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Cavs 08-09 Season - Central Div Champs (official thread)

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Canton

Cleveland flying high with 10th straight home win

By Chris Beaven
CantonRep.com staff writer
Posted Dec 03, 2008 @ 11:05 PM
Last update Dec 04, 2008 @ 02:29 AM
CLEVELAND ?
As sales pitches go, the Knicks might want to work on theirs when it comes to luring away LeBron James.

For the second time in eight days, the James-led Cavs hammered the Knicks ? reminding everyone how bad New York is and how close James is to winning an NBA title right here in Cleveland.

The Cavs smacked around the Knicks, 118-82, Wednesday night and set a franchise record by opening the season with a 10th straight home win. A sold-out crowd of 20,562 at Quicken Loans Arena saw the Cavs lead by as many as 42 in winning their sixth straight overall and their 14th in 15 games.

Only one of the last six games has been close.

?When we get a team down, we don?t want to let them back in the game,? James said. ?It?s not going to happen every game.?

It just seems that way.

The Cavs have won their last six by an average of 21.7 points. That includes last Tuesday?s 119-101 romp at New York.

In their 10 home wins, they?ve won by an average margin of 16.4 points.

Any way you add it up, the Cavs (15-3) are hot.

?That?s a really, really good basketball team,? said Knicks Head Coach Mike D?Antoni, whose own team is shorthanded and has played only eight players the last seven games.

For the third time in five games, all 12 Cavs scored.

Cleveland pounded New York with a season-high 56 points in the paint.

The Cavs also forced a season-high 28 turnovers and limited the Knicks to 38.6 percent shooting.

?That?s where we set the tone, with our defense,? Cavs Head Coach Mike Brown said.

The only scare was a hard foul on James early in the third quarter. Al Harrington grabbed James from behind in the open floor and pulled him down to prevent a dunk. Harrington got hit with a flagrant foul.

There was no hard feelings either way.
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I never did understand why LBJ got the tech. in the 2nd quarter.

Friday will be a much tougher game. The last time they played, the Pacers played very good, and they just beat the Lakers so they should come in with some confidence.

8 blocked shot and 18 steals for the Cavs. That's pretty impressive, even if it is the Knicks.
 
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Earlier today, ESPiN had showed that Bron has only played in the 4th quarter once out of the last six games and that was against the Bucks, on the road.. That's impressive, and it will come in handy later in the year, if they can keep this up.
 
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ABJ

Blowouts give Cavs a breather Rookies get to play as starters enjoy some rest
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Friday, Dec 05, 2008
INDEPENDENCE: Let's face it. The Cavaliers look downright boring. How dare they beat the New York Knicks by 36 points Wednesday night. How dare they thump teams by an average of 12.33 points per game.
If they keep doing that, they might actually do something crazy . . . like make a run at an NBA championship.
So, is winning games by these margins a bad thing for the Cavs?
''I don't look at it like that,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ''I look at it as we have to go do our job, and if we're up big by the end of the first half or if we're getting our behinds kicked at the end of the first half, we just go to take the next play and keep trying to be better.''
Against the Knicks, no starter played more than 29 minutes. and that includes LeBron James. Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who logged a little more than 23 minutes, could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of what the Cavaliers are doing. Even he realizes, however, that expecting the Cavs to continue on their frantic pace is akin to taking a visit to the Land of Oz; it's one humongous fantasy.
''Obviously, we expect to win every game, but not by the margins we do so far,'' he said. ''We don't expect to go like this the whole season. There are going to be a lot of tough games, and games that go down to the last second and last shots.''
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CPD

Chairman of the boards: Friends, teammates root on Ilgauskas as he nears Cavs' rebound mark

by Mary Schmitt Boyer/Plain Dealer Reporter Thursday December 04, 2008, 11:37 PM


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John Kuntz/The Plain Dealer With more than 5,200 rebounds and nearly 9,600 career points, Zydrunas Ilgauskas has become a prized veteran on an ascending Cavaliers team. Within the next few games, Big Z will claim the franchise's all-time rebounding record, surpassing Brad Daugherty.
Facts and figures about Zydrunas Ilgauskas' Cavaliers career.

Sometime in the next few games, an errant shot will clang off the rim and Zydrunas Ilgauskas will stretch out his long arms to retrieve a milestone, one that many -- including Ilgauskas -- never thought would come. The Cavaliers much-loved, much-injured veteran center needs 23 rebounds to surpass Brad Daugherty's franchise record of 5,227. Whether it comes at home or on the road, whether the game is stopped or goes on uninterrupted, it will be a nearly miraculous achievement, considering all the pain Ilgauskas has been through -- physical and emotional, professional and personal, public and private.
"It was really worth it," Ilgauskas said with a small smile.
Those who know him best and who have been with him through all the ups and downs since the Cavs made him the 20th pick in the 1996 draft will celebrate the accomplishment not because they think Ilgauskas is such a great player, but because they think he's such a great person.
"No one will be cheering louder," said Cavaliers minority owner Gordon Gund.
"It makes my heart swell," said his agent, Herb Rudoy.

