Posted on Mon, Mar. 13, 2006
Another Sunday struggle for Cavs
Heat latest team to exploit team mishaps on national television
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter
<!-- begin body-content -->MIAMI - In most pro sports, the end of the weekend is usually the money day, where performance in the clutch is rewarded and only the strong-willed excel.
Same for the NBA, where made-for-TV matchups pit supposedly the best against the best in the day of rest's afternoon.
Yet, for the Cavaliers, reality has been coming on these Sundays and it bites.
Just as two weeks ago in a hammering on a Sunday afternoon in Detroit, the Cavs' physical and mental toughness was called into question. It happened again on this Sunday against the Miami Heat.
After playing admirable basketball for three quarters, when it came time to put up or slink away, the Cavs wilted like a snow cone in the bright spring South Florida sun.
Pushed around by a 36-year old grizzled veteran and swallowed by emotion from a more talented and poised team, the Cavs gave up a 15-point second-half lead in the 98-92 loss.
Losing on the road to the ultra-talented Heat (41-21), who have won 11 of their past 12 games, is understandable.
Losing with offensive and defensive disarray in the clutch in March for a team striving for the playoffs isn't as much.
With Alonzo Mourning carrying his team and their crowd on his back, the Cavs (36-28) were outscored 33-20 in the fourth quarter to suffer their second consecutive loss and seventh in a row at AmericanAirlines Arena.
``They stepped it up a notch and got it done,'' said Cavs coach Mike Brown, who had seen this in various forms before. ``That's something that we have to continue to try to do against good teams; we've got to figure a way to close the deal.''
LeBron James had 47 points despite being bashed and battered by Mourning and key cohort Dwyane Wade. He made a team-record 24 free throws on a team-record 28 attempts. But like that day inside the Palace at Auburn Hills where all stood by and watched after Rasheed Wallace crushed Zydrunas Ilgauskas' head, no Cav had the intestinal fortitude to put a stop to the Heat's wave.
Miami shot 63 percent in the fourth quarter with Wade thrashing to the basket and creating havoc. He and teammate Derek Anderson spent the stretch run setting up Mourning, Antoine Walker and Gary Payton. In other words, it was a veteran unit with faith in itself overpowering a weaker-looking opponent. The Heat didn't even need megastar center Shaquille O'Neal, who wasn't even a factor in the second half.
Rallying the crowd with his rough play, be it when pushing around Cavs like Anderson Varejao or bashing James to the deck when he'd come calling around the hoop, Mourning looked like he was in his prime again. He made all four of his shots in the fourth quarter and finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.
Walker made all five of his shots in the fourth and finished with 14. Wade, who drove the show like the man who has been in five playoff series already, scored 10 of his 35 points in the fourth, and had three of his seven assists and three of his nine rebounds.
``They pick it up a notch, they know what it takes,'' James said. ``We haven't been there yet so we don't know when it is time to pick it up.''
This was apparent. Once again in the fourth quarter the Cavs appeared to be thrashing in the deep end of the pool. James attacked and was hacked, scoring 18 points. But no one came to his aid, in fact just one other player scored. That was a single basket by Ilgauskas, who had 21 points and represented James' only true help on the afternoon.
The Cavs reserves were out-scored by the Heat's 38-5 two days after being outscored 67-12 by the Orlando Magic.
``They got a lot of good stuff and energy from their bench guys,'' Ilgauskas said. ``They got the crowd involved and we struggled. We couldn't sustain.''
