Photo: Tony Dejak/AP

Many Cavalier fans expected to celebrate a milestone tonight, but matchup circumstances caused that to be delayed. Not one to often disappoint the home crowd, however, the Cavaliers gave the 20,562 a win that was marked by a Delonte West cameo, lots of small ball against the small Mavs, plenty of Shaq touches, and some incredibly efficient shooting against one of the best in the West.

DNP-CD for Z?: That's right, Cavalier fans. Danny Ferry gets to enjoy a few more days in the record books alongside Zydrunas Ilgauskas because the 7'3" center recorded his first DNP-CD or "did not play - coach's decision" in a long time. If someone gets back to me on the last time it happened, I'll give you some recognition in the next Cavalier article. I'm mildly ticked at Mike Brown, especially considering how much time FSN Ohio devoted to this milestone feat in their pregame show. I understand that it wasn't a good matchup for Z with Drew Gooden being the biggest guy out there, but he could've found 5-6 minutes at some point in the late first or early second quarter to get him in. For heaven's sake, Shaq isn't any faster. If you think he breaks the record Wednesday, you could be mistaken. The Phoenix Suns aren't any better of a matchup for Ilgauskas or the Cavaliers' big unit. With about three minutes left and the outcome not in doubt, you could have ran Z out there as well, just like they did with Jawad Williams and Darnell Jackson. I realize that Z was probably a) rusty b) stiff and c) not worried about it, but it's just unfortunate that on the night the odometer was supposed to roll over, it didn't happen. Here's hoping Z gets it done on Wednesday.

Matchup issues on both ends: It was an interesting dilemma for both teams with the way the starting lineups were set up. Dallas had an early advantage with J.J. Hickson covering Dirk Nowitzki. Anderson Varejao, the man who has had a large role in holding Dirk to just over 20 points per game, is now coming off the bench. James has guarded Nowitzki in fourth quarters past with decent success, but Brown showed faith in J.J. by giving him the task of covering Dirk. The results were mixed, because Hickson did give up a couple of easy ones, but he made Nowitzki work for most of his early points. Varejao and Jamario Moon ended up spending more time on Nowitzki in the second half, but give credit to J.J. for not backing down from the challenge.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks were struggling with the task of covering Shaq with Drew Gooden, a converted power forward. Regular starter Erick Dampier has been out with an illness lately, which has thrust "The Drizzle" into a starting role once again. Gooden has improved on his interior defense (most Cavaliers fans would chuckle, saying it wouldn't take much), but he just doesn't have the body to contend with the Diesel. The Cavaliers went to O'Neal early and he poured in six early ones in the first five minutes, including a thunderous dunk right down Euclid on a bounce pass from LeBron. Speaking of James, his first quarter of 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists was nothing short of spectacular.

Cameo for Mr. West and 2nd quarter surge: With the Mavericks so small, Coach Brown gave Z's regular minutes to Delonte West, who took them and ran with them. West looked liked his old self, attacking the basket, playing hard-nosed defense, and showing flatout effort on every play. He didn't leave the game from his initial check-in until the halftime buzzer told him that he needed to do so. West played 28 minutes in all, scoring 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, recorded 4 rebounds, and dished out 10 assists, logging his first double-double of the season and the ninth of his career. Add in the fact that he played fantastic defense and he did not turn the ball over, and you have fans salivating at the thought of Delonte returning to form. As we know with Delonte, however, you cannot count on much consistently, so let's enjoy tonight's performance and hope for more of those compared to his recent showings in limited minutes. The Cavaliers scored 30+ points in each of the first two quarters and posted 68 in the half. The Cavaliers led by just 13, however, after an easy jumper for Jason Terry, a careless turnover on a pass to halfcourt intended for James, and a Barea trey to beat the buzzer closed things out.

Dallas backcourt bench: Dallas has one of the most talented benches in the league, and they showed their depth tonight even without Josh Howard and Dampier. Sixth-man of the year Jason Terry and Juan Jose Barea each caused issues of their own, especially in the first half. Terry came in and drilled three shots right away, and Barea was slicing the Cavaliers and Mo Williams in particular apart with dribble penetration and layups. Terry scored 9 in each of the first two quarters, and Barea had all 10 of his points tonight in the second quarter. Terry finished with 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting.

Varejao's active third: The Cavaliers saw their lead cut from 13 to 7 within five minutes of starting the third quarter, and they were in danger of losing their once 18-point lead. But, Wild Thing came to the rescue, going to work with fierce activity on the boards. Andy scored 8 of his 15 points on the night in the third quarter. A couple of his shots were probably ill-advised, but he spun and ran his way into a couple of lucky shots. Andy also had four of his nine rebounds in the quarter, including three of his five offensive rebounds. Andy's been largely overlooked lately with Hickson's surge, but he remains a great option off the bench and should continue to get starter's minutes. His defense on Nowitzki tonight was solid, but Nowitzki did score 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting.

Establishing Shaq and drawing fouls: The Cavaliers went with what, in my opinion, is their best five without LeBron James to start the fourth quarter: Mo Williams, Delonte West, Jamario Moon, Anderson Varejao, and Shaquille O'Neal. The goal was clear: get the ball to Shaq and get the Mavericks over the limit in fouls. The result was three foul calls in the first three minutes that set the Cavaliers up nicely if things got tight at the end. Luckily, it didn't come to a foul shooting contest as the Cavaliers extended their lead. I really like this strategy, especially when LeBron is out of the game, early in the quarter.

goes to: Delonte West, Anderson Varejao, and Mo Williams. Delonte's surprise return in the late first quarter sparked the Cavaliers. West's 10 point, 4 rebound, 10 assist, 0 turnover effort was his best of the season. Varejao's great 8-point third gave the wine and gold a boost. He finished with 15 points on a perfect 7-of-7 from the field, 9 rebounds (5 offensive), and 2 assists. Williams led the scoring barrage all night and drilled several key jumpers. Mo shot an ultra-efficient 9-of-12 including 7-of-7 from three for his 25 points in 35 minutes.

Team Grade: A

The Cavaliers cooled off one of the hottest teams in the league on a back-to-back after an incredibly disappointing loss to the Bobcats. The Cavaliers did it the right way tonight, outscoring the Mavs in the paint 54-26 and hitting 9-of-13 three pointers. There was no need for 28 three point attempts tonight. Five Cavaliers were in double digits, and seven scored eight or more points.

The Cavaliers take on another tough West foe in the Phoenix Suns Wednesday night at the Q.

All for one. One for all.

Kirk

Comments (0)

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment