Third Preseason Game: J.J. Hickson Is 3-0 at Preseason Awesomeness

The Cleveland Cavaliers played another impressive preseason game on Monday night . . . trouncing the Greek team Olympiacos Piraeus by a final score of 111-94.

Olympiacos is one of the better Euroleague teams.  They have a few former NBA players, and two of them (Josh Childress and Linas Kleiza) were reportedly talking with the Cavs this past off-season.

Anyway, yes, it was a preseason game . . . against a team that isn't even in the NBA . . . but there are a few reasons why you should feel pretty good about how the Cavs played.

Here they are in a really sharp-looking and easy-to-read list:

#1.)  Seven Cavaliers scored in the double-digits, so this wasn't just LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal putting on a show for the Greeks. 

LeBron and Shaq both had 12 points.  The other high scorers were:  Starting point guard Daniel Gibson (15), Anderson Varejao (13), J.J. Hickson (13), Anthony Parker (10) and (camp invitee) Coby Karl (10).

#2.)  The Cavs racked up 30 assists, without Mo Williams and Delonte West.  James had 7, (camp invitee) Andre Barrett had 5, and Boobie had 4.

Mo sat out with a lingering groin issue.  He said if it were the regular season he could have played . . . but since it's not, the team decided to hold him out as a precaution.  His "tight groin" also forced him to miss the Wine and Gold scrimmage earlier this month.  Mo will probably take it easy all week.

Delonte is still on excused (and apparently open-ended) leave from the team.

#3.)  Mo and Delonte weren't the only Cavs missing.  Jamario Moon is still recovering from having his wisdom teeth removed last Friday, and rookie Danny Green is still suffering a "right glute contusion."

And yet the Cavs still played a fairly balanced game, featuring big minutes by some of their camp invitees.

Coby Karl (the son of Denver Nuggets coach George Karl) and Andre Barrett both played over 20 minutes. In addition to scoring 10 points (including two 3-pointers), Coby had three assists.

And Andre had nine points to go along with his five assists.

#4.)  J.J. Hickson is now 3-0 at having really solid preseason games.  This time, he had 13 points (on 6-of-9 shooting), three rebounds and an assist . . . in just 14 minutes.

That tingle you just felt?  It's a little J.J. giddiness.  And it's OK.

#5.)  Shaq looks great.  He scored his 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting, in 21 minutes.  He also pulled down five rebounds, blocked a shot, and, at one point, lost control and flew into an empty chair in the third row of the stands.

After the game, LeBron said:  "I feel bad for the chair" . . . and Shaq responded:  "He should feel sorry for the chair.  I just try to land safely, I try to look out for sharp objects."

Oh, and he also shut down "Baby Shaq".

That would be Olympiacos' 6'-10", 310-pound center Sofoklis Schortsanitis.  "Baby Shaq", as he is called, scored just four points on 2-of-7 shooting.  He also had five rebounds and five turnovers.

"Baby Shaq" later said:  "It was a great honor. I grew up watching Shaq, so it was great."

The Cavs' next preseason game is against the Washington Wizards at the Q on Wednesday night. 

Comments

[Scott @ WFNY]

Fun game to be at though I felt bad for Z when he was running the floor with a bunch of guys that likely wont be here in a few weeks.

I was admittedly nervous about Shaq when he dove in to the stands - crowd loved it though when he bounced back up.

If JJ can stay healthy, he could be a lethal PF with the second team. Very big.

[Tramadol]

Sounds like a good start from the Cleveland Cavaliers. I hope they could win now this time.