Yet another close one
Did the Cavaliers miss the ailing Mo Williams? Perhaps not. Daniel Gibson, pressed into starting at the point, got the game-winning trey with 8.7 seconds left, putting Cleveland up by two; LeBron James finished the job with a pair of free throws shortly thereafter, making Kevin Durant’s buzzer-beating trey essentially irrelevant. The final was 100-99, the Thunder’s third one-point loss in a week and a half.
The Cavs were tough early, running up the last 10 points in the first half to take a 56-43 lead. OKC put together another one of its patented third-quarter surges, 35-21, to go up by one; a round of Dueling Superstars insured the lead would seesaw back and forth during the final twelve minutes.
And the Superstars basically fought to a draw: King James had 37 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds; Kid Delicious had 34 points, three dimes and 10 boards. For the Cavs, Shaquille O’Neal had a season-high 22 points, hitting 8 of 10 from the floor but missing 9 of 15 free throws. Cleveland actually hit only half of their 40 attempts from the charity stripe; they made 12 of 28 treys. This is, though, an otherwise-economical team: they put up only 69 shots from the floor, and 34 of them went, for 49.3 percent.
The Thunder made 33 field goals, but it took 86 attempts, a blah 38.4 percent. On the other hand, they ruled at the stripe, making 28 of 33. Russell Westbrook was in good form, 23 points, five assists, and only two turnovers; OKC had only eight turnovers all night, distinctly better than average. Still, you gotta make some shots now and then, and while the Thunder did swish five of 11 treys, too many twos didn’t go down.
Radio guy Matt Pinto will tell you that the last-second foul that sent LeBron to the line wasn’t any such thing. Maybe so, maybe not. I’m assuming the officials saw it better than I did. And I’m pretty sure James wasn’t sitting back and waiting for an opportunity to be handed to him.
So ends the road trip, at 2-2. The Bulls show up at the Ford on Wednesday, followed by the Nuggets (Friday), the Warriors (Sunday), and the Hawks (Tuesday).
Kay Dennison »
24 January 2010 · 7:51 pm
I am sorry that I missed the game but life intrudes. I’m really happy with the way the Cavs look this year!!!!! I think adding the Shaq was a great move! And I think Mo Williams just gets better and better!