tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52297605988390474732024-02-20T13:23:23.563-05:00Cleveland Cavaliers BlogFind out the scoop on the CAVS from award-winning sports writer Bob Finnan.News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.comBlogger855125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-3654829327961580542015-06-16T09:43:00.002-04:002015-06-17T02:26:58.373-04:00Game 6: Warriors at Cavs<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 6</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">NBA FINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (4-2) 105, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (2-4) 97</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><b>Quicken Loans </b></span></span><b style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">Arena</b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tues</span></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">day</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: ABC</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. Well, it's over. The Warriors closed out the series in six games. They won the last three games of the series to win, 4-2. The best team won the series. There's no question about that. The Warriors had superior talent. Other than LeBron James, of course.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. James averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists in the Finals. It's the first time an NBA player averaged those numbers for a playoff series. He also became the first player to lead both teams in scoring, rebounding and assists during the NBA Finals.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. If the Cavs had all their players, perhaps they could have won a title. Now, it's going to be a challenge to bring back this entire unit. The odds are that it won't happen. But they do need to bring back the Big Three, and as many of the key role players are possible. The Cavs could very well be back in the Finals again next season. They can be that good.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. I truly believe when Steve Kerr made the adjustment of going small for Game 4, that's when the momentum shifted in the Warriors' favor. They won the final three games of the series to close out the Cavs.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">5. The Finals' MVP race came down to three players: Stephen Curry, James and the eventual winner, Andre Iguodala. He accepted the trophy from Bill Russell after the game. I kept waiting for him to falter in this series, and he never did. He made James work extremely hard in the series. He held James under 40 percent shooting in the series. He was 13 of 33 from the field in Game 6.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
6. <span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Curry just kept getting better as the series progressed. Matthew Dellavedova became less of a factor as the series progressed. I think it was never fair the way Delly was put on this pedestal early on in this series. It just set him up to fail. Let's face it, he's a backup point guard, a role player. He was undrafted for a reason. He's not real athletic and not terribly skilled. His best skill is his ability to play physical and hustle. Heck, he'll be a restricted free agent this summer. The Cavs can't go nuts trying to sign him. They do need to upgrade that position because you know Kyrie Irving is going to miss some games.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. Speaking of getting paid, Tristan Thompson had his fourth consecutive double-double with 15 points, 13 rebounds and a block. He averaged 13.8 rebounds in the Finals.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. Guard J.R. Smith had 15 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter. He made the final score more respectable. It was his best game of the Finals. He was a big disappointment in the Finals. It's not a good thing when he's your second-best offensive player. He's a complementary players and that's all he should be.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">9. We all probably remember the Rick Barry-led Warriors winning the 1975 title. But the Warriors also won the Basketball Association of America title in 1946-47 under coach/owner Eddie Gottlieb. They also won the NBA crown in 1955-56, the second year of the 24-second clock.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">10. Iguodala averaged 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the Finals to win MVP honors. He also shot 52 percent from the field.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">STARTERS</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Andre Iguodala (6-6, 215</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Harrison Barnes (6-8, 225)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Draymond Green (6-7, 230)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Klay Thompson (6-7, 215)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Matthew Dellavedova (6-4, 200) vs. Stephen Curry (6-3, 190)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Warriors - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">C Ognjen Kuzmic, G Brandon Rush</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b><br />
Scott Foster, Marc Davis, Zach Zarba<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-48871607895110034312015-06-14T11:08:00.001-04:002015-06-15T01:12:57.981-04:00Game 5: Cavs at Warriors<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 5</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">NBA FINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (3-2) 104, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (2-3) 91</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><b>Oracle </b></span></span><b style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">Arena</b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sun</span></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">day</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: ABC</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. This was actually the Cavaliers' first two-game losing streak in the playoffs. The Warriors want to come to Cleveland and close it out on Tuesday. The Cavs don't want that to happen at The Q, much less anywhere.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. LeBron James played in beast mode for much of the night: 40 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists and a steal in 45 minutes. However, the Cavs needed more from their supporting cast. Tristan Thompson did have 19 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. They needed more from the others. JR Smith had 14 points, but all were in the first half. Iman Shumpert added 10 points and five rebounds.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. It looked like Smith was going to have a big night. But he fizzled after halftime when the Cavs needed him most. Once again, the Cavs shot under 40 percent (39.5). They've shot under 40 percent in three games in the series. It's the Cavs that is supposed to have the suffocating defense. In this series, it's been Golden State.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. The Cavs got outrebounded by the Warriors, 43-37, despite the fact Golden State played small the entire game. The Warriors also had the edge in offensive rebounds, 11-10. It seemed like Golden State got several key offensive rebounds when it mattered most.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">5. James' numbers in the series: 36.6 points, 12.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists. He also has two triple-doubles. He could be only the second player to win MVP honors on a losing team - if the Cavs don't win the last two games. The other one was Lakers guard Jerry W</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">est in 1969.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Warriors forward Andre Iguodala has been downright impressive in this series. Not only is he making James work for everything he gets, he outscored him in Game 4, 22-20. No one was expecting that kind of performance by Iguodala, who flirted with a triple-double himself tonight with 14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. The bald-face lie by Steve Kerr got kind of brushed under the rug before Game 4. He said Andrew Bogut would start, knowing his nose was growing as he said it. He didn't want to tip off the Cavs. I lost respect for him with that stunt.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. Blatt lengthened his bench for Game 5. He played Mike Miller almost 14 minutes. He had to do that just to get by. He couldn't play all of his players almost 40 minutes ever game.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Game 6, NBA Finals, at Cleveland, Quicken Loans Arena, June 16, 9 p.m.</span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">STARTERS</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Andre Iguodala (6-6, 215</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Harrison Barnes (6-8, 225)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Draymond Green (6-7, 230)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Klay Thompson (6-7, 215)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Matthew Dellavedova (6-4, 200) vs. Stephen Curry (6-3, 190)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Warriors - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">C Ognjen Kuzmic, G Brandon Rush</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b><br />
Monty McCutchen, James Capers, Jason Phillips<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-63488953141785945392015-06-11T16:42:00.003-04:002015-06-12T02:03:20.701-04:00Game 4: Warriors at Cavs<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 4</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">NBA FINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (2-2) 103, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (2-2) 82</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><b>Quicken Loans </b></span></span><b style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">Arena</b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thurs</span></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">day</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: ABC</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. The Cavaliers might be in trouble. The Warriors made the first major adjustment in the series, and changed the whole complexion of the NBA Finals. Coach Steve Kerr went small with his starting lineup, and the Cavs didn't adjust to it all night. OK, they did when they moved out to a 7-0 lead, but then things got ugly.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. What the move did was spread the floor. It gave them open looks at the 3-point line. It gave them driving lanes. The Cavs appeared to be in scramble mode on defense the whole night. The Warriors got open looks. They created mismatches all over the floor. The Cavs kept their big men on the floor, but it created mismatches like 7-1 Timofey Mozgov covering 6-6 Andre Iguodala. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. Warriors guard </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Stephen Curry is finally playing like the league's MVP. He had 22 points and six assists. He made 4 of 7 from the 3-point line. Cavs guard Matthew Dellavedova wasn't nearly as effective on the defensive end as he was in the previous games. Curry got a bit physical with Delly, as well. The Warriors put their foot down. There were tired of being pushed around by the Cavs. They battled. They fought. Draymond Green likened it to a street fight.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. That great defense by the Cavs wasn't there in Game 4. The Warriors shot 47 percent from the field and 40 percent from the 3-point line. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">The Cavs limited them to 97.3 points per game in the first three games. They averaged a league-high 110 during the regular season.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">5. The Cavs proved they can't win unless LeBron James has a huge game. Twenty points, 12 rebounds and eight assists won't get it done. They also proved they can't keep the Warriors in check unless James is on the court. He sat out the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, and Golden State immediately left them in the dust. Game, set, match.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">6. James got stitches in his head after ramming into the camera on the sideline. He wouldn't say how many he got, however. It gave him a headache. "It's the same kind you'd get if any of you ran into a camera," he said.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">7. Timofey Mozgov's 28 points were the most by a Cavs center in the playoffs since Brad Daugherty in 1992. Daugherty had 40 points and 16 rebounds vs. New Jersey. Mozgov was quite good, but the Warriors knew he couldn't beat them by himself.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">8. Everyone has been waiting for J.R. Smith to have a good game. They are still waiting. He had four points in Game 4. He was 2 of 12 from the field and 0 of 8 from the 3-point line. How would you assess your game in the NBA Finals? "Horse(bleep)," Smith said.</span></span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Game 5, NBA Finals, at Oakland, Oracle Arena, June 14, 8 p.m.</span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">STARTERS</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Andre Iguodala (6-6, 215</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Harrison Barnes (6-8, 225)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Draymond Green (6-7, 230)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Klay Thompson (6-7, 215)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Matthew Dellavedova (6-4, 200) vs. Stephen Curry (6-3, 190)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Warriors - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">C Ognjen Kuzmic, G Brandon Rush</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b><br />
