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Cavs 06-07 season thread

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NFBuck;663697; said:
Fuck.
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Yeah it sucks, but a couple week injury isnt near as bad as month or two...

Also the Cavs website said his status will be updated on a day to day basis, so it might not be the full two weeks...

It also will continue to get Sasha and DJ some more minutes and hopefully get Brown some minutes...

Also DJ has a toe contusion and his status is probable for tommorrow nites game...
 
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Yahoo is saying at least 2 games. Too bad the Wizards are the second game. You know Hughes wants to play them. This is a chance for Pav to really show what he can do. Hopefully Shannon Brown will get some time as well.
 
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ABJ

Ankle sprain sidelines Hughes

Injury to keep him out of two weekend games, maybe following four

By Brian Windhorst

Beacon Journal sportswriter

CLEVELAND - Upon further review, a lower leg bruise has turned into a high ankle sprain.
After optimism reigned Wednesday night that Larry Hughes' run-in with the Portland Trail Blazers' Martell Webster resulted in nothing more than a painful contusion, Thursday morning brought a more sobering reality. Hughes reported ankle pain to the Cavaliers' team doctors, and an exam revealed he had indeed done more damage than first thought.
The immediate consequence is that he surely will be out of the weekend's back-to-back games: tonight against the Minnesota Timberwolves at home, and Saturday night in Washington against the Wizards.
Depending on how the injury responds to treatment, Hughes could miss a significant chunk of games.
All ankle sprains are different, but those that affect the top of the ankle generally take longer to heal. For example, in each of the past two seasons, Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic missed more than a month with high ankle sprains.
Hughes' injury isn't believed to be as serious, but the Cavs stopped short of calling it a mild sprain. He was on crutches and wearing a boot Thursday.
Cavs coach Mike Brown said the team will be conservative in bringing Hughes back, considering how early it is in the season. That rationale is prudent, but realistically, it makes it seem as if Hughes may miss at least the next six games of the month.
Players coming back from injury usually don't play before practicing, and the Cavs have four games in five days starting Tuesday, and no practice time. (The lone off day is Thanksgiving.)
``It's tough to replace Larry Hughes,'' Brown said. ``I have to sit back and look at the team and get a feel for what we're going to do.''
Most likely, Pavlovic will step into the starting lineup. Averaging 7.5 points and 2.2 rebounds off the bench this season, Pavlovic has been earning more time recently and started the second half against the Blazers.
He started 19 games last season, most of them while Hughes was out with a broken finger.
The more interesting question is: Who would back up Pavlovic? It could be the first chance for rookie Shannon Brown because David Wesley continues to struggle, having hit only 1-of-13 shots this season.
Mike Brown was completely noncommittal on his plans.
Hughes is second on the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game and is averaging 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Those numbers will have to be replaced, an area where the Cavs struggled last season.
``I don't want to even think about him not being in the lineup,'' LeBron James said. ``He was playing so well. For us, it will be challenging to see how we react to it.''
More injury news
Damon Jones mildly sprained his right big toe in practice Thursday. The team is listing him as day to day, but it is expected he will be able to play against the Timberwolves. Also, Daniel ``Boobie'' Gibson sprained his left ankle Wednesday. It was a low ankle injury, so Gibson was able to take part in the team's light workout Thursday.
Kisses for FTs
Fans may have noticed James' new routine of kissing the inside of his wrists before attempting free throws. It is a new act he developed after struggling at the line in the first week of the season.
James has tattoos on his wrists with the names of his mother, Gloria, and his longtime girlfriend, Savannah Brinson, on them. It seems to be working. Over the past four games, James is 41-of-51 (80 percent) at the line.
``My free-throw percentage went up because of it,'' James said. ``I started it when (the media) said I couldn't shoot free throws.''
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Canton

Hughes to miss at least 2 games
Friday, November 17, 2006
By Mike Popovich REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER


