Events Calendar
In This Section
Community campaign collecting donations for Haiti victims
Downtown Akron restaurants serve up 79,000 pounds of cardboard for recycling
State Farm says it warned NHTSA on Toyota in 2007
Police say drunken man stole ambulance with patient inside
Witness: Demjanjuk's statements inconsistent
Stow cancels 'town meeting' on planning issues
Most Read Stories
Another winter punch heading toward Ohio
Complaints against officer keep coming
Woman rescued after falling through rotting floor in house
Police say couple had 50 stolen hubcaps
Police: Ohio girl dies after fall into snow bank
Strip club hosts 'Lap dances for Haiti'
Teen driver crashes into Bath Twp. home
Police: Man tries to buy crack with credit card
Man robbed at Tallmadge Avenue eatery
Cuyahoga Falls residents come home to find burning couch on balcony
Four teens restrain man, take items from his Akron home
Cleveland named worst U.S. city for winter weather; Columbus is No. 8
Blogs:
First Bell - On Education:
State auditor cites Highland Athletic Booster Club
Pets:
Pet telethon re-airs
The Heldenfiles:
NBC Releases Olympics Announcer List
Akron Zips:
Zips favored on road against MAC West leader
Tribe Matters:
Blogmail response on Hafner
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth's contract terminated
Balanced Ledger:
QB in Browns future: another mock draft
Kent State Sports:
KSU Notes – February 9
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. New Jersey Nets
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes grab 18 players on signing day
Varsity Letters:
Five local gridders to play in Big33
All Da King's Men:
Palin At The Tea Party Convention
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Republican Pre-Conditions
Akron Law Café:
Law, Love and Chocolate
Car Chase:
Collector Car Hobby Loses One of the Best—Jim Roll
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Decisions Decisions: Credit Cards or Your Mortgage?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Loucile is looking for a Lake Erie getaway in June for three kids, ages 1, 3, and 5.
Sound Check:
Talk of the Town – Top entertainment picks for the weekend
HRLite House:
OFCCP Report
Akron Gamer:
Makers of 'Castle Crashers' unveil 'BattleBlock Theater'
See Jane Style:
Do IT this week: Layering
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 11:14 p.m. EST, Nov 21, 2009
CLEVELAND: The Cavaliers played their fourth game in five days Saturday night at Quicken Loans Arena, and they looked like it.
The Cavaliers built a lead, gave it back, then got it back and held off the Philadelphia 76ers 97-91. The troubles of recent games reappeared — porous defense and an offense that doesn't move the ball and relies too much on LeBron James.
Yes, James had another big night (32 points, seven rebounds and nine assists), but it was point guard Mo Williams (18 points, eight rebounds and five assists) who ignited a moribund Cavs offense in the fourth quarter, a fact that didn't trouble coach Mike Brown.
''We're nowhere near close to what we can be or should be,'' Brown said. ''While we go through this process I am excited that we find ways to win games and also have to try to figure out how to win games.''
After the Cavs ceded another big lead (16 points) from the game's start — something that is becoming the rule rather than the exception — the 76ers found the Cavs' weakness. Driving to the basket with regularity, the 76ers racked up 46 points in the lane as point guard Louis Williams scored 22 in the process to lead the Sixers.
Offensively, the Cavs got caught up in allowing James to do what he does best — work from the inside and outside. But that can be dangerous for a team still looking to find consistency from all of its players.
Saturday night, not much came from the bench until late in the game when Jamario Moon helped give the team some energy. The Cavs' reserve players had just 10 points going into the fourth quarter. The Cavs are ranked 28th in the league in bench scoring averaging just 21.8 points per game, and they scored just 15 against Philadelphia.
The 76ers dominated the third quarter, but the Cavs turned it around in the fourth. They picked up their defense, holding the 76ers to just 38 percent shooting and forced seven turnovers in the process.
Offensively, things began to change in the fourth behind the efforts of Williams, who scored six of his points in the fourth quarter, draining a couple of jump shots. One tied the score 83-83, the next put the Cavs ahead by two. In that span in the quarter, the Cavs went on a 10-2 run.