Joe Crawford, Mike Callahan, Ken Mauer<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-79274197376672758592015-06-09T12:01:00.001-04:002015-06-10T16:22:06.613-04:00Game 3: Warriors at Cavs<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 3</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">NBA FINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (2-1) 96, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (1-2) 91</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><b>Quicken Loans </b></span></span><b style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">Arena</b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tues</span></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">day</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: ABC</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. What more can one say about LeBron James? He's averaging more than 40 points a game in this series. He's taking a lot of shots, but who's counting? He's taken his game to another level. Unfortunately for the Warriors, they aren't able to go with him. One thing in Golden State's favor coming into this series was it had several players who could guard James. Well, Andre Iguodala is the only one who has had any success. Harrison Barnes hasn't made a dent in James' game, and neither has Draymond Green. Green has more than his hands full with Tristan Thompson, who is averaging 14 rebounds a game in this series. James is going to be MVP of the NBA Finals for the third time in his illustrious career.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. Let me get this out of the way now, the longer this series goes on, the more I dislike Green. I respect his game. He's a very good player. I just don't like the way he operates. He's a tough guy and set a mean screen on Iman Shumpert, who injured his left shoulder on the play. I'd bring Kendrick Perkins in just for a couple plays. I want to see Green get "tough" with Perk. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. Here's the one thing that concerns me: Stephen Curry got it going in the fourth quarter with 17 of his 27 points. He finally looked like the player that won the MVP award. He said he saw something that allowed him to attack the pick-and-roll a little more efficiently. The Warriors exploded for 36 points in the fourth - twice as many as they scored in the third. Now, if suddenly the Warriors catch fire, this could be a whole new series.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. Curry said they expect to come out strong in Game 4 and try to tie the series at 2-2. The Cavs have to sell out to win Thursday's game. Play like it's Game 7. They'd love to go up 3-1 before heading back to California. The Warriors are not going down easy. They are just too good a team.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">5. Cavs guard Matthew Dellavedova failed to come to the postgame interview area. The Cavs say he was being treated for severe cramps at the Cleveland Clinic. He got IV treatments. He played so well with a postseason career high 20 points, five rebounds and four assists. He had just two turnovers in 39 minutes. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. Delly made Curry work extremely hard once again. The MVP also turned the ball over six times. That's 12 miscues now in his last two games. That's got to bother him as much as his sub-par shooting.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. The Cavs might have really dodged a bullet with the shoulder injury to Shumpert. "Guys set screens and you usually go shoulder to shoulder a lot, and that time it hurt a little bit more than usual," Shump said. We're assuming he can play on Thursday. We don't know for sure, but this guy is tough as nails. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. The Cavs got 17 points from their bench in Game 3 - 10 by JR Smith and seven by James Jones. They need to keep getting solid contributions from the bench. The Cavs are waiting for Smith to have one of his breakout games where he drops in about seven 3-pointers. It hasn't happened yet.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">9. Their defensive intensity has been fantastic in their series. They held the Warriors to 40 percent shooting. They also limited Golden State to 37 points in the first half - their lowest-scoring half of the season. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">10. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Since Jan. 19, the Cavs are an NBA-best 27-2 at The Q, including 9-0 vs. the Western Conference. They need two more wins for the NBA title. I'm starting to feel it.</span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Game 4, NBA Finals, at Cleveland, Quicken Loans Arena, June 11, 9 p.m.</span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">STARTERS</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Harrison Barnes (6-8, 225</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Draymond Green (6-7, 230)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Andrew Bogut (7-0, 260)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Klay Thompson (6-7, 215)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Matthew Dellavedova (6-4, 200) vs. Stephen Curry (6-3, 190)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Warriors - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">C Ognjen Kuzmic, G Brandon Rush</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b><br />
Danny Crawford, Marc Davis, Derrick Stafford<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-43590541605876210002015-06-07T13:24:00.001-04:002015-06-08T01:16:48.275-04:00Game 2: Cavs at Warriors<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 2</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">NBA FINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (1-1) 95, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (1-1) 93, OT</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><b>Oracle </b></span></span><b style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">Arena</b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sun</span></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">day</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: ABC</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. There's not much analysis needed for this game. The Cavs were desperate for a victory. Some didn't agree with me that this was a must-win. Try going down 0-2 to a talented team like Golden State and see where it gets you. The Cavs are one LeBron James/Iman Shumpert jumper away from being up 2-0 in this series. Of course, Golden State feels the same way.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. This was the Cavs' first ever win in the NBA Finals. They were swept in the Finals in 2007 by San Antonio. Now, the Cavs are coming home to The Q. James wants the Cleveland fans to be louder than they've ever been. He credited Golden State with having a great home crowd, but he wants The Q to be even better. It's going to be a wild ride in this series. The fans can help the Cavs win a couple games in the Finals.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. The Cavs will be playing without </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">point guard Kyrie Irving for the rest of the series. He had surgery on Saturday to repair his broken knee cap. The injury happened in overtime when he bumped knees with Klay Thompson. As quickly as that, their chances of winning the series decreased dramatically. Just don't tell that to the Cavs. They don't believe it. Whenever they hear it, they get more fired up.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. As long as James keeps playing the way he has, they are going to be hard to beat. They have to keep getting contributions from role players like J.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Timofey Mozgov, James Jones and Matthew Dellavedova. The season is actually hanging in the balance with that group of players. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">5. Delly, of course, is the Cavs' new starting point guard. He was getting shredded by Klay Thompson early in the game. He shifted over to MVP Stephen Curry, and helped shut him down. This is the league's premiere backcourt. They can get their shots off so quickly. You really have to crowd them at the 3-point line and hope they don't drive to the basket. Curry had 19 points, but had a terrible night shooting. He was 5 of 23 from the field, 2 of 15 from the 3-point line. He said it won't happen again.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">The Cavs are confident they can win the series. They almost have to win both games in Cleveland to do it. They are capable of doing that, too, especially with the crazy fans.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. This marks the first time in NBA Finals history the first two games of the series went into overtime.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. The Cavs led by 11 points, 83-72, with 3:14 left in the fourth quarter. The Warriors were back in the game at a snap of a finger. They are so explosive.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">9. It was the fifth triple-double of James' NBA Finals career. He has 13 in the playoffs in his career. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">10. The Warriors scored 14 points in the third quarter, their lowest output in a quarter in the playoffs this year.</span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Game 3, at Cleveland, NBA Finals, June 9, 9 p.m.</span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">STARTERS</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Harrison Barnes (6-8, 225</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Draymond Green (6-7, 230)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Andrew Bogut (7-0, 260)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Klay Thompson (6-7, 215)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Matthew Dellavedova (6-4, 200) vs. Stephen Curry (6-3, 190)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Warriors - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">C Ognjen Kuzmic, G Brandon Rush</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b><br />
Scott Foster, Tony Brothers, Zach Zarba<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-74898614949945477842015-06-04T10:19:00.002-04:002015-06-05T01:57:32.462-04:00Game 1: Cavs at Warriors<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 1</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">NBA FINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (1-0) 108, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (0-1) 100, OT</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><b>Oracle </b></span></span><b style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">Arena</b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thurs</span></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">day</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: ABC</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. We'll now enter the Kyrie Irving stage. Will he play? Won't he play? Will he sit out a game or two? He left the arena on crutches with a left knee injury. Coach David Blatt said he didn't collide with another player. It just kind of happened. It's reportedly not a torn ACL. He'll have an MRI on Friday. If I had to guess right now, I'd say he won't play.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. That means we'll see a lot of Matthew Dellavedova. Like 45 mintues of him. And don't expect him to score anywhere close to 23 points (what Irving scored in Game 1). It could be the difference in this series. Without a healthy Irving, the Cavs weren't going to win any way. They needed his scoring to get past Golden State. Now, if he misses even one game, the Cavs might not be able to recover. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. LeBron James was very good in Game 1. He had 44 points, his playoff high this season. But it wasn't enough. He took 38 shots to get those 44 points. Afterward, he said he didn't play a great game. He settled for outside jumpers too much. His shot at the end of regulation was exactly what the Warriors wanted him to take. When he's attacking the basket, he's difficult to defend. Still, had his last-second shot fallen, everyone's feelings would be different today.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. The Cavs are officially in desperation mode. The news on Irving is depressing enough. But falling behind after Game 1 is a downer. If they fall behind 0-2 against this team, forget it. The Warriors are just too good. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">5. The Warriors got several good performances from their bench players, including Andre Iguodala (15 points) and Marreese Speights (eight points). The Cavs were outscored off the bench, 34-9. All nine points came from JR Smith. None of them came after halftime.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. If Irving can't play, even more will be heaped on James' shoulders. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">He'll be asked to run the offense, call some of the plays, executive the game plan and spearhead the defense. I do know he didn't drive the team bus to Oracle Arena tonight, but it's a wonder. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. James isn't a guy you'll have to worry about. He's built to perform in games like this. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">James became the first player in NBA history to average at least 30 points, 11.0 rebounds and 9.0 assists in a playoff series vs. the Hawks. He could average 40 points against the Warriors and the Cavs might still lose.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">. Delly is big man on campus out here. He's getting a lot of attention since he played at nearby St. Mary's. He'd had a magical run in this postseason so far. He'll need for it to continue. He played just 9:23 tonight and didn't score. Heck, he didn't even take a shot. Now, the Cavs might ask him to start in the biggest game of the season against MVP Stephen Curry. Somehow, that's not fair.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">9. The Cavs' defense didn't slow down Golden State's backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. They combined to score 47 points and pull down 10 rebounds. They got off to a slow start, but finished fast.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">10</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">. The Cavs had their seven-game playoff winning streak snapped. They had also won 14 of their last 15 against </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">against the Western Conference. None of that stuff matters now. The Cavs have to win Game 2 to have a chance in this series. The Cavs are now 12-3 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">overall in the postseason this year.</span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Game 2, at Golden State, NBA Finals, June 7, 8 p.m.</span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">STARTERS</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Harrison Barnes (6-8, 225</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Draymond Green (6-7, 230)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Andrew Bogut (7-0, 260)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Klay Thompson (6-7, 215)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Stephen Curry (6-3, 190)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Warriors - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">C Ognjen Kuzmic, G Brandon Rush</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b><br />
