WASHINGTON — There hasn’t been a lot of talk about it, but LeBron James has started to become much more vocal with his Cavaliers teammates.
“I’ve been really vocal,” James said Thursday at the Verizon Center before Game 3 of Cleveland’s best-of-seven playoff series with the Washington Wizards. “There’s a time and place for certain things to be said. They catch my drift.”
One of those times came at halftime of Game 2 on Monday at Quicken Loans Arena. After coach Mike Brown went over what he called “some technical stuff,” James pulled his teammates together and told them to come out strong in the second half. The Cavs, who had a number of poor starts in the third quarter during the regular season, went on to turn a 13-point halftime lead into a 30-point blowout.
“I don’t have a plan for it,” James said. “It just kind of comes out at the right time.”
When Brown saw James starting to talk at halftime of Game 2, he just “got out of the way.”
“He gets better and better and better,” the coach said of his star player. “Not just in basketball ability, but in talking to the team and knowing and thinking about what he’s going to say. He’s been terrific.
“His maturity level has really grown. He’s just a phenomenal talent that has a good grasp of the game.”

Staying quiet

NBA commissioner David Stern attended Game 3 and spoke with the media prior to tipoff, but Brown had no plans to talk to Stern about the hard fouls James has endured in the series.
“I know Commissioner Stern is on the lookout for that and so are the officials,” Brown said. “I’m OK as long as they keep calling them.”
After making a three-minute introductory speech to the media, the always crafty Stern drew laughs by then saying, “Now that I’ve said all that, you can ask me about the hard foul.”
Indeed, the first question was about Washington center Brendan Haywood getting ejected, but not suspended, for a Flagrant Foul-Penalty 2 against an airborne James in Game 2.
Different people had different opinions on the matter. TNT analyst Reggie Miller said Haywood wouldn’t have been ejected if he had committed the infraction against someone other than James, while others thought Haywood should not only have been ejected, but suspended for Game 3.
“I never thought I’d have to point out to Reggie Miller that (Haywood) didn’t make a play on the ball,” Stern said. “It was a good call, as (play-by-play man) Marv Albert correctly pointed out to Reggie.”

Fatherly love?

For his part, Haywood is tired of seeing Brown defend James on and off the court.
“C’mon, Mike. That man’s name is LeBron James, it isn’t LeBron Brown,” Haywood told Washington reporters. “It’s not your son.”

Cold spells

In Game 1, Washington missed 10 straight shots late in the fourth quarter as the Cavs pulled out a 93-86 win.
In Game 2, the Wizards missed 11 of their last 12 shots in the second quarter as Cleveland went up 13 at halftime en route to a 116-86 victory.

Eddie, not Mike

Washington coach Eddie Jordan was picked by the Cavs with the 33rd choice in the 1977 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-1,
170-pound Rutgers product appeared in just 22 games for Cleveland, averaging 2.3 points on .339 shooting.

Washington ties

Brown spent three years with the Wizards beginning in 1997 — one year as a scout and two years as an assistant to Bernie Bickerstaff. Cavs point guard Delonte West attended D.C.’s Eleanor Roosevelt High School, while power forward Ben Wallace played 147 games for the Wizards from 1996-99.
West had 15 friends and family members at Game 3, but said he felt no added pressure to play well.
“I felt more pressure the first time I played in Philadelphia,” said West, who played his college ball at St. Joseph’s. “Playing in front of the college crowd was tough. Playing here (in D.C.) is a lot of fun.”
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net. 

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.
You must be registered and logged in to post a comment. If you aren't already registered, click here.
If you are registered, click here to log in.
Need help? Email Us.