So Close...
By: L.R. Andress- CavsTalk Writer
4/20/2005 10:19:34 PM
Do you know that feeling you get when you sleep a little too long, when you wake up, you feel a little disoriented. You feel a little lost. That is what the Cavaliers fan-base is going through right now as we are forced to look square in the eye the fact that the Cavaliers were ten games over .500, yet when the playoffs start this weekend fans and players alike will be sharing the same vantage point.
The sad thing is that in these past two games, the Cavaliers showed what could have been with this team. At home against Boston and then tonight in Toronto, this team showed glimpses of that team that was so impressive in the first half of the season. The team played defense, showed ball movement, had a presence with the bench, and were developing a rotation that was truly working.
The thing about all of that development is that it does not mean anything if you do not control your own destiny. That fact can be blamed on any one of many games, but three stick out in my mind. Firstly was the game against the Nets at home following thrashing the Dallas Mavericks on national television. The team had momentum coming off the win and threw an egg up which cost them the one loss, as well as the tie-break with the New Jersey Nets. The second game was the game at home against the Knicks. That game was coming off two wins as the team appeared to be gathering itself back together. They came out in that game and laid an egg. Finally was the game at Detroit this past Sunday. Up 12 at halftime, the team collapsed in the second half kicking away a win. Three disappointing losses like that is enough for a month, let alone in the final ten games of a playoff stretch.
However, all of the tie-breakers and scoreboard glances tonight would have been useless if the Cavaliers didn’t take care of business for themselves. That they did, and did well, up until the fourth quarter.
Led by the fact that LeBron James was a rebound away from a triple-double by halftime, the Cavaliers jumped out to 15-point lead at the half. The halftime stats read like a how-to book on team-oriented play. The superstar almost had a triple-double, the point guard had no turnovers, there was low-post scoring, and there was even scoring off the bench.
Cavaliers fans were still apprehensive though. Their team held a 15-point lead, the Celtics were beating the Nets by 11 at the half and everything was going right. Something did not feel right however. The announcers, as well as the fans that I spoke to, were worried about how the Cavaliers would start the second half. For much of the year, the team had a habit of slow starts to the second half, which allowed teams (like Detroit mentioned above) back into games.
When the Cavaliers came out, they came out strong however. They started the second half on a 15-2 run and had the lead up to as much as 29 points in the third quarter. By the middle part of the quarter, it appeared as though the Cavaliers had their game in hand and focus turned to the Boston/New Jersey game.
Apparently, Boston and Cleveland switched philosophies when the Celtics were in Gund Arena. For it was the Celtics who came out with no energy and no shot in the third quarter, as the Celtics once-proud 19-point lead evaporated in a third quarter in which they were outscored 32-8. The Nets deficit was gone and they placed themselves back in control.
For the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers lead dwindled down to a low of nine points to finish the game, but it appeared as though the Cavaliers weren’t watching the game they were playing, but instead focusing on the New Jersey/Boston game. Perhaps they had gotten wind of the 32-8 run of the Nets and that deflated them, or perhaps they were simply distracted by it all, but the game began to slip away.
Luckily, the lead that the Cavaliers had built up prevented them from losing the game itself as well, as the Cavaliers walked off the court with a 104-95 victory. Despite the win, the Cavaliers knew the situation in Boston as you saw them walk to the locker room with slumped shoulders, looking entirely defeated. Seven minutes after the final buzzer sounded at the Air Canada Centre, it did the same at the Fleet Center in Boston, with New Jersey winning 102-93, knocking the Cavaliers out of the playoffs.
The Cavaliers finished the regular season with a record of 42-40, which tied them for the eighth seed, however by virtue of the tie-break the New Jersey Nets make the playoffs and the Cavaliers will sit it out for an eighth consecutive season. The Cavaliers learned the hard way that every game counts. While a loss to a struggling New Jersey team in December may appear as nothing, it can wind up being the difference in traveling to Miami or sitting at home in front of the television.
Team Leaders:
- Points- LeBron James (27)
- Rebounds- LeBron James (14)
- Assists- LeBron James (14)
- Steals- LeBron James, Eric Snow (2)
- Blocks- Zydrunas Ilgauskas (3)
Notes:
- Jiri Welsch, Jeff McInnis, DeSagana Diop and Lucious Harris all received DNPs.
- This could be the final game in wine and gold for a good number of players on the roster. The free agents are Jeff McInnis, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, DeSagana Diop, Dajuan Wagner, and Scott Williams.
- The Cavaliers hold an option year on the contract of Robert Traylor that has not been picked up to this point.
- The Cavaliers hold a buy-out on the contract of Lucious Harris, that will in all likelihood be purchased.
- Jeff McInnis did not make the trip to Toronto with the team as he battled a reported viral infection.
- Five Cavaliers reached double-digits in scoring.
- LeBron James recorded his franchise-record fourth triple-double this season.
- On the topic of LeBron James, some notable accomplishments. He took the record for most points per game in a single season. He also became just the fifth player in NBA history to average 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists per game.
- Ira Newble recorded a season-high 20 points on the game.
- In the past eight years, only three teams in the Eastern Conference have had 42 wins and not made the playoffs. One of the other two was the 1997 Cavaliers.
- This season will be the first winning season for the Cavaliers since that 1997 team as well.
- Eric Snow was the only point guard tonight, going 47 minutes, scoring ten points, handing out eight assists and not committing a single turnover.
- ESPN ran a report last night, in their continuing obsession with LeBron James leaving Cleveland (Read the article entitled “Stop the Media Circus” on this site), because his mother, Gloria James, does not like Dan Gilbert. ESPN needs to run real stories instead of focusing so much on this situation that is not a situation at all.
- I encourage you to check back at CavsTalk.com during the upcoming weeks. Tomorrow should have a humorous slant on tonight’s game. Also, there will be season break-downs done player-by-player as well as complete coverage of any possible news coming out of Gund Arena regarding possible coaching or front office vacancies. Finally, before the playoffs are done, which in the NBA is quite a while, there will be an off-season preview based on what I would like to see as well as what I am being told from my sources within the Cavalier organization. I cannot promise a strict time-table, so please do continue to come to CavsTalk for your Cavaliers news.
If you wish to contact the author of this article, you may do so at
andress@cavstalk.com
.
