James and Cavaliers Come Up Huge To Force Game 6

Another game in Cleveland, another huge early game lead for the Cavaliers as they stormed out leading the Magic at one point 32-10 and ending the first quarter 35-18. It’s not the 1st quarter that has given the Cavs problems as they have have dominated all 1st quarters in the series(140-98) . Mo Williams must have thought his guaranteed win was for tonight as he came out on fire hitting 3 triples in the first 4:38 . He scored 24 points nailing 6-9 from 3 and finally giving LeBron James an additional 20+ point scorer. Then the other pattern soon followed, the blowing of the lead as the Magic outscored Cleveland 37-21 in the 2nd quarter topped off with a 3 from Rashard Lewis with 0.7 seconds left in the half to close the once 22 point margin to 1 (56-55). Bad memories of the past games haunted my thoughts as the Magic yet again dominated the 3rd (133-103) and pushed up to an 8 point lead to end the quarter 79-78. That’s when the LeBron James show begin to air. It seemed as if Mike Brown and the Cavaliers threw out any game plan and decided to put their season in the hands of the league MVP. On nearly every possession of the 4th quarter James took the ball at the top of the key and played 1 on 1. He had his hand in on 29 of the 34 Cleveland points in the quarter 17 of his own and key assists to a cutting Varejao at the rim as well as 3’s from Daniel Gibson and Mo Williams. It was picturesque of the playoff slogan “Amazing”. He showed no fear taking the ball directly into the chest of Defensive Player of the Year award winner Dwight Howard drawing Howard’s 6th foul in an And1 situation. “You never want to disappoint the home crowd by not coming out and play as hard as you can. It was win or go home,” said James. James put up a game for the ages ending up with his 4th career playoff triple double with 37 points 14 rebounds and 12 assists. James joined an illustrious group this being his 16th consecutive 25+ point playoff game tying him for 2nd most with Michael Jordan and only 4 behing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who holds the record with 20. James had previously recored 40+ in all three games that the Cavs had lost, he didn’t tonight but they won. So what’s the difference? He finally had help, as previously stated Williams dropped in 24, Delonte West had 13, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 16 , it was finally a team effort. In the entire history of the NBA only 8 teams have ever came back from being down 3-1 and now the Cavaliers are one step closer to making that 9. The pressure is now on Orlando to close it out Saturday on their home court as there is no way Stan Van Gundy wants to play a game 7 in the Q, especially against the greatest player on the planet.

LeBron's Magic Leads to 1-1 Series Tie with Orlando

The Cleveland Cavaliers stormed out of the gate yet again as they often do at the Q last night looking to even the series and get the momentum back on their side, and they started early taking a 30-16 lead after only 1 quarter. The crowd was jumping and it seemed the game 1 let down was well in the past and the Cavaliers that had simply steam-rolled thus far through the playoffs were back on track. The Cavs had figured out how to contain Dwight Howard, they were putting him at the free throw line (4-8) rather than watching him tear the shot clock down with a thunderous dunk. LeBron James was taking it straight to the rim, as if he was not to be denied. Sasha Pavlovic, after suggestion by LeBron James to coach Brown, was playing key minutes and delivering both defensively and offensively by putting down 9 points, which had already out numbered the entire Cavs game 1 bench production(5). At one point in the second quarter the roof of the Q was about to come off as the Cavaliers amassed a 43-20 lead. Then slowly the Magic begin to hit one three, two threes and here they come and they had cut the lead down to only 12 by halftime. Then here it came, that punch in the gut, that no pro sports championships since 1964 feeling began to arise. The Magic's 16 point comeback in game 1 left an eerie buzz in the air,and it was an almost scare of is the same thing going to happen. It only grew worse as the 3rd quarter progressed. The Magic won the 2nd consecutive 3rd quarter 26-21 (30-19 game 1) and by the start of the fourth the once 23 point Cavs lead was down to 7. I began to wonder myself what is happening here? Where are you Mo Williams (6-19 game 1, 7-21 game 2), this is the stage where you prove them wrong for waiting until after injuries to make you an All-Star. The once ecstatic Q was becoming deadly silent, the fans were wishing the seconds off the clock as the Magic creeped closer and closer. Then with 48 seconds left in the game Hedo Turkoglu nailed a 3 pointer that tied the game at 93. LeBron James answered with a strong drive to the basket with everyone thinking an And1 just occured but no James had been called for traveling. Then Hedo "MJT" Turkoglu hits a 12 foot jumper with 1.0 second left to put the Magic up 95-93. It seemed that the Magic had done it, came to Cleveland (43-2) and taken a dominant 2-0 lead heading back to their homecourt, when the basketball gods shined down on LeBron James. With merely enough time for a catch and shoot, Mo Williams waited as LeBron made an inside cut to create a little space from Turkoglu, tossed him the ball at the top of the key, LeBron caught,turned, faded and IT'S GOOD!!!! LeBron James hit the 3 pointer as time expired to tie the series and possibly ressurected the Cavs momentum if not their season all together. James finished the game with 35, Wiilaims despite poor shooting had 19 including 8 in the 4th quarter. Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Delonte West both added 12.

