Recap: Cavs 96, Bulls 94 (Or, 12: Cavs advance, make it interesting)
2010-04-27Overview:
In an ugly game, the Cavaliers managed to hold onto a slim fourth-quarter lead to outlast the Bulls by a score of 96-94. Antawn Jamison led the Cavs with 25 points, and Derrick Rose led all scorers with 31. The Cavs have eliminated the Bulls from the playoffs, and will face the Boston Celtics in round two.
Game Summary:
The Cavs came out running their offense and hitting shots. LeBron looked to be a facilitator early, and was setting guys up with laser-beam feeds for open threes. The Cavs scored 27 in the first quarter, with almost all their shots coming from the paint, on open threes, or on awkward Jamison shots.
But one of the Cavs’ issues from the regular season reared its head in game five. The Cavs were scoring at will on offense, and they felt that allowed them to play sloppy. They gave up too much penetration and too many open looks. They committed silly turnovers without forcing them at the other end. They failed to close out the quarter. Because of all those things, the Cavs only led by one after the first period.
The Cavs threated to break it open in the second. They were able to force some turnovers and get out in transition, and that allowed them to open up the lead. Jamario ran the floor for an alley-oop and a layup. Delonte was finally wreaking some havoc out there and finding loose balls. Shaq beat the Bulls down the floor for a dunk — after a made basket. Things were looking good. The Bulls kept it close by closing the half with three straight catch-and-shoot jumpers for Deng, and the Bulls went in down only seven.
The offense stalled badly in the third quarter. Jamison didn’t keep his hot hand going, LeBron wasn’t taking over, and the shots weren’t falling for anyone else. With Cleveland struggling, the Bulls were able to claw back into the game. After three quarters, the score was 73-71 in favor of Cleveland.
The fourth quarter was ugly. Shaq drew three fouls in rapid succession to start the quarter. The Cavs were fouling left and right when the Bulls had the ball. The Cavs caught a break when Derrick Rose’s and-1 was called a foul on the floor. Delonte hit a big three, and LeBron made some and-1s to put the Cavs in the driver’s seat. When Antawn Jamison hit a pick-and-pop three to put the Cavs up nine with 3:29 remaining, the game seemed over.
Most of what happened after this point is a blur of rage and confusion to me. LeBron made a bad turnover that led to a Deng floater. He ran down the clock and tried the dagger three (not a horrible decision, actually), and then Andy fouled Deng going after the rebound to send him to the line. (ARGH.) Jamison got called for a pass-and-crash charge. Rose drew a foul on Andy in 10 seconds. A possession later, the Bulls got two points in two seconds when Delonte tried and failed to draw a charge on Rose at mid-court.
LeBron then got fouled on a drive and hit two big free throws. Rose missed a floater. Mo missed a runner, but Noah let an easy rebound slip out of his hands and out of bounds. The Cavs ran the clock down, LeBron got trapped and passed it to Varejao, and Andy coughed it up. The Bulls wisely went for the quick two, but Andy redeemed himself by forcing Rose to go to his left on a floater. LeBron got fouled, hit the first one to make it a two-possession game, and…bricked the second one because he shot it left-handed.
That was, to say the least, a moment. After the game, LeBron revealed he’s had elbow issues for a while. He says it’s nothing to worry about and that an MRI was negative, but that the arm goes numb sometimes, like he’s been hit in the funnybone. He says he “didn’t want to risk it” by taking his second FT righty, seeing as to how the Cavs were already up four. I’m not a doctor, and his decision turned out to be the right one. There is a little part of me that wishes he’d just have taken the FT righty, but only he knows how bad he was hurting.
Anyways, Cavs win. Cavs advance. Series over. I sweated through my t-shirt. Another round. Another challenge. One step closer.
Cavs-Related Bullets:
-Game ball goes to Antawn Jamison. This is why the Cavs got him. He made his threes, he cut to the basket, he carried the Cavs at times, and he made his free throws. When the Cavs needed baskets late, they went to him and he delivered. Great game for Antawn.