Monty McCutchen, James Capers, Jason Phillips<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-52340718620641680952015-05-26T11:40:00.001-04:002015-05-27T01:05:47.421-04:00Game 4: Hawks at Cavs<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 4</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (4-0) 118, ATLANTA HAWKS (0-4) 88</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><b>Quicken Loans </b></span></span><b style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">Arena</b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tues</span></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">day</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: TNT</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. The Cavs knew what they were doing by bringing back Kyrie Irving on this night. They knew it elicit a huge response from the already fired-up fans. And it did. Irving will now have until June 4 to rest that achy knee.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. They pulled out all the stops tonight to get the crowd jacked up. They showed Browns tackle Joe Thomas. They brought former Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George out to say a few words. They flashed injured Kevin Love on the big screen. They knew what they were doing. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to average at least 30 points, 11.0 rebounds and 9.0 assists in a playoff series. If it looked like he was dominant in this series, obviously, he was. The Hawks had no answer for him defensively. They tried to defend him, just didn't have the personnel to do so. If it's Golden State that comes out of the West, the Warriors have several players that can guard James: Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes. It's not going to be easy.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. James was very emotional after the game. He refused to guarantee a victory in the NBA Finals. He did guarantee one thing: They will play their asses off. They've been playing so hard for such a long time now. The Cleveland fans love how hard they play. They're hard-working fans and a hard-working team. It's a good combination.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">5. James' two steals moved him into seventh place on the NBA's all-time playoff list, surpassing Mo Cheeks (295) and Larry Bird (296). </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. It was the fifth time in franchise history, the Cavs have held a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven series. On every occasion (2007 vs. Washington, 2009 vs. Detroit, 2009 vs. Atlanta, 2015 vs. Boston and 2015 vs. Atlanta), the Cavs completed the four-game sweep. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">The Cavs' defense has been outstanding in the postseason. They've limited their opponents to 41.8 percent shooting in the postseason this season. They held the Hawks to 88 points, 42 percent shooting from the field and 16 percent shooting from behind the arc in Game 4. It was the fifth time they held an opponent under 90 points in the playoffs (5-0) and the third time they held a playoff foe under 20 percent shooting from behind the arc (3-0).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. The Cavs continue to bomb away from the 3-point line. They tied a franchise playoff record of 14 3-pointers in Game 3. They've made 10 or more 3-pointers in five consecutive games. They are deadly from behind the arc.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">9. It's been eight games since J.R. Smith has been coming off the bench - since he returned from his two-game suspension. In that span, he's averaged 15 points and 5.0 rebounds and is shooting 50 percent. He's also defending at a high level. He's playing outstanding basketball. He's certainly bought into what Coach David Blatt is preaching. He had his third career playoff double-double in Game 4, including two in a row.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">10. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">The Cavs are riding a seven-game winning streak into the NBA Finals. They are 12-2 overall in the postseason this year.</span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Game 1, at Golden State/Houston winner, NBA Finals, June 4, 9 p.m.</span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">STARTERS</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. DeMarre Carroll (6-8, 212</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Paul Millsap (6-8, 253)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Al Horford (6-10, 245)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Kent Bazemore (6-5, 201)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Jeff Teague (6-2, 186)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Hawks - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">G/F Thabo Sefolosha, G/F Kyle Korver</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b><br />
Danny Crawford, Marc Davis, Derrick Stafford<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-83786320255675959242015-05-25T13:05:00.001-04:002015-05-25T13:10:09.442-04:00NBA Finals schedule<h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #111111; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 3.4rem; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px 1rem 1rem 0px;">
<em style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #404040; font-size: 1.8rem;">NBA FINALS</em></h2>
<h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #111111; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 3.4rem; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px 1rem 1rem 0px;">
<em style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #404040; font-size: 1.8rem;">*If necessary — All times Eastern</em></h2>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404040; font-family: 'Droid Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 1.8rem; margin-bottom: 2.4rem; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Game 1</span> — Thursday, June 4, 9 p.m., ABC<br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Game 2</span> — Sunday, June 7, 8 p.m., ABC<br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Game 3</span> — Tuesday, June 9, 9 p.m., ABC<br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Game 4</span> — Thursday, June 11, 9 p.m., ABC<br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">*Game 5</span> — Sunday, June 14, 8 p.m., ABC<br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">*Game 6</span> — Tuesday, June 16, 9 p.m., ABC<br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">*Game 7</span> — Friday, June 19, 9 p.m., ABC</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-53214670842687462932015-05-24T11:44:00.003-04:002015-05-25T01:40:35.334-04:00Game 3: Hawks at Cavs<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 3</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (3-0) 114, ATLANTA HAWKS (0-3) 111, OT</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><b>Quicken Loans </b></span></span><b style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">Arena</b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sun</span></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">day</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: TNT</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. Team doctors evaluated the Kyrie Irving situation and made the recommendation that he should sit out for the second consecutive game. Maybe it makes sense to sit him once again in Game 4. That way, he'd have until June 4 to rest. He has tendinitis in his left knee. They certainly could have used some of his offensive punch tonight.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. LeBron James was exhausted after the game. He didn't come to the postseason press conference for almost an hour and a half after the end of the game. Coach David Blatt said James was cramping up during the game. Perhaps he was getting an IV after the game. He played almost 47 minutes - 1 minute less than a full game. He was fabulous in the game and would not let them lose.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. This was the Hawks' best chance at a win in this series. I now predict a 4-0 sweep. Atlanta would have to win four games in a row to win the series. Obviously, that's not happening. The Cavs can close them out on Tuesday, assuming their guys can still walk. Blatt is riding them hard in this series. He's got to find some guys off the bench to spell his players. They want to close out this series in Game 4. You don't want to give the Hawks any life. If you have a chance to close it out, step on their necks.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. Guard </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Matthew Dellavedova is getting a reputation as being a dirty player. The Hawks mentioned his "track record," meaning when he fell on teammate Kyle Korver and when he wrapped his feet around Chicago's Taj Gibson. I don't think he is. He just plays harder than 90 percent of the players in the league. He's a tough player, who sometimes plays like he's on a rugby field.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">5. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">What's been impressive - well, besides the way James is playing - is the Cavs' defensive intensity. They are getting after teams. They are ranked first in the NBA in just about every defensive category. That's going to give them a chance against anyone, yes, even Golden State. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. The Cavs have a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. If they continue to play as well as they have in this series, it won't be going back to Atlanta. Tonight was the eighth time in the postseason they've held their opponent under 41 percent shooting.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. When we were leaving Atlanta after Game 2, workers were tearing down the postgame interview area. There were some jokes that they won't have to worry about this any more this season. I would be mildly surprised if the series stretches past four games. The Hawks just don't have what it takes to slow down James. He continually controls the tempo in the games and gets the ball where it needs to go. DeMarre Carroll has been hanging tough guarding James in the series, but he can't stop him. As long as the Cavs keep getting contributions from their role players (J.R. Smith in Game 1, Iman Shumpert in Game 2 and Smith, Shump and Delly in Game 3), they won't be stopped in this series.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. The Hawks won 60 games this year, but many have surmised that they peaked too soon this season. This team won 19 games in a row at one point. They earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Yet, they are no match for the Cavs, and likely won't be for the rest of the series.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. The Cavs' 14 3s tied their franchise record. Both Shump and Delly made four 3s tonight.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">9. They had 19 offensive rebounds tonight, the most since May 8, 2007, vs. New Jersey. The Cavs are 11-0 in the postseason when they outrebound their opponent.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">10. James' 12 postseason triple-doubles are second most all-time behind only Magic Johnson's 30. He also moved into sixth place on the all-time postseason scoring list past Karl Malone (4,761).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Game 4, vs. Atlanta, Eastern Conference finals, The Q, Tuesday, May 26, 8:30 p.m.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">STARTERS</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. DeMarre Carroll (6-8, 212</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Paul Millsap (6-8, 253)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Al Horford (6-10, 245)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Kent Bazemore (6-5, 201)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Matthew Dellavedova (6-4, 200) vs. Jeff Teague (6-2, 186)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Hawks - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">G/F Thabo Sefolosha, G/F Kyle Korver</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b></div>
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<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
Ken Mauer, Tony Brothers, Ed Malloy<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-18060329320395630042015-05-22T16:31:00.003-04:002015-05-23T00:28:03.753-04:00Game 2: Cavs at Hawks<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 2</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (2-0) 94, ATLANTA HAWKS (0-2) 82</span></b><br />
<b style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">Philips Arena</b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Fri</span></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">day</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: TNT</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. Once again, it's become survival of the fittest. The Cavs played without point guard Kyrie Irving (tendinitis in left knee). They didn't miss him on this night, largely because his teammates made shots. Iman Shumpert (16 points), James Jones (nine points) and J.R. Smith (nine points) drained jumper after jumper. They made 12 of 30 from long range.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. Obviously, not having your point guard hurts. But as you probably know, LeBron James has been handling point guard duties for quite some time now. James dished out a game-high 11 assists. That lessened the blow of missing Irving. What Irving brings is his offensive arsenal. His expected replacement, Matthew Dellavedova, is no where near the same player. Delly got off to a slow start, but finished with 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and one steal. He had three turnovers in 37 minutes.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Some how, forward DeMarre Carroll was in the starting lineup for the Hawks. He didn't appear as pesky as he normally is on the defensive end. He's one of a handful of players in the league that can actually guard James. Guarding the four-time MVP is difficult when completely healthy. The one thing in his favor was his "junkyard dog" mentality.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. There are some who think Irving should sit in Game 3, as well. The Cavs have a 2-0 lead in the series and will get a big lift from the sold-out home crowd. They can probably get by without the three-time All-Star. They are certainly going to need him in the NBA Finals - if they get there - against either team in the Western Conference. Irving missed shootaround on Friday morning. We found out later he was visiting Dr. James Andrews in Florida. He did sit on the bench for Game 2.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">5. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Cavs swingman J.R. Smith had eight 3s in Game 1. He came back to earth in Game 2, but still played well off the bench. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. The Hawks certainly aren't panicking. "We're very confident," Carroll said. "No one is hanging their heads. We're down 0-2. It's not the end of the world." But it might be the end of the series.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. In the first two games of the series, the Cavs have outrebounded the Hawks, 96-76. It all starts with Tristan Thompson, who had 16 rebounds, one off his postseason high.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. James recorded his sixth game of 30 or more points in the postseason this season and the 74th of his career.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">9</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">. Injured center Anderson Varejao was at shootaround and looked like he was ready to play. "I wish," he said. Of course, he's still recovering from the torn Achilles. Wouldn't it be great to see him on the court?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">10. James was asked about the Hawks being desperate in Game 2. "We are just as desperate as they are," he said. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span>