He didn't, however, just serve as an offensive catalyst. At 4:40 in the fourth quarter, Williams stole the ball from the Sixers' Louis Williams at halfcourt and found a wide-open Moon (seven points, four rebounds) for a slam dunk, instant momentum and a six-point lead at 91-85, giving his team some semblance of breathing room that held up for the rest of the game.
The Cavs are off until Thanksgiving eve, when they face former assistant coach John Kuester and the Detroit Pistons.
Milestones
Saturday night, Zydrunas Ilgauskas passed Bingo Smith to assume second place in all-time games played. He recorded his 720th game in a Cavs uniform. The team's general manager, Danny Ferry, holds the record with 723 games played. . . . LeBron James accrued his 34th 40-point game before the age of 25, which, behind Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Bob McAdoo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Rick Barry, stands as the sixth most in NBA history.
Road warriors
The game against the 76ers concluded the team's second leg of four games in five nights, the NBA's dreaded mini marathon. With Friday night's win over the Indiana Pacers, the Cavs are 5-2 on the road, good for third best in the league.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the Cavs blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/thomas. Follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/CavsABJ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CavsABJ
CLEVELAND: The Cavaliers played their fourth game in five days Saturday night at Quicken Loans Arena, and they looked like it.
The Cavaliers built a lead, gave it back, then got it back and held off the Philadelphia 76ers 97-91. The troubles of recent games reappeared — porous defense and an offense that doesn't move the ball and relies too much on LeBron James.
Yes, James had another big night (32 points, seven rebounds and nine assists), but it was point guard Mo Williams (18 points, eight rebounds and five assists) who ignited a moribund Cavs offense in the fourth quarter, a fact that didn't trouble coach Mike Brown.
''We're nowhere near close to what we can be or should be,'' Brown said. ''While we go through this process I am excited that we find ways to win games and also have to try to figure out how to win games.''
After the Cavs ceded another big lead (16 points) from the game's start — something that is becoming the rule rather than the exception — the 76ers found the Cavs' weakness. Driving to the basket with regularity, the 76ers racked up 46 points in the lane as point guard Louis Williams scored 22 in the process to lead the Sixers.
Offensively, the Cavs got caught up in allowing James to do what he does best — work from the inside and outside. But that can be dangerous for a team still looking to find consistency from all of its players.
Saturday night, not much came from the bench until late in the game when Jamario Moon helped give the team some energy. The Cavs' reserve players had just 10 points going into the fourth quarter. The Cavs are ranked 28th in the league in bench scoring averaging just 21.8 points per game, and they scored just 15 against Philadelphia.
The 76ers dominated the third quarter, but the Cavs turned it around in the fourth. They picked up their defense, holding the 76ers to just 38 percent shooting and forced seven turnovers in the process.
Offensively, things began to change in the fourth behind the efforts of Williams, who scored six of his points in the fourth quarter, draining a couple of jump shots. One tied the score 83-83, the next put the Cavs ahead by two. In that span in the quarter, the Cavs went on a 10-2 run.
He didn't, however, just serve as an offensive catalyst. At 4:40 in the fourth quarter, Williams stole the ball from the Sixers' Louis Williams at halfcourt and found a wide-open Moon (seven points, four rebounds) for a slam dunk, instant momentum and a six-point lead at 91-85, giving his team some semblance of breathing room that held up for the rest of the game.
The Cavs are off until Thanksgiving eve, when they face former assistant coach John Kuester and the Detroit Pistons.
Milestones
Saturday night, Zydrunas Ilgauskas passed Bingo Smith to assume second place in all-time games played. He recorded his 720th game in a Cavs uniform. The team's general manager, Danny Ferry, holds the record with 723 games played. . . . LeBron James accrued his 34th 40-point game before the age of 25, which, behind Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Bob McAdoo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Rick Barry, stands as the sixth most in NBA history.
Road warriors
The game against the 76ers concluded the team's second leg of four games in five nights, the NBA's dreaded mini marathon. With Friday night's win over the Indiana Pacers, the Cavs are 5-2 on the road, good for third best in the league.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the Cavs blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/thomas. Follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/CavsABJ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CavsABJ
Comments
Click here to post your comments
