Utah Jazz at Cleveland Cavaliers, 11/14/09

Hickson continues to provide punch as Cavs tip Jazz

By Sam Amico, for NBA.com
CLEVELAND (NBA.com exclusive) -- The Cleveland Cavaliers once had a Carlos Boozer in the lineup and now they hope to have found another. And they put those hopes to the test Saturday night against none other than Boozer himself.

The subject in question is second-year power forward J.J. Hickson, who made his fourth consecutive start in the Cavs' thrilling 107-103 victory over the visiting Utah Jazz.

Hickson spent most of the evening matched up with Boozer, a one-time promising Cavalier who has yet to be forgiven by Cleveland fans after he bolted for Utah in 2004. Since Boozer's departure, the Cavs have struggled to arm LeBron James with a consistent scoring power forward who can get to the rim and pull down rebounds.

Hickson isn't there yet, but following his career-high 20-point performance Saturday, he very well could be on his way.

"He's filling his role and playing off of others," said Cavs coach Mike Brown. "He has to be guarded because of his athleticism. He can drive the ball, shoot the ball and post up. Our guys have confidence in him and he's producing."

It was Hickson's second straight big night, as he scored 18 points in a win at Miami on Thursday. For what it's worth, the Cavs are 4-0 since Hickson has been inserted into the starting lineup, including 3-0 on the road.

As a team, they have won seven of eight following an 0-2 start.

This one came without center Shaquille O'Neal, who sat out to rest a strained shoulder. But all that seemed to mean was more of an opportunity for other veteran newcomers such as forward Jamario Moon and guard Anthony Parker.

Moon and Parker made the most of their chances, by staying active on defense and hitting a couple of big shots. Moon finished with 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting; Parker had 14 on 5-for-7.

Of course, not to be lost in the impressive showing by the young and the new were the performances of old standbys such as James (21 points, nine assists, six rebounds) and Mo Williams (21 points, six assists).

Williams has been feeling it since the Cavs' big win in Orlando on Nov. 11, and you can count his hot hand among the reasons this team suddenly has the look of a championship contender again.

As for the Jazz, the odds were clearly against them. Injury and illness left them with just nine players, and they were coming off a hard-fought win the previous night in Philadelphia.

Among the missing was starting point guard Deron Williams, who wasn't with the team for the second straight night because of personal reasons. Still, the Jazz fought valiantly behind the staples of every Jerry Sloan-coached unit, implementing tons of hustle and plain old guts to keep things close.

No one exemplified those characteristics more than Boozer, who practically willed the ball into the basket in finishing with 25 points, to go along with a game-high 12 boards. And if nothing else, the Jazz showed the world they have a couple of good ones in rookie guards Eric Maynor and Wesley Matthews, both of whom started and played at least 34 minutes.

Maynor ran the team to near-perfection in finishing with 24 points, earning a congratulatory pat on the back from James after the final buzzer. Matthews had 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting, including 3-for-3 on 3-pointers.

"In the first quarter, it looked like we didn't think we could win, but at least we got back in it," Sloan said. "Eric did a tremendous job of getting us in our offense. He gave us opportunities."

Sloan spoke the truth, as the Jazz actually had several chances to win it -- taking their first lead (97-96) with 1:56 left on a pair of Boozer free throws.

The lead alternated after that, with Utah holding a 101-100 edge with 33 seconds left.

But then James proved why he's the reigning MVP, taking over the game and scoring on a drive to the basket in which he also got fouled at the 28-second mark. He hit the ensuing free throw, and while the Cavs may have had to bite their nails in nervousness, they never trailed again.

Not long after James' heroic basket, Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko missed a long 3-pointer. The Jazz were forced to foul, and James made two more foul shots with 20 seconds left.

He then made two more to seal the deal in the final 10 seconds.

"It's tough," Boozer said. "They had a big lead on us but we stayed with it. It'll be hard to sleep with this one because we had a chance to win."

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POST GAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH JERRY SLOAN
(On the three-point FG attempt by Kirilenko):  “I thought it was a play that he should have taken the ball to the basket because I just said in a timeout that they (Cavs) don’t want to foul you.   You have to at least try to come away with something.  But, those things happen, they happen too frequently sometimes and that’s what costs you games.  I thought his play down there when he was guarding LeBron was a close call, a charging foul that he got called for blocking.  Anyway, that’s the way it goes.”

(On the game and the Jazz comeback):  “The first quarter looked like we didn’t think we could win.  We had an attitude about not thinking that we could win.  But, we finally started playing and started competing a little bit, and they (Cavs) slacked off a little bit in their game.  At least we got back in it.  Eric (Maynor) did a terrific job getting us into our offense and getting on top of the basket.  He gave us opportunities and we were pretty good.”