New LeBron Puppet Commercial

Cavaliers Produce Reel in Highlight Factory

The Cleveland Cavaliers have got to be hands down "the team" to beat. I mean there are so many one liners that pop into my head I don't know where to start so I'll begin with Don't Wake the Sleeping Giant. Everytime LeBron James would touch the ball Phillips Arena would erupt in a whirlwind of boos. Did Atlanta fans learn nothing from Toronto fans, or even more recent game 1 when James exploded for 47 points and joined Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to score 45 grab 10 boards and dish out 8 assists. Yet it happened again tonight, James would get the ball and boos would arise,so what happened, James would score or find his teammates and they would score. There was even a moment when LeBron nailed a jumper and looked over to a courtside fan, and simply pointed to his own chest and said that's exactly what I need. Back to the actual game at hand the Cavaliers are simply dominant.After the second close halftime score in a row(46-45, 40-38 both Cavs leads) the Cavaliers managed to stretch out another double digit victory (84-74) extending their own NBA record to 8 consectutive. But it wasn't all good all the way, LeBron was somewhat aggravated at the Cavs "lobbying " for foul calls. James rallied his troops and told them it was up to them to win the game not the refs and to lay off. Can he be that mature that young, is he really 24? Yes he is King but there truly is no I in team. LeBron put in 27 points 8 rebounds and 8 assists, a career night for many NBA players but for James just another day at the office. Yet the other players,Mo one night, Delonte another, then maybe big Z will step up another. Though tonight belonged to Delonte West who came up huge scoring 21 points, including a posterizing left-handed jam at the rim that really swung the momentum in Cleveland's favor for the last time. He was 50% (2-4) from 3 point land and added 4 rebounds 6 assists. Mo Williams added 12 points all coming from behind the arc (4-7). At one point in the final stretch of the game on 5 straight possessions the Cavs scored four 3 pointers and one old fashioned 3 point play really putting the Nail in the Coffin.And as I was a witness Atlanta was a true Tale of Two Cities as it rained boos the entire game, in both games 1 and 2 , the closer the end came the softer the boos got and the louder, previously few and far betweeen, the M-V-P chants became until eventually echoing throughout the arena.

Cavs Cruise to 2-0 Series Lead

Are we sure the winner of the Kentucky Derby wasn’t named “Cleveland” because that’s exactly what the thoroughbred Cleveland Cavaliers looked liked in game 2 jumping out of the gates and never looking back. The Cavaliers racked up an insurmountable 59-35 halftime lead, capped off by a pull-up three by LeBron James just inside of half-court, on their way to a remarkable 105-85 beat down of the Atlanta Hawks. If it’s even possible, the Cavs seem to be getting stronger and stronger with each game they play. The entire starting rotation was benched after the 3rd quarter as the Cavs point total at that mark tied the eventual total of the Hawks throughout the entire game(85). LeBron James scored 27 (9-14) , Mo Williams had 15 (5-11), Delonte West 14 (5-10), Anderson Varejao (6-9) scored 12, and the only starter in single digits Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 6 (3-6) and keep in mind all in 3 periods. The second unit played the entire 4th quarter giving up 30 points to the Hawks and losing 10 points off their 30 point spread but they were playing hard. Plus this gives younger players like Darnell Jackson valuable playoff experience in case of injuries or foul trouble later down the line. Wally Szczerbiak scored 17 (7-9), several off powerful low post moves and even a rare jam off of a stellar behind the back pass from James on a fast break run-out. Yet there was a scare for Cleveland in the 3rd quarter as Delonte West was poked in the eye by Hawk Zaza Pachulia and he did not return, but possibly just because of the Cavs huge lead. And to go from bad to worse for the Hawks, who are already missing Al Horford and Marvin Williams(combined 25 points and 15 rebounds per game )their All-Star Joe Johnson twisted his ankle and is considered doubtful for game 3 Saturday night at Atlanta’s Phillips Arena. The Cavaliers are now only the 2nd team in NBA history to win their 1st 6 playoff games by double digits(18.2), and 94% of all teams leading a best of 7 series 2-0 eventually win the series.

Cavs Clip Hawks in Game 1

After being named MVP LeBron James came right out of the gates and performed as such bringing down the house with a fierce two handed slam within the games first 15 seconds. James led the team in scoring raining down 34, 22 in the 1st half, and adding 10 boards, in only 34 minutes as the Cavs pulled out an impressive 99-72 game 1 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Cleveland's starting backcourt matched LeBron's point total of 34 with Mo Williams scoring 21 (four 3's) and Delonte West adding 13. The game was close throughout the entire 1st half with Josh Smith scoring 17 helping the Hawks stay within 5 points and a halftime score of 49-44.It was obvious the Cavs had not played in a while (9 days) but as the game went on the Cav's regained their game leg's and never looked back. Mo Williams and the rest of the Cavaliers turned up the heat in the second half and outscored the Hawks 50-28 while allowing only 11 fourth quarter points. The win puts the Cavaliers at 5-0 this post-season with all 5 victories coming in double digit fashion and an average margin of victory of 17.8 per game.

LBJ = MVP

In just his sixth year in the league LeBron James became the first ever Cleveland Cavalier to win the NBA's most valuable player award Monday afternoon. By his own preference he was presented the award at his high school gymnasium ,St.Vincent-St.Mary. "This is a place where all my dreams started and where I thought they could become real," James said. He received 109 first place votes out of a possible 121. He was accompanied by all of his teammates and even had them all come on stage with him. He had a superb season dominating the league averaging 28.4 points 7.6 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game as well as a career best 93 blocks. James had an NBA best 7 triple doubles and won the player of the month award 4 times. He also finished second in the voting only behind Dwight Howard for defensive player of the year. James led the Cavaliers to an all-time team record 66 wins and only 16 losses and the overall number one seed throughout the playoffs. All of his accolades and only 24 years old, LeBron may need another mansion by the end of his career just to house the hardware.