Cavaliers: LeBron gets a lot of help from his friends in Game 3 win
NorthCoastNOW
CLEVELAND — LeBron James has carried the Cavaliers plenty of times over the past five seasons.
Saturday night at Quicken Loans Arena, his teammates returned the favor in an impressive 108-84 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 3 of their best-of-seven series.
The Cavaliers, who trail 2-1 heading into Game 4 Monday at 8 p.m. at The Q, got great performances from a lot of players on a night when their superstar struggled from the field once again.
How great?
James finished with 21 points, five rebounds and eight assists while going 5-of-16 from the field, making him
13-of-58 in the series (.224). The rest of his teammates combined to shoot a sizzling .604 from the floor (32-of-53).
“That’s why it’s a team game,” said Delonte West, who had 21 points, five rebounds and seven assists. “That’s why you have teammates. In this locker room, we don’t separate ourselves between LeBron and the rest of the team. He brings the attitude that we’re all in this together.”
In addition to West, Joe Smith (17 points on 7-of-8 shooting, six rebounds), Wally Szczerbiak (16 points) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas (12 points, eight rebounds, six assists) were particularly effective, while Ben Wallace (nine points, nine rebounds), who wasn’t expected to play after leaving Game 2 due to dizziness, provided a huge emotional lift.
Toss in a tremendous coaching effort from Mike Brown — he shortened his rotation and didn’t play Sasha Pavlovic or Devin Brown until garbage time — and the Cavaliers’ future looks a whole lot brighter this morning.
“Guys started hitting shots,” West said. “Guys who were missing shots got their rhythm.”
West, who was 3-of-15 from the field over the first two games, was at the top of that list. He made 7-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-6 3-pointers against his former team.
“I don’t care if it’s my former team or my mama, I’ll take it,” West said. “We’ve got to get our hands on that (championship) trophy.”
The Cavaliers also got a big lift from Wallace, who left Game 2 due to dizziness and was not expected to play in Game 3. He was announced as the starter, but Anderson Varejao ran out because Big Ben was back in the locker room. Wallace did indeed start and made 3-of-3 field goals in the first period, then grabbed several monster rebounds later in the first half.
“It’s like being in a wash cycle,” Wallace said of his dizzy spells. “My head’s spinning from time to time.”
The Celtics, who trailed by 26 early in the second period, had their head spun in a much different way. They lost for the fourth straight time on the road in the playoffs and allowed 35 more points than they did in either of the first two games of the series.
Boston did manage to get within 12 with 3:17 to play in the third quarter and had a chance to pull within 10, but Rajon Rondo missed on a drive. The Cavaliers immediately responded with a 7-1 run to take total control once again.
“We came out and jumped on them,” West said. “We never looked back.”
Getting contributions from nearly everyone — seven players had at least five points at halftime, led by Szczerbiak’s 14 — the Cavaliers led by 26 with 8:53 to go in the second quarter before settling for a 52-35 lead at intermission.
Cleveland did that despite getting a rather ordinary effort from James, who had seven points, two rebounds and five assists at halftime. Players not named James, in fact, went 17-of-23 from the field (.739) as the Cavaliers shot 65.5 percent overall as a team (19-of-29). Cleveland had assists on 16 of its 19 field goals.
“We came out and attacked,” West said.
Boston scored the first four points of the game, only to have Cleveland respond with 14 straight. That run grew to 27-4 on a James 3-pointer — it was his first of the series after 10 misses — with 1:52 to play in the first period, putting the Cavaliers up 19.
Cleveland ended up scoring 32 points in the opening period — its highest previous quarter had been 24 — on 13-of-20 shooting. The Cavaliers did not commit a turnover, made 4-of-5 from 3-point territory and had 11 assists on 13 buckets, with West leading the way with six points and five assists.
Cleveland then went up 26 when James Posey horse-collared James on a drive and was called for a flagrant foul. James made both free throws, and Szczerbiak scored inside on the ensuing possession to make the score 43-17.
James went out of the game soon after, and the Cavaliers were outscored 7-0 in the 2:06 he was on the bench. That run grew to 10-0 moments later, but the Celtics never got closer than 15 in the first half.
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.
Cavaliers 108, Celtics 84
BOSTON (84): Pierce 3-8 6-6 14, Garnett 8-13 1-2 17, Perkins 4-8 4-6 12, Rondo 3-10 1-2 7, R.Allen 4-12 2-2 10, Cassell 0-6 1-2 1, Posey 4-6 0-0 11, Powe 3-6 0-0 6, T.Allen 0-0 0-0 0, P.Brown 1-1 2-2 4, House 0-3 0-0 0, Davis 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 30-74 19-24 84.
CLEVELAND (108): James 5-16 8-12 21, Wallace 4-6 1-4 9, Ilgauskas 5-10 2-2 12, West 7-11 3-3 21, Szczerbiak 4-10 6-7 16, Varejao 2-3 1-1 5, Smith 7-8 3-4 17, Gibson 1-2 0-0 3, Dw.Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Pavlovic 2-2 0-0 4, D.Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-69 24-33 108.
Boston 13 22 28 21 — 84
Cleveland 32 20 27 29 — 108
3-Point Goals—Boston 5-16 (Posey 3-5, Pierce 2-5, House 0-1, R.Allen 0-5), Cleveland 10-19 (West 4-6, James 3-5, Szczerbiak 2-6, Gibson 1-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Boston 41 (Garnett 9), Cleveland 49 (Wallace 9). Assists—Boston 18 (Pierce 5), Cleveland 29 (James 8). Total Fouls—Boston 27, Cleveland 21. Technicals—Posey, Boston Coach Rivers, Varejao. Flagrant Fouls—Posey. A—20,562 (20,562).
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Filed by NorthCoastNOW May 11th, 2008 in Sports.
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