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Game 3, vs. Atlanta, Eastern Conference finals, Sunday, May 24, 8:30 p.m.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">STARTERS</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. DeMarre Carroll (6-8, 212</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Paul Millsap (6-8, 253)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Al Horford (6-10, 245)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Kyle Korver (6-7, 212)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Matthew Dellavedova (6-4, 200) vs. Jeff Teague (6-2, 186)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Hawks - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">G/F Thabo Sefolosha, F Austin Daye</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b></div>
</div>
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Joe Crawford, Mike Callahan, Bill Spooner</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-46139986069971550092015-05-20T13:04:00.001-04:002015-05-21T00:44:17.237-04:00Game 1: Cavs at Hawks<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 1</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (1-0) 97, ATLANTA HAWKS (0-1) 89</span></b><br />
<b style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">Philips Arena</b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Wednes</span></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">day</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: TNT</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. The injury to keep your eye on is Hawks forward DeMarre Carroll's sprained left knee. He'll have an MRI tomorrow. Without him, the Hawks are dead meat. They don't have anyone else to guard LeBron James, other than Kent Bazemore or possibly Mike Scott. With Carroll, he'll give James a run for his money. Remember, the Hawks are already playing without Thabo Sefolosha, other top-notch defender.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Cavs swingman J.R. Smith was unconscious tonight. His 28-point effort came at the most opportune time. It was needed with Kyrie Irving getting injured once again and playing only 27 minutes. He had 10 points and six assists. He played those limited minutes, Coach David Blatt said, because he was banged up. The Cavs will get him ready for Game 2. He wants to perform at the highest level. Unfortunately, he's unable to at this point.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">LeBron James also turned his right ankle. He stepped on a cameraman's foot while running down the sideline in the third quarter. As usual, he returned to throw the hammer down on the Hawks. He's indestructible.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. Cavs center Timofey Mozgov played just 24 minutes in the game, yet recorded a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. They played small most of the game with teammate Tristan Thompson the only big on the court. Of course, Thompson was also good with 14 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. I was worried that Blatt's way of dealing with Hawks center Al</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"> Horford would be to sit down Mozgov. I think the Cavs should make the Hawks deal with Mozgov. They don't have anyone that size. They have just three players that are 6-11: Pero Antic, Mike Muscala and Austin Daye. None of them can guard Mozgov successfully. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">5</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">. When the Hawks play mighty-mites Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroder together, it can cause problems. Schroder had an off night with six points, but Teague was outstanding with 27.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Thompson said his shoulder is fine, or at least I think he did. "How does it look?" he asked. He took a hard fall on it in Game 6 of the Chicago series. He's become vitally important to the Cavs with his post defense, rebounding and occasional scoring. He'll get the bulk of the minutes on Horford, I believe. Thompson is perhaps the best offensive rebounder still alive in the playoffs. That's an area where the Hawks are weak - defensive rebounding. Thompson was well aware that the team that won the rebounding battle won every game in the Chicago series. He'll do his best to continue that advantage.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. This is Atlanta's first trip to the East finals. It's the Cavs' fifth appearance (</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">1976, 1992, 2007 and 2009 were the other)</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">. Of course, the St. Louis Hawks won the NBA title in 1958. The Cavs have never won it all.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">The Atlanta series wasn't expected to be as </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">physical as the Boston and Chicago series. Tell that to the players who were injured tonight. The Hawks are more of a finesse team. They aren't one to take cheap shots, either, like another team that like clam chowder (no names, please).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">9</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">. Resident cult hero Matthew Dellavedova didn't score in 25 minutes. Still Blatt couldn't take him off the court. He does defend and play hard.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">10. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">James (1,634) passed No. 7 Jerry West (1,622) on the NBA's all-time postseason list for field goals. He also needs four free throws made to pass No. 4 West (1,213) in playoff annals.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span>
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Game 2, at Atlanta, Eastern Conference finals, Friday, May 22, 8:30 p.m.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">STARTERS</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. DeMarre Carroll (6-8, 212</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Paul Millsap (6-8, 253)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Al Horford (6-10, 245)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Kyle Korver (6-7, 212)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Jeff Teague (6-2, 186)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Hawks - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">G/F Thabo Sefolosha, F Austin Daye</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b></div>
</div>
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Scott Foster, Pat Fraher, Jason Phillips</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-76764391069789887062015-05-14T23:01:00.002-04:002015-05-14T23:52:47.098-04:00Eastern Conference scenarios<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Here are the two schedule scenarios and national television & radio arrangements for the Eastern Conference Finals.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;"> <b><u>National</u></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;"> <u>Local</u> <u>EDT</u> <u>Broadcast</u></span></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Eastern Conference</span></u></b><b><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">1. If Atlanta defeats Washington</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Atlanta vs. Cleveland</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 1 – Wed May 20 Cleveland at Atlanta 8:30PM 8:30PM TNT/R</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 2 – Fri May 22 Cleveland at Atlanta 8:30PM 8:30PM TNT/R</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 3 – Sun May 24 Atlanta at Cleveland TBD 8:30PM TNT/R</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 4 – Tue May 26 Atlanta at Cleveland TBD 8:30PM TNT/R</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 5 * Thu May 28 Cleveland at Atlanta 8:30PM 8:30PM TNT/R</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 6 * Sat May 30 Atlanta at Cleveland TBD 8:30PM TNT/R</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 7 * Mon June 1 Cleveland at Atlanta 8:30PM 8:30PM TNT/R</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">2. If Washington defeats Atlanta</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Cleveland vs. Washington</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 1 – Wed May 20 Washington at Cleveland TBD 8:30PM TNT/R</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 2 – Fri May 22 Washington at Cleveland TBD 8:30PM TNT/R</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 3 – Sun May 24 Cleveland at Washington 8:30PM 8:30PM TNT/R</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 4 – Tue May 26 Cleveland at Washington 8:30PM 8:30PM TNT/R</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 5 * Thu May 28 Washington at Cleveland TBD 8:30PM TNT/R</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 6 * Sat May 30 Cleveland at Washington 8:30PM 8:30PM TNT/R</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 7 * Mon June 1 Washington at Cleveland TBD 8:30PM TNT/R</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">The NBA Finals will begin on Thursday, June 4.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.3333330154419px;">No local telecasts are permitted of any games in the Conference Finals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">*If necessary</span><br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-59760062406569111112015-05-14T09:53:00.000-04:002015-05-15T08:03:37.127-04:00Game 6: Cavs at Bulls<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 6</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (4-2) 94, CHICAGO BULLS (2-4) 73</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">United Center</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thur</span></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">sday</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: ESPN</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. The Big Three was reduced to the Chosen One tonight. Despite another player going down with an injury, the Cavaliers prevailed in the Eastern Conference semifinals, 4-2, over the Bulls. Cavs guard Kyrie Irving suffered a left knee injury in the second quarter and didn't return. Of course, they didn't need him in this game, as they blew out the lackluster Bulls. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. Irving stepped on teammate Tristan Thompson's foot, which caused him to land off balance. He immediately fell to the floor. He came out with 9:47 left in the first half and didn't return. He finished with just six points, one rebound and one block. He didn't have an assist in two of the final three games of the series. The Cavs outscored Chicago after he went out, 59-38. He probably could have returned, if needed. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. The East finals don't start until Wednesday, May 20. Game 1 will be either in Cleveland or Atlanta. We'll have to see who wins the other semifinal series. The Hawks currently lead the series, 3-2. Irving and the other banged up players will have plenty of time to rest up.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. LeBron James' </span><span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">numbers in this series were crazy: </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">26.2 points, 11.0 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.7 blocks. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">He tied No. 5 Tim Duncan (1,202) in all-time playoff free throws. He moved past No. 2 Zydrunas Ilgauskas (82) for postseason blocked shots in Cavs' history.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">5. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">The Boston series was very physical. The teams took that physical play a step further in the second round. Players were dropping all over the court. Hopefully, the Cavs will have plenty in the tank for the conference finals.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. Center Timofey Mozgov had seven points, all in the first quarter. He added five rebounds and a block. He was a tad better than in Game 5. Mozgov is needed to protect the rim. He needs to defend and he needs to rebound. Remember, the team that won the rebounding battle has won every game in this series.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. Speaking of rebounding, the Cavs embarrassed Chicago on the boards, 53-32. That's ridiculous. Tristan Thompson was like a man possessed with 13 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks. No one on the Bulls could handle him on the block. That man is going to make a lot of money this summer when he becomes a restricted free agent. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">I thought Coach David Blatt would go back to J.R. Smith in Game 5. He continues to start Iman Shumpert at shooting guard. Heck, both play in crunch time. The plan was to start Shump when they made the trade with New York, but he was still recovering from his shoulder injury. Smith stepped in and ran away with the job. Now, Blatt evidently likes what he's getting out of Shump as a starter. Bringing Smith off the bench gives him some legitimate firepower and perimeter shooting. Once Smith gets hot, he's unconscious. Shump finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block. He was outstanding in the entire series.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">9. They needed help off the bench tonight and they sure received it from unsung hero Matthew Dellavedova. He scored a team-high 19 points. He's been giving the Cavs good minutes with his defense, playmaking and rugged play. Tonight it was his scoring. James Jones is a wildcard. Blatt doesn't know what he's going to get from him from game to game. If he can make a few shots, it helps out immensely. He drained three 3-pointers when the game was still close tonight.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">10. This will be the fifth trip to the conference finals in franchise history. The others came in 1976, 1992, 2007 and 2009.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">11. The Cavs beat the Bulls at their own game in the series. How good was the Cavs' defense? In the last five games of the series, the Bulls averaged 89.6 points and shot 38.2 percent from the field (162 of 424). The Bulls shot under 40 percent in each of the last four games of the series, including 37.5 percent tonight. The Cavs are second in the league in postseason defense, allowing just 41.2 percent shooting. The Bulls are known for their rugged defense under Coach Tom Thibodeau, who might have coached his last game as Chicago's coach.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span>
