There were a lot of questions coming into the Cavaliers game in Miami on Thursday night:
Would the Cavs be able to win their third straight game . . . their third straight away game . . . the second night of an all-Florida back-to-back . . . and take their sixth win in seven games?
Could Mo Williams continue to be amazing? Would Zydrunas Ilgaukas continue to look the opposite of amazing?
Would Shaq have a good game against his former team? Would Jamario get into the game against his former team?
Will Mike Brown wear his pink and red pinstriped shirt, with the gold tie that has the wine spots on it . . . and the coordinating black glasses with the gold rims?
Would LeBron James announce that he's decided to sign with the Heat? (And if that were the case, would Danny Ferry consult with Mark Shapiro to see if he could just trade him to the Heat beforehand . . . in the hopes of snagging their third, sixth and seventh most promising D-League players???)
Well, after it all played out . . . and the Cavs out-superstarred the Heat 111-104 . . . we know that the answers to those questions are: Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, No (and no).
(Don't be a dork and go back to read the questions. It's all straight. Nothing clever or tricky.)
This game was all about LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. It was before the game, it was during the game, and it was after the game. And after all the hype, the flashbulbs, and the duel . . . they basically canceled each other out.
LeBron had 34 points on 8-of-20 shooting, 2-of-4 three-point shooting, 16-of-18 at the line . . . with four rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
Wade had 36 points on 9-of-21 shooting, 3-of-6 three-point shooting, 15-of-21 at the line . . . with four rebounds, five assists, no steals and two blocked shots.
You couldn't find two more similar individual stat lines for LeBron and Wade if you searched through all the game logs for their six years in the NBA. (And I can say that with authority because John Hollinger doesn't read this blog.)
So technically the Cavs didn't out-superstar the Heat . . . but they were able to out-supportingcast them. And that is a stat I think I'm going to start keeping track of, because in order to convince LeBron to stay after the season, we're going to need to be above .500 at out-supportingcasting teams.
Mo, for the second game in a row, was brilliant. The assists still aren't eye-catching, but honestly I haven't felt their absence until I look at the box score. He had 25 points on an on-fire 10-of-15 shooting and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. He also had four rebounds and three assists.
There's also the improved offensive flow and ball movement over the past two games. Mo gets a fair share of the credit for that, because he takes the knock when things stall.
As I've said before, the Cavs are extremely difficult to defend when Mo is active and aggressive on offense. (Or as he calls it "just playing basketball.")
Shaq played well. He was in foul trouble again this game . . . although that really wasn't his fault. The officials were calling this game as if they never wanted to see it end. Shaq finished with 14 points (on 4-of-8 shooting) with five rebounds and three assists.
But Mo and Shaq . . . at least points-wise . . . were neutralized by the Heat's supporting cast, Michael Beasley and Jermaine O'Neal.
We needed an "X factor", and we got one in: J.J. Hickson, who suddenly has re-teamed up with His Potential over the past couple games.
It's unclear if J.J. is just thriving on these regular, scheduled minutes that he's getting now that he's starting . . . or if His Potential is simply just back after a few games on the inactive list. (Maybe His Potential took Delonte West's spot on the active roster.)
Either way, J.J. set a new career high with 18 points (on 7-of-9 shooting). He also had four rebounds (two offensive), an assist, a steal and a block. He was displaying some strong post moves, and finishing (and not-finishing) alley-oops.
He played 31 minutes, which dropped Andy down to just 14 minutes.
Andy was a little derailed in the first quarter when Wade dunked on him . . . hard . . . in one of those dunks that'll definitely be made into a batch of wallet-size pictures for Wade to give out at clubs. After the game, LeBron did Andy a solid by calling it one of the ten best dunks of all-time. (?)
(I would link to a YouTube clip of it . . . but Brazil has already confiscated all the tapes.)
The Cavaliers are now 6-3 . . . and 6-1 since their 0-2 start. The team is still very much a work in progress, but the rotations are becoming set, and the guys have been able to get into rhythms as they adjust to playing together. They must have done a lot of work on their four days off earlier this week, because this Florida trip was huge.
It also answered another one of my questions: Am I worried about the Cavs rough start?
The Wine and Gold Rush Awards:
[We'll be giving these out after each game.]
Most Valuable Player: LeBron James.
Great duel with Dwyane Wade. There was the first quarter shooting and highlight reel footage . . . and the grind-it-out game in the fourth, when LeBron repeatedly drove it to the hole.
Least Valuable Player: Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
Z's slump is becoming a sinkhole.
He was 0-of-3 for two points. He had five rebounds. Over the past five games, he's 4-of-31. That's 13% shooting. I hope the big guy can get his touch back. I miss those smooth, 17-footers.
Also, Anthony Parker sucked. I just wanted to say that. His three-point shooting has been great this year, but Thursday night he was only 1-of-7 overall . . . and had a couple of annoying turnovers.
"The Diff Award" (for the difference maker, even in defeat): Jamario Moon.
There were a lot of candidates for this . . . and J.J. did have a nice game . . . but Jamario did a lot on both ends of the court. In addition to his active defense, he had eight points (on 4-of-5 shooting) and led the team with six rebounds. He also teamed up with James for a dunk and a sweet alley-oop.
Speaking of LeBron, Jamario was in-bounding the ball with 4.0 seconds left in the first quarter. LeBron was yelling for the ball, but Jamario almost passed it in to Daniel Gibson.
Fortunately, he did change his mind and pass it in to LeBron, who sprinted the length of the floor and made a floating two-pointer at the buzzer. Lesson-learned.
(Photo by Isaac Baldizon / Getty Images)
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