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No City of Akron basketball tonight
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Pet telethon re-airs
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NBC Releases Olympics Announcer List
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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:
NBA Power Rankings from Around the Internet
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: 11:42 p.m. EST, Nov 20, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS: The Cavaliers took advantage of extra trips to the free-throw line to win an ugly game against the Indiana Pacers.
The Cavs made 79 percent of their free throws, and the additional 13 trips to the line quickly added up. That gave them an advantage they needed until they could get their act together with a dominating fourth quarter for a 105-95 victory Friday.
When you have a player like LeBron James, who scored 40 points with nine rebounds and seven assists, sometimes that luxury is there. It took that effort to help the Cavs recover from an abysmal third quarter that almost buried them.
''[The Pacers] stepped up their play physically on us and it bothered us for a stretch there,'' coach Mike Brown said.
The Cavs shot 17 percent from the floor, scored 11 points and turned the ball over seven times in the third quarter as the Pacers went on a 17-2 run to open the half. James said their woes in that quarter didn't frustrate them, but more than a few times they looked disjointed.
''I don't say frustrated but we don't get frustrated too much. The third quarter has probably been the only problem we had over the past three or four years,'' he said.
''We can't get our hand on it, [but] we got to figure it out.''
But as dreadfully as they played in the third, in the fourth they turned things up on the Pacers on both sides of the court.
''I thought the group that we had out there really picked it up a notch defensively and we started coming up with some [loose] balls,'' Brown said, ''and we started getting some stops after some very good contests. Our defense is what got us back in the game and kept us ahead.''
The Cavs came up with some key stops in the quarter and after working their way to an 86-86 tie, began to dominate the game behind 10 points from James in the quarter and six from J.J. Hickson (15 points, seven rebounds).
''We did a good job of getting them in foul trouble early in the fourth quarter and once I knew that it was time to get to more attacking, more attacking,'' James said.
The Cavs outscored the Pacers 28-13 in the quarter and shot 53 percent from the floor. In the process, they held the Pacers to 22 percent shooting and forced three turnovers.
''Our team is based all on defense and when we get stops like that, it slows the game down for us. You have to get stops and it was a great way to finish the game off in the fourth quarter,'' James said.
Brown agreed: ''We have to understand our team is built on the end of the floor; our team is a defensive team.''
Danny Granger led the Pacers with 19 points.
Buzzer beaters
Pacers coach Jim O'Brien was thrown out of the game at 5:20 in the first quarter. . . . Zydrunas Ilgauskas grabbed 11 rebounds for the Cavs.
Mural redo maybe
Nike and LeBron James might start over when it comes to a design for a new mural to replace the one that's featured prominently across the street from Quicken Loans Arena.
The ''Witness'' mural, which stands 10 stories tall, was to be replaced by one featuring a bare-chested James with scales, the slogan ''Ready for Combat'' and the Nike logo.
''Anything that has my name on it has 150 percent of my input,'' James said of the mural.
Cleveland City Council said Cavs fans won't get to bear witness to the new mural, because they'd prefer something more positive that references Cleveland.
''We understand the position of the city officials and are taking their recent feedback into consideration,'' Nike said in a statement.
Nike and James developed the sign to promote the shoe and apparel manufacturer's combat-technology line — a form of padded, compression underwear. Nike developed the line to enhance an athlete's performance. Because James has been wearing the items and Nike has begun selling them, James said it was the right time to change his campaign.
''I think we made our mark with the 'Witness' campaign,'' he said. ''Everyone knows what that's about and knows what it means and what it stands for.''
James said he and Nike might try to come up with a new design to meet the city's standards.
Injury update
James was ready to play against the Pacers after aggravating a left wrist injury.
''It's not as bad as the other night when I reinjured it, but if I'm active I'm effective,'' he said.
James hurt the wrist on a slam dunk with about two minutes to play against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
He requested to come out of the game — as a precaution.
''At that point, it was just about being smart with two minutes left,'' he said.