(On going to Okur as the first option on the last 3-point shot):  “Not necessarily.  We didn’t have enough time to get anybody specifically.  We tried to get him the ball and he got a shot at it.  You’re playing Russian Roulette with that anyway. You don’t know how they are going to play us too.  You try to get somebody open and hope to have a good look at it.”

(On LeBron James big three-point play):  “You’ve got to over and take the charge.  We reached in and fouled him.  You try to get your body over in front of the guy.  It’s easier said than done.    He does the same thing to other teams.”

ANDREI KIRILENKO
(On his three-point FG attempt from the inbounds pass):  “In the huddle, we kind of set up the play.  I really didn’t realize that we didn’t really need the three, but it was kind of our play.  When we practice, we always have that set up.  I should have been thinking a little bit better.  I was kind of moving automatically how we do it in practice because it’s kind of ‘hit the big guy, he just gives you the ball back.’  It’s like an automatic three.  I just made an error not looking at the time.”

(On losing after being down by 16 points):  “It is tough, but I think when we got the lead by one point, we kind of lost our focus for like a half-a-second.  LeBron got those free throws to give them back the lead. At that point in the game, you should be focused to prevent the free throws.  But, I think we did a pretty good job playing the second night in a row with a kind of short lineup.  We’re not satisfied, but I liked the way we approached the game.  We played a team game.”

CARLOS BOOZER
(On the three-point Kirilenko shot situation):  “We had a couple of different options, but they did a good job on us.  So, I came back and got it, got it to A.K. and if he hit it, we go up by one, if we missed it, we’re down by two.  He made his own decision.  It was a good shot because there was nobody on him.  But, then we had to foul and it was a free throw game after that.”

(On the loss):  “It was tough, we fought all the way back.  They had a big lead on us, and we stayed with it.  We fought together as a group of guys, we tried to come back and win this game.  We had a couple of plays that went their way.  It’s hard to sleep with this one because we thought we had a chance to win this one.”

(On Andrei Kirilenko):  “I thought our guys the indications of the score are not how well we played at times.  Then, the final indication of the score is how bad we played at times.  We played really well early there’s no question.  When our bigs got into foul trouble, the momentum changed just from the standpoint that we could not be as aggressive around the basket.  It took us out a little bit with some of the things we were doing offensively.  We just weren’t as aggressive.  It was tough to get the ‘mojo’ back.”

HEAD COACH MIKE BROWN
(On Jerry Sloan): “I have the utmost respect for Jerry Sloan.  He is a class act and I love his demeanor, the way he coaches his team.  Whenever we go against his teams, I know we’re going to be in a tough game with the outcome able to go either way.”

(On tonight’s game): “You have to give Utah credit, especially their young point guard Maynor.  He was aggressive in the first half and was a handful for us.  He kept it close when we had chances to create separation.  In the second half, we stepped up our aggression offensively and that was evident with the 21 free throws.  Defensively, we were a lot better.  They shot 65% in the first half and only 43% in the second half.”

(On Jamario Moon): “It was good to see Jamario for the second or third game in a row come off the bench and impact the game.  He hit some big shots, especially when we were struggling and defensively, his length allowed us to put him on a guy like Kirilenko when LeBron was out.”

(On J.J. Hickson): “I didn’t call a play for J.J.  He is filling his role and playing off others.  He has to be guarded because of his athleticism and can drive the ball, shoot the ball and post-up.  Our guys have confidence in him and he’s producing.  The trust is obviously building and he’s earning it.  He’s making mistakes, but he’s going hard.  Those are the mistakes that you can live with.”

LEBRON JAMES
(On playing well enough to win): “They played well and really executed.  Eric Maynor made some tough shots in the lane.  We contested a lot of shots but it was just really good execution by them.”

(On trying to take the game over): “Yeah, the game got kind of close.  I was able to get in the lane a couple of times. I found A.P. (Anthony Parker) for a three and I was able to make some free throws.”

(On the game tying three-point attempt): “I figured they would try to run some type of pick and pop play with Okur or curl off one guy and throw it back up top.”

J.J. HICKSON
(On making good decisions while playing): “Like Coach said, I’m just making basketball plays.  I’m being smart on the floor and taking the open shot.  I understand my role.  I think that is a big part of it, (that I) understand my role.  Knowing that I have LeBron James and Mo Williams out there, I just have to space the floor and take advantage of it when I do get my shots.”

(On taking advantage of wide-open shots and opportunities): “Of course I am going to take full advantage of those opportunities until they start respecting me.  I think that when they start respecting me, that will open up my one-on-one game and it will force teams to have to guard an extra player on the floor.”

(On forming a close relationship with LeBron and what he has learned from him): “It means a lot.  I have learned a lot of things on and off of the court (from LeBron).  I think that one of the biggest things that I have learned is to be consistent.  I think that I have been consistent since I have been starting and I am just trying to take full advantage of the situation.”

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