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Photo: Ron Cortes/Philadelphia Inquirer
It took a Herculean effort from LeBron James, a 76er field goal dry spell, and two clutch field goals by Mo Williams (his only two of the game), but the Cavaliers bumped the current win streak to four with a seven-point victory when they trailed the Sixers with under five minutes to play.
Welcome back: Delonte West returned after a one-game stint on the inactive list for the all-too-familiar personal reasons to play in the arena closest to where he played college ball at St. Joseph's. West saw 23 minutes of action, finishing with 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist, and 1 block.
Never-ending changes for the ragtag Sixers: Coach Eddie Jordan's team seems to be in constant flux. With the recent addition of Allen Iverson, they have now gone to a small starting lineup, sending Elton Brand to the bench, moving the athletic forward Thaddeus Young to the four spot, and employing a backcourt of rookie Jrue Holiday, Iverson, and Andre Iguodala. Brand has been a disappointment of epic proportions for this team, and he will take a large amount of the blame for why this team isn't better. Honestly, this team should be competitive, but they are clearly not anywhere in the vicinity of that right now. The small lineup was actually a nice option against the Cavaliers, however, as they have recently struggled in the transition game, especially on the defensive end. Philly racked up 30 fast break points compared to just 14 of them for Cleveland, and they had some high-flying finishes courtesy of Andre Iguodala.
Seeing A.I. to A.I.: Both A.I.s (Iverson and Iguodala) did pretty well against the Cavaliers tonight. Iverson shot just 4-of-12, but he was a perfect 8-of-8 at the line to help his 16 point, 6 rebound, 5 assist night. The problem with Iverson at this point in the game is he still needs lots of shots and lots of minutes and a starting spot to give you his historic production, and his skills are obviously on the downward slope. The Sixers were -11 with him on the court tonight. As for Iguodala, he doesn't get a lot of attention nationally, but he is a fantastic player. His issue seems to be consistency, but when he's on, he can go toe-to-toe with the LeBrons, Kobes, D-Wades, and Durants in the league. Iguodala had a fine evening, notching 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Iguodala had 10 fourth quarter points, while Iverson had zero. Factor in the shot volume in which Iguodala scored 10 more points than Iverson, and you see why these two A.I.s are heading in opposite directions.
A defensive rebounding team with a basketball problem: The only thing that has been as irritating as the Cavaliers' turnovers woes lately is their defensive rebounding. They've been letting smaller, less talented teams attack the offensive glass and reap the benefits. Tonight was another fine example as the smaller, yet more athletic Sixers grabbed 17 offensive boards. To be fair, it seemed like the Sixers were using the airball as a ploy to get offensive rebounds as they had at least three putbacks off them in the second half. Thaddeus Young had 6 offensive boards, and center Samuel Dalembert had 4 of them. With Shaq and Z, the Cavaliers have trouble with young, athletic bigs sometimes. With J.J., they struggle in this area because he doesn't always box out his man when he's off in whatever universe he goes to when he plays poorly. The Cavaliers need to put a stop to this trend now, because teams out west like the Lakers, Suns, and Mavs will mop the floor with us if they get the kind of interior looks that Philadelphia got.
He did what?: Trailing by three with under five minutes left, LeBron stole the ball and dribbled up the floor with Iguodala in front of him. At about halfcourt, James dribbled it off of Iguodala's foot, and he sprinted after the ball into the corner. When he got there, he set his feet and buried a corner three to tie the game, and the Cavaliers would not trail for the rest of the game. Plays like that have disaster written all over them most of the time, and LBJ has had his share of those go against him as well, but you just can't put a price on the special ability he has to make a play like that work.
Gotti saves the day: After missing his first six shots from the floor and sitting for nearly nine minutes in the late third and early fourth quarters, Mo Williams bailed the Cavaliers out late. His back-to-back jumpers (one a three-pointer) with 3:23 and 2:41 to go gave the wine and gold the lead for good. Mo sat for a long period in favor of Delonte West likely because of Philadelphia's backcourt speed, Iverson and Holiday in particular. Mo's no stranger to taking the big shots, even on a night where things aren't going his way, but to his credit, he isn't afraid of the pressure or the challenge. That's why I feel he is much more poised for the big games that lie ahead throughout this season.
 goes to: LeBron James. LBJ's 36 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block were paramount to the Cavalier win. He also scored 13 fourth quarter points, outdueling Iguodala in that area 13-10. There are some nights where LeBron's numbers get overlooked (by those outside of ESPN, anyway), but tonight there was no question he was the difference maker.
Team Grade: C-
The Cavaliers turned it over just eight times tonight (three from LeBron), hit 9-of-15 treys, and got to the line an impressive 40 times, hitting 31 of them. But, some of the issues remain as they gave up 30 fastbreak points and 17 offensive rebounds. The team came out focused for an 11-2 start, but their focus waned until late in the fourth quarter, where they held Philly to just one field goal in the last 5:50 of the game. The Cavaliers need to get things together fast, because that five-game west coast roadtrip looms on the horizon.
The Cavaliers have one more test before the west coast swing, the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night at the Q. I will be making my first (but hopefully not last) venture to the Q on Friday. Let's hope the Cavaliers re-group so they can take care of a division foe with relative ease.
All for one. One for all.
Kirk
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