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Game 1, vs. Atlanta or Washington, Eastern Conference finals, TBD, Wednesday, May 20, 8:30 p.m.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">STARTERS</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Mike Dunleavy (6-9, 230</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Pau Gasol (7-0, 254)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Joakim Noah (6-11, 232)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Jimmy Butler (6-7, 220)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Derrick Rose (6-3, 190)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Bulls - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">F/C Cameron Bairstow</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b></div>
</div>
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Danny Crawford, Marc Davis, Sean Wright</span><br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-34695730500476344942015-05-12T12:47:00.004-04:002015-05-13T00:05:45.244-04:00Game 5: Bulls at Cavs<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 5</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (3-2) 106, CHICAGO BULLS (2-3) 101</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Quicken Loans Arena</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tuesday</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: TNT</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. The Cavs have control of the series - by their fingertips - but control nonetheless. They should go all out to put the Bulls out of their misery in Game 6 on Thursday. You don't want to take a chance on Game 7, even if it is at home on Sunday. The sold-out crowd was fantastic tonight. It had to fire up the players. The Bulls are going to fight to the end in this series. That's just their nature. It comes from Coach Tom Thibodeau. He demands it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. LeBron James came into the game shooting 37.7 percent from the field and 10.5 percent from behind the arc in the Chicago series. He was classic LeBron tonight with 38 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks. He also made 12 of 24 from the field. He raised his percentage from the 3-point line by making 1 of 5. He's now at 12.5 percent from behind the arc.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">3. Kyrie Irving was inspirational with his performance. He was gimping around the last few games with </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">tendinitis in his left knee and a strained right foot. He responded with 25 points and five assists. He made 9 of 16 from the field, 3 of 6 from behind the arc. He said he felt much better when he awoke on Tuesday. If he returns to form, the Bulls are in serious trouble.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. James is</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"> almost averaging a triple-double in the series: 28.4 points, 11.4 rebounds, 8.4 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.6 blocks. The number that bothers him - besides the shooting percentages - was his 5.8 turnovers per game. That was an astonishing number, especially when the Cavs are averaging 11.5 turnovers as a team. He didn't have a turnover in Game 5 in 41 minutes. He was proud of that fact, literally patting himself on the back after the game. He was simply the best player in basketball last night - bar none.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">5. He passed No. 9 Jason Kidd (236) on the NBA's all-time playoff list for 3-pointers. He now has 237. He also is one shy of No. 5 Tim Duncan (1,202) in all-time playoff free throws. He moved into a tie with No. 2 Zydrunas Ilgauskas (82) for postseason blocked shots in Cavs' history.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. James is the third player in NBA history to record 38 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks. The others were Dwyane Wade at Dallas on June 20, 2006, and Elvin Hayes vs. Buffalo on April 20, 1975. He's the first player in history to record those numbers and not turn the ball over. The league started recording turnovers for the 1977-78 season.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">The team that has won the rebounding battle has won every game in this series. The Cavs won the battle of the boards on Tuesday, 41-40. The Bulls were missing 7-footer Pau Gasol (hamstring) and Taj Gibson (ejection).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. The Cavs won despite a terrible game by center Timofey Mozgov (one point, six rebounds, 0 of 7 from the field). They need him to show up. He was very good in Game 4 (15 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks). They are a different team when he does play well. When he doesn't, Coach David Blatt goes small and lives with the circumstances. He's averaging 2.4 blocks in the postseason, third-best in the league. He has swatted at least three shots in five of his nine postseason games this year.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>UP NEXT:</b> Game 6, at Chicago, Eastern Conference semifinals, United, Thursday, May 14, 8 p.m.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>STARTERS</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Mike Dunleavy (6-9, 230</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Taj Gibson (6-9, 238)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Joakim Noah (6-11, 232)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Jimmy Butler (6-7, 220)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Derrick Rose (6-3, 190)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Bulls - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">F/C Pau Gasol</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b></div>
</div>
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Joe Crawford, Derrick Stafford, Zach Zarba</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-8206074116258207692015-05-10T10:15:00.006-04:002015-05-11T09:00:00.879-04:00Game 4: Cavs at Bulls<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 4</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (2-2) 86, CHICAGO BULLS (2-2) 84</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">United Center</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sunday</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: ABC</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. This was the biggest game of the season for the Cavaliers. They couldn't afford to fall behind 3-1 in the series. They tried to give it to the Bulls, but in the end, LeBron James' 21-foot jumper from the corner won it with :00.1 left on the clock. It was the third time in his playoff career that he's won a game at the buzzer. It was a fantastic finish in the nip-and-tuck game. The series is now tied, 2-2, heading back to Cleveland for Game 5 on Tuesday.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. I made the comment earlier in the day that the Cavs couldn't win with Kyrie Irving scoring 11 points like he did in Game 3. Well, he had 12 today and the Cavs won. He was 2 of 10 from the field and wasn't much of a factor in the game. But he was out there battling right to the end. He played 41 minutes on his strained right foot. He said it's been bothering him for more than a week. Not being 100 percent and going head-to-head with Derrick Rose is cruel and unjust. The Cavs recognized that and finally put Iman Shumpert on Rose, who had a game-high 31 points. Irving has no explosiveness whatsoever. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. This has been a series of adjustments for the Cavs. First, it was to find a replacement for Kevin Love (dislocated shoulder). It took David Blatt two games to figure that out, first going with Mike Miller (huh?) and finally settling on Tristan Thompson. Then, he had to find a replacement for J.R. Smith, who was suspended for the first two games of the series. Iman Shumpert was an obvious choice to step in for his former New York teammate. Then Shumpert strained his left groin. Smith had a 12-day layoff in between games. Blatt has stuck with Shumpert in the starting lineup. He said he didn't want Shump to warm up, cool down and then try to enter the game. Problem is, he hasn't been as effective as he was in the first two games. He also seemed to aggravate his injury in Sunday's game. But even on one leg, the guy defends.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. Smith got off to a slow start when he entered the game on Sunday, but once he caught fire, he was deadly. He had 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. He was 3 of 6 from the 3-point line. The Cavs were horrible from behind the arc - 5 of 25. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">5. James finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists, one steal and two blocks. His game-winning shot was a thing of beauty. He said he told teammate Matthew Dellavedova to get him the ball. "I'm going to win it," he said. The play was drawn up for James to take the ball out? What? Was Blatt drawing up the last shot for Delly?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. The Cavs had a six-point lead in the fourth quarter, but couldn't put the Bulls away. James' offensive foul (his eighth turnover) with 14 seconds left could have cost the Cavs the game. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. How about using all three of their remaining timeouts on the inbounds plays? Then seconds later, Coach David Blatt tried to call time out, only to be stopped by assistant coach Tyronn Lue. That would have resulted in a costly technical foul, and again it could have cost them the game. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. In the last two games, James is 18 of 55 from the field, 1 of 14 from behind the arc (2 of 19 in the series) and has committed 15 turnovers. He's carrying too much of a burden, and he's breaking down. He also turned his left ankle in the game and refused to come out. The Cavs hope he can recover quickly because they have a chance to take a 3-2 edge in this series with a win on Tuesday.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">9. The team that has won the rebounding battle has won every game in this series. The Cavs won the battle of the boards on Sunday, 44-40. It helped that Bulls forward/center Pau Gasol (hamstring) missed the game.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">10. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">James (1,081) is now fourth on the NBA's all-time list in playoff assists. In this postseason alone, he's moved past </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Tony Parker, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Steve Nash, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. That's quite a list.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>UP NEXT:</b> Game 5, vs. Chicago, Eastern Conference semifinals, Quicken Loans Arena, Tuesday, May 12, 7 p.m.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>STARTERS</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Mike Dunleavy (6-9, 230</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Pau Gasol (7-0, 255)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Joakim Noah (6-11, 232)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Jimmy Butler (6-7, 220)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Derrick Rose (6-3, 190)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Bulls - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">F/C Pau Gasol</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b></div>
</div>
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Scott Foster, Jason Phillips, Tom Washington</span><br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-91415439603235992632015-05-08T10:23:00.002-04:002015-05-08T23:55:43.647-04:00Game 3: Cavs at Bulls<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 3</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">CHICAGO BULLS (2-1) 99, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (1-2) 96</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">United Center</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Friday</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: ESPN</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. Coach Tom Thibodeau and the Bulls spent more than an hour in practice on Thursday devising ways to slow down LeBron James. He finished with 27 points, but was just 8 of 25 from the field, 1 of 7 from behind the arc. In case you were keeping score at home, he's 1 of 12 from the 3-point line in this series. It's hard to nitpick his performance on Friday. He dished out 14 assists and pulled down eight rebounds. However, he committed seven of the Cavs' 11 turnovers. He can't continue to turn the ball over if the Cavs expect to win. Not all of them were "attack" turnovers, either. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. The biggest impact on the game wasn't so much James' play. It was Kyrie Irving's lackluster performance. He managed just 11 points and no assists. He shot 3 of 11 from the field. Coach David Blatt said he's been dealing with a "foot" injury. Irving also turned his ankle in the first quarter. His meager showing put more burden on James - as if he doesn't have enough pressure on him already. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. Irving did convert 3 of 4 from behind the arc. In fact, the Cavs were 14 of 34 from long distance. That's usually enough to win the game. They outscored the Bulls from behind the arc, 52-18. However, the only 3-ball that really mattered was Derrick Rose's that slammed in off the glass at the buzzer.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">The difference in the game was in the rebounding department. The Bulls outrebounded the Cavs, 54-39, including an 18-9 edge on the offensive glass. Other than Tristan Thompson's yeoman's effort (game-high 13 rebounds, four offensive), there wasn't much to say about the Cavs' effort on the boards. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">5. Blatt decided to leave Iman Shumpert in the starting lineup at shooting guard. He wasn't the same player as he was in the first two games of the series. He ended with eight points, playing on his strained left groin. Some thought he might not play in Game 3. Shump averaged 18.3 points in the first two games of the series. Most observers figured J.R. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Smith would start. He was remarkably good for being out for 12 days. He had 14 points and made 4 of 8 from behind the arc. His 3-pointer with 10 seconds left knotted the score at 96.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. NBA players are superstitious. That includes James. That's why I figured he'd wear his headband in Sunday's game. After all, he had 33 points in Game 2. Enough said.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. Much had been written and discussed about Rose playing on one day's rest, as opposed to two. He's a completely different player with two days rest. He also hadn't been to the foul line in the last three games for the first time in his career. He might have been the best player on the court tonight with 30 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. He was also 9 of 10 from the foul line. I figured the Bulls were going to come out more aggressive than they did in the first two games. They didn't want to be embarrassed at home.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. James (1,073) moved into fourth overall in all-time playoff assists. He passed </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">No. 6 Tony Parker (1,059), </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">No. 5 Steve Nash (1,061) and No. 4 Larry Bird (1,062) on Sunday.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">9. Guard Matthew Dellavedova had nine points and nine assists in Game 2. The nine assists were the most ever by a Cavs' reserve player, surpassing Darnell Valentine's mark of eight on May 3, 1989, in Chicago. Delly was strong again on Friday with 10 points and four assists. That gives him 13 in the last two games - 10 more than Irving.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">10. The Cavs' bench actually outscored Chicago, 32-23. When was the last time that happened?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Game 4, at Chicago, Eastern Conference semifinals, United Center, Sunday, May 10, 3:30 p.m.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">STARTERS</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Mike Dunleavy (6-9, 230</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Pau Gasol (7-0, 255)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Joakim Noah (6-11, 232)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Jimmy Butler (6-7, 220)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Derrick Rose (6-3, 190)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Bulls - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">F/C Cameron Bairstow</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b></div>
</div>
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
Mike Callahan, Tony Brothers, Eric Lewis<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-28006773215646640022015-05-06T11:42:00.003-04:002015-05-06T23:57:46.685-04:00Game 2: Bulls at Cavs<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 2</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (1-1) 106, CHICAGO BULLS (1-1) 91</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Quicken Loans Arena</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Wednesday</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: TNT</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. You'll never hear a coach say this is a must-win game until his team is facing extinction. With that being said, this was a must-win game for the Cavaliers. They evened the series at 1-1 before heading to Chicago.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. If LeBron James keeps attacking the basket and playing as intense as he did in Game 2, this series will be over in a hurry. The Bulls had no answer for stopping James. They had no one that could stop him. Of course, things will be more difficult in Chicago. Coach Tom Thibodeau will come up with some wrinkle to his defense.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. Power forward Tristan Thompson just destroyed Bulls power forward Pau Gasol on the boards. He outrebounded him, 12-4, including a 6-1 edge on the offensive glass. It's important that Thompson played so well, too, since Timofey Mozgov didn't do much of anything. He ended with six points and seven rebounds and missed a dunk.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. James wore his headband for the first time in two months. "It was time it made a comeback," James said. He wouldn't commit to wearing it in Game 3. "It's a game-time decision," he said.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">5. Gasol ripped the Cavs a new one in Game 1 with his pick-and-pop jumpers. He had no impact on Game 2 with 11 points and four rebounds. Bulls center Joakim Noah is the one that has me scratching my head. He's not the same player he once was. He used to be a rim protector. Now, he operates out past the foul line. Gasol is a 7-footer, but he's a finesse player. Noah used to be a rugged player inside. I don't know what he is now. He had four points and seven rebounds in Game 2. He's averaging 2.0 points in the series thus far.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. In case you were wondering, James is now 0 of 5 from behind the arc in this series. However, if he plays like he did tonight, you'll get no complaints from me. He was fantastic tonight and totally unguardable, certainly by Jimmy Butler. Butler is a good defender, but he couldn't physically handle James.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. J.R. Smith will likely start at shooting guard in Game 3. That will bring some semblance to the Cavs' bench with Iman Shumpert (15 points, seven rebounds) and Matthew Dellavedova (nine points, nine assists). James Jones was great tonight (17 points, 5 of 7 3s). I don't know what to expect from him in Game 3. If he plays half as well as he did tonight, it will help the Cavs a great deal. Kendrick Perkins played 12 minutes tonight and pulled down two rebounds.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">. James (1,059) is now tied with No. 6 Tony Parker (1,059) in all-time playoff assists. No. 5 Steve Nash (1,061) and No. 4 Larry Bird (1,062) are next on the list. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. In the 2015 postseason, the Cavs' 3-point defense is ranked second at 30.8 percent. They've allowed 95.6 points, third in the NBA. They are also first in blocks at 7.4. Mozgov is ranked fourth with 2.6 per game.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">9. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">I believe the team that wins this series will advance to the NBA Finals.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>UP NEXT:</b> Game 3, at Chicago, Eastern Conference semifinals, United Center, Friday, May 8, 8 p.m.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">STARTERS</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Mike Dunleavy (6-9, 230</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Pau Gasol (7-0, 255)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Joakim Noah (6-11, 232)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Jimmy Butler (6-7, 220)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Derrick Rose (6-3, 190)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Bulls - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">F/C Cameron Bairstow</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b></div>
</div>
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
Monty McCutchen, James Capers, James Williams<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-754104364367638572015-05-04T09:07:00.003-04:002015-05-05T09:57:10.668-04:00Game 1: Bulls at Cavs<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 1</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">CHICAGO BULLS (1-0) 99, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (0-1) 92</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Quicken Loans Arena</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Monday</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>TV: TNT</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">1. The Cavaliers found out that life without Kevin Love might be difficult. They hung in there on the boards, 42-39, but that was only because of LeBron James' yeomen effort with a game-high 15 rebounds. They'll also miss Love's 3-point shooting and ability to spread the floor. The Cavs were 7 of 26 from behind the arc (26.9 percent). </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Love is out for the rest of the postseason after having shoulder surgery.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">2. They also will be playing Game 2 without starting shooting guard J.R. Smith. He was suspended for the first two games of the series. He's a 3-point chucker, too, and his prowess is needed. His replacement, Iman Shumpert, was very good in just his second start this season. He had 22 points and was 4 of 10 from behind the arc.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. I don't get exactly why Coach David Blatt decided to start Mike Miller at power forward. It just didn't make much sense. He was scorched defensively by Mike Dunleavy in the first quarter and didn't play a whole lot thereafter. I'm pretty sure Blatt will try one of his other aging stars in Game 2. His other options are James Jones, Shawn Marion or Tristan Thompson. They've got to be better than what Miller showed tonight. Miller hadn't played meaningful minutes in almost two months.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Thompson will still get the bulk of the minutes at power forward. He pulled down eight rebounds in 37 minutes. Bulls guard Derrick Rose might not know his name - he called him "Christian" twice in postgame - but Thompson is a force on the boards.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">5. No one thought </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Shump was going to be a problem. The problem is not having him on the bench. The Cavs managed just nine points off the bench. They were outscored, 19-9, by the Bulls bench. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">. By the time this series is over, you'll totally dislike Bulls center Joakim Noah. He likes to run his mouth and he doesn't like Cleveland or LeBron James. He had nine rebounds and two blocks, but didn't score in 29 minutes.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. The Cavaliers had won 22 of their previous 23 games at The Q. Game 2 is a must win. Lose that and the series is just about over.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. LeBron James (1,053) moved past No. 7 Scottie Pippen (1,048) on the NBA's all-time list for playoff assists. He also needs three 3-pointers to pass No. 9 Jason Kidd (236) in all-time 3-pointers made.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">9. Bulls guard Derrick Rose suffered a neck stinger late in the game. He said he'd never had one before. He said his fingers were tingling. He said he doesn't expect it to hamper him for Game 2. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">10. I believe the team that wins this series will advance to the NBA Finals.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>UP NEXT:</b> vs. Bulls, Game 2, Eastern Conference semifinals, Quicken Loans Arena, 7 p.m.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">STARTERS</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Mike Dunleavy (6-9, 230</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Mike Miller (6-8, 218) vs. Pau Gasol (7-0, 255)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Joakim Noah (6-11, 232)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Jimmy Butler (6-7, 220)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Derrick Rose (6-3, 190)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">Bulls - </b><span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">F/C Cameron Bairstow</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b></div>
</div>
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ken Mauer, Brian Forte, Ed Malloy</span><br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-82766174943220658262015-04-30T09:10:00.004-04:002015-04-30T09:10:55.430-04:00East semifinal schedule<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Eastern Conference</span></u></b><b><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Cleveland vs. Chicago/OR/Milwaukee</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 1 – Mon May 4 Chicago/Milwaukee at Cleveland 7:00PM 7:00PM TNT</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 2 – Wed May 6 Chicago/Milwaukee at Cleveland 7:00PM 7:00PM TNT</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 3 – Fri May 8 Cleveland at Chicago/Milwaukee TBD TBD ESPN</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 4 – Sun May 10 Cleveland at Chicago/Milwaukee 2:30PM 3:30PM ABC</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 5 * Tue May 12 Chicago/Milwaukee at Cleveland TBD TBD TNT</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 6 * Thu May 14 Cleveland at Chicago/Milwaukee TBD TBD ESPN</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 7 * Sun May 17 Chicago/Milwaukee at Cleveland TBD TBD TNT</span></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-67110281181994974722015-04-26T11:10:00.000-04:002015-04-26T17:28:41.018-04:00Game 4: Cavs at Celtics<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>GAME 4</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>First round of Eastern Conference playoffs</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (4-0) 101, BOSTON CELTICS (0-4) 93</b></span></span><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">TD Garden</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Sunday</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>TV: ABC</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">1. Will it be life without Kevin Love for the Cavaliers? That's the gut feeling I have after he suffered a dislocated left shoulder in the fourth game of the Boston series on Sunday. Sure, the Cavaliers completed the four-game sweep, but it might have come at a big cost. The Cavs will know more after Love's MRI. I think he'll miss some action.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">2. The Cavaliers were the first team in the East to advance to the second round. The series won't start until Saturday at the earliest, a league spokesman told me yesterday. Game 1 could be Sunday at The Q. They'll have at least five days off before their semifinal series against the Bulls, who have a 3-1 lead over Milwaukee. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">3</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">. Let's get this out of the way: The Celtics impressed me. They came right at the Cavs in the best-of-seven series. They weren't intimidated in the least by LeBron James and the rest of the Cavs. Maybe they were too inexperienced to realize what kind of underdog they were in this series. Coach Brad Stevens had them ready to play.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">James (281) moved past No. 9 Clyde "The Glide" Drexler in all-time playoff steals. He also passed No. 7 Kobe Bryant (1,040) in all-time assists. James now has 1,045. He surpassed No. 6 Shaquille O'Neal (1,168) in all-time playoff free throws. James now has 1,171. He needs three more 3-pointers to pass No. 9 Jason Kidd (236).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">5. His 30-point effort in Game 3 was the 70th of his postseason career. It's amazing how people just expect him to perform at that level. I guess that comes with the territory.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">6. After a so-so effort in Game 3, guard Kyrie Irving came back strong in the close-out game with 24 points, a career-high 11 rebounds and three assists. He didn't shoot the ball very well - 8 of 19 - but neither did many of his teammates.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">7. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">The Cavs have won 31 of their last 32 games when scoring 100 points. They are 45-5 this season when they top the century mark.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">8. Celtics forward Jae Crowder appeared to be knocked unconscious when he took the hit from Cavs guard J.R. Smith late in the game. Smith was ejected to swinging his fist behind him. It seemed to clip Crowder on the chin. Maybe he has a glass jaw. Smith, though, could face a one-game suspension for Game 1 of the East semifinals for his inappropriate actions.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">9. We saw evidence today why the Cavs acquired center Kendrick Perkins. He came into the game and asserted his will on Crowder by knocking him down on a pick and later taking a swing at him. He's darn lucky that he didn't get ejected along with Smith for his tough-guy act. If he pulls that against Bulls center Joakim Noah, there's going to be more consequences.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">10. Cavs guard Iman Shumpert might find himself in the starting lineup in Game 1 of the East semifinals if Smith is suspended. Shump was outstanding on Sunday with 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Game 1, Eastern Conference semifinals, vs. the Chicago-Milwaukee winner, TBD (Saturday is the earliest start)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>STARTERS</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Jae Crowder (6-6, 235</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Kevin Love (6-10, 243) vs. Brandon Bass (6-8, 250)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Tyler Zeller (7-0, 250)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG J.R. Smith (6-6, 225) vs. Evan Turner (6-7, 205)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Avery Bradley (6-2, 180)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, G Joe Harris</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;"><b>Celtics</b></span><span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"> - </span><span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">G Chris Babb, G/F James Young</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>OFFICIALS</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tony Brothers, John Goble, Leroy Richardson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-9612700883005521752015-04-23T09:53:00.000-04:002015-04-24T10:26:10.233-04:00Game 3: Cavs at Celtics<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">GAME 3</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">First round of Eastern Conference playoffs</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (3-0) 103, BOSTON CELTICS (0-3) 95</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">TD Garden</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Thursday</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">TV: TNT, Fox Sports Ohio</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">1. The Cavaliers are gunning for a sweep in their best-of-seven series with Boston. They have a chance to close out the first-round series at 1 p.m. Sunday at TD Garden. If you have a chance to wrap up a series, step on their throats. Don't give your opponent a chance to come back in the series. Boston is certainly giving the Cavs everything they have. The Celtics are playing so hard in this series. I have a new-found respect for them.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">2. LeBron James was spectacular with 31 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks. He shot 13 of 26 from the field. The only downside is that he played a game-high 42 minutes. The Cavs can't afford to wear him down, especially in the first round of the playoffs. He'll be needed on this playoff run that could stretch into June.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">3. Things came easy for Kyrie Irving in the first two games of the series. He averaged 28 points in the first two games. One could make a case for him being the best player on the court on those games. It all came crashing down in Game 3 when he had just 13 points and six assists. He shot just 3 of 11 from the field. He never got in any kind of flow. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">4. Luckily for the Cavs, both Kevin Love (23 points, nine rebounds, three assists) and J.R. Smith (15 points, five rebounds) both came up big. Love was 6 of 10 from behind the arc and Smith was 3 of 8. The Cavs were 12 of 29 from the 3-point line.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">5. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Boston players have been trying to get rough with James. Cavs coach David Blatt said that's playoff basketball. It might have been a little excessive, especially when center Timofey Mozgov got elbowed in the throat. They are trying to get into the Cavs' head with the rugged play. It's not going to work. James said he's seen and heard it all.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. B</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">oston's bench has outscored its Cleveland counterparts, 143-52, in the first three games of the series. Forward Jae Crowder (16) had as many points as the Cavs' bench in Game 3. Critics point to the disparity and say that will be the Cavs' eventual downfall in the playoffs. None of their three main players off the bench are big scorers. Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova pride themselves on their defensive acumen. James said whatever scoring they get from their bench is icing on the cake. James Jones, of course, is a scorer and has made big baskets in the series.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. The Cav</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">s have committed 31 turnovers in the first two games of the series, 11 by James. They had just 11 turnovers in Game 3. That's how they have to play, especially in the subsequent rounds of the playoffs.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">9</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">. I've been impressed with the way the Cavaliers have competed on the boards. It will bode them well in later rounds. They own a 138-118 edge on the glass in the first three games. Kevin Love is averaging 9.0 rebounds in the series. James is right behind at 8.6 and Thompson at 8.0. Thompson is averaging 4.7 offensive rebounds in the series. It's one of the keys to the series thus far, according to Boston coach Brad Stevens.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">10. Shooting percentages have taken a major dip in the series. The Cavs were shooting just 44.9 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from the 3-point line in the first two games. Boston was shooting just 42.7 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from behind the arc. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> at Boston, TD Garden, Game 4 of Eastern Conference playoffs, 1 p.m. Sunday</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">STARTERS</b></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Evan Turner (6-7, 205</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Kevin Love (6-10, 243) vs. Brandon Bass (6-8, 250)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Tyler Zeller (7-0, 250)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG J.R. Smith (6-6, 225) vs. Avery Bradley (6-2, 180)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Marcus Smart (6-4, 220)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, G Joe Harris</span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Celtics - </b><span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">G Chris Babb, G/F James Young</span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">James Capers, David Guthrie, Jason Phillips</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-18488559611608694602015-04-21T10:57:00.004-04:002015-04-24T08:37:43.758-04:00Game 2: Celtics at Cavs<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">GAME 2</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">First round of Eastern Conference playoffs</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (2-0) 99, BOSTON CELTICS (0-2) 91</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Quicken Loans Arena</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Tuesday</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">TV: TNT, Fox Sports Ohio</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">1. This next game in Boston on Thursday is going to be the toughest in the series. They will be facing a hostile team in a hostile environment. It's Boston's best chance at a victory in the series. If they don't win Game 3, the Celtics are probably going to get swept. The Celtics are confident they can win the game. Guard Isaiah Thomas said they just have to clean up a few things, and they have a chance at getting back in the series.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">2. Obviously, LeBron James (30 points) and Kyrie Irving (26) were outstanding in Game 2. The Celtics haven't been able to slow down Irving in the series, as he's averaged 28 points in the first two games. And, once James starts attacking the basket like he did tonight, there's no stopping him. The third member of the Big Three, Kevin Love (13 points) only got eight shots on the night. However, he was again aggressive getting to the basket. He made 6 of 7 free throws. In the two games, he's 13 of 15 from the foul line. That's an outstanding number.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">3. The Cavaliers' starters have outscored Boston's starters, 176-85, in the first two games. It's been a real mismatch. The same can be said of the Celtics' bench, however, which has a a whopping 106-36 edge over the Cavaliers. Many think Boston's bench is stronger than their starters, especially with guard Isaiah Thomas. He's had 22 points in each game and is quite a load. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">The guy plays with a chip on his shoulder. He finished second in the Sixth Man of the Year voting behind Toronto's Lou Williams.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">4. James said after the game he has to cut down on his turnovers in Game 3. He has 11 turnovers in the first two games. Turn the ball over in Boston and the Cavs could lose Game 3. He averaged a career-high 3.9 turnovers during the regular season.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">5. Game 3 is not going to be an easy by any means. James was vintage LeBron in Game 2. Simply impossible to defend. The Celtics tried to get rough with him - Evan Turner even smashed him in the face, by accident, I think.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. The Cavaliers have a 93-73 edge on the glass in the first two games. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. Cavs guard J.R. Smith is not having a great series shooting the ball. He's 6 of 21 from the field, 3 of 15 from the 3-point line. He contributed tonight with seven points, four rebounds and five steals. That kept him on the floor.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. Has a 3</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">-point shooting team ever won an NBA title? Maybe Dallas in 2011. If the Cavs aren't a 3-point shooting team, I've never seen one. Their bombs-away approach was never more evident than in Game 2 when they made just 7 of 29 from behind the arc.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">9</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">The Cavs have won 22 of their last 23 games at The Q. They are also </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">36-9 in the last 45 games.</span><br />
<br />
