Cavaliers 104, Trail Blazers 98 (box)
The Cavaliers were on the verge of dropping two games in a row for the first time in the 2008-09 campaign. Down two starting players – one a team leader, the other a scrappy glue guy playing at a career level – we find ourselves longing for the much-heralded role players to raise their game to a level which provides the Cavaliers with a more versatile game than the “dribble-dribble-jumpshot” of seasons past. Against New Orleans, it was Wally Szczerbiak and Sasha Pavlovic. In the loss to the Lakers, Anderson Varejao did alright on the offensive end, but the defense was lacking.
But who would step up in a huge way offensively against the Blazers? Your answer: Mo Williams.
Some may argue that Williams isn’t really a role player in this offense, as opposed to option #2. But when you consider other #2s in the league, Williams really isn’t quite at the level of someone like Paul Pierce or Pau Gasol. But last night he was in a world of his own, dropping 12-of-19 shots – including 6-of-9 from downtown – en route to season-high 33 points.
Not to be outdone by his partner in crime, LeBron James recorded 34 points while adding seven boards and 14 assists. Varejao was the only other Cavalier in double-figures, finishing with 12 points, eight rebounds and one blocked shot.
This game had a New Orleans scent to it. While it wasn’t Wally and/or Sasha dropping a flurry of three-pointers, the Cavaliers were converting at an obscenely high rate. While their season average of a47.8 percent field goal rate is nothing to be ignored, the Cavs shot 53 percent from the floor last night. Even more outlandish was the fact that they shot 58 percent from three-point range. On the season, the Cavs are a 37 percent team from beyond the arc; it is safe to say that last night was more of an aberration than anything, but one that provided a win.
On the night, the Cavs shot 19 three-pointers – which is considerably less than some of the more-recent nights. However, they only managed to get to the line 15 times due to the variety of jump shots that were taken. This also led to the discrepancy in free throws, with Portland heading to the line 33 times compared to Cleveland’s 15. Thankfully, the Cavs did what they needed when the game was on the line. Portland was actually winning this game with only a few minutes left, but LeBron and Mo managed to get the job done on the road.
The aforementioned role players? Pavlovic, Wally Szczerbiak and Daniel Gibson combied to score 16 points in roughly 66 minutes of play. It may not 
seem like a lot of scoring for the playing time, but factor in Wally’s 10 rebounds and you have a very solid night by a guy who really is giving it his all. Sure, he may be a bit overpaid, but he’s doing what Mike Brown is asking him to do. And on a night when the ball is in the hands of two players for the majority of the time, it is the little things that matter. Remember, this is a team that has nary a player over seven feet tall, yet they’re managing to still get it done on the glass.
Speaking of rebounds, the Cavs out-rebounded the Blazers 39-34 and held them to 40 percent from the floor. Very solid defense all-around and one that lead to a much-needed win on this West coast trip.
We head to Golden State and Utah for a back-to-back starting tomorrow evening. While the Warriors can shock anyone, the fact that they’re also a bit smaller may actually play into the way that Mike Brown is running this team at the current moment. Plus, Andres Biedrins is a little banged up which evens the playing field a bit. I imagine that a few players have next Thursday’s game against Orlando circled on the schedule, but the next three are just as important as we attempt to get healthy.
Author: Scott
Scott is a co-founder/editor of Waiting For Next Year who resides in Cleveland, Ohio. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or email him at scott@waitingfornextyear.com.Scott has written 1701 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
don’t forget Sasha’s 4 assists as well. amazing that it took starting him for Sasha to look like a legit NBA player again.
Nice win. Sometimes there’s too much focus on statistics. This team has found ways to win games that’s all that matters.
Nice write up, Scott.
didnt see the game other than parts of the third quarter, but now I felt like I have…excellent work Scott!
Huge win for the Cavs. They responded very well agaiinst a good team after being dominated in LA
@MacNip: Agreed. Hopefully, they left the ball-gag in la-la land, because they’re going to need to keep this going this weekend.
I find the photo above hilarious. I mean that as a complete compliment.
DOING THE BULL DANCE. FEELING THE FLOW. WORKING IT. WORKING IT.
Feel free to re-use whenever Mo has a big game.
Huge win last night. I really didn’t see this coming, but Mo and Wally stepped up in big fashion. It is helpful that we held Aldridge and Roy out of check for most of the game:
LBJ + Mo = 26-49 on FG’s, 9-15 on 3P’s, 6-7 on FT’s for 67 points, 17 assists and 10 rebounds in 83 minutes
Aldridge + Roy = 16-43 on FG’s, 1-4 on 3P’s, 11-14 on FT’s for 44 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds in 79 minutes.
I was ok with the Cavs shooting so many 3 pointers because for many of them they were pretty wide open. the 2 LBJ 3’s in the 3rd quarter were wide open and I would say 6 or 7 or the 9 3’s that Mo shot were pretty wide open. Sometimes this team will shoot contested 3’s more than they probably should, but I felt like that they were overloading too much on LBJ and Mo made them pay
Varejao I thought did a good job closing out on Aldridge when he shot, so the rotations on him were pretty good, and Roy was never given any clean looks. He could have made some of those contested layups, but lucky for us they didn’t go down
Huge win by the Cavs
I think that’s a good point Ricky. The Cavaliers had 24 assists last night. Normally when they are shooting a lot of jump shots, they have about 14 or so assists. What that means is the Cavaliers were moving the ball to find the open man. Normally, a lot of assists + a lot of jump shots = you were getting really good looks. That also helped lead to the high FG%.
I would still like to see the Cavaliers get back to attacking the basket more, but man that was a GREAT win for the Cavs last night. If they keep it up and beat Golden State tomorrow, they will guarantee a split on the road trip, and I think before it started we all would have been happy with that.
Any word on Z? I heard he was progressing better than expected, but about how long are we looking at? I know nothing is for sure, especially w/ his history, but I’m just curious. Would love to have him back soon to get him into playing condition by the ASG
great win and an entertaining game last night. it was nice to see mo step up in a big way. i dont think we win that game with last years team. our dominance against the west continues and should extend over the weekend. both teams are banged up a little and the cavs are playing at a high level. i hope Z can make it back for the orlando game, but if there is a chance of him reaggrevating his injury then sit him as long as possible. aldridge’s poor shooting was huge for us last night and credit should go to andy and ben for really stepping up and playin well in the front court. i also really like the way sasha is playing and i think ferry and the rest of the league will take notice. perfect time to showcase or get him ready for increased minutes pending a wally trade.
@Lyon,
No, I would love to have him in perfect shape for the playoffs. 5 games later than necessary is better than 1 day early.
I’m not sure how many ppl noticed, but the Blazers actually did a great job protecting the ball – only 7 turnovers – and yet the Cavs’ D still did a good job. That bodes well against teams with lesser guards.
I heard Z should be back in about a week, which is very welcome news
@Lyon and Ricky
Im hearing anything from a week to 10 days. Expect 10 days though as the Cavs don’t want to rush him back, no matter how fast he is recovering. Better to have him perfectly healthy then to rush him back. But I wouldn’t expect him for the Orlando game. that means Varejao will have to step up.