Cleveland Cavaliers vs Washington Wizards - Game 1 Post Sat, 4/19 12:30pm ESPN

[ballinboykz]

Holy! This went 30 pages!?

I cant wait until game two then

 

[jdb1523]

Originally Posted by JDB1523

I'm not going to rule out that's the best in-game dunk I've ever seen in my life.

It was nice, but lets not get ahead of ourselves....u getting caught up in the moment

Wiz need better production from their bench. Songaila, Blatche, and Mason were virtually non-existent. Also, I didn't like the way the Wizards were rushing their shots when the score was tied at 82. Instead of taking it hard to the rack, they were relying on spotting up....I would have taken my chances on driving and looking for a foul.

I gotta tip my hat to the Cavs...they did what they needed to do to win. There should have been more doubles, and a better effort from Stevenson in guarding #23.

I know it's easier said than done, but the Wizards have to try to let the other 4 guys on the court for the Cavs beat them in game 2....you can't trust Benedict, the Mop, Titty, or Redz....making sure that one of those guys has the ball in their hands more than Bron is gonna be essential in how the game plays itself out next time....

Lebron = filthy

as it was said before, he is TRULY a once-in-a-lifetime type of player
Read my post right below it. Nice objective post either way. I was actually surprised you guys didn't try and utilize Blatche a little more,he's got a nice jumper. Songaila had some buckets but struggled from the field. Having Eton Thomas as an inside presence would most certainly help you guystoo, if nothing else to throw out some hacks to guys coming in the lane. Actually, does he do anything else? JK

 

[rsdplaya]

that dunk was simply amazing...def. a top dunk of his.

but didn't KG start that throwing the powder in the air and clapping his hands before the game?

 

[whutizit]

^Yea he did

 

[belle155]

im not gonna re-read the 20 pages of this i missed but wizkids, keep talkin.

"93-86," he said, "is the only words I need to say."

 

[acidicality]

at them yellow shirts. yall are biters.

 

[belle155]

Originally Posted by srvballer

One hell of a 1st half. You can tell these teams are itching to destroy one another.

Oh and Lebrons dunk

. And Arenas needs to get back in the game asap if the the Wiz want to pull this one out.

Should be a great 2nd half...

nice avy, i took that pic at the Q. got thousands more where that came from

 

[darthska]

Game 2 thread

*locked*

*edit* I re-opened this, because holden brought up a good point. A Game 2 thread being open right NOW would simply begin with a few pages of discussion on Game1. Well, the Game 1 thread is supposed to be for Game 1 discussion.

So we'll leave this open until the day of the next game, and then we'll open the thread that has already been made for Game 2.

For the other series, we'll leave the Game 1 thread open until the day of Game 2, at which point we'll allow for a Game 2 thread.

 

[belle155]

Originally Posted by 23ska909red02

Game 2 thread

*locked*

make your mind up ska, i need one of these to be open

 

[outacontrol music]

I expect the Cavaliers to shoot better. But I think MB's got his rotation and needs to stick with it.image



Eddie Jordan is at a crossroad. He needs to play Gil more, but a.) How will the knee hold up & b.) Can he afford to have Gil take shots away from histeammates? Especially when he starts forcing it and they ain't fallin...



Caron Butler???

Cavs take care of home again. MB has their heads level, not to get to high emotionally off of this win and keep to the grind. This team HAS been to the Finals,so the core group knows a thing or two about maintaining focus.



LETS GO CAVS!!!

 

[mustbetheshoe58]

wiz will bounce back in game 2...

 

[belle155]

Originally Posted by mustbetheshoe58

wiz will bounce back in game 2...

no they won't.

 

[TheGift23]

I want to see some shots laid out to Stevenson to see how they like it....

 

[thekillerj23]

amazing game, glad i was there, lets get it cavs

 

[outacontrol music]

[h1]LeBron's Game 1 heroics speak plenty[/h1]
By Brian Windhorst
Special to ESPN.com

Updated: April 19, 2008

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Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

LeBron James scored 32 points, including 20 in the second half, to quiet his critics from the Wizards.

CLEVELAND -- LeBron James says he doesn't trash talk.

Then again, when there's rough play on the floor, he reminds everyone that he used to be a football player. A wide receiver, and one who, truthfully, almost never ran across the middle and who tried to get out of bounds to avoid hits as much as possible. He was prudently protecting his body from injury back in his teens, but the point is, LeBron doesn't always do as he says.

James found himself indeed trash talking to numerous Wizards on Saturday. He threw an elbow at Andray Blatche, he mocked DeShawn Stevenson's signature move by waving his hand in front of his face after a dunk and he popped up and got into a confrontation with Brendan Haywood because he was "just standing above me in a very disrespectful manner.

"I didn't get rattled, emotions ran over just a little bit. My play speaks louder than me going out there and pushing somebody and talking trash," James said.

So that was the talk part, and it was entertaining, but on this day, there was a walk part, too. Which is, after all, what sets the Cavs' star apart.

James' playoff résumé already has several volumes, and another new tab is required after he led the Cavs to a 93-86 victory in Game 1 of this first-round series. James got his numbers: 32 points, six rebounds and four assists. As usual, though, his performance was deeper than the stats.

