It has taken a while, but the Cavs are finally sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings. The Cavs lead the Magic by .5 games, with a chance to increase that lead tonight when the teams square off in Orlando. Though the Magic have lost three straight, the Cavs are playing the second game of a back-to-back on the road, and while the team didn’t travel across a time zone, flying from Cleveland to Orlando is practically the same thing. So the outlook tonight is a little dreary given the inherent challenges of this sort of travel schedule.
Working in the Cavs’ favor is that last night’s game provided Mike Brown with a chance to rest his starters — with the exception of about a minute in the third quarter the Sonics were never in the game after the first quarter. LBJ played only 34 minutes. Gooden played only 19 minutes (due in large part to foul trouble). Super sub Damon Jones played only 17 minutes (he looked tired; not much lift on his jumper, which was mostly flat) and Marshall played only 19 minutes. Varejao played 31 minutes, but he has yet to show the ability to fatigue. Hughes and Snow both played more than 30 minutes, so that might be a problem considering Snow’s age and Hughes’s fitness. But enough about tonight’s game.
Larry Hughes was in rare form against Seattle: 11-16 for 25 points with a few boards and assists. In the first half Hughes was nearly unstoppable (8-10 from the field) and he and LBJ combined to make their first 14 shots. Most impressive about Hughes’s success was that it came predominantly on mid-range jump shots. Gone were the wild runners from the previous game and ill-advised three point heaves. He moved well without the ball and made a few shots early. This allowed him a little more freedom with whoever was guarding him since the defender had to respect the jump shot. Hughes was only eclipsed by LBJ, who had a slightly better game. LeBron’s first quarter line was better than what most players in the Association do in an entire game: 13 points, six boards, five assists. I do not know why Brown kept James in the game for 34 minutes — I would have sat him the entire fourth quarter. Maybe he wanted to give James a chance for a trible-double.
Varejao did well in relief of a foul-plagued Gooden. Andy wasn’t much of a factor on offense, but he was a beast on the glass and drew a couple of charges. He had a few big mistakes on defense. When he and Z are in the game together the interior defense can suffer since Z basically can’t move and Varejao is best as a help defender. He often needs help with his own man and an immoble Z cannot provide that help. That said, Varejao is doing a yoeman’s job coming off the bench. He’s able to slide in well as either a PF or C, and at this point there really isn’t an excuse for not having some combination of Z, Gooden, and Varejao on the court 75% of the time. Marshall is nice in spells but should never play with Varejao. That would be horrid. Marshall and Z makes sense, Marshall and Gooden makes less sense.
Finally, a little respect for Eric Snow. He guarded Lewis all game despite giving up four inches (um, LeBron?). Lewis was a non-factor, and on a team without Ray Allen, holding Lewis to 3-12 from the field went a long way to ensure the win. So props to Snow. Every once and a while he has one of those games where I’m thankful he’s still on the roster. He might be a hole on offense, but he’s still one of the best defenders on the team.
The Disappointment Zone boxscore:
