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Find out the scoop on the CAVS from award-winning sports writer Bob Finnan.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Game 45: Pelicans at Cavs

NEW ORLEANS PELICANS (19-25) 100, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (16-29) 89
Quicken Loans Arena
Tuesday
Radio/TV: WTAM (1100 AM)/Fox Sports Ohio

WHAT HAPPENED?: The Pelicans have won three in a row. They are missing three key performers, yet they play hard.

Coach Monty Williams doesn't allow them not to. They have a superstar player like the Cavs. Yet, he's about winning. Power forward Anthony Davis is such an impressive player.

Like Kyrie Irving said, "He plays the right way."

Davis had 30 points, seven rebounds and eight blocks. He's so long. He's leading the league in blocked shots.

It didn't help that Anderson Varejao was out of the lineup for the Cavs. He's their best defender and would have guarded the 6-10 Davis for much of the game.

Tristan Thompson was absolutely no match for "The Unibrow." Thompson had five points and five rebounds in 32 minutes. It was a night where he was really needed, too, with Varejao out of the lineup.

We're heard the same old talk from Coach Mike Brown game after game. They didn't play hard. How many times is he going to say that? Do something about it. Shake things up.

Forward Anthony Bennett played his butt off tonight with 15 points and eight rebounds in 30 minutes. All were career highs (the rebounds tied his previous high). He's going to be a good player in this league in time. Play the darn kid. Are the Cavs that much better with Earl Clark in the rotation?

Bennett, the No. 1 pick in the draft, should have been playing all along. That's the only way he's going to get better.

The Cavs finished 1-4 in this five-game homestand. This was supposed to be the homestand that spring-boarded their playoff push. I can't believe I even wrote that. This was the homestand that showed what the Cavs are all about.

They don't play as a team. It's all individual stuff.

Now they embark on a three-game road trip that starts in New York and goes through Houston and Dallas. Can they salvage one game on this trip?

Forward Luol Deng was really bad on Tuesday. He had six points, two rebounds and shot 3 of 10 from the field. From afar, he looks like he's lost some of his athleticism. He gets by with his basketball IQ and savvy. It's something to keep your eye on.

Time is running out on the Cavs making their playoff push. It might not ever come.

UP NEXT: The Cavs travel to New York at 8 p.m. Thursday at Madison Square Garden.

STARTERS
SF Luol Deng (6-9, 220) vs. Al-Farouq Aminu (6-9, 215)
PF Tristan Thompson (6-9, 236) vs. Anthony Davis (6-10, 220)
C Tyler Zeller (7-0, 250) vs. Alexis Ajinca (7-2, 228)
SG C.J. Miles (6-6, 231) vs. Eric Gordon (6-4, 215)
PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Brian Roberts (6-1, 173)
INACTIVE LIST
Cavs - C Anderson Varejao, G Carrick Felix
Pelicans - F Ryan Anderson
OFFICIALS
Marc Davis, Dick Bavetta, Matt Boland

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