Sloppy Cavaliers upended at buzzer 97-96

On one hand, the Cavaliers shouldn't beat themselves up about losing by one point after one of the worst 2nd halves all season. On the other hand, the Cavaliers should be ashamed of themselves for putting themselves in a hole that ultimately proved too deep to climb out of.

We really didn't deserve to win this game. We shot horribly all game, (no field goals in 6:45 minutes) we committed lots of fouls all game, and we committed lots of turnovers all game. Delonte West carried us in the second quarter, but was a nonfactor from thereon out. LeBron James tried to rescue us with a better performance in the final 3 minutes than any player has had in the final 3 minutes all season, but once he stopped shooting, we reverted back to the mediocrity we displayed all game long. Simple as that.

LeBron James: 12-20, 4-6 beyond the arc, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals. Again, despite his heroics down the stretch, this was one of his worst games. He was 1 of 4 in the first quarter with just 4 points and he went through the entire game choosing to pass to teammates that could never finish the play. In the third quarter, he had one or two dunks (I think) but other than that, I can't recall seeing him make any shots. He also committed 5 turnovers.

Anderson Varejao: 2-7, ZERO offensive rebounds, -12 +/-. This was also one of Varejao's worst nights. LeBron kept driving to the basket and passing the ball to him, but he could never get it done on the glass. He also could never contain any of the jazz players. They frequently outhustled him and Shaq to rebounds. Speaking of which,

Shaquille O'Neal: 2-4, 5 points, 4 turnovers. All I have to say is that I don't know why we brought him back in the fourth quarter.

Zyndrunas Ilgauskas: 0-4, ZERO offensive rebounds, 20 minutes. Poor Ilgauskas never should have taken those last two free throws. He hadn't attempted a free throw all game.

Mo Williams: 4-12, 6 personal fouls, 3 turnovers, terrible, toreador defense. I don't know if I'm the only one who thinks this, but it seems to me that Mo is having a really bad shooting stretch right now. He looked ineffective in Portland and in Denver. Also, too many times I saw him backpedaling as players ran into him, resulting in one foul after another

Writing this recap has calmed me down somewhat, but I'm getting angry again as I type the next bit. I saved the worst for last.

Anthony Parker: 2-6, 1-4 from beyond the 3 point line, 3 turnovers, corrupt-insurance-company-level defense. Basically, copy the same stuff I said about Mo Williams. However, I'm angriest with him because his missed free throws blew the game for us. He was perfect from beyond the arc but missed crucial shots when it mattered the most. He also missed 3 pointers that he usually makes.

And worst of all:

Mike Brown: With the Cavs up by 4 after LeBron's heroics, Brown decided to run the same failed play over and over again, which was having LeBron inbound the ball to Parker. He should have ordered LeBron to get the ball to someone else after Parker missed that first free throw. And why weren't the Cavs able to burn any clock when they had the ball? And why didn't Varejao, who hadn't missed any free throws all game, go to the line down the stretch? And why was LeBron always the one to inbound the ball? And why didn't Daniel Gibson play all game? Why hasn't he been allowed to play for the last several games?

Coach Brown, ladies and gentlemen.

Not much else to say, other than this will probably be my first and last recap of a game, because of how much it sucks. Thank god we don't have to play in Utah again, end of story, on to LA. I'm much more interested in the Clippers game, because last time we played against them, we had to rally from a 19 point deficit to win. That was one of the greatest comebacks of the season.

In fact, here's a little something that's sure to put a smile on everyone's burnt faces.