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Photo: Nam Y. Huh/AP
For three straight games, the Cavaliers have faced teams in their own division, and for three straight games they have sleep-walked against them for long stretches even though each team is dealing with significant injuries to key starters. But, each of the games ended in a wine and gold win, stretching the current win streak to six and shrinking the magic number for homecourt thoughout the playoffs to nine. Once again, LeBron James took the team on his back in a thrilling fourth quarter, but it should have been a blowout considering the Bulls were missing arguably their three best players.
Doesn't get much worse: It isn't too much fun to be a Chicago Bulls fan right now. First, you trade two key contributors (Tyrus Thomas and John Salmons) to other Eastern Conference playoff contenders. Then, you suffer injuries to your three best players in Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, and the always obnoxious Joakim Noah. Finally, you lose ten (and counting) in a row and are in danger of dropping out of the playoff picture. This is essentially the same team that gave the Celtics all they could handle as a 7 seed in last year's most entertaining playoff series, but things haven't worked out for Vinny Del Negro. The result? Well, you've got to believe that Vinny Del Negro is on the hot seat to get this team to the playoffs.
Diaper dandy: In at least one facet, this Dickie V term fits LeBron James, who after scoring his third point in tonight's game became the NBA's youngest player to 15,000 points, eclipsing Kobe Bryant's mark by 1 year, 67 days. LeBron's list of accomplishments simply grows by the day, but this is quite significant, because if he manages another 15,000 points, he is looking at being a top five all-time scorer.
Mo says, "Let's go!": Mo Williams started the game with a fantastic showing, scoring the wine and gold's first ten points on four first quarter field goals. It continues to be a struggle to find Gotti the consistent shots he was used to in the pre-Jamison days, but it's nice to see Mo a nice start to a game to go with a couple of strong finishes he's had since Antawn came aboard. Perhaps Mo's scoring display was because instead of having to guard the impossible Derrick Rose, his assignment was Jannero Pargo.
The Rise of Taj: In three games against Cleveland, rookie forward Taj Gibson has been very productive. That streak continued tonight when the Cavalier bigs repeatedly lost Gibson underneath the basket and around the perimeter for open jumpers. Taj matched Mo's first quarter points with 10, and he finished with the most productive night on the team with 20 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block in 38 minutes. Gibson's output significantly slowed after both Leon Powe and Anderson Varejao checked in for Jamison and Hickson late first quarter.
Bench players in isolation: Using their bench players in isolation sets is something that is becoming more of a common occurrence with LeBron James off the floor and even with him out there at times. Delonte West has always been a worthy candidate of such plays, but the Cavs have been taking extra care to get guys like Jawad Williams and Leon Powe 1-on-1 looks also. West and Jawad each had 10 points off the bench, while Powe had a very active evening with 7 points and 8 rebounds in 19 minutes. Guys off the bench will continue to be the X-factors that can trump the performance of other team's benches during the playoffs, taking some of the pressure off LeBron, Mo, Jamison, and Shaq.
Finish them!: That was my battlecry in the second and third quarters, not wanting the Cavaliers to have to play 48 minutes once again against inferior competition. Alas, my cries fell on deaf ears. The Cavs did just enough to keep a lead, allowing the decimated Bulls to play with them for three quarters. What followed was the Bulls raising their game a bit, and the Cavaliers fell behind early in the fourth quarter by one at the 8:04 mark. Cleveland's defense simply wasn't doing enough to affect the game given Chicago's limited offensive ability. The Bulls got a lift from their new bench, a who's who of NBA bench guys, of Flip Murray, Hakim Warrick, and Acie Law, who came up with 25 points between them. Leaving LeBron on the bench for five minutes to start the quarter as the Bulls took the lead was silly in my opinion, but perhaps Coach Brown wanted to challenge his players a bit. When LeBron came back in the game with 7:03 to play, things started to turn in Cleveland's favor.
Winning, aka "wake up", time: From the point LeBron checked back in the game, the Cavaliers outscored Chicago 18-10, and LeBron came up with 13 of those points by himself. As has been this week's theme, LBJ wouldn't let his team go down against one of these weak Central foes. James posted 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting and 3 rebounds in those seven minutes, and even though he jacked up a couple of careless three pointers (I thought we were done with those for a while), he did make the offense run and got effective shots. Quite simply, when LeBron put his mind to it, the Bulls never had a chance.
 goes to: LeBron James and Leon Powe. LeBron gets a game ball for obvious reasons stated above, including his 13 point fourth quarter finish. Powe gets one because I am so intrigued by his ability to draw fouls and impact the game while obviously still suffering through recovering from the knee injury. Seriously, have you seen Powe run? My mom jokes that his nickname should be "Cow Powe" because it looks like he is running with a load of crap in his shorts. I contend that he runs like one of his legs is shorter than the other, in a gallop so to speak. Either way, Powe's 7 points and 8 boards in 19 minutes to go with improved defense on Taj Gibson is enough in my book for him to run however he chooses.
Team Grade: C
Well, this is the Cavs' third straight C, and it shouldn't surprise anyone by my tone in this article. Cleveland shot just 41% and had 17 turnovers, allowing the young Bulls to hang around for the entire game. But, on a positive note, the team did shot 24-of-28 at the line (86%), won the battle of the boards 53-41, and held the Bulls to 39% shooting.
The Cavs end their four straight games of Central Division basketball with a game against the Detroit Pistons in the Q on Sunday night. Perhaps they can use this game to sharpen their axes for the grind that lies ahead to finish out the season. Recall, the Cavs magic number to clinch homecourt throughout the playoffs is nine, meaning a 9-3 finish will get the job done.
All for one. One for all.
Kirk
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