Minus LeBron, Shaq and Antawn Jamison, Cavaliers defeat Spurs 97-95
The Cavaliers were getting killed by Manu Ginobili all night long, but the Argentinian sharpshooter came up inches short when it counted the most, as the Cavaliers defeated the San Antonio Spurs 97-95.
With 14 seconds to play and Cleveland leading by three points, Ginobili stepped behind the three point line and buried the shot, seemingly tying the game up. However, the officiating crew called for an immediate review, and replays showed that Manu's toe was on the line. The shot was declared a two-pointer and the Cavs maintained a one-point lead. Free throws down the stretch finished the job as the Cavs won their 50th game of the season.
The Cavs won the game without their top three scorers against a veteran squad. LeBron James sat out the game, resting up. Shaquille O'Neal is still out with his thumb injury. And in the second quarter, Antawn Jamison went to the locker room with tightness in his leg and sat out the rest of the game.
Mo Williams picked up the slack that he failed to do Saturday night, as the PG atoned for his horrible game against Milwaukee. Mo apologized via Twitter after that 3-14 shooting performance, and he lived up to his apology, burying 17 points to go with his 8 rebounds and 8 assists.
Five other Cavs scored double-digits, led by Jamison (17). Delonte West added 16, Jawad Williams 13, J.J. Hickson 12, and Anderson Varejao 11.
San Antonio was mostly carried by Ginobili (38 points) and George Hill, who added 23. San Antonio hit 10 3-pointers on the night, but missed their last four long-range jumpers as time ran out on them.
Cleveland now has a 5.5 game lead on Orlando for the eastern Conference lead, and a 3.5 game lead on L.A. for the NBA's best record. Home court advantage seems to be locked up at this point.
The Cavaliers needed a fast start, and it looked like they would be denied, as Manu Ginobili was on fire from the get-go. Ginobili scored 10 of the Spurs first 12 points and was virtually unguardable while he was on the floor. However, an 11-2 run sparked by Mo Williams brought the Cavs back into the game.
The Cavs used their speed and 63 percent shooting in the quarter to build a six-point lead late in the quarter, and led 28-26 after the period. A balanced attack didn't hurt either, as six different Cavaliers made it into the scoring column.
Throughout the second quarter, the game was a back-and-forth battle. Ginobili finished the half with 23 points on 7-11 shooting, including 4 of 5 from long range. Neither team led by more than six points, and halftime began with a three-point San Antonio lead, 52-49.
Mo Williams kept his strong performance going in the third quarter, and he was joined by Jawad Williams. Jawad Williams scored 8 straight points during a two-minute stretch, but they couldn't quite retake the lead. Occasional cold shooting by the Cavs allowed the Spurs to keep the game at arms' length, as San Antonio led by four at the start of the fourth quarter, 76-72
In the fourth quarter, the game had the feel as if it would maintain the back-and-forth-but-the-Spurs-stay-on-top aura to it. Mo Willaims and West's energy would have none of that. Time and time again, the duo made the plays necessary to overcome San Antonio's distance shooting.
With 52 seconds to play, West anticipated a pass to Ginobili on the right wing and cut off the passing lane for a key turnover. That play, along with the reviewed three-pointer, was the play of the night.
The Cavs have three nights off to rest the wounded, before taking on Philadelphia Friday night. LeBron is expected to start that game.
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Man oh man
I just have to write a fanpost recap for this one…but I just don’t have the time as the school year continues…
Right, that was a strange comment. It could be substantiated by laying out the math, I suppose, but on its own it looks a tad silly.
Home court advantage in the East seems pretty likely at this point but not the best record in the NBA. There are still too many games left to play and the Cavs are fighting injuries right now so the Lakers could easily make up 4 games.
3.5/5.5 games up
If the Cavaliers go 13-4 (.765) the rest of the way, it would be exactly on track with the record they have compiled thus far (.769).
Orlando would have to find a way to win 20 times in 18 games to top us.
The Lakers would have to go 18-0 to overcome us.
That’s why I said it SEEMS to be locked up. Because it does.
