Quarter One
Wizards finally win a tip...after not winning one of five in game one. The refs are choking on their whistles already as DeShawn was hammered by LeBron in making the opening bucket.
A little bit of a lid on the basket early for Butler after making a nice aggressive move...and for Jamison too on the rebound.
LeBron's first shot isn't much....Butler tries a mid-range and misses too. I'd like to see him drive drive drive on Wally.
LeBron to the hoop, good foul on Haywood. 1 FT.
Delonte pull up..nope we'll take it.
Stevenson with LBJ on him decided to wisely give the rock to BTH for the baby runner. 6-1 Wizards.
They run AJ at LBJ to help Caron....but Benny Wallace is too close to the basket not to convert. 6-3 Wizards.
Butler drives this time...good hard foul by Wallace. Caron goes down. No expression. Not shaking his head. He just gets up and knocks down FTs. 8-3 Wizards.
LBJ gets a skip pass and drives....Caron has a hard time recovering....and ....Wallace is open for points again. 8-5 Wizards.
By my count, the Wiz have played man on every possession so far.
Jamison gets switched on Z and that's an easy call for LBJ to make the pass to him for the bucket. 10-7 Wizards.
AJ buries his first three....Ben Wallace can't play that far out. 13-7 Wizards.
A foul called on Haywood was questionable...didn't see the below the waist action, but Big Z actually looked like he went over the back.
DeShawn is matched up against Wally World. I guess since you gotta make the other Cavs beat you....then you should put your best defender on them...huh?
Butler had the ball on the baseline..I'd like to see him back down Wally and make someone double, but a cutting AJ made himself available for the nice pass.from Caron.
15-9 Wizards at first timeout. 1-2 on threes. Two wing misses just inside 3 from the right side (Caron and AJ) and everything else has been in the paint. LeBron has only attempted one shot. Trying to do the whole 'teammates involved' thing.
TNT is doing a story about how there's a lot of talk in the DC media...and among the fans....that we all want Gil to start...I haven't heard such a thing.
Gil is now in...and is covering LeBron when the Cavs next get the ball. LBJ easily comes off the screen towards the basket. One. Two. Three. Yep, three steps. Travel right? Nope.. foul on Wizards. 15-11 Wizards.
Arenas misses his first shot...and it did not look good. He had no follow through with his wrist.
Wally World, the Cro-magnon is trying to get physical with Gil. Gil gives a little shove, a good foul call. Unfortunately, Gil gives an extra push after the whistle and they call a tech.
Blatche fouls Z by coming across his arm. Meanwhile...didn't see how it happened, but Philly has a goal with 11:20 left in 1st.
Jamison drive on Andy and scoop is no good, but Blatche knows what to do with cleanup. 17-13 Wizards.
Blatche is running the court, gets the ball from Butler...and a bullshit move by Andy Varejao. He wasn't going for the ball at all and just swiped his arm right across Blatche's face. A little payback...no worries.
But Andray misses both FTs - you just can't afford to do that. A flagrant 1 was called so the Wiz have the ball.
Gil back-cuts LBJ but takes it with weak right wrist on left side...easy block by Joe Smith. LeBron goes down and throws down an amazing dunk.
Blatche can't finish a lob from Daniels....that's about 5 absolute gimmes that the Wizards have missed (not counting Smith's block on Gil).
Wally tries to get rough with Arenas again....this time Gil gets the charge call....but it wasn't a flop. Scissor-Back had arm action that led to the whistle. Timeout. 19-18 Wizards.
Getting to the FT line as much as the Cavs is one thing, but you can't afford misses. Andray missed both earlier and AJ just missed two. Wiz are 2-6, 5-9 Cavs from the FT line.
Very stupid foul on Gil...LBJ had the ball in the open court, Arenas was way behind and tries to reach around to get the ball. What was he thinking? There was no chance that he would have been able to get to the ball. It's like trying to reach around to unplug the refrigerator standing straight up in front of it. LeBron bucket and FT - 22-19 Cavs.