[h3]I was built for this, I am not 6-9, 260 pounds to shoot jumpers all night. I go to the hole, I create contact. Don't ever think I'm the only one that feels that contact.

[/h3]
-- LeBron James
With the game tied in the final two minutes, James delivered two acrobatic baskets to put the Cavs ahead for good. Then he grabbed a key rebound and wrestled away a ricochet off a jump ball just to make sure. It was the seventh straight time the Cavs beat the Wizards in the postseason, and once again, James was mostly the hero in the vital stretch run.
"Is it a broken record?" Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "To a certain degree it is."

The Wizards' game plan to deal with their playoff nemesis had been pretty clear. The verbal prodding may have been just a facet, but the idea was to pound James every time he came near the basket. It was almost to the point, as Jordan said afterward, that he didn't seem to care much if James got to the hoop and scored. Jordan got more upset when James got there without getting hit.

In the first half, Blatche fouled him twice and sent James to the floor with a blow that didn't draw a whistle, but did draw some blood in his mouth. Later, Caron Butler wrapped his arms around James on another drive. Finally, James got sick of the contact and smashed Blatche back with an elbow, which the officials didn't see or, at least didn't call.

Then James drew a technical foul for getting into it with Haywood, which ended up created a massive logjam at center court with players snorting at one another and officials pushing them apart.

[+] Enlarge

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

The Wizards tried to rough up LeBron James in Game 1 on Saturday.
"There's a difference between a hard foul and when LeBron James comes to the hole, just hammer him," James said.
"He can't go in there and get hit across the face and not protect himself," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "He's got to go in there with attitude."

Ultimately, that is what James did when it mattered. With the Wizards double-teaming James to force the ball out of his hands on the outside, the Cavs went back to an old play they hadn't used in two years. One that Eric Snow, out for the season with a knee injury, reminded the coaching staff about during a meeting this week. James stood on the backside of the defense and then got a pick from center Zydrunas Ilgauskas as he came across the top of the key. Twice this cleared him to get the ball on a curl.

Once he split Antawn Jamison and Haywood for a layup, without serious contact, much to the chagrin of the Wizards coach. Then with 55 seconds left, James put the Cavs up four points and the Wizards in very deep trouble when he slipped past Stevenson and dropped in a lob over Haywood's swinging hand.

There it was, ballgame. Like the contested layup he made over Wizards forward Michael Ruffin to win a game in 2006, or when he slipped past Jamison for a winner in Game 5 in the same series, or when he bounced off Jason Maxiell and tossed in an underhanded bank shot to steal a game in Detroit in last year's conference finals against the Pistons. Now add two more to James' clutch shot-making résumé.

"I was built for this, I am not 6-9, 260 pounds to shoot jumpers all night," James said. "I go to the hole, I create contact. Don't ever think I'm the only one that feels that contact."
Brian Windhorst covers the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Akron Beacon Journal.

 

[belle155]

you already know

 

[j0e hustle]

Originally Posted by belle155

you already know

"I was built for this, I am not 6-9, 260 pounds to shoot jumpers all night," James said. "I go to the hole, I create contact. Don't ever think I'm the only one that feels that contact."

 

[belle155]

i watched the replay of that dunk a few times. thats straight disgusting and demoralizing at the same time. if thats not a poster, i dont know what is. i cantwait for game 2. cant wait to feel the postseason energy at tha Q

 

[roback1991]

Originally Posted by B1LLY HOYLE

Dead it. Portland and Cleveland suck. Equally.

Know what's worse than both? I$$.

 

[barondavis5]

Originally Posted by belle155

Originally Posted by mustbetheshoe58

wiz will bounce back in game 2...

no they won't.

Yea they will, Cavs barely won with the Wizards playing horrible. What does that tell you? If Wizards want to win they will have to step it up. That goesfor Butler and Stevenson.

 

[j0e hustle]

Cavs barely won with the Wizards playing horrible.
You're kidding right?

Did you even watch the game?


Oh wait...you were at your sister's recital...

The Wiz shot a higher FG% than the Cavs and had less TOs .


They played better and STILL lost.

 

[thagreatj]

Between this and the suns-spurs series, looks like we got some good games ahead of us.

 

[ScroogeMcBuckz]

That was a pretty good game for the wizards, but we can play much better, starting with caron butler. We're still working Gil back into the lineup, we justgot him back. Lebron's going to score thats a given, but we failed to closeout when it counted & add Big Z doing whatever he wanted the entire night +naling his foul shots=wizards loss. If Big Z didn't step up, the game was over a long time ago. Can't wait for game 2.

 

[j0e hustle]

Originally Posted by AceBoogie

That was a pretty good game for the wizards, but we can play much better, starting with caron butler. We're still working Gil back into the lineup, we just got him back. Lebron's going to score thats a given, but we failed to closeout when it counted & add Big Z doing whatever he wanted the entire night + naling his foul shots=wizards loss. If Big Z didn't step up, the game was over a long time ago. Can't wait for game 2.

Yeah, Caron was ghost.

He had a few good defensive plays, but he wasn't his offensive self.

It might be his knee

 

[jdb1523]

Yea they will, Cavs barely won with the Wizards playing horrible. What does that tell you? If Wizards want to win they will have to step it up. That goes for Butler and Stevenson.
Because the Cavs played great? Nobody outside of Z and LBJ shot the ball particularly well...