Cup of Cavs: Cleveland Cavaliers news and links for Wednesday, December 1

The first day of December is here and the Cavs are currently above .500.

The first sip

TiK ToK by Ke$ha was the number one song in the country the last time the Cavs won in Miami. Avatar was the top movie and people assumed that there’d be a follow up to it within the decade. Shaq was a Cavalier. January 25, 2010 was a long time ago.

LeBron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 92-91 victory over Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat that night. James hit two late free throws to give the Cavs the lead and Wade missed a buzzer beater that would’ve given the Heat the victory.

Here’s a snippet from the AP’s recap of that game:

James and Wade went toward the hoop together, with Quentin Richardson defending as well. Both James and Wade landed awkwardly, and James writhed in pain for about 2 minutes as the entire Cavs’ bench came out to check on their fallen leader. He got up, walked Richardson’s foul off and made two free throws with 4.1 seconds left for a 92-91 lead.

“For him to get up after that collision and knock down two free throws the way that he did, he’s got ice water in his veins, baby,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. “Ice water.”

And in the ensuing huddle, Brown wanted to call a double-team on Wade. The coach was overruled.

“I got D-Wade,” James said.

Wade’s shot bounced off the iron, and it was over.

“The good, the bad, you’re up, you’re down,” Heat coach ErikSpoelstra said. “I’ll take it all with this team.”

Shaquille O’Neal scored 19, Daniel Gibson had 15 and Anderson Varejao finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for Cleveland

What a blast of nostalgia. Hopefully the Cavs win tonight so we don’t have to hear any more about how many losses they’ve had in South Florida.

The second sip

I’m still not over this pass from Kevin Love and finish from Darius Garland. I’m also not sure which one was more impressive.

Read this

The Teenagers Getting Six Figures to Leave Their High Schools for Basketball

Links of the day

NBA rookie of the year rankings

LeBron James in health and safety protocols; expected to miss several games

European prospects eye Australian springboard to NBA

Miami Heat first quarter progress report