Cavs 07-08 Season Thread

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Cavs seek knockout punch Wizards are down; LeBron plans to keep them there
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter

Published on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008
INDEPENDENCE: With the opportunity to advance in the playoffs for a third consecutive season in Game 5 tonight, the Cavaliers find themselves walking the fine line between being confident and cocky.
Back home with a 3-1 series lead over the Washington Wizards, the Cavs have their first closeout chance of this postseason. It's an enviable position, but not one the Cavs have always handled well in the past two years. The Cavs are 4-3 in closeout games in the past two postseasons and are just 1-2 at Quicken Loans Arena.
When thinking of 2007, many might remember the Game 6 victory over the Detroit Pistons in the conference finals with thousands watching from the plaza outside and the Cavs earning their first-ever Finals appearance. But last season, the Cavs also came home from New Jersey in the conference semifinals after going ahead 3-1 and laid an egg in Game 5 at home in a bad loss to the Nets.

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[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Cavaliers' Ben Wallace leads by his actions

Wallace not one for a lot of talk
Wednesday, April 30, 2008Mary Schmitt Boyer
Plain Dealer Reporter
Ben Wallace worked his way around the practice courts on Tuesday afternoon, working on his shot. For the better part of an hour, at three different baskets and with two different assistant coaches, Wallace shot increasingly longer jump shots, until he finally found himself at the 3-point line.
He took a few of those and, much like the rest of his jumpers in this session, he made more than he missed.
The irony, of course, is that Wall ace is coming off per haps his best playoff game as a Cavalier - and he didn't even take a shot in the Cavs' 100-97 victory at Washington on Sunday afternoon.

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[osugrad21]

CPD

Stevenson is down to his last limb, says Bill Livingston


Wednesday, April 30, 2008Bill Livingston
Plain Dealer Columnist
When the Black Knight loses his left arm in a sword fight with King Arthur in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," he says, " 'Tis but a scratch." And when his right is lopped off, he says, "Just a flesh wound." When the left leg goes, he proclaims, "I'm invincible. "
"What are you going to do?" says the King. "Bleed on me?"
The Black Knight is black-bearded Washington Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson. I believe we all know who King Arthur is in this first-round series. (Hint: His license plate reads, abbreviating his home town of Akron, "King of Ak.")

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[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James has his eyes on the finish line


Wednesday, April 30, 2008Jodie Valade
Plain Dealer Reporter
After all the overrated chants and LeBron fouls and rapping wars and league fines, the Cavaliers reminded everyone of one small fact before today's Game 5 in this best-of-7 series.
They have a 3-1 series lead over the Wizards. All the yapping and hard fouls can end if they hold on to their homecourt advantage. Only eight teams in NBA history have come back to win a series when down 1-3.
LeBron James said after the Cavaliers' Game 4 victory that he doesn't believe the Wizards can come back from the deficit, and Tuesday he clarified why.

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[osugrad21]

CPD

'THE WHISTLE' DOESN'T STOP



Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The latest subplot to the Cavs-Wizards series transpired late Friday night/early Saturday morning at a Washington, D.C., night club called "Love."
According to witnesses, the disc jockey announced a new song by rapper Jay-Z. When the song played, the lyrics were critical of the Wizards and player DeShawn Stevenson, who has a feud with Cavs superstar LeBron James. Jay-Z and James are good friends.
More witnesses said Cavs guard Damon Jones also joined in the fun when he made some disparaging remarks about the Wizards over the microphone.

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[osugrad21]

Canton

Cavaliers looking to end series at home tonight
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
BY Chris Beaven
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

INDEPENDENCE More trash talk directed LeBron James' way emanated from Washington on Monday.

A day later, as has become his custom, James tried to keep the focus on basketball as his Cavaliers head into a close-out game tonight at 6.

"Like I said before, it's getting really commercial," James said Tuesday of trash talk by the Wizards. "I'm just getting ready for the game. We got to come out with the same intensity that we did last game and try to win."

The Cavs lead the Wizards, 3-1, in the best-of-seven series. A win tonight at Quicken Loans Arena puts the Cavs in the Eastern Conference semifinals for the third straight year.