-How about Shaq going 7-9 from the floor? And getting a team-best +8? The Bulls were able to punish him on pick-and-rolls in the fourth and Shaq turned it over a few times, but he looked very strong posting up tonight. That’s a great sign.
-Good, not great game from LeBron. He made some nice passes early, and some big baskets late. He closed out late on Deng a few times, but did a good job on Rose down the stretch. The six missed free throws aren’t great, but he made them when it counted. At least the ones he shot righty.
-Delonte! There we go! He hit threes and made hustle plays. He defended Rose beautifully; according to ESPN stats and information, Rose went 1-8 with two turnovers when Delonte was defending him. He was everywhere on the court, and did everything he was supposed to.
-Andy. No. This was not good. He drove the Boston bigs crazy with his activity when the Cavs and Celtics played each other in the regular season. Hopefully he can find some of that in round two.
-Mo had a very bad night from the floor. Those will happen. Fortunately, this was a game where the Cavs could (barely) afford Mo’s shot being off.
Bullets of Randomness:
-Derrick Rose: 31 points on 27 shots. I continue to be okay with that.
-Noah: four field goals, seven turnovers, five fouls. He bleeds! He is human! Seriously, good job by the Cavs to keep a body on him at all times.
Alright, that’s it for this series. Here come the Celtics. Get ready. Until later, folks.
I ‘m sorry, but it is impossible to watch that Ehlo highlight with 3 seconds left vs. Bulls and not think about the play that came next.
I’m worried about Andy. He has no lift in his legs. He didn’t get to any contested rebounds last night. Taj Gibson was outrebounding him over and over. I hope he heals quickly.
I don’t care either Bo. The fact that he does play up his injuries some doesn’t bother me, because he keeps playing. I’m just stating the obvious that he is a bit of an actor out there, but in the end I could care less. He has a ways to go before he reaches Paul Pierce status. The whole, my god my god it looks like his career is over as he is being carried off the court by teammates in tears routine. Only to be followed by him joggin easily back out on the court 20 minutes later. That… Read more »
Also lol’d at Frank. Ridiculous.
Those Craig Ehlo highlights made my week. Amazing stuff.
– So many haters on some of these blogs/message boards re: LeBron’s toughness when it comes to injuries. Sure, he’s been chock full of drama in the past. As a Cavs fan, I’ll put up with anything from that guy (short of dropping a deuce at midcourt or killing a kitten in the locker room). Dude is unparalleled in ability and he’s the only reason we’re all still watching the Cavs play right now. If he wants to ham up a lame injury or throw his sweats on the ground instead of handing them to a ball boy, so be… Read more »
When Andy took a charge from Noah I thought the world was going to explode.
A comment re: Andy. It seems he has trouble with Noah that no other “energy” big man gives to Andy. Big Baby won’t, that’s for sure. Its simple really- Noah is more athletic than Andy and does similar things. That makes Noah a tough matchup.
I love me some Ehlo.
No need to add to the dialogue about the game. For those of you real Cavs fans that needed (just had to) watch the Craig Ehlo clips. . .well, oh my!
I mean, was that a chase down block of Dominique? Who knew? Also notable was the totally after-time-expired 3 against Utah. Wasn’t close and would have been waved off in the modern NBA.
Oh, and agree with Brad. Can’t reduce LeBron’s minutes unless the game is already over. Don’t care if he is playing poorly or not.
Above is me posting under an alias Rickc. Clearly I am the only one concerned about Andy. I’ll go with other people on the notion that LeBron is a drama queen. He likes the attention. He stays down a lot and grimmaces. The whole left handed thing is probably over the top as he could have shot it right handed and not hurt himself any further. The assist thing though I disagree with. He passed to Andy because the Bulls threw a hard double at him, and when Noah is the guy doubling you, you probably aren’t gonna be able… Read more »
Game notes from last night: (When Taj Gibson picked up his 5th foul): Taj Gibson is awful. I hope he doesn’t foul out. Does anyone else reluctantly grimace when Shaq checks in? It’s like the Christmas present your great aunt gets you. You know you really should be appreciative, but MY LORD is it ugly. Tonight, it was mostly an exception. Did Shaq just run the floor? Oh, he’s done for the game! (When Joakim Noah picked up his 5th foul): Joakim Noah, you may foul out. Where is JJ? I miss Z. But please don’t put him in. ANDY.… Read more »
Lol’d at Frank. Reduce LeBron’s minutes because he didn’t have 40-10-10? LeBron should never have playoff minutes reduced, except in blowouts.
