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Jesse D. Garrabrant NBAE/Getty Images |
That’s not an excuse for the ugliness at The Q last night. Neither is the fact that the Cavaliers were coming off a back-to-back. (Cleveland is now 2-5 on the second half of a two-nighter.) It’s not an excuse and the Cavaliers wouldn’t allow it to be.
“I don’t want to make any excuses,” said LeBron James following last night’s 90-81 loss to the Rockets. “Some of the guys were banged up from (Wednesday) night. We don’t want to make any excuses. We are not the only team that has to play back-to-back.”
The Cavaliers have now dropped five straight to Houston and Tracy McGrady, who averaged 32 points per game in the previous four losses, one-upped himself to 34 points in last night’s victory for the short-handed Rockets.
LeBron James was incredible once again and in his last five games, he’s had at least 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists in each contest.
But as we’ve discovered over the past two years, LeBron can’t do it alone. And last night, especially against T-Mac, the Cavaliers got a look at what life will be like without Larry Hughes for the next couple of months.
“It definitely changes things,” said Ira Newble, who did a nice job on McGrady in the second half. “Larry is a good player. He adds a lot to our team with his scoring and defense. He’s a complete player and when you lose a player like that it’s going to affect your team. But we have enough talent on this team to make up for it.”
Someone has to pick up the slack for Hughes, though. LeBron took care of that on Wednesday – doing what Hughes normally does in a game in the fourth quarter alone (17 pts., six ast, four reb.) – but he can’t do it every night. Damon Jones is a potent weapon off the bench. But he’s yet to prove that he’s a solid starter for the Cavaliers, or that he can handle the two-guard spot. Jones is 2-for-14 from the floor in his first two starts.
“Larry is a big part of what we do,” said Coach Mike Brown, after last night’s loss. “It’s tough. We got to lace it up and figure it out like we did (in Milwaukee).”
The Wine and Gold don’t have a lot of time to figure it out. They take the court against Milwaukee for the third time this season – this time at The Q – on Saturday and play the last game in Cleveland until late January, when they welcome the struggling Knicks to town.
After that, it’s a long trip through some treacherous Western Conference terrain. This is where Cavaliers fans will see what Mike Brown and his men – and maybe GM Danny Ferry – are made of.
Be sure to tune in during every Cleveland Cavaliers' game for Joe Gabriele's IN-GAME LIVE quarterly updates.
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 January 6, 2006Zydrunas Ilgauskas had his eighth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Over his last eight games, he is averaging 17.3 points on 52-102 (.510) shooting from the field and 9.0 rebounds. He has three double-doubles during that stretch. |
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Around the League
Freethrows Hurt? ESPN has taken a deep look into the NBA’s interest in higher-scoring games. Much of that has to do with the rule changes of no hand checking on the perimeter which allows for better offense and more movement. Or does it? John Hollinger’s research reveals that the scoring hasn’t changed much, but what the rule changes have done is increased the number of fouls called and free throws taken. Because there is more driving by players who can’t be impeded like they use to, there is more contact closer to the basket and whistles blown. This slows the game down and free throws are probably the most boring part of the game for fans. Even worse, more free throws aren’t a good thing for a league of players that are making them less and less.
| JANUARY 2006 |
Tuesday, January 10th vs. New York 7:00 p.m. Purchase Tickets
Tuesday, January 24th vs. Indiana 7:00 p.m. Purchase Tickets
Sunday, January 29th vs. Phoenix 1:00 p.m. Purchase Tickets
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