The Buckeye Battle Cry
SB Nation's official Ohio State blog
by Jeff at the BBC on Mar 9, 2010 8:19 AM CST up reply actions
One word:
Depth. (i.e. talented depth)
Charlie Donovan: How would you like to manage the Indians this year?
Lou Brown: Gee, I don't know.
Charlie: What do you mean, you don't know? This is your chance to manage in the big leagues.
Lou: Let me get back to you, will ya, Charlie? I got a guy on the other line asking about some white walls.
The Cavs
are a solid team with character. Obviously, the Spurs are not. SA fans can blame Tony Parker’s injury all they want for their troubles, but their issues run much farther than that. Is this the year a championship comes to C-Town? We’ll see what happens….
Brad James
by the new Bradfather on Mar 9, 2010 2:27 AM CST reply actions
I’m just glad Mo was able to pick it up tonite. 8 boards and assists are great from him, the 1-5 from 3 I’m not crazy about but eventually he’ll find his touch. Also glad to hear from Jamison: “It’s not anything to really be worried about.” (espn)
And I’m not ungrateful for the heart-in-my-throat, watching the last minute through slightly spread fingers win tonite, but I don’t see us discussing a win had Richard Jefferson not sucked so bad tonite (except the 9 boards).
I would like to thank Roger Mason as well for the 0-8 performance from 3.
Fwiw, Mo wasn’t 3-14 against the Bucks; it was worse than that.
Last night he started out 3-3 but was 4-13 over the final three periods. He put up another poor long-distance performance. I certainly appreciated his 8 and 8, but his 17 points is not “picking up the slack.” It’s essentially his season average. Picking up the slack would be adding to that average in the absence of stars.
I love Mo but I worry he’s in the rare class of professional athletes who get mentally fragile on occasion. The proverbial “un-clutch.” I’m pulling for him like crazy.
by tabler84 on Mar 9, 2010 5:17 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
All around fun win. Hickson was unbelievable.
He played a ton of minutes and did a great job against Duncan. He did miss 7 opportunities offensively around the basket but that was his inexperience showing.
Delonte showed why he can be the scoring guard against slower defensive players.
The entire team seemed to understand that shooting free throws into the basket wins games.
Mo looked better. More aggressive. Not great yet but better.
It was a ton of fun watching these players win?
Anybody have a clue why Powe didn’t play after AJ left?
Winning is not everything but it sure feels like it sometimes
I would love it if no one ever again used the word “unbelievable” about something that was totally and utterly believable.
Brown said it was a matchup situation and he didn’t find a fit with Powe.
Unbeievable is to strong a word? Probably.
I believe JJ is not an extremely talented defender.
I believe Tim Duncan is an extremely proficient offensive scorer
I believe Duncan will have his way in the paint
It is unbelievable to me that JJ could be effective defensively against Duncan. But he was.
Now was it “beyond belief”? Well, probably not!!
Now, maybe there was a better choice of words.
Hickson’s defense was outstanding, much improved, extremely effective, better, astonishing, , doubtful, dubious, far-fetched, implausible, , improbable, incognitable, inconceivable, incredible, open to doubt, outlandish, past belief, preposterous, staggering, unimaginable, and unthinkable.
JJ’s defense was damn good for JJ. I was very impressed with his improvement.
Winning is not everything but it sure feels like it sometimes
by lifelongvike on Mar 10, 2010 7:53 AM CST up reply actions
Windhorst said this on cleveland.com:
Antawn Jamison was matter-of-fact about his knee. He said the knee has flared up on him twice this season. Once was back in November and the use of ice and electronic stimulation got him through it. He was also bothered by in once before a game last month when he was with the Wizards. He shot 2-of-17 but played through it.
He said this time it was worse than before because it got so stiff that he had no range of motion. He’s going to the Cleveland Clinic to get an MRI Tuesday to check it out. He sounded like he knew exactly what it was and that he’d be fine, especially with the next three days off. We’ll see.



