Meh. Bron was passive and faciliatory for much of the game. He would’ve had 11 or 12 assists if Mo hit some more shots.
Mike Brown needs to use his entire bench. Lebron should not have played as much as it was easy to see he was having an off night. The more the bench plays in these games the better are team is.The only person that can stop us from winning the title is Mike Brown!!!!!
I think when Lebron fell on his elbow after Rose drove on him for the layup, the elbow got messed up…so that couldve been it..Im sure most of us have fallen on point of elbow and thats a weird shocking pain that can be numbing…if Lebron isnt worried about it then Im not worried about it…
@Kyle: Oddly enough, I think it was from playing basketball. Just one of those things where maybe I shot too much, or was doing something wrong with my elbow that tweaked it.
The great thing about this year’s team is the depth, the number of people who can step up if needed. If everyone plays well, then its a blow-out, but even without that the Cavs can win.
The officiating in the post was pretty random, indeed. Brad Miller got a raw deal trying to guard Shaq. Or was that payback for some other screw-up?
The Bulls have been really solid in the draft the last few years, and when they fill their cap space they’re going to replace Boston in the top bracket of the Eastern Conference next year.
Rich: “Pretty much 60% of this board is feeling the same way Howard. I’ll be quiet about Andy until after game 1 against the celts.” If you are 50% of that 60%, I’ll agree with it. Making up imaginary numbers is so typical of the interwebz. 90% of ALL your posts have to do with bitching about Andy. See how I did that but I bet I’m closer to the actual percentage than you are. And as for you being quiet about Andy, haha. When you are the only one making post after post after post after post on each… Read more »
Obviously, I’m assuming we’ll take out Boston, — knock on wood — though I do not expect that to be an “easy” series.
As badly as Varejao was outplayed in Games 2, 3 and 4, I think he held his own last night. He kept a lot of possessions alive, and Noah wasn’t beating him to every loose ball the way he had the previous few games. Actually, Noah didn’t have much of an impact on this game in the first half.
But yeah, I agree the Boston series is where Andy needs to make his mark, if he’s going to. We already know Andy won’t be as effective against Orlando, because he can’t guard Dwight or Rashard.
Its time for Joakim Noah to cut his pony tail. He made stupid comments about beating LBJ and the Cavs. Joakim can spend the rest of the season on the couch
@Colin: Do you do anything repetitive with that arm that puts a lot of stress on it? I had a problem with my shoulder last summer from digging holes for a landscaping company. After I finished the job, it was fine in less than 2 weeks of rest.
When LeBron described the injury, it sounded like the exact same thing I had a few weeks ago. Some sharp elbow pain that almost numbed my fingers that showed up randomly. Sometimes I could move my arm fine, other times is would kill. The fact that he shot the first FT then it flared up doesnt surprise me. That’s exactly what happened to me.
I don’t know how I hurt it, and I never did figure out what it was. It was fine after about a week of rest.
@Kyle i can see a few punches being thrown in that series, people being ejected and I know Shaq doesnt admit this but he feels he was intentionally injured by baby. Evrytime he’s asked about the injury he says”i feel like i was taken out”. So we’ll see what happens. I think the Cavs should get through them just fine but its so not going to be pretty and yes it will be nerve wrecking watching that series. Am glad we have a few days off to gather nerves. @Dr Z its funny how hard he was trying to get… Read more »
Time for the real playoffs to begin.
What Judy said. I know some of you guys don’t like my calling LBJ a peacock every now and then, but I think that was definitely contributing. And yes, he definitely was going all out for that 10th assist for the entire last 2+ minutes.
