See LeBron Score

Memphis forward Mike Miller was not even a speed bump for LeBron James.

Last night the FedEx Forum reminded me of the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron. Just like in high school, LeBron James was driving to the basket at will, defenses helpless to stop him. It was a good thing too, because the Grizzles were shooting the lights out of the place.

First the numbers, the Cavs won 132-124 in OT. His highness scored 51 points, (a season high and the 4th 50+ point game in his career) had 9 assists and 8 boards. Once again LeBron came up huge down the stretch, scoring 25 in the 4th and OT. He finished 18 for 28 including 6 of 12 from triple territory. His help came from Gibson who had 18, Varejao (11), Gooden (12), and Z (14).

James leads Cavs over Bobcats

LeBron James waited…almost too long…to take over this one.

LeBron James led the Cavs in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, and blocked shots. Yet, without a few of his teammates, the Cavs wouldn’t have pulled this one out. Andy Varejao came up big tonight, despite playing with a bruised knee and an Achilles sprain. Varejao grabbed 18 boards and scored 16 points in his 41 minutes. It was Andy that willed the Cavs back into the game in the second quarter when LeBron took a seat.

The Bobcats, and specifically Jason Richardson opened the game scorching hot. The Cavs managed to hang with Charlotte, and eventually opened up an 8 point lead in the second, as Richardson went cold. The Cavs finished the first half up 58-51. But, as has been the trend for the Cavs, they started the third quarter cold, and relinquished the lead. James, who had 13 points at the half, didn’t score at all in the 3rd frame.

Cavs top Hawks, LeBron goes off

LeBron busts through the line of scrimmage…Touchdown! Well, what do you see in this picture?

Someone might want to remind the Hawks what sport they play. I can’t say that I blame them however. At about the 9 minute mark in the 3rd quarter LeBron decided he’d had enough and the wasn’t going to lose this game. And he didn’t. To that point LeBron had only 5 points in the game, he would add 31 more, including 19 of the Cavs last 22 points. Said Daniel Gibson, “He got into one of those zones we all love, It was fun to watch.” Yeah, I’d buy that. Sort of reminded me of another such stretch, back in the playoffs against Detroit.

The Cavs as a team shot much better against Atlanta, including 6 of 10 from Larry Hughes. Zydrunas had a rough night, grabbing 5 boards and scoring only 3 points. His shot just wasn’t there, and they defended the pick-and-pop well, which is Z’s bread and butter. Drew Gooden had himself a good ballgame, and Varejao added 11 boards and 8 points from the bench. I was impressed with the balance of playing time the three big men got last night, and since Drew had the hot hand of the three, he was rewarded with more minutes. What a concept!

LeBron gets win, Kobe gets accolades

I’m sure you read the ESPN articles leading up to last night’s game comparing Kobe with LeBron. Last night when the chalk cleared, LeBron was standing on top.

The Cavs, lead by LeBron James, rebounded from a terrible game against the Knicks on Wednesday with a gritty effort against the Lakers. It was a excellent defensive fourth quarter effort that earned the Cavs a 94-90 win. The Lakers scored a mere 12 points in the final period, and Bryant had only 2 of those. In contrast, LeBron scored 6 of his 33 points in the 4th, and grabbed 3 boards in the final frame.

If you ask LeBron who the best player in the league is, there is little question what his response would be-

“Kobe Bryant is definitely the most explosive player we have in this league,” James said. “There’s no one like him.”

High praise, but if it’s all the same to you LeBron, we’ll take you in this debate. Let’s go to the video…

James, Varejao return, Hughes stars

When we signed Larry Hughes back in ’05, this was the kind of performance we hoped to see.

This one was over before it started. Actually, it wasn’t over until the Cavs’ trio of LeBron James, Larry Hughes and Andy Varejao took the court with 6 minutes to go in the first quarter. Then the rout was on. The Cavs slashed, dished and shot their way to a 118-105 victory, that really wasn’t that close. Larry Hughes led the way with 36 points on 13 of 17 shooting, including 5 of 8 from deep. He played only 26 minutes, but was very effective in his time on the floor. Hughes was free to roam the court playing a true shooting guard in his minutes tonight. According to coach Mike Brown, that is the role Hughes will play from now on. In fact, Brown said he intends to bring Hughes off the bench. Certainly he has the ability to energize the team and provide a boost coming off the bench. Now, let’s not get crazy and think that he will shoot 76% and score 30+ every night, but if he can provide that 15-20 point lift, especially when LeBron is resting this team is dangerous.

LeBron injured, Cavs embarrassed

Everyone cross your fingers. Wait…not you LeBron, you rest yours.

LeBron James injured the index finger on his non-shooting hand in the second quarter of last night’s game against the Pistons. He played only 20 minutes of the game, but still managed to lead the team in scoring (15) and assists (3). Ouch. Final score, Detroit 109, Cleveland 74.

This is one the Cavs will forget about. Assuming James is alright of course. Without James the Cavs were sunk. In all honesty, they were in for an uphill battle before he went out. Playing their 4th game in 5 days, and immediately after an emotional OT game against the Celtics, LeBron was going to have to carry the team anyways. This is one of those games that if you were a gambler would have won you some serious money. The writing was on the wall for this one. I’d have taken the Pistons, the under, and if someone would take the bet, the under on Zydrunas matching his season averages.

Now that’s more like it!

The Celtics came into Cleveland with the league’s best record. They ran into a Cavs team determined to remind them who the defending conference champs are.

This was a truly great game. Both teams made runs, and each had big baskets or defensive stops to keep the game within reach. Back and forth they went. The Cavs won the first period, the Celtics roared back in the second. The Cavs came out strong in the third, then lost the lead in the fourth. They made a serious run with about 5 minutes left in the game, only to see Boston storm back to take the lead again. In the final minute Ray Allen missed on two free throws after Sasha nailed a huge three in the corner. LeBron held for a final shot, but missed sending the game to the OT.

This was one of those games that anyone could have won. Had it gone a few minutes longer I’m sure the Celtics would have made another run to tie it, or take the lead. But the clock ran out on Boston, and the Cavs came away with only the second win against the Celtics this season, 109-104.

LeBron was his usual, pouring in 38 points including 11 in the extra frame. He had a team high 13 assists to go along with 4 boards, 2 steals and 2 huge blocks. The story of the game however was Drew Gooden. Gooden had 24 points and 13 rebounds, but absolutely caught fire in the 3rd with 16 points on only 8 attempts. He grabbed some huge rebounds (5 to be exact) for the Cavs in the overtime as well.

MVP or bust

LeBron had his 4th triple double of the year, and his second in as many nights.

The scary part is that he didn’t even seem to be giving his best effort. In the end his 30 point, 11 board, 10 assist performance was good enough to lead the Cavs to their 3rd straight win, and 4th in 5 games. The Pacers were outmatched without star Jermaine O’Neal, who missed his third game with a knee injury. But despite the disadvantage, the Pacers nearly stole this one.

While LeBron was on the bench resting (wait, stop me if you’ve heard this one before), the Cavs surrendered the 10 point lead they had. LeBron returned to take control of the game. LeBron didn’t shoot particularly well, especially from behind the arc where he was 1-6. But the offense ran through him, especially after Gibson picked up his 6th foul and ejection following a technical after only 15 minutes.

West Coast TidBits

Here’s Pat’s take on the Cavs’ West coast trip.

So far on their West coast trip the Wine and Gold are 1-2. In their lone win they rode the back of non other than LeBron James against the Golden State Warriors. He has played great out west this week, but as Rick has asked, “Where has the help been?”

The game that continues to get under my skin is the game against the Utah Jazz. Find out why after the jump.