By Jake Appleman and Jon Evans
Due to overall exhaustion (Jon giving his architectural semester’s summation presentation to his Harvard peers and me working till 2AM before tidying up the riot that ensued yesterday in these parts and hopping on a bus a few hours later), we decided to run game notes as a G-Chat that we had while sitting in two different press sections. Bad idea. I think we were boasting a combined 5 hours worth of sleep. I don’t have the time to sift through and fully edit a 3 hour long chat, so I’m going to run a few thoughts and then some choice chat highlights for you guys.
–Let’s get this out of the way: That may have been the worst offensive game of LeBron’s life. 10 turnovers (many came from haphazardly trying to split two or three guys) and 2-18 combine to form a putridity that even I don’t have to explain to you guys. He displayed visible frustration on a few jumpers that rimmed out and failed to finish near the rim consistently–like the awkward guy that struggles to “put it back in.” With this performance coinciding with yesterday’s piece, I’d be lying to you if I told you I wasn’t disappointed. And yes, I kept expecting him to do something amazing in spite of the struggles. Here’s the thing though: When he dropped 50 on the Knicks, he scored 2 in the first quarter. Last night, he didn’t quit on anybody and he fought to the death. Regardless of outcome, these numbers are an aberration, not a trend.
–Kudos (Check plus plus) to big Z. Z was a man on the boards and consistently took advantage of open looks. He was vintage Z, and the Cavs will need him if they are going to pull this off. There were a few possessions when limited mobility and picking up his dribble hurt Z, but overall, you couldn’t have asked for more.
–After a good half an hour of real time on the bench following a comical 0-5 start, Wally “Long Island, STAND UP!” Szczerbiak drained a series of clutch shots for the Cavs, without which the game probably wouldn’t have been so close.
–Kevin Garnett is absolutely f*cking insane. But you already knew that. There were two moments last night when KG was oozing hardwood psycho like a metaphorical serial rapist. Once, as the ball was brought up the floor he did this sort of slide/trance/dance thing which I can’t describe any better than that–maybe he actually slipped, but I doubt it–and when the Cavs were inbounding the ball, sideline out of bounds, towards the end of the game, he was sneaking around like a dude that had a knife in his back pocket. The man is a fire-breathing dragon of intense ridiculousness that would eat your screaming baby alive if you left it in the paint by accident.
–Rajon Rondo was the MVP of the first half. Despite a few turnovers, he controlled tempo during the C’s early run and took advantage of his speed to get to and convert in the lane. Yet, he barely played in the second half because Sam Cassell’s is late game teste’d. Now, I don’t know sh*t about X-factorials (does such a thing exist, mathletes?) but having two 1’s to the maximum power must be awesome. As fate would have it, I headed towards the locker room after the game from my seat behind Mrs. Rondo, who was treated like royalty, as she should be. That must have been one of those induced “speed births”. “C’s section?” Okay, enough.
–James Posey was the unheralded star of the game. His defense on the LeBron and overall impact during the Celtics’ early run in the first quarter were huge.
–The Cavs almost won this game on sheer hustle and grit, by getting to loose balls and by making shots when they absolutely had to. Nothing more, nothing less. Given the need for LeBron and Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to all rebound, it’s impossible to fathom how game 2 will pan out because LeBron could go off, but if the insistence on getting to the rim, crashing the boards and grabbing loose balls don’t follow suit, the Cavs could lose that one too.
Chat highlights:
Pre/First Quarter
The Cavs are on pace for a 30 point half…
