After jumping out to a 17-2 lead, the Cavaliers worked really hard to blow the lead and managed to end the first quarter down by 3 points. It was truly impressive. Throughout the game, Cleveland kept with the theme of blowing leads. In the end, the Cavs were unable to close out the game, went to overtime and fell by a score of 113-112. The Cavaliers move to 10-15 on the season.
Cavs Leaders: Points: Jamison, 34; Rebounds: Thompson, 13; Assists: Sessions, 16
Quick Thoughts:
The execution down the stretch made no sense to me. Down by 3 points with under 10 seconds to go, Byron Scott opts to go for the 2-pointer and then foul and extend the game. It almost worked, but Alonzo Gee was unable to hit both free throws. The Cavs then fouled but found themselves down 4 points instead of a possible 3 points. Therefore, when Gee hit the three at the buzzer, it simply made the Cavs lose by just 1 point. With no timeouts and down by 3, I would have gone for the tying bucket instead of the two-pointer. Overall, it doesn't really matter because if Gee hits both free throws, the game is tied and goes into double overtime.
Injuries absolutely hate us this year. Kyrie Irving missed this game and will miss at least two more with a concussion. Anthony Parker is out with a back injury and against Milwaukee, Anderson Varejao suffered a sprained wrist. He got hit in the wrist in the middle of the third quarter, went to the locker room and did not return. The initial x-rays were negative and he is questionable for Saturday's game against Philadelphia.
Tristan Thompson made his return from an ankle injury and managed to not get hurt again! He had a really hard time getting it going on the offensive end, but played well defensively. He had a career-high 13 rebounds and 3 pretty big blocks. Apparently, Cleveland is not allowed to have two solid post defenders healthy at any given time. As soon as Tristan gets back, Andy goes down. I really do wonder what this team would look like if everybody was healthy.
Drew Gooden kind of went off. That frustrates me because I really hate Drew Gooden. He hit lots of jump shots and scored 19 points. I don't like him. That's all I'm saying.
Brandon Jennings is a good player, but he scored really really inefficiently. You'd think that he would be able to have a nicer game than 8 of 23 shooting against Ramon Sessions' defensive "efforts". Jennings plays good defense and held Sessions to a rough night shooting, however Ramon more than made up for it with his game-high 16 assists.
Notable Performances:
Alonzo Gee continues to impress. Once again, he had 18 points and did it on just 11 shots. He defense is solid and his jumper is much, much improved. I'd like to see him grab more rebounds with his athleticism and turn the ball over less, but I can't really complain. Gee is essentially becoming what we thought Eyenga could become.
Boobie Gibson played damn well. It's apparent that the Cavs missed him while he was out with a neck infection and he continues to play well on both ends of the floor. Oddly enough, he's also one of the more veteran guys on this roster. He ought to be the starting shooting guard even once Anthony Parker gets back. Boobie had 17 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds in Friday's game.
Ramon Sessions consistently bumps up his trade value. He had a poor shooting night (4-16), but made up for it with a season-high 16 assists. Sessions is a very competent point guard and I believe some teams around the league will be more than happy to trade for his services.
Fear The Sword's Player Of The Game
Antawn Jamison
Jamison was on fire. He had one of his most efficient games of the season, scoring 34 points on 14 of 21 shooting. He also grabbed 11 rebounds to notch his second double-double of the season. He missed two key free throws at the end of regulation that could have won the game for Cleveland, but you can't fault him too much for that. After all, we wouldn't have even been in this game if it weren't for Jamison stepping up big when Varejao and Kyrie got hurt.