CLEVELAND Cavaliers guard Larry Hughes likely will miss at least the next two games after suffering a high ankle sprain during Wednesday's win over Portland.
The sprain was revealed Thursday after Hughes underwent an MRI at the Cleveland Clinic. The team initially called the injury a lower right leg bruise.
The Cavs will host Minnesota tonight and play in Washington on Saturday. Tonight starts a stretch of six games in nine days.
Hughes was injured midway through the second quarter when the Trail Blazers' Martell Webster landed on him while the two battled for the ball under the basket. He spent a couple of minutes on the court, then was able to get up and walk to the locker room.
Injuries have taken a toll on Hughes during his career. He missed over half of last season with a broken finger that required two surgeries.
The Cavaliers say Hughes will undergo treatment over the next several days.
Sasha Pavlovic will likely start in place of Hughes. Pavlovic has given the Cavs a big lift off the bench. Over the last four games, he is averaging 11.3 points.
Hughes' absence also may lead to more playing time for first-round pick Shannon Brown, who has played just two games.
The Cavs are also listing guard Damon Jones as probable for tonight's game. Jones suffered a bruised toe in practice Thursday. Reach Repository sports writer Mike Popovich at (330) 580-8341 or e-mail: [email protected]
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ABJ

Cavs top Timberwolves

Mike Brown enjoys team's defensive effort leading to fifth consecutive win -- this one without Hughes

By Brian Windhorst

Beacon Journal sportswriter

CLEVELAND - The in-house microphones affixed to the rims made Quicken Loans Arena sound like a busy restaurant kitchen at dinner rush.
Lots of boinks, clings and clangs echoed through the building's rafters throughout the evening, which slowly warmed the cockles of Mike Brown's heart. He's a devout lover of defense, and the series of misses raised goose bumps on his arms as his Cavaliers ground out a 92-76 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
Call it ugly, but don't call it unwanted as the Cavs (7-2) racked up their fifth consecutive victory, and did it sans wounded Larry Hughes, a reality the team is going to have to deal with for the near future.
The Wolves (3-5) managed just 38 percent shooting and made 10-of-35 attempts in the second half. It was the virtuoso performance of a recent trend for the Cavs, who have held opponents to 41 percent shooting and 87.5 points in their past four home games.
``Yes, sir, boy. This second half was fun, I really enjoyed it,'' Brown said. ``Defensively, we're starting to understand what we're supposed to do.''
It didn't hurt that the Wolves seemingly couldn't hit anything, contested or not. But there's no denying the Cavs' defense was active and forced their opponents to settle mostly for jumpers.
The most visible result was that they were able to neutralize Minnesota star Kevin Garnett with double-teams. When Garnett gave up the ball, the Cavs rotated well out of doubles, always seeming to get a hand in a Wolves shooter's face.
Other than a few put-backs after offensive rebounds, Garnett got nothing easy around the basket and settled for jumpers. As a result, he managed a season-low 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting. A horde of Cavs took credit as Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao and Donyell Marshall took turns on him.
Meanwhile, the Cavs' resident all-star did more than his share. LeBron James poured in 37 points on 12-of-24 shooting and added nine rebounds and six assists.
In a game in which offense was hard to come by and Hughes was in a suit on the bench, each of James' tallies were needed.
He was especially effective in the second half in transition. With the Cavs getting stopped at the defensive end, James was effective in leading the fast break. The Cavs got 19 fast-break points and picked up 27 points off the Wolves' 18 turnovers.
``I don't know if you say it was an ugly win,'' James said. ``I didn't force anything, I just let the game come to me.''
James' support system wasn't prolific, but it was effective. Brown's decision to give David Wesley the start in Hughes' place turned out all right. Wesley made his first two jumpers of the season and scored eight points.
Ilgauskas had perhaps his most active night in the past two weeks, making 6-of-11 shots as he finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Damon Jones led another effective bench effort with 11 points as the Cavs' reserves combined for 31 points and 17 rebounds.
Dribbles
Former Cav Ricky Davis was booed often and managed only four points. In the first half, the Cavs showed his infamous shot at the wrong basket from 2003 on the videoboard.... James had scored six total points in the first quarters of the past three games but put up 14 on Friday.... James picked up the first flagrant foul of his career when he elbowed Mark Blount in the head, opening a bloody gash, in the third quarter.... Varejao took three charges in the game.... In an oddity, the game saw four jump balls.... Rookies Daniel Gibson and Shannon Brown were on the floor together for the first time in the fourth quarter.
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ABJ

