Cavs Take Game Three 79-68 on the Backs of the Two Beasts

Joe.  Beast.  I’ll return to this point later, but I felt that this needed to be said right off the bat.

The Cavs traveled to Detroit last night to play game 3 of their first-round series against the Motor Parts.  Some good thought was thrown around that the Cavs, if truly an elite team, would come out and take care of business last night and effectively put the series out of reach for the Pistons.

Before delving into things too deep, let’s get a few things out there: Firstly, the Cavs’ backcourt was a monstrosity on offense.  Mo and Delonte combined to shoot 1-18 from the floor (5.6%) and scored 4 points between them.  Mo missed a technical free throw, his only trip to the line.  Daniel Gibson had 9 points in 24 minutes.  This means of the Cavs’ 79 points, 13 were scored by guards.

The Cavs looked to have done this early (I say this based on the box score, as I was deciphering Swedish furniture instructions until midway through the second quarter).  The Cavs went into halftime with a seven-point lead, with both LeBron and Z having solid first halves, highlighted by Z’s fouette pass to LeBron on the break, leading to an and-one.

However, the Pistons came out playing great defense in the third quarter lead by Kwame Brown and Antonio McDyess.  You read that correctly – Kwame Brown.  Your Cavs only mustered 9 points in the third and ended the quarter tied with the Pistons 53-53.

In the fourth something happened.  Correction – someone happened.  Who might that be?  Joe.  Beast. I told you I’d come back to this. Though the Cavs had a great night from LeBron (25, 11, and 9) and Z (13, 6, 3 blocks), the night truly belongs to Joe Smith in my opinion.  In 19 minutes off the bench, Smith scored 19 points and pulled in 10 boards, 4 of them being the offensive variety.  What’s more, he hit one of the Cavs 4 threes of the night (another coming from Z).  Smith was on, and came through huge when the Cavs backcourt wasn’t providing any offense to speak of.

The two men on the court last night with the word “Beast” tattooed on their bodies played like just that – Beasts.

A few observations:

• LeBron and Andy worked a few great pick and rolls, and in the second quarter LeBron had a great pass off the double team from the baseline to Andy streaking to the basket.  These playoffs have to be a sign to Danny Ferry that Andy has to be gone after as seriously as they can afford to do.
• Even on a night when he wasn’t shooting well, Mo played 42 minutes and pushed through his struggles.  Even with Mo struggling to find his show, LeBron gave the ball up at the start of possessions and let Mo run the offense.  This speaks volumes to me to LeBron’s trust in Mo.
• LeBron’s line was an assist shy of a triple double.  One a night when the starting guards shot 5.6%, this is absolutely absurd.
• Mo had a beautiful alley-oop to LeBron in the fourth that really blew the game open.  LeBron yelled afterwards, and it looked like his Vogue cover.
• Orlando fell to the 76ers last night on a last-second layup by Thaddeus Young.  Even if the Magic win, the series is going to at least 6 games.  The Cavs are the only team to go up 3-0 in these playoffs so far.  Rest is good.