Cavs, Lebron Make It A Clean Sweep

King James prevailed again, this time flexing his muscles and puffing out his chest as his Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 93-87 at Quicken Loans Arena. With the win, the Cavs sweep the season series with the Lakers and hold the first tie-breaker should the teams end up with the same regular season marks. Kobe Bryant (31 points on 12-31, 4 assists, 2 rebounds) could not carry the Lakers to victory in this much anticipated rematch from Christmas Day when the Cavs stole the show at Staples Center. And with Mo Williams sitting out (4-6 weeks) with a shoulder sprain, the Cavs matched the Lakers intensity with a career-high rebounding performance from first year forward J.J. Hickson (11 points, 14 rebounds, 1 assist). Pau Gasol (13 points on 5-14, 8 rebounds, 1 assist) missed a pair of crucial free throws late in the game that would have tied the score with :24 seconds to play. Lebron was fouled on the ensuing play, made 1-2 charities, and the Lakers appeared poised to snare the rebound. Except that Anderson Varejao (11 points, 8 rebounds) was fouled reaching for the rebound and the 66% free throw shooter calmly drained both freebies to seal the win.

The Lakers opened the game with a fury as they raced out to an early 9-0 lead, but Cleveland responded with a 6-0 run to erase any thoughts of a shut-out. Andrew Bynum (7 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocked shots) started well, but soon found himself in foul trouble and relegated to the bench. Cleveland took advantage of the soft, Lakers middle as Hickson carried them with his outstanding rebounding performance in the first half. Shaquille O’Neal (13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) punished Gasol down in the blocks, finding either open teammates or bulling his way to the basket for easy scores. Ron Artest (8 points on 3-10, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) drew the defensive assignment on King James and Lebron (37 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds) responded by hitting his outside shots. With both Artest and Lamar Odom (10 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) backing off of him for fear of his powerful drives, James had uncontested perimeter shots which only boasted his shooting confidence. And when the Lakers tried to trap him, he exploded through the Lakers defense for his patented drives to the basket, bouncing off any defender that got in his way.

The Lakers were able to sustain James and the surging Cavs, heading into halftime with a narrow 46-44 advantage, but the tide had clearly changed in favor of the more aggressive home team. Cleveland opened the third quarter with a determined effort to attack the rim. But the Lakers, who shot only 32-83 for 36.8%, continued to hang tough matching the Cavs basket for basket. Missed free throws (15-24 for 62.5%) began hurting the Lakers as the Cavs methodically chipped away at the lead. Anthony Parker’s (8 points, 3 rebounds) second trey in a row gave the Cavs their first lead of the game at 60-59 at the 4:41 mark in the third. And with Bynum on the bench and Gasol the solitary big in the post, Varejao scored easily on a reverse layup, then James followed with a short jumper to give them a 67-65 lead heading into the final stanza.

The two titans exchanged baskets throughout the 4th quarter, each team matching the other to keep the score close. Jordan Farmar’s (5 points, 1 rebound, 1 blocked shot) three-point bucket knotted the score at 80-80, but Lebron responded with a deep three of his own to give the Cavs an 83-80 lead with 5:24 left to play. Another pair of uncontested mid-range jumpers by Lebron gave the Cavs a commanding 87-80 lead as the home town crowd exploded in glee. Chants of “MVP” rained down as the Lakers looked up and saw just over two minutes left on the game clock. Artest’s three-pointer quieted the crowd, and then Kobe drained a pair of free throws followed by a 19-ft jumper to tie score at 87-87 with 1:31 left. But the Lakers would not score again as Lebron promptly drove down the lane to regain the lead. Gasol’s missed free throws took all of the wind out of the Lakers sails as Varejao converted 4-4 free throws down the stretch for the final margin of victory.

dEDGE Post Scriptum
Gasol’s missed free throws did not lose the game for the Lakers. Instead an overall poor free throw shooting night for the Lakers eventually did them in. The normally unflappable Kobe Bryant (5-8) and Derek Fisher (1-2 free throws, 6 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds) were even more costly, allowing the Cavs to stay close in the third quarter when the Lakers could have extended their slim lead. The Lakers starters shot a combined 10-19 while the bench was a perfect 5-5. For the second time this season, the Lakers appeared intimidated and out-of-sorts on the offensive end. The physical play of the Cavs affected the Lakers frontcourt as Gasol in particular was ineffective at point-blank range. Late in the game, he was the recipient of a beautiful feed from a driving Fisher, only to bobble the ball after the Cav defenders collapsed on him in the paint. He momentarily regained possession of the ball, only to have his shot attempt blocked a second time as Lebron was able to get loose and score on the other end for the go-ahead basket.

Bynum’s play early was the most effective he’s been on Shaq in all of their encounters. But with his inability to stay on the court, the Lakers were thin in the middle. Against most teams, LO is the difference maker, but against the Cavs, he’s merely another small forward that cannot body up and guard James. Perhaps Shaq has imparted some veteran wisdom on this young Cavaliers team, something that no one else has been able to do for this upstart, free-wheeling squad. The 8-game road trip continues with a back-to-back contest against the New York Knicks tomorrow night. If the Lakers want to learn from this rude awakening they will need to get back to being a hungrier and more urgent team, and they will need to harken back to last season when they were the aggressors, not the complacent defending champions.