Arenas has evidently taken the wrap off his wrist.....but goes out....with two fouls just like Haywood.
AJ, D- Song, D-Mac, Mason and Stevenson in the game. This lineup scares me.
LeBron is getting ridiculous. Mason is dribbling, LeBron comes to double...takes a wild swat at Mason..and they run into each other....LeBron bounces back like he just ran into a vertical trampoline and comes up checking his mouth, looking at the jumbo-screen. Cavs fans go nuts. The foul is called on LBJ....Mason goes 1-2 from the line.
20-7 run to end the first for the Cavs. LeBron is smart...he does realize that the Wizards are almost over-focused on him. He found teammates to the tune of 4 assists in the first. After FT misses (5 of them in 10 attempts), the Wizards cannot afford to lose other Cavalier players around the basket. 27-22 Cavs after 1.
Quarter Two
Haywood and Z are both back in the game, LBJ goes to the pine.
Caron sighting? 0-3 in the first ...two misses came within the first 100 seconds, the third came with 3 minutes left in the 1st.
Mason Junior hits.....wasn't a net ripper, rather a rattler, but any type of make can get confidence going. 27-24 Cavs.
Is it just me, or are they not calling Ilgauskas for over the back?
Reggie Miller commends BTH's hands who gets the dunk and 1 on Big Z... Brendan better be careful with hanging on the rim.
D-Song hits a midrange off a pick and pop...great ball movement. 29-27 Wizards.
No such thing as an over-the-back call tonight. Joe Smith goes over Songaila for the o-board and D-Song is forced to foul, not allowing Smith to get a shot off.
Roger Mason looks nervous at the line. He got fouled hard by Devin Brown on a transition layup. Yup, he misses first, makes 2nd. 30-27 Wiz. 8-0 run.
LeBron comes back and it's a little more zone D look from Washington...and that's why Big Z easily got an o-board and put-back off the LBJ missed J. 30-29 Wiz.
It seems like the Wizards have been a little rushed on offense. I hope they settle down a little bit coming out of this timeout. Take a breath. Depend on your muscle memory when shooting FTs and jumpers....you'll be alright.
Daniels gets rejected by Bron coming from the other side of the hope. I would have liked to see him drop it to a wide open D-song.
AJ takes a confident shot over the Brazilian Spazz. 32-31 Wiz.
Caron gets a tough lay-up....I'm begging him to do more of that. 34 Tie.
AJ...I like, he had a small opening for a 3 look, but drove it after he got Andy coming at him off balance....layup. 36 Tie.
Boobie fakes DeShawn out of his jock on the 3 point line...who almost jumps over him. DeShawn passes...he side steps and nails a 3. That's DeShawn...going for the glory of the block. TNT plays Soulja Boy heading into the timeout. 41-36 Cavs.
Gilbert has changed his shoes. Black and Wizards blue accents...not sure what he was wearing at first.
Still in the zoneish D. Wally Z hits a fading J over Daniels, he's got 8. 43-36 Cavs.
Daniels 3 miss....Wiz keep it alive...Butler grabs a semi loose ball....the Wizards turnover the ball. They still look nervous in the service.
LeBron mises a J....has he hit an outside shot yet?
Gil hits a 2 in transition....making a fist with that hand/wrist coming down the court. He doesn't look comfortable. 43-38 Cavs.
The Wizards are noting but sporadic....the ball is bobbled all over (after a Caron steal) Gil ends up shooting an airball trey against LBeron. Wiz get the board, but its a shot clock violation. Another timeout....it's time to coach Eddie, please get your team to get their composure. Is this where I pull out the "they haven't played enough together" card?
Crap...Philly is up 2 nil with 18 minutes left in the 2nd...while Jamison is fouling Daniel Gibson 3-point attempts. 3 FTs - 46-38 Cavs.
Looks like the Wiz are trying to run the Princeton, but it's slow and mechanical, the opposite of smooth. Jamison misses a hook shot.
