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With starters struggling, reserve players often provide winning margin
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Friday, Jan 11, 2008
CLEVELAND: From an offensive standpoint, the Cavaliers have one of the least productive starting fives in the NBA.
Often LeBron James is the rescue man. With the season's halfway point in sight, he leads the league in scoring. The Cavs have another weapon that has kept them at .500 through 36 games: their bench.
The Cavs lost Wednesday to the Atlanta Hawks, snapping a four-game winning streak, but their reserves outscored the Hawks' backups 28-15. It was business as usual — the sixth game in a row and 12th time in 14 games the Cavs' bench has won that battle.
Daniel Gibson, Anderson Varejao, Damon Jones and Devin Brown, the core of the Cavs' current bench unit, are averaging a combined 32 points. That's more than starters Sasha Pavlovic, Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden combined (29).
''I think that it's a mentality that me, Andy, Damon and Devin all approach the game with,'' said Gibson, who is one of the leading reserve scorers in the Eastern Conference at 12.3 points.
''We come into the game and we feel like we're going to change the game whether it's scoring, defense or changing the tempo.''
Cavs coach Mike Brown spent the first six weeks of the season experimenting with his lineup, looking for something that works. The bench started getting consistency when Varejao returned to the team from a contract dispute, Gibson was moved from the starting lineup and Devin Brown found his niche coming off the bench.
''They bring us toughness and energy,'' Mike Brown said of his current bench bunch. ''They do so many things to help us win — rebounding, defending and driving and kicking.''
Because Varejao can play power forward or center, Devin Brown can defend three or four different positions and Jones and Gibson are good shooters, putting them all in the game with
James gives the Cavs versatility and numerous options.
''Most of the time, good teams have a good bench,'' Devin Brown said. ''When you bring guys off the bench, you don't want a drop off. We have started to find a nice rhythm, and hopefully that will continue.''
Varejao update
Varejao, who injured his left leg during the loss to the Hawks, received an MRI on Thursday at the Cleveland Clinic. The scan confirmed the initial diagnosis that Varejao bruised his knee and strained his Achilles. The team is calling him questionable for tonight's home game with the Charlotte Bobcats.
On the move?
According to team sources, the Cavs are expected to send Shannon Brown to the NBA Development League as early as today. Cedric Simmons was recalled after playing three games with the Cavs' D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley (Tex.) Vipers, and Brown is likely to swap places with him.
In addition, the Cavs have the weekend off and the Vipers play both Saturday and Sunday, which would allow Brown to get playing time without missing games with the big club.
Dribbles
The NBA released its last batch of All-Star voting results before the Jan. 24 announcement of the starters. James is second in voting with 1.5 million votes to Kevin Garnett's 1.7 million. James is a lock to start his fourth consecutive All-Star Game, which is Feb. 17 in New Orleans. . . . The NBA announced Thursday the Feb. 10 Denver Nuggets at Cavs game will not longer be televised by ABC. The game time has been switched from 7 p.m. to 1 p.m. It will be televised by FSN.
Brian Windhorst can be reached at bwindhor@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/cavs/.
CLEVELAND: From an offensive standpoint, the Cavaliers have one of the least productive starting fives in the NBA.
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