10. The Cavs have never lost a series when they had a 2-0 lead.<br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> at Boston, TD Garden, Game 3 of Eastern Conference playoffs, 7 p.m. Thursday</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">STARTERS</b></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Evan Turner (6-7, 205</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Kevin Love (6-10, 243) vs. Brandon Bass (6-8, 250)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Tyler Zeller (7-0, 250)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG J.R. Smith (6-6, 225) vs. Avery Bradley (6-2, 180)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Marcus Smart (6-4, 220)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, G Joe Harris</span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Celtics - </b><span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">G Chris Babb, G/F James Young</span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Danny Crawford, Marc Davis, Bennett Salvatore</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-39642236790118969442015-04-19T09:13:00.001-04:002015-04-24T08:38:06.365-04:00Game 1: Celtics at Cavs<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">GAME 1</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">First round of Eastern Conference playoffs</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (1-0) 113, BOSTON CELTICS (0-1) 100</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Quicken Loans Arena</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Sunday</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">TV: ABC</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">1. The Cavaliers did what they set out to do: Win Game 1. It doesn't matter if they game was sloppy. It doesn't matter if it was ugly. All that matters is they won the game. They'll need 15 more of these to win the ultimate goal - an NBA championship.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">2. The Big Three stepped up big tonight. Kyrie Irving's was silky smooth right from the start. He fired in his first five 3-pointers en route to a game-high 30 points. The Celtics bemoaned the fact they were right in his face on many of his shots and it didn't matter. He still knocked down the shots.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">3. I was very impressed with power forward Kevin Love's game. He started 2 of 11 from the field, yet he still finished with 19 points, a game-high 12 rebounds, four assists and one steal. He just kept grinding away. He was 7 of 8 from the foul line. LeBron James said that shows him how aggressive Love was in the game.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">4. James had 20 points, six rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block. He didn't shoot the ball very well - 8 of 18 - and turned the ball over five times. He did a very good job of leading this team, keeping his teammates encouraged and facilitating. When Love was 2 of 11, he was tapping him on the head, keeping him into the game. The Cavs were trailing by seven or eight points in the first half. James huddled the troops and told them everything was going to be OK. Of course, it turned out that way. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">5. Talent normally takes over in games like this. Boston is going to fight this team to the final second of the series. They just don't have the talent to win the series. I picked the Cavs to win in five games. Many other "experts" predicted a sweep. I think the Celtics can win Game 3 when the series shifts to Boston. If they don't win that game, they are cooked. Then the Cavs will sweep.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">6. T</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">he Cavaliers are one of the NBA's elite teams. The Cavs and Warriors have been established by Las Vegas oddsmakers as favorites to win the NBA title. I'm starting to believe it myself.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">James has never lost a first-round series in his career. It probably isn't going to happen against Boston, either. He's 9-0 lifetime in the first round. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">8</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">. James is poised to set several playoff milestones. He passed Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao for career playoff games. James has now played in 72 career playoff games with the Cavs. He's two offensive rebounds shy of passing John "Hot Rod" Williams (99) for fourth place on the Cavs' all-time list. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">9. He's also on the verge of moving up the ranks on the NBA's all-time lists: He's 19 points away from passing Jerry West (4,457) for seventh all-time. He overtook No. 9 Michael Jordan (1,022) on the all-time list for playoff assists. James now has 1,023. He's 15 free throws away from passing Shaquille O'Neal (1,168) for sixth all-time. James is six 3-pointers made from passing Jason Kidd for ninth all-time and three steals from overtaking Robert Horry (276) for 10th all-time.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">10. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">Since the Cavs added J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from New York on Jan. 5, they've led the NBA in 3-pointers made with 11.6 per game. They were 13 of 31 from the arc tonight. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">11. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">The Cavs have won 21 of their last 22 games at The Q. They ended 31-10 at home during the regular season. Wonder why it's important to get homecourt advantage in the playoffs? Because they play so well at home. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">They are an NBA-best 35-9 in the last 44 games.</span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> vs. Boston, Quicken Loans Arena, Game 2 of Eastern Conference playoffs, 7 p.m. Tuesday</span><br />
<br />
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<b style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">STARTERS</b></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Evan Turner (6-7, 205</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Kevin Love (6-10, 243) vs. Brandon Bass (6-8, 250)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Tyler Zeller (7-0, 250)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG J.R. Smith (6-6, 225) vs. Avery Bradley (6-2, 180)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Marcus Smart (6-4, 220)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, G Joe Harris</span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Celtics - </b><span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">G Chris Babb, G/F James Young</span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike Callahan, Pat Fraher, Zach Zarba</span><br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-74978215624001512852015-04-15T11:05:00.001-04:002015-04-16T00:23:19.521-04:00Game 82: Wizards at Cavs<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (53-29) 113, WASHINGTON WIZARDS (46-36) 108</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Quicken Loans Arena</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Wednesday</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">TV: Fox Sports Ohio</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">1. The Cavaliers' first-round opponent is set. They will take on Boston (40-42) in the best-of-seven series. The first two games will be in Cleveland. Game 1 is 3 p.m. Sunday. Game 2 is 7 p.m. Tuesday.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">2. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Coach David Blatt wanted his starters to get some "burn" tonight. They all did, with the exception of LeBron James. He skipped the regular-season finale. The Cavs were 3-10 this season without him in the lineup. Guard Kevin Irving played 18 minutes. He still seems a bit bothered by his sore right hip. None of the starters played regular minutes, just enough to stay sharp and keep their rhythm.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">3. Tonight was F</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">an Appreciation Night. The Cavs gave away more than $1 million in prizes, including a new car. The players took the jerseys off their backs and their shoes off after the game and gave them to the fans. It's a popular gesture.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">4. I was impressed with guard Matthew Dellavedova tonight. He ended with a season-high 18 points, a career-high 12 assists, three rebounds and two steals. He shot the ball well - 6 of 11 from the field, 4 of 5 from the 3-point line. It's important he holds up his end of the bargain because when Irving is off the floor in the playoffs, Delly can't completely break down.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">5. The Wizards played a hard-fought, double-overtime game with Indiana on Tuesday. They came right back and played in OT against the Cavs. Coach Randy Wittman's club probably needs a day off. They play Atlantic Division champion Toronto in the first round of the playoffs.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">6. The Cavs won 20 of their last 21 games at The Q. They ended 31-10 at home this season. It's the 10th time they've won 30 or more home games in franchise history. They've also won 28 of their last 29 games when they score 100 or more points. On the season, they are 42-5 when they top the century mark.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span>
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> vs. Boston, Quicken Loans Arena, Game 1 of Eastern Conference playoffs, 3 p.m. Sunday</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Cleveland vs. Boston</b></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;">Game 1</b><span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;"> – Sun April 19 Boston at Cleveland 3PM ABC/R</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Game 2</b> – Tue April 21 Boston at Cleveland 7PM TNT</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Game 3</b> – Thu April 23 Cleveland at Boston 7PM TNT</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Game 4</b> – Sun April 26 Cleveland at Boston 1PM ABC</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Game 5</b> * Tue April 28 Boston at Cleveland TBD TBD</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Game 6</b> * Thu April 30 Cleveland at Boston TBD TBD</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Game 7</b> * Sat May 2 Boston at Cleveland TBD TNT</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>STARTERS</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SF Mike Miller (6-8, 218) vs. Paul Pierce (6-7, 230</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span><br />
<div id="description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 21px;">
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Kevin Love (6-10, 243) vs. Drew Gooden (6-10, 230)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Marcin Gortat (6-11, 240)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG J.R. Smith (6-6, 225) vs. Bradley Beal (6-5, 207)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Ramon Sessions (6-3, 190)</span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
<div id="description">
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, F LeBron James</span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Wizards - </b><span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">G Garrett Temple, F Nene</span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Scott Foster, Kane Fitzgerald, Scott Twardoski</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5229760598839047473.post-54951355392425178912015-04-13T10:42:00.003-04:002015-04-14T10:04:14.893-04:00Game 81: Pistons at Cavs<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (52-29) 109, DETROIT PISTONS (31-50) 97</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Quicken Loans Arena</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Monday</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7</span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">TV: Fox Sports Ohio</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">1. Talk about going through the motions. This game had no bearing on the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Cavaliers are locked into the No. 2 playoff seed. The Pistons have been eliminated from the playoff chase in Coach Stan Van Gundy's first year. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">2. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">The Cavaliers played their starters against the Pistons. They could also start against Washington on Wednesday on Fan Appreciation Night. Guard Kyrie Irving suffered some discomfort in his right hip. It was something that has plagued him for much of the season. He started against the Pistons, but sat in the second half. It's something that will have to be closely monitored. Coach David Blatt's plan is for the starters to play vs. the Wizards just to keep their rhythm and conditioning sharp.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">3. LeBron James recorded his second triple-double of the season with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. He wouldn't commit to playing against the Wizards on Wednesday. My guess is the starters will be out there for the opening tip, but won't play their normal minutes. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">It's important to keep their rhythm heading into the postseason. If tonight's game was any indication, they are there.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">4. They appear to be ready for the playoffs. They looked like the best team in the league tonight, especially in the first quarter. They pounded the Pistons on the boards. Detroit was ranked fourth in the league in total rebounds coming into last night's game. The Cavs destroyed them on the boards, 45-30. Cavs center Timofey Mozgov was a beast on the boards with 16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">5. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">The Cavs turned the ball over 12 times last night. That's a huge improvement from Sunday's game in Boston when they had a season-high </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">25 turnovers. I don't see how playing the reserves and turning the ball over that much is getting anyone ready for the playoffs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">6. The Cavs won their 30th game at The Q tonight. It's the 10th time they've won 30 or more games at home in a season. They've also won 19 of their last 20 home games. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">7. The Cavs have made a franchise-record 810 3-pointers this season. They became the 11th team in NBA history to do so. The Hawks and Trail Blazers were right on the Cavs' heels and could also top the 800 mark.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">8. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 24px;">This could be the last time </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">the Cavaliers see power forward Greg Monroe in a Pistons' uniform. He'll be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason and is expected to sign elsewhere. It probably won't be in Cleveland, either.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UP NEXT:</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> vs. Washington, Quicken Loans Arena, 8 </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">p.m. Wednesday.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>STARTERS</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Caron Butler (6-7, 228</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;">)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PF Kevin Love (6-10, 243) vs. Greg Monroe (6-11, 250)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Andre Drummond (6-11, 279)</span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">SG J.R. Smith (6-6, 225) vs. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (6-5, 205)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;">PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Reggie Jackson (6-3, 208)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>INACTIVE LIST</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Cavs -</b> C Anderson Varejao, G Joe Harris</span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">Pistons - </b><span style="color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.5em;">G Spencer Dinwiddie, G Brandon Jennings</span><br />
<b style="color: #363636; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OFFICIALS</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">James Capers, Brian Forte, Marat Kogut</span><br />
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