Last night the Cavs lost to the Knicks in a very winnable game 93 to 97. Not that the Cavs can win every game, but this one, against a team that was ten games under 0.500, was frustrating. The Cavs move to three games back of the division leading Detroit Pistons. LeBron and company had this one in their grasp, but they never took control of the game. When it came time to get one last stop, as the Cavs trailed by one point with about thirty seconds left in the fourth quarter, Stephon Marbury shot a three-point prayer over Sasha Pavlovic that bounced around the rim for what seemed like 10 seconds before dropping in.
It was a lucky shot that needed a lot of rolls and bounces to go in, but that lucky shot at the end wasn't where the game was lost. And sure, this game was the second night of consecutive road games that had the Cavs traveling from Indianapolis to New York. The problem is the way in which the Cavs lost the game and what it could mean for the Cavs' readiness for the playoffs.
The Cavs got out-hustled all night long. They were out-rebounded 48 to 35. The Knicks have huge injury problems that only got worse during the game. Jamal Crawford, David Lee and Quentin Richardson were out before game time, and Steve Francis went down to a sprained ankle during the first quarter. With all those injuries, the Cavs still didn't have the defensive wherewithall to stop the few guys left to hurt them.
Marbury got his 16 points with the last three-pointer being especially dagger-like. They gave up 12 points to a diminutive Nate Robinson. Worst of all, they gave up 25 points to a bloated Eddy Curry. I know Eddy Curry has some skills and all, but when you have a trio of big men like Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao, one might expect your team to be able to stop the likes of Eddy Curry. He isn't exactly Shaq in his prime.
Article comments
1 - RJ
Good post.
It looks like the Pistons are gonna get the #1 seed. Of course, the Pistons are arguably a better road team than they are a home team this season, so that's probably not that big of an advantage for them...
The Heat are probably going to sneak up and snag the #2 seed. And that's bad news for the rest of the Eastern Conference...
Cleveland will land either a #4 or #5 seed (with Toronto being #3), and end up facing Chicago either way. And they should be able to handle Chicago either way...
RJ's Eastern Conference Playoff predictions:
#1 Detroit over #8 Orlando 4-2
#2 Miami over #7 NJ 4-1
#6 Washington over #3 Toronto 4-2
#5 Cleveland over #4 Chicago 4-2
Thoughts, comments?
2 - Q Bit
I concur -- good post CL. And I don't think CC are ready for the playoffs either; in other words we won't see them playing in the East finals (getting to the semis can't be called progress--they were there last year), let alone the NBA finals.
Now for the match-ups. I don't think it would be easy for LeBron et al to beat the Bulls. It's a 50-50 series, could go either way. I would prefer to put my money on Bulls, because they play def, and Cavaliers are often lost in off.
RJ, as usual is spot on otherwise.
Is there a way to put my Raptors into the semis?