Cavaliers game day

Wesley gets spot in starting lineup

Coach picks veteran to replace injured Hughes

By Brian Windhorst

Beacon Journal sportswriter

CLEVELAND - Injured Larry Hughes' replacement in the starting lineup Friday night was somewhat of a surprise.
Cavaliers coach Mike Brown decided to go with veteran David Wesley despite his struggles and the two rookies waiting for a chance on the bench. Brought in mainly for his ability to hit outside shots, Wesley lost his spot in the rotation to Sasha Pavlovic after he struggled to make shots in the preseason and in the regular season's first two weeks.
But Brown was comfortable with his bench rotation, which has been playing well, and didn't want to alter its chemistry. He's also interested in giving Wesley, who has been a starter his whole career, a chance to break out of the slump.
``I feel like I have a rhythm of what to run and the production we're getting from the bench, and I wanted to have some familiarity,'' Brown said. ``I'm going to mix it up. Maybe it will give Wes a jump-start.''
For his part, Wesley has regularly been staying after practice getting up extra shots.
``Every opportunity is a good opportunity. Hopefully something will come out of it,'' Wesley said. ``I haven't been happy with the way I've been playing to start the season. I just want to start hitting a few shots, really. I've never wanted to hit a shot so bad.''
In the locker room
Daniel Gibson had to take some medicine at shoot-around Friday after his alma mater, Texas, lost to Michigan State in the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Thursday night in New York. The always proud former Spartan Eric Snow made Gibson wear a Michigan State hat while watching game film in the locker room. Gibson also got some ribbing from his friend, fellow rookie and former Spartan Shannon Brown.... Speaking of Snow, in an odd statistic, he has attempted the Cavs' first shot in six of the season's first eight games. Considering Snow gets the fewest shots of any Cavs regular, is it some sort of superstitious strategy? ``Uh, no,'' Snow said. ``We never run plays for me.''... Coach Mike Brown has come up dry this week in his efforts to land a new PlayStation 3 for his sons. Not so for LeBron James. ``Of course, I have one,'' James said. ``And I didn't have to wait outside for it. neither.''
In the coaches' office
It might seem like Mike Brown's plan to play James fewer minutes is working, but actually, it isn't. James is averaging 41.3 minutes, the same as last season. James' minutes likely will increase with Hughes out of the lineup.
In the news
On Monday, Drew Gooden, James and Snow will host turkey dinners and giveaways. Snow will do so in Canton; Gooden, in Cleveland; and James, in Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown and Biloxi, Miss.
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SCOUTING REPORT

Cavaliers at Wizards
Tipoff: 7 tonight.
TV: FSN
Radio: WTAM (1100-AM)
Last time: The Cavs beat the Wizards 97-94 on opening night.
Notebook: The Cavs and the Wizards both played Friday; Washington was in Detroit.... The Cavs haven't won a regular-season game at the Verizon Center since 2004.... The Cavs are 0-1 on back-to-backs this season.
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Canton

Cavs extend streak to five games

Saturday, November 18, 2006
BY Mike Popovich REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER


CLEVELAND Head Coach Mike Brown likes to store a lot of film and later show the Cavaliers the right way to play.
The players should not be surprised if they ever see clips of the second half of Friday?s game against Minnesota.
The Cavs shut down the Timberwolves over the final two quarters and beat Minnesota, 92-76, for their fifth straight win. Another sellout at Quicken Loans Arena saw Cleveland hold the Wolves to just 31 points and 28.6 percent shooting from the floor in the second half.
It was a turnaround from the first half when the Cavaliers gave up many fast-break and second-chance baskets.
?In the first half, I thought we were really sloppy defensively in terms of not executing our principles and philosophies,? Brown said. ?In the second half, the guys really responded.
?We really did a nice job of executing the way we are supposed to execute. Helping for one another, talking, showing hard on pick and rolls, contesting shots and boxing out ? it was really good to see.?
A strong defensive mind-set has been a big factor during the winning streak.
Over the five games, the Cavs are allowing an average of just 89.2 points and 42.5 percent shooting from the field. They held the ?Wolves to a season-low 38.4 percent from the floor.
Even Minnesota?s Kevin Garnett found points hard to come by when he was matched up with the Cavaliers? Anderson Varejao. The nine-time All-Star finished with a season-low 14 points. He started the night 0-for-7 from the field.
?We put a lot of defense at him, and Andy is very active,? Cavaliers forward LeBron James said. ?He gives a lot of big-name, premier players in this league a little trouble because he?s so active.?
James scored a game-high 37 points and added nine rebounds and six assists for the Cavs (7-2). He helped lead a 13-2 run over a 41⁄2-minute stretch in the fourth quarter that broke open the game.
A free throw, driving dunk and fall-away 3-pointer by James put the Cavaliers on top, 81-68, with just under four minutes left. They led by as many as 18 late in the game.
Other than James, there were some other positive signs on offense.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who has struggled early, tied a season high with 14 points and added eight rebounds. Damon Jones finished with 11 points.
Jones launched a ton of 3-pointers in his first season with the Cavs. But he attempted just one Friday and scored all his points from inside the arc, including a couple of driving layups.
?I just want to be assertive, not just a guy who?s out there spotting up 3-point shots,? Jones said. ?I can do more than that. I?ve done more than that in my career.?
Craig Smith scored 12 points, Mike James finished with 11 and Mark Blount added 10 for the Wolves, who fell to 3-5.
Reach Repository sports writer Mike Popovich at (330) 580-8341 or e-mail:
[email protected]

Cavaliers 92, Timberwolves 76
FG FT Reb
MINNESOTA Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
Hassell 34:15 3-6 2-2 1-3 0 3 9
Garnett 37:46 5-17 4-5 3-11 1 3 14
Blount 20:50 3-7 4-6 0-4 1 3 10
RDavis 31:20 2-10 0-0 0-1 2 2 4
MJames 31:07 3-8 5-5 0-0 6 2 11
Smith 27:00 5-9 2-2 3-10 1 4 12
Jaric 20:54 0-1 1-2 0-0 2 2 1
Hudson 16:53 4-6 0-0 0-1 1 0 8
Griffin 10:24 3-5 0-0 1-2 0 2 6
Foye 9:31 0-4 1-2 0-2 0 2 1
Totals 240 28-73 19-24 8-34 14 23 76
Percentages?FG .384, FT .792. 3-Point Goals?1-7, .143 (Hassell 1-3, Hudson 0-1, M.James 0-1, Foye 0-2). Team Rebounds?11. Team Turnovers?18 (27 PTS). Blocked Shots?4 (Garnett 2, Blount, Hassell). Turnovers?18 (R.Davis 4, Garnett 3, Hassell 2, Hudson 2, Jaric 2, Blount, Griffin, Foye, M.James, Smith). Steals?11 (Garnett 5, Hudson 3, Jaric 2, Smith). Technical Fouls?Defensive Three Second, 4:02 first; Defensive Three Second, 9:20 second; Garnett, 10:10 fourth.
FG FT Reb
CLEVELAND Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
LJames 40:30 12-24 11-14 2-9 6 1 37
Gooden 20:52 0-5 1-2 1-9 0 2 1
Ilgauskas 22:11 6-11 2-2 3-8 1 2 14
Wesley 25:24 2-6 3-4 0-1 1 1 8
Snow 20:51 0-0 1-2 0-1 3 1 1
Marshall 25:11 2-6 1-2 2-4 1 2 6
DaJones 28:34 5-8 1-1 1-1 2 3 11
Pavlovic 26:21 3-9 0-0 1-4 0 3 7
Varejao 27:46 1-3 3-3 2-8 1 3 5
SBrown 1:10 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2
Gibson 1:10 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 240 32-73 23-30 12-45 16 18 92
Percentages?FG .438, FT .767. 3-Point Goals?5-14, .357 (L.James 2-5, Wesley 1-2, Marshall 1-3, Pavlovic 1-3, Da.Jones 0-1). Team Rebounds?8. Team Turnovers?18 (14 PTS). Blocked Shots?5 (L.James 2, Marshall 2, Gooden). Turnovers?17 (L.James 4, Ilgauskas 3, Pavlovic 3, Varejao 3, Da.Jones 2, Gooden, Snow). Steals?9 (Ilgauskas 2, Pavlovic 2, L.James, Da.Jones, Marshall, Varejao, Wesley). Technical Fouls?Ilgauskas, 5:49 first; Varejao, 10:10 fourth. Flagrant fouls?L.James, 4:56 third.
Minnesota 22 23 17 14 ? 76
Cleveland 22 20 24 26 ? 92 A?20,562 (20,562). T?2:17. Officials?Bob Delaney, David Jones, Olandis Poole.
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Dispatch