And for the third straight year the Cavs would eliminate the Wizards to get there. Washington, though, is not going quietly. From their hard fouls on James to their center Brendan Haywood mocking the Cavs All-Star, the Wizards have created their share of distractions.
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[osugrad21]

Canton

Cavaliers playoff notebook: Keying on LeBron helps other Cavs
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
BY Chris Beaven
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

INDEPENDENCE All kinds of traffic awaited LeBron James on most of his drives into the lane Sunday afternoon against the Wizards.

That limited the damage done by James as a scorer late in Game 4. It also opened the door for others to make big shots.

"If they've got two guys on LeBron, that means someone's open," said guard Daniel Gibson, often one of those guys.

Gibson and Delonte West hit nine 3-pointers between them Sunday, and should get more good looks tonight in Game 5 of their series.

"We have to continue knocking down shots when they become available," Head Coach Mike Brown said. "Washington is making that lane very crowded when LeBron has the basketball. So he's going to be able to make some passes to some open guys. We just have to have guys step in and knock the shot down."

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[osugrad21]

Canton

Sports spotlight: LeBron keeps his cool despite playground ball around him
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
BY Todd Porter
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

INDEPENDENCE One popular Web site took it to the people Tuesday. On the heels of Washington center Brendan Haywood calling Cavaliers forward LeBron James a crybaby, aol.com asked readers who would win a fight between the King and Haywood.

Although James said he hasn't fought since grade school, he is the people's champ.

"I haven't been in a fight in a long time," James said. "I can't afford to get kicked out of a game. I mean too much to my team."

Which is why Washington can afford to play the thug role. The Wizards don't have anyone more important than the next guy.

By a 2-to-1 margin, more than 24,000 voters said James would whip Haywood. But James isn't lacing up the gloves and stepping into a ring. That's the beauty of what he and the Cavs have done. They have not lost sight that this is a playoff series, not a cage match.

But it is, sadly, what the Cavaliers-Wizards first-round NBA playoff series has been reduced to: playground basketball, trash talk, cheap fouls and hitting James like he's a cheap stuffed animal waiting for the fluff to float to the floor. Tonight at Quicken Loans Arena, the Cavs will try to shut up the Wizards and close out this series ? with all body parts intact.

James has shot 49 of his team's 126 free throws. He has absorbed two flagrant fouls and been nearly scalped twice. He has been hit so much during this series, could you blame him if he walked around like a punch-drunk boxer?
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[osugrad21]

ABJ

Wizards' Butler steps up Injuries improved, he leads victory over Cavs
By Brian Windhorst
and George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sportswriters

Published on Thursday, May 01, 2008
CLEVELAND: The Washington Wizards' Caron Butler battled knee, hip and wrist injuries in the latter part of the season, including the playoffs.
No one could tell by the way he played Wednesday in the 88-87 win over the Cavaliers in Game 5. With their marquee player, Gilbert Arenas, unceremoniously announcing to the media that he had finished his season, Butler gave a scintillating performance, lighting the Cavs up for a career playoff-high 32 points on 11-of-22 shooting, nine rebounds and five assists.
''I'm feeling more comfortable because my body is finally coming around,'' Butler said. ''I've had a lot of injuries in the second half of the season, but I had to lay it all on the line despite how my body felt. I felt great and my teammates were really looking for me.''
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[osugrad21]

ABJ

McManamon: Cavaliers' offense does vanishing act 'Dribble, drive and hope' probably isn't best game plan
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
Published on Thursday, May 01, 2008
CLEVELAND: The Cavaliers lost Game 5 of their playoff series against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night because they abandoned their offense.
Heck with abandon.
For the final few minutes ? and, at least, since the Cavs took an 87-82 lead ? they did not run an offense.
LeBron James is a wonderful player, probably the best in the NBA.
There are times when the ball needs to be in his hands, and when the Cavs need to run the play Delonte West described as ''everybody get out of the way and let LeBron do his thing.''
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[osugrad21]

ABJ

LEBRON ACCEPTS BLAME Bad choices, missed shots near the end give Wizards their chance
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter

Published on Thursday, May 01, 2008
CLEVELAND: Poets and purists would insist that karma stepped in as the ball hopped up and down on the rim as below arms flailed and sweat flew.
Caron Butler, the Washington Wizards' All-Star forward, had bulled his way past LeBron James and smacked his shot off the glass. Time and time again the past three years the Cavaliers have gut punched the Wizards in the playoffs with last-second heroics as James built himself a portfolio of late-game dominance on their backs.
But this time there was some balance and some gravity, as Butler's shot fell in with 3.9 seconds left in Game 5 on Wednesday. They turned out to be the final points in the Wizards' 88-87 win in a flip-flop of the normal order of things between these two teams in the postseason.
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[osugrad21]

CPD

Caron Butler's late jumper gives Washington Wizards victory over Cleveland Cavaliers

Wizards take it to Game 6
Thursday, May 01, 2008Branson Wright
Plain Dealer Reporter
The Cavaliers had victory and the second round within their grasp with less than two minutes left Wednesday night against the Washington Wizards in their first-round playoff series.
The Wizards' hopes of continuing the series were fading because history has been on the Cavs' side. But a Caron Butler bucket followed by a missed layup from LeBron James meant an 88-87 loss to the Wizards at The Q and continued the best-of-seven series.
The Cavs failed to close out the series and now hold a 3-2 lead, with Game 6 on Friday in Washington. The Cavs' loss snapped the Wizards' five-game playoff losing streak at The Q.

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[osugrad21]

CPD

Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas won't match Cleveland Cavaliers' Damon Jones from bench


Thursday, May 01, 2008Jodie Valade
Plain Dealer Reporter
Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas took a permanent place on the bench Wednesday after finally yielding to his injured left knee and calling it a season. But even if he was on the bench, he vowed he was not going to be like Cavaliers guard Damon Jones.
That is, he was not going to be issuing the kind of non-stop chatter the ever-loquacious Jones does before the game . . . during the game . . . and after the game. Though Jones doesn't get much playing time - he has a total of 11 minutes in the series against the Wizards - he impacts the game plenty with his constant talking to teammates and opposing players.
Even if Arenas vowed to be quieter, he admitted the two players would talk afterward. Arenas calls Jones his best friend. And how, exactly, do young NBA players show they're best friends?

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[osugrad21]

CPD

Washington Wizards forward Caron Butler is the difference against Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5

With Arenas out, forward delivers

Thursday, May 01, 2008 Jodie Valade

Plain Dealer Reporter
While the star player sat as the Washington Wizards trailed by one in the final seconds, the All-Star everyone forgot about considered his options.
Caron Butler wondered whether he should take the jump shot that the Cavs' LeBron James was encouraging him to shoot with his sagging defense, or whether he should drive to the basket, risking hits on his aching right knee, tender hip and painful wrist - but getting closer to the rim.
"I didn't want to settle," Butler said. "I didn't want to look back on the season and say I settled for a jump shot and probably bailed out the defender. I wanted to just try to go in there and get contact and try to get it to go in."

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[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Cavaliers can win Game 6 against Washington Wizards, but shouldn't have to, says The Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto



Thursday, May 01, 2008

As long as the Cavs have Le Bron James, they are ca pable of going to Washington and winning Game 6 on Friday to wrap up this series. But it never should have come to this. The Cavs didn't just lose when Wizards forward Caron Butler made a big shot in the final seconds while James' final shot bounced off the rim. They lost when they played flat and fuzzy in the first quarter, scoring only 16 points. It was a period where Cavs guard Delonte West (1-of-5) took more shots than James or anyone else. The Cavs said they wanted to work the ball inside, but center Zydrunas Ilgauskas took only one shot in the opening period.
The Cavs lost because they too often were outhustled for loose balls. They lost because they didn't have their usual dominance on the boards. They had been outrebounding Washington by 10 per game, but they were up only 40-39 this night. Cavs coach Mike Brown talked of being disappointed by his team's lack of intensity in the first half. Simple question: Why? The Cavs were at home, all the pressure was on Washington. Instead, the Cavs acted like this was just another game in the middle of March, at least in the first half. Now they are the team under pressure. Who wants to be on a club that is up, 3-1, in a series and loses three in a row? The Cavs are still in control, they have a possible Game 7 at home (where the home team is 78-19 historically). But this thing should be over and out.

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