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CPD

Andy's all right: Varejao a happy Cavalier once again, a year after contract dispute

by Brian Windhorst/Plain Dealer Reporter Thursday December 04, 2008, 6:57 PM


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John Kuntz/The Plain DealerAnderson Varejao has lost weight and regained the on-court energy that has made him a valuable and versatile Cavalier this season.
Friday is a big day for Anderson Varejao. For one, it's his wig night, all the fans who come to The Q for the game with Indiana Pacers will get mop tops. Second, it marks the one-year anniversary of his contract with the Cavaliers, which has both emotional and procedural implications.
Last Dec. 5, the Cavs matched the three-year, $17 million offer sheet Varejao signed with the Charlotte Bobcats, ending a painful period for both team and player. There's been a great deal of healing done in the 12 months since, both physical and psychological.
Which is why both sides are feeling pretty positive about each other and why Varejao's no-trade clause that ends today isn't of much consequence at the moment. For the last year, due to NBA rules on matched offer sheets, there were restrictions on trading Varejao, requiring him to approve any deal. Now those have been removed, but the Cavs are content with their valuable versatile big man.

Varejao is playing well, averaging 7.8 points and 6.6 rebounds while shooting 61 percent from the field, the best on the team. His ankle and quad injuries from last season have healed and he is in good shape after taking the summer off to focus on rehab and conditioning.
"I'm pretty happy with the team," Varejao said. "I feel like I'm an important part of the team and that I'm helping us win. Everybody is doing a good job right now."Cont...
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CPD

A wine winter with a golden glow: Cavaliers' sensational start gives fans reason to believe

by Terry Pluto/Plain Dealer Columnist Thursday December 04, 2008, 6:48 PM


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John Kuntz/The Plain DealerWith LeBron James getting support from a revamped roster and one of the loudest crowds in the NBA, the Cavaliers have rocketed to a 15-3 record to start the season and have established themselves as one of the league's elite teams.
This Indian summer, the local baseball team was supposed to be World Series contender, but they were talking rebuilding and Wait 'Til Next Year even before the first fireworks of July 4. This football fall, the Browns were supposed to be a prime-time playoff team, but those dreams withered and wilted with the first October frost.
Now comes the snow and promise of a Cavaliers winter, where the home team is 15-3 and off to the best start in franchise history. Heading into Friday night's home game against Indiana, they are 10-0 at home and have won 14 of 15 overall. They have sold out eight of their first 10 home games, compared to only four at this time a year ago.
After living in a sports town of great expectations, a few teases and no championships from any of the Big Three pro franchises since the 1964 Browns, are you willing to believe in the Cavaliers?

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Canton

Cavs like a lack of drama

By Chris Beaven
CantonRep.com staff writer
Posted Dec 05, 2008 @ 12:28 AM
CLEVELAND ?
They turned playing tight games into an art form.

They let mediocre and bad teams alike hang around. They never built a lead too big to be safe.

That was the Cavs of a season ago.

The Cavs of today?

When they play a struggling team, they usually blow them out. When they get a big lead on someone, they usually increase it and put the game away by the fourth quarter.

It?s a drastic personality shift and one that has Cleveland owning the third-best record in the NBA entering tonight?s 7:30 game against Indiana at Quicken Loans Arena ? where the Cavs have set a franchise record by starting the season 10-0.

They are 15-3 overall and piling up the blowouts, more in one month than they had all last season.

?I think that we just don?t let up,? point guard Mo Williams said Wednesday after the latest rout, 118-82 over the Knicks. ?We do a good job of keeping the pressure on guys and keep everything going.?

The Cavs have won 12 of their 15 games by double digits, including their last nine wins. During this six-game winning streak, their average victory margin is 21.7.
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This brings to mind a quote from I believe, Leo Durocher (SP?). It went something like;" if you want to win championships, you have to beat the brains out of the bums, and split with the contenders." The Cavs are doing just a fine job that so far.:biggrin:
 
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CPD

Cavaliers eye seventh win in a row

by cleveland.com Friday December 05, 2008, 2:00 PM


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Indiana visits The Q tonight, where the Cavaliers are 10-0 and trying to win for the 15th time in their last 16 games.

Get in-game reports at cleveland.com/cavs and follow all of tonight's NBA action on our live NBA scoreboard.
Game info
Tipoff: 7:30 p.m. at The Q.
TV/radio: FSN Ohio; WTAM AM/1100.

Continued...........
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