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Do IT this week: Layering
Injuries pile up as Nuggets have their way in blowout loss
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Monday, Feb 11, 2008
CLEVELAND: The Cavaliers barely fulfilled their contractual obligations Sunday night. They were present — well, partially present — against the Denver Nuggets and that was about it.
The Cavs have a very difficult time dealing with the Nuggets under perfect conditions. In their current state, it's simply academic.
The Nuggets' brand of up-tempo basketball clashes with the Cavs' preferred style and most of the time the Nuggets' ideology wins out. So without four players — at the start, anyway — and playing their fourth game in six days, it got considerably bleaker for the Cavs. Then add a defeated attitude and it got very ugly very quickly at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Nuggets smashed the Cavs, 113-83, for their fourth consecutive blowout win over the Cavs and fifth consecutive victory overall dating back three seasons. It was the most lopsided loss of the season for the Cavs, almost as bad as the the last time they played the Nuggets, when they lost by 22 points in November. It was the Cavs' worst home loss since 2005.
To make matters worse, frustration spilled over onto the bench following the third quarter.
Damon Jones got animated during the quarter break and spoke toward several teammates, including LeBron James as he sat away from the team huddle.
''I just think in those situations we have to stick together,'' Jones said after the game. ''Something had to be said at that point. No big thing.''
''I didn't feel like as a team or as an individual we played as hard as we could have,'' said James, who had 30 points despite sitting out the fourth quarter. ''It was just tonight. It hasn't been an ongoing thing. If it happens again, then you worry.''
So all of that was bad enough, but this night had even more jagged pills. The Cavs (28-22) lost two more players to injury during the game, although neither is believed to be serious.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas was forced to leave in the second half with back spasms, an issue that has plagued him at various times during the past few seasons. His status for tonight's game is uncertain, but you can bet having to fly two hours down to Orlando after the game didn't exactly do wonders for those muscles.
Jones also had to leave the court early in the fourth quarter with a sprained right ankle. It isn't serious and Jones said he expects to be able to play against the Magic. He has never had to miss a game to injury in his 10-year career.
Keep in mind James is not 100 percent, still dealing with a sore right thumb, and Ira Newble, the Cavs' current starter at power forward, still has four stitches in his face.
Overlooking all of that, the Cavs still did not compete very well and they have not against the Nuggets. In the past two seasons, a span of four games, the Cavs have lost to the Nuggets by an average of 19 points and given up an average of 112 points and 53 percent shooting. That includes the fourth quarter Sunday night, when the Nuggets shot just 31 percent.
Defense was the biggest problem. The Cavs allowed the Nuggets to score at will, possession after possession.
''I thought we could've at least played hard or fought back,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ''We didn't try to embrace who we are and try to get stops. If they hit threes, great. If they score, great. But I'm going to knock somebody's head off, I'm going to grab somebody, I'm going to set a hard screen, I'm going to knock somebody down.''
Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets (31-19) with 27 points and didn't get knocked down. Allen Iverson had 25 points, 13 assists and no turnovers. Marcus Camby had 17 rebounds.
The Cavs shot just 34 percent, their second lowest of the season. But there was a very, very small silver lining in a recreation league sense, as Brown pointed out.
''Everybody got an opportunity to play,'' he said. ''That's about it.''
Brian Windhorst can be reached at bwindhor@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/cavs/.
CLEVELAND: The Cavaliers barely fulfilled their contractual obligations Sunday night. They were present — well, partially present — against the Denver Nuggets and that was about it.
Get the full article here.
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