WIZARDS 111 CAVALIERS 99
Arenas scores 45 points, scuttles Cavs? win streak
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Howard Fendrich
ASSOCIATED PRESS
20061119-Pc-D18-0800.jpg
</IMG> Gilbert Arenas, shooting against Zydrunas Ilgauskas, helped the Wizards end a three-game losing streak.


WASHINGTON ? For Gilbert Arenas and the Washington Wizards, this game against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers felt as critical as a mid-November matchup can.
After all, the Wizards had lost three consecutive games. Arenas had been held below 30 points for four straight. And James and company keep barely beating Washington.
So Arenas arrived at the arena four hours before tipoff, hoisting three-pointers until he made 250, and an assortment of other shots until he made 150 of those.
Then Arenas came out of a recent personal slump by scoring 45 points ? 25 more than James ? to lead Washington past Cleveland 111-99 last night, ending the Cavaliers? five-game winning streak.
"When Gil gets it going," teammate DeShawn Stevenson said, "you?ve got to sit back and relax and let the show go."
At one point, Arenas scored 18 of 20 Wizards points.
There was a scary moment with 2 1 /2 minutes left in the game, though, when Wizards guard Jarvis Hayes went down to the floor after a collision with Cleveland?s Shannon Brown. Play was stopped for about 10 minutes while Hayes was taken away on a stretcher. The Wizards later said he bruised his back and banged his head in the fall and was at a hospital for precautionary tests.
Players from both teams have acknowledged that they?re building a bit of a rivalry, and if so, it has been rather one-sided. Cleveland eliminated Washington in the first round of the playoffs last season, then beat the Wizards again in a 2006-07 opener.
In that Nov. 1 game in Cleveland, Arenas was limited to seven points, part of the reason he has been averaging 18.3 on the road, where the Wizards are 0-4. He entered last night averaging 34.5 at home, and increased that while tying an NBA season high with seven threepointers.
Overall, he was 14 of 22 from the field for his 22 nd career 40-point game ? and third this season, which is one more than the rest of the NBA combined.
It was quite a reversal for Arenas, whose four-game, under-30-points stretch was his longest since March 2005.
The Cavaliers were without injured Larry Hughes, who used to play for Washington and has given Arenas fits in the past when guarding him.
"I don?t think Larry could have stopped that, either," Arenas said. "He could have tried, but I don?t think he could have stopped that performance."
James said, "The way he was in his comfort zone tonight, it didn?t matter who was on him."
James was 8 of 20 from the field and appeared to grow frustrated with the officiating, at one point walking away with palms up. Cavaliers coach Mike Brown drew a technical for arguing a call. "I thought LeBron was getting hit all night, and maybe the refs thought it was something different," Mike Brown said.
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ABJ

