5 rebounds, dished out 2 assists along with 2 steals and 5 blocks.

Golden State was led by Ellis with 29 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal but committed 5 turnovers while Crawford added 26 (including five treys) with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks; Anthony grabbed 12 boards in a losing effort. Memphis (19-54) plays again on Wednesday when they return home to host the Washington Wizards while Golden State (25-49) remains home to host the Sacramento Kings – also on Wednesday night.