Sequence Time! Down the court...Z blatantly travels. No call of course. Wizards turnover. James inside bucket....Wiz falling apart. Caron outside attempt. Nope. Wally World running baseline layup. Caron tries to dribble in a crowd. The Cavs bail him out with a foul. 52-38 Cleveland.
Arenas tries to go one on one against Delonte West....no good layup.
Things get rough...Caron gets the board. Goes to the rim haphazardly..and gets fouled. The Wizards are trying to be too physical.
Nick Young checks in....and that's an open invitation for LBJ to get to the basket and get fouled. He makes 1, 53-40 Cavs.
The Wiz have the ball with 8 seconds left....Gil dribbles around upon getting doubled...senseless wasting clock time.. the half ends with a bad 3 point look from Caron Butler.
The worst part...LeBron is 3-7 from the field, all his makes came off layups and all the misses came from outside. He's 6-9 from the FT line - 12 points and not exactly a good offensive effort from him.
Cleveland up 13, 53-40.
In not so many words, the TNT halftime crew is saying that Gil's ball dominance is a hindrance to the Wizards offense. And as they show the replays, and Kenny's pictures, I tend to agree. Gil is definitely not playing the part of the distributor (1-7 with 0 assists) and more the part of..."I'm Gilbert Arenas and I'm so awesome I can shoot threes and take LeBron in the post." I'm not even sure if I want him doing that without the bum wrist and ankle.
Stats:
- Rebounds are tied at 21 with the Wiz pulling down 9 offensive to 5 for the Cavs.
- We know LeBron's story, Big Z follows with 12, then Wally with 10. Those two are a combined 9-14.
- Jamison is 4-11 with 9 points and 7 boards.
- Caron is still 1-8 and MIA. My piece about him on BF before game 1 was initially going to be concern about his offensive rhythm with Gil back in the lineup...but then I didn't want to go negative.....but now, it's come back to my mind as a very large concern.
- Seems like the Wizards are trying to attack the basket, just not in an effective way. They are 15-41 on FGs, 1-6 from deep.
- Aside from the 3s and judging by the shot chart, 13 of the Wizards other attempts have come outside of the paint area, and they've made 5 of those. So, the Wiz are roughly, 9-22 inside the paint.
Quarter Three
Cavs have the rock to start. Big Z gets position for an easy baseline J. DeShawn didn't trail LBJ close enough off screen...Wizards had to help...Big Z got position.
TNT reports that the right wrist is hurting much more than Gil anticipated.
DeShawn bricks a trey.
DeShawn looks lazy chasing after Bron...penetration...pass to Wally for three. 58-40 Cavs.
Daniels misses a J....Haywood stops bleeding with a board and a foul. 1 of 2 FTs.
Cavs ball movement is excellent. Wally easy deuce. The Wiz look uninterested and disheartened already. 60-41 Cavs.
Daniels is taking more bad jumpers. On the other end, LBJ gives Daniels a helluva shot. Of course they call a foul on AD. Even Reggie Miller says that's probably a charge.
Caron drives....Stevenson three......and habitually breaks out "Can't Feel My Face" while down 16. Cavs fans give it to him....as do Marv and Reggie. 60-44 Cavs.
LeBron answers with a trey.....both DeShawn and AJ were right there....but hands in hostlers -- no contest whatsoever. 63-44 Cavs.
DeShawn is officially an idiot and I'm beginning to get really embarrassed.
I think the Cavs are throwing the ass hole chant at someone.....not sure if it's DeShawn or Haywood at the FT line.
Jamison blows a layup.
Stevenson comes down and commits his 4th foul for no reason. We might not see Gilbert for the rest of the game. Check that, he's back.
DeShawn is more worried about talking to the crowd as he goes to the bench.
AD takes it to the rim just like AD does...gets the hard foul. 63-48 Cavs.
