Cavs give away(literally) game, lose to Jazz 97-96

by John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) on Jan 15, 2010 12:50 AM CST

A full re-cap to come, but what an amazing game. The Cavaliers played lethargic for much of the 2nd half, watching a 7 point lead turn into a 12 point deficit with 4 minutes to go. That's when LeBron James got going, scoring 18 points in the final 3:15 to give the Cavaliers a 6 point lead. It wasn't enough.

Clutch shooting from the Jazz, and timely misses from the Cavaliers from the free throw line(2 by Anthony Parker, 1 by Zydrunas Ilgauskas) set the stage for the Jazz to steal victory out of the jaws of defeat 97-96.

For the Jazz the hero was Sundiata Gaines, playing on his second 10-day contract, who buried a long 3 at the buzzer giving the Jazz the win.

There are games like this, every team in the NBA faces it. We all knew that the Cavaliers' troubles at the free throw line would bite the Cavaliers at some point or another. Tonight was the night.

Let's not forget 23 turnovers.

A hat-tip to Gaines, and to the Jazz. It was fun. On to LA!

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DEFENSE?!?

Cavaliers allow 55 points through 3 quarters, then allow 42 points in the 4th Quarter. Mike Brown will not be happy.

FTS

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by John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) on Jan 15, 2010 12:56 AM CST reply actions

Mike Brown “To give up 42 points in the 4th Quarter….We cannot be that team, we cannot be that team”

FTS

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by John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) on Jan 15, 2010 12:59 AM CST reply actions

Can someone explain why after Delonte West came out shooting hot in the first half that Mike Brown basically benched him for the rest of the game? Brown let him in for a few defensive sets, but then wouldn’t let him play on offense. Then Lebron mysteriously won’t inbound the ball to Delonte from the baseline, calls a timeout, only to have Ilgauskas, a 76% free throw shooter shoot the ball instead. Ditto for the obsession with Parker, who has lost a step on D and has a 9.76 PER. This is our starter taking minutes from Delonte, who was arguably the second best player on the team last year? Inexcusable. Delonte is shooting 85% from the free throw stripe this year, while Parker and Ilgauskas are both shooting around 77%. This is madness!

by randallhank on Jan 15, 2010 1:09 AM CST reply actions