Lethargic LeBron, team come up short

Wizards shut the door on Cavs' winning streak

By Brian Windhorst

Beacon Journal sportswriter

WASHINGTON - The schedule dictated that the Cavaliers play the Washington Wizards on Saturday. It didn't demand they play the Wizards' style of ball.
That's what happened, even though the Cavs collectively knew better, and the result was predictable. Instead of playing a game in the low 90s as the Cavs prefer, it turned into an offensive slugfest. The underdog in that fight got whipped.
The Wizards ran to a 111-99 victory, halting the Cavs' five-game winning streak.
The last time these two hooked up, in the season opener 18 days ago, a combination of Larry Hughes' defense and a bizarre malaise resulted in a forgettable night for Wizards star Gilbert Arenas, who went 2-of-12 shooting. Without Hughes to deal with due to an ankle injury, and smelling blood, Arenas made up for the previous lackluster affair.
He lit up every Cav assigned to him, including LeBron James, on his way to 45 points. He hit 14-of-22 shots, including 7-of-11 on 3-pointers.
Arenas gets hot, especially at home. Last season, he scored more than 30 points 42 times. Saturday was his third 40-point game at home this season. Yet the Wizards were a .500 team last season and are 4-5 this season, which means opponents can sometimes find ways to survive Arenas' huge nights.
The obstacle for the Cavs (7-3) was Arenas was merely the biggest cog in the machine. They tried to run with the Wizards, and played phantom defense and didn't represent themselves well on the glass, two areas where they excelled during their now extinct win streak.
It was the most points the Cavs have given up this season and only the second time they've allowed more than 100. On the other occasion it took the Atlanta Hawks until overtime to get there.
``It was too much Washington Wizards, too much Gilbert. We got our behinds kicked,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ``We didn't get it done defensively.''
The Cavs had fun for a while. Enjoying the Wizards' always fun style, the Cavs playfully tried to match them shot for shot. At halftime, the Cavs were shooting 59 percent, which is darn good, except they were still down by four points.
In the third quarter the shooting dried up and Arenas got really hot, mostly at the expense of James. Arenas made shot after shot over his fellow All-Star and it seemed to take James out of his game.
James finished with 20 points, five rebounds and four assists. He became lethargic in the second half on the offensive end, settling for jumpers, and the whole team followed his lead.
``It didn't matter who was on Gilbert, he was in a comfort zone,'' James said. ``It was challenging. I tried my best to get a hand up, but he kept making them.''
All of the Wizards looked comfortable. Antawn Jamison had 16 points and eight rebounds. Caron Butler had 11 points and 10 rebounds. DeShawn Stevenson scored 15 points and did an effective job defending James.
The Cavs put five players in double figures -- including a season-high 16 points from Zydrunas Ilgauskas -- but offense was not an issue.
``You are always going to have games like this,'' James said. ``We know what kind of caliber team we are. It is not going to affect us.
``We know they want to run and the game to be wide open. It is going to be tough to beat them playing that way.''
Dribbles
Wizards guard Jarvis Hayes fell to the floor with two minutes to play in the game, banging his head and back. He was taken off the court on a stretcher, then to a local hospital for tests. He had movement in all his extremities.... Damon Jones, who had 10 points, was ejected in the fourth quarter for arguing after an offensive foul. ``Whatever I said, it was enough to get tossed,'' Jones said.... Brown was also hit with a technical foul, his first of the year.... Rookie Daniel Gibson scored his first career points.... The Wizards did not commit a turnover until three minutes into the third quarter.... Eric Snow had a season-high eight assists.
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ABJ