Trading with Ben Wallace points, Caron takes it hard and gets a dunk...uhh...where's that been? 65-50 Cavs.
Controversial times. Brendan fouls LeBron, he goes down hard. Reggie is right, BTH wasn't really making a play on the ball, but it was far from a "terrible" act. The crowd and the Cavs players made the refs call for them. Brendan Haywood is ejected with a flagrant 2. Pretty weak if you ask me.
TNT shows the previous foul on Daniels.....looks close to the same thing that just happened. Even Marv and Reggie agree that it's not a flagrant 2.
A 20 point lead has opened up with a D. West trey. 70-50 Cavs.
The Cavs are composed and the Wizards are not. Simple.
Jamison get switched on James...and now it's easy for Bron to hit outside jupers...meanwhile Gil misses a wide open 3. The Wiz get the steal, but turn the ball right over. Cavs turn it back over. AD goes length of the court....another terrible call. Wallace drew a charge with his foot all up in the restricted area...and coming into AD. This is becoming a flat-out joke.
The Wiz are 2-10 in the 3rd...and you thought the 2nd was bad. D-Song gets on James, Bron licks his chops..drives, ball to Wallace, ball to Andy...weak foul. Basket and 1. 77-54 Cavs.
Gil gets a foul called on him while trying to set a pick with his back to Delonte West...stupid. He's gonna injure his knee again doing that.
The camera goes to the bench....Andray Blatche is chewing his fingers off. There's 4:16 left in the 3rd and the Wizards on the bench have the "bout to be a 3 seed upset by a 14 seed in the NCAA tournament" face.
Caron Butler becomes the 2nd Wizard to score in double figures......the other one is sitting in the locker room right now. 79-57 Cavs.
They call the most ticky-tack foul in the world on Butler....an arm extension on LeBron. Caron gives the sarcastic clap right in the ref's face and then pleads his case to Reggie Miller.
LeBron is hitting threes like he's in his backyard. 84-61 Cleveland.
Shizzleback is getting offensive boards over 3 Wizards.
That's the 3rd. 86-63 Cavaliers.
Quarter Four
Evidently Comcast's pivitol play of the game is all the technical and flagrants.
Understatement of year: "We've had some things go our way and well take 'em" - Cavs Coach Mike Brown.
You know the funny thing is....I still have had some hope.
The Cavs are getting offensive rebounds for the hell of it.
James is getting tip-ins and is kinda dancing around. 92-66 Cavs.
Stevenson hits a 3 and he can totally feel his face. Marv and Reggie were watching him carefully....if DeShawn would have down the move, Reggie Miller said he was ready to take off his mic and leave the building. 92-69 Cavs.
It's been a Boobie show for a little in the 4th. He's scored 7 in the period for 13 total.
TNT reports that Eddie Jordan didn't say much in that last timeout....I think he really threw all his game notes away.
I wasn't going to type anymore....but Damon Jones hits a 3 and does the Can't Feel My Face....along with pretty much the entire Cavs bench. 116-86 Cavs.
Dagger Bukkake.
Post Game Comments:
"It was definitely intentional." -LeBron on Haywood's foul & ejection (this was on the court interview).
"They didn't do anything different than what they did in game one." - Antawn Jamison
"We lose by 28 and he has a right to do whatever he wants." -Jamison on the 'Can't Feel My Face' move at the end of the game by Damon Jones.
"Just because he's coming down the lane doesn't mean he getting hit every time." -Antawn on LeBron getting calls.
"Both teams played hard." -Andray Blatche with Chris Miller on Comcast
"It was definitely not a basketball play at all, in no shape, in no form." -LeBron on Haywood's foul after the game.
A report asked LeBron what he thought of DeShawn Stevenson's "John Cena" move. His answer was blah blah blah...we don't talk trash...play the game....blah blah blah. Another reporter asked the follow-up to the effect: "LeBron, didn't you do that move after you made a 3?"
LeBron's answer: "Did I? [smiles] Thanks....." and his press conference was over.