That sounds about right. My aunt got that from stocking shelves 4 or 5 years ago. The Cleveland Clinic staff is really good, he’ll be fine. Yet as a Cleveland sports fan, you prepare for the worst. On another note, we match up better with Boston in terms of style of play and personnel, so the next round shouldn’t be as tough as this one (maybe tough is the wrong word, maybe nerve-wracking). Anyway, it should be fun to try and put the last nail in Boston’s coffin. I just hope we can avoid any extra-curricular activities with KG and… Read more »
Lebron shooting with his lefty was really drama. He missed his 10assist which is wha he was trying to do passing the ball to Andy on that last possesion. So he needed a highlight on Sportscenter. the man is a genius. We’re going to talk about this for the next three days. That press conference confirmed alot. The Cavs really wanted the Bulls. And the Bulls being in the playoffs is a direct consequence of the Cavs. Lebron played Toronto then sat Chicago. Now we know why. Now as from here on, its an all out war. The Cavs getting… Read more »
I am a doctor and no an MRI will not show the type of nerve “problem” that Lebron is likely having right now. MRIs are excellent at detailing soft tissue derangements (inflammation, ligament damage, etc) but won’t help you with a nerve unless it is cut in half. It’s possible that he has a similar condition to what Maurice Clarett had at OSU…the dreaded “stinger.” But then again it’s also possible that Lebron was being a little melodramatic about something that at the time was probably uncomfortable. My money says that this isn’t an issue again the rest of the… Read more »
I’m no doctor, but the way he described it…the injury sounds more like an RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury). An MRI wouldn’t be able to detect it. Favre had a nerve injury, but then it was later connected (I think) to a bicep tear.
Lebron also said the ‘last month or so’. Might be overworked, or a basketball version of tennis elbow, ala Jim Courier’s ‘dead arm’ in the early nineties.
John! I love the Craig Ehlo clip! Hopefully he caught the game and got to watch the Cavaliers FINALLY beating the Bulls in a series.
Does anyone remember Brett Favre’s nerve injury in his throwing arm a while back? It seems to me, from what Bron has said, that it would seem to be a similar injury. I’m pretty sure a nerve injury wouldn’t show up on an MRI. Can anyone with a little base medical knowledge back me up on this?
Pretty much 60% of this board is feeling the same way Howard. I’ll be quiet about Andy until after game 1 against the celts. He had some of his best games of the season against them, and we will quickly find out if his usefulness only lies within the regular season. The refs were terrible. They did all they could to hand the Cavs the game. I feel bad for Chicago after this one. The first foul on Brad Miller was ok. He stiff armed shaq with an open hand. You can’t do that. It never gets called, but it… Read more »
You can have a bad series if you can’t stay out of foul trouble. You can have a bad series if your shot isn’t falling. However, you can’t “struggle” when your MO is hustle and energy. Andy was completely dominated by Noah this series. A part of me thinks that Andy’s value to the team rests during the regular season where his non-stop motor causes havoc on lazy NBA bigs. However, when playoffs come, his impact in the game takes a negative impact because every team is trying for 48 minutes. Here’s hoping I’m wrong and he can bother the… Read more »
@Kevin – I actually wondered the same thing.
The lefty shot was, bizarre, to say the least.
That was the worst officiated game I’ve seen in awhile, even calls that went for the Cavs. The whole 2nd half was bad but the Brad Miller fouls on Shaq should be sent to the league office for review. I think Ken Mauer is terrible. Remember he was responsible for that shot clock fiasco against Atlanta. I would say “you can’t call….in the playoffs” but I’m not even sure what …. is. Brad Miller literally didn’t do anything.
That game was absolutely horrifying… I’m glad I remembered that Boston is an excellent match-up for the Cavs
Somewhere out there, Big Baby is thinking about a way to channel all of his lard into one elbow-kill-shot on LBJ.
lebron shot that lefty because it was the perfect opportunity and if he made it it would be sportscenter #1 and be the sweetest way to end the series. i’m sure his arm hurt but probably not so bad he couldnt shoot again