They're wizards when facing Cavs

Washington's spell lures foe into run and gun

By Brian Windhorst

WASHINGTON - There's no doubt the Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards are an intriguing matchup.
Last season's playoff series was one of the most intense in franchise history and made for great television, which is why two of the three matchups between the teams this season are on national television. The Gilbert Arenas/LeBron James component, along with some other more heated individual animosities, make it seem like it could be quite the rivalry.
But if you are a Cavs fan, you probably want to see the Wizards as little as possible. In fact, the two teams play only once more, and not until April in Washington, and maybe the Cavs should mail in their regrets and wish the Wizards luck and hope never to see them again.
The Cavs have made significant strides on so many fronts over in the last two years. They've become a deeper and more well-rounded team. They've shown they can win big games at home and on the road. They've improved slowly but surely on the defensive end, usually putting forth a solid effort every night.
And the Cavs were able to eke past the Wizards in April in a series in which they seemed to get all the breaks. The Washington Post's headline the day after Game 6 sort of said it all: ``The Chosen Won.''
In reality, the Wizards seem to have quite a bit of success in taking the Cavs out of their game they've worked so hard to develop. That playoff series was preposterously high-scoring and played almost exclusively at the Wizards' pace.
Cavs coach Mike Brown surely sees Washington as a bad influence on his team. The Wizards play fast and loose and have lots of fun doing so. More often than not, the Cavs just haven't been able to persuade themselves to avoid taking part, and most of the time, it is to their detriment.
It happened again Saturday night at the Verizon Center, just as it happened in three of the four meetings in the regular season last year. The Cavs were beaten Saturday, 111-99. Last year, the Cavs had a winning or .500 record against every playoff team in the NBA except one... the Wizards. This season, they have only one loss to a playoff team from last season... the Wizards. Even in the season-opening victory over the Wizards in Cleveland, it sure seemed more like Washington lost rather than the Cavs won.
It comes down to this: The Cavs are on the verge of becoming one of the NBA's elite teams. But no one has beaten them more on their ascent than the running and gunning Wizards.
Dribbles
? Unlike some free agents-to-be, Anderson Varejao has decided against taking out a personal insurance policy on his future earnings in case of injury. Last season, several NBA free agents took new policies after seeing the Denver Nuggets' Nene go down with a knee injury before hitting free agency. One of them was Drew Gooden. But Varejao, who will be a restricted free agent at season's end and figures to be in line for a significant raise from his $945,000 salary, said he'd never even given it much thought.
``To me, it is bad luck to do that,'' Varejao said. ``I am just going to play and not worry about it.''
? It was just four years ago that the Cavs were last in attendance in the NBA and hemorrhaging money, between $1.5 million and $2 million per month, according to one team source. Of course, now they're flush with huge attendance and seemingly endless new corporate sponsorship deals that have Quicken Loans Arena littered with logos.
Which is probably why owner Dan Gilbert wasn't one of the eight NBA owners who signed a letter to NBA Commissioner David Stern in September begging the league to investigate revenue sharing, especially when it relates to dispersing the local television cash, which varies wildly between the big and small markets.
The letter and the writers were revealed by the Seattle Times on Sunday. The owners are the Portland Trail Blazers' Paul Allen, Memphis Grizzlies' Michael Heisley, Charlotte Bobcats' Bob Johnson, Milwaukee Bucks' Herb Kohl, Utah Jazz's Larry Miller, New Orleans Hornets' George Shinn, Indiana Pacers' Herb Simon and Minnesota Timberwolves' Glen Taylor. No doubt, new Sonics owner Clay Bennett is in that club now as well.
Although the Cavs don't exactly see themselves as paupers, they are much closer to the Timberwolves and Grizzlies in the scheme of things than to the Knicks and the Lakers. Yet with a new and very rich deal from FSN-Ohio, which puts them in the top five in the league and runs for 10 years, they are in no mood to share.
? After playing some of the best offensive ball of his career in the preseason and the first week of the regular season, Gooden has gone cold. He has scored four or fewer points in four of the Cavs' last five games, although he has been consistent in rebounding the ball.
? Perhaps the Cavs will petition the NBA to not have official Mark Ayotte assigned to future games at the Verizon Center. Last February, Ayotte ejected Zydrunas Ilgauskas with two quick technical fouls after a scuffle with the Wizards' Brendan Haywood. On Saturday, Ayotte hit Damon Jones with two techs within a matter of seconds to send him packing in the second half. They are the only two ejections of the last two seasons for the Cavs.
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The Cavs really need Hughes back in the next game or 2. Without him they are going to have a hard time winning back to backs. I'm not too worried about the Washington loss. Going in that's a game that you expect them to struggle in thanks to being a back to back. I was celebrating and didn't see much of the Cavs/Wiz game, but I'm really looking forward to Gibson in the next year or two. He is quick (i.e.- where the guy hurt himself trying to foul him). Hopefully Gibson and Brown will develop into good guards for the future so that the Cavs can focus on another big man in the next draft.
 
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