Forward Anderson Varejao returned to the lineup against the Pacers, but center Shaquille O'Neal was not with the team.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the Cavs blog at http://www.ohio.com/thomas. Follow Cavs coverage on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cavsabj and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CavsABJ
INDIANAPOLIS: The Cavaliers took advantage of extra trips to the free-throw line to win an ugly game against the Indiana Pacers.
The Cavs made 79 percent of their free throws, and the additional 13 trips to the line quickly added up. That gave them an advantage they needed until they could get their act together with a dominating fourth quarter for a 105-95 victory Friday.
When you have a player like LeBron James, who scored 40 points with nine rebounds and seven assists, sometimes that luxury is there. It took that effort to help the Cavs recover from an abysmal third quarter that almost buried them.
''[The Pacers] stepped up their play physically on us and it bothered us for a stretch there,'' coach Mike Brown said.
The Cavs shot 17 percent from the floor, scored 11 points and turned the ball over seven times in the third quarter as the Pacers went on a 17-2 run to open the half. James said their woes in that quarter didn't frustrate them, but more than a few times they looked disjointed.
''I don't say frustrated but we don't get frustrated too much. The third quarter has probably been the only problem we had over the past three or four years,'' he said.
''We can't get our hand on it, [but] we got to figure it out.''
But as dreadfully as they played in the third, in the fourth they turned things up on the Pacers on both sides of the court.
''I thought the group that we had out there really picked it up a notch defensively and we started coming up with some [loose] balls,'' Brown said, ''and we started getting some stops after some very good contests. Our defense is what got us back in the game and kept us ahead.''
The Cavs came up with some key stops in the quarter and after working their way to an 86-86 tie, began to dominate the game behind 10 points from James in the quarter and six from J.J. Hickson (15 points, seven rebounds).
''We did a good job of getting them in foul trouble early in the fourth quarter and once I knew that it was time to get to more attacking, more attacking,'' James said.
The Cavs outscored the Pacers 28-13 in the quarter and shot 53 percent from the floor. In the process, they held the Pacers to 22 percent shooting and forced three turnovers.
''Our team is based all on defense and when we get stops like that, it slows the game down for us. You have to get stops and it was a great way to finish the game off in the fourth quarter,'' James said.
Brown agreed: ''We have to understand our team is built on the end of the floor; our team is a defensive team.''
Danny Granger led the Pacers with 19 points.
Buzzer beaters
Pacers coach Jim O'Brien was thrown out of the game at 5:20 in the first quarter. . . . Zydrunas Ilgauskas grabbed 11 rebounds for the Cavs.
Mural redo maybe
Nike and LeBron James might start over when it comes to a design for a new mural to replace the one that's featured prominently across the street from Quicken Loans Arena.
The ''Witness'' mural, which stands 10 stories tall, was to be replaced by one featuring a bare-chested James with scales, the slogan ''Ready for Combat'' and the Nike logo.
''Anything that has my name on it has 150 percent of my input,'' James said of the mural.
Cleveland City Council said Cavs fans won't get to bear witness to the new mural, because they'd prefer something more positive that references Cleveland.
''We understand the position of the city officials and are taking their recent feedback into consideration,'' Nike said in a statement.
Nike and James developed the sign to promote the shoe and apparel manufacturer's combat-technology line — a form of padded, compression underwear. Nike developed the line to enhance an athlete's performance. Because James has been wearing the items and Nike has begun selling them, James said it was the right time to change his campaign.
''I think we made our mark with the 'Witness' campaign,'' he said. ''Everyone knows what that's about and knows what it means and what it stands for.''
James said he and Nike might try to come up with a new design to meet the city's standards.
Injury update
James was ready to play against the Pacers after aggravating a left wrist injury.
''It's not as bad as the other night when I reinjured it, but if I'm active I'm effective,'' he said.
James hurt the wrist on a slam dunk with about two minutes to play against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
He requested to come out of the game — as a precaution.
''At that point, it was just about being smart with two minutes left,'' he said.
Forward Anderson Varejao returned to the lineup against the Pacers, but center Shaquille O'Neal was not with the team.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the Cavs blog at http://www.ohio.com/thomas. Follow Cavs coverage on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cavsabj and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CavsABJ
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