. . . Or at least, playing perfect first quarters.
On Friday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers easily defeated the New York Knicks, at Madison Square Garden, 100-91. It makes the Cavs 4-3 and drops the Knicks to 1-5.
This game was all about LeBron James, and he didn't disappoint. He had 33 points (on 12-17 shooting) with eight rebounds, nine assists and three steals. I thought he was a shoe-in for a triple-double . . . and he could have done it . . . but the game became derailed way too early.
If there was one game you'd expect the Knicks to get up for, it'd be this one . . . but they seemed fairly aimless from the onset. LeBron could basically do anything he wanted, and he did. In just the first quarter, he torched the Knicks for 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting, guiding the Cavs to a 40-21 lead.
For a while, former Cavalier point guard (slash) shooting disappointment Larry Hughes (and yes, that was his full, official role on the team) guarded LeBron. At times, Hughes actually provided some resistance, once blanketing LeBron with some tough defense. But LeBron just stepped back, and hit a ridiculous fadeaway 3-pointer.
After making the shot, LeBron patted Larry's backside, and they shared a smile as they ran down the court. It was a little weird . . . but it was amusing.
Overall, the Cavaliers had a good offensive night, shooting 53.5% from the floor and hitting 7-of-17 from beyond the arc. But most of the damage was done in the first half. The second half was wholly unspectacular. It was plagued with playground offense and unmotivated defense.
Large leads against bad teams will do that to you, but it's a little frustrating.
The Cavaliers have so many wrinkles to iron out at this point in the season that it would have been nice to see them spend the third and fourth quarters working on their offensive execution.
Maybe that's expecting too much in a game like this . . . especially on the back end of a home-away back-to-back . . . but there was no flow and a lot of lazy turnovers. (They finished with 21 TOs for the game. That's high. LeBron led the team with seven.)
And then, to make things even more irritating, the Knicks went on a run at the end of the game. It didn't get to the point where the Cavs were in any real danger of losing the game, but any defense at all could have kept it from happening.
Inadvertently, the Cavs gave LeBron a little taste of what it'd be like to play in New York . . . for New York. Only the Cavs won, which is something that will actually require some effort if he does go to the Knicks.
The Wine and Gold Rush Awards:
[We'll be giving these out after each game.]
Most Valuable Player: LeBron James.
Naturally.
Least Valuable Player: Delonte West.
It's still better to have Delonte in the game than out of it. On Friday, his +/- was +15, meaning that the Cavs outscored the Knicks by 15 when he was in the game. That also means that the Knicks outscored the Cavs by six when he was on the bench, which is sort of scary to think about.
But since his stellar first game the season (back on Halloween) he has only shot 4-of-18 (22%) . . . and he was just 1-of-6 against the Knicks. He also had three rebounds and four assists on Friday, but those came with three turnovers and another pointless technical foul. That makes me a little nervous.
"The Diff Award" (for the difference maker, even in defeat): Anderson Varejao.
For the first time this season, Anderson was dropped from the starting lineup; not because of anything he did, but because Mike Brown wants to experiment with his frontcourt rotation.
So, J.J. Hickson started in his place. He had a few nice baskets, including a big dunk, but he had no rebounds and two turnovers. He played 13 minutes, and looked better than he did against Chicago the day before.
Anderson, on the other hand, appeared completely unaffected by the move to the bench. He still put in 35 minutes, which has been his average, and had eight points on 3-of-4 shooting.
He also had a season-high 14 rebounds (five offensive and nine defensive), along with two steals and two blocks. Right now, Andy is worth every penny of his new contract.
(Photo by Getty Images)
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