Watching the first half of Game 1 of the first round of the NBA playoffs between the Cavaliers and the Bulls, what was the most striking was how easy it was for the wine and gold to regain their mid-season form after many players had time off the last two weeks of the season. The Cavs jumped out to a big first quarter lead and basically coasted to a 13 point win, 96-83, to take a 1-0 series lead.
The Cav with the longest time off, Shaquille O’Neal looked tremendous running the floor, clogging the middle, and showing a nice touch with a little right-handed jump hook. He finished with 12 points, and quite frankly looked as though he hadn’t missed anytime at all. However, his highlight move came in the second half when he left Joakim Noah grasping at air on a spin move, followed by an O’Neal slam.
LeBron James outside shot did look rusty, but he still finished with 24 points. Mo Williams, a key to the playoff run after last year’s disappointing series against Orlando, played very well, with 19 points and 10 assists. Antawn Jamison did his usual thing, with 15 points and 10 boards, and Anderson Varajao had 15 rebounds as well.
The only negative was a second half malaise which saw the Bulls cut the Cleveland lead to as little as seven in the fourth quarter. It was during this time that the wine and gold got sloppy with the ball and started firing ill-advised three point shots as Chicago went to a zone look.
Since it worked in game 1, look for the Cavaliers to see it plenty tomorrow night in Game 2. Mike Brown’s crew has to do a better job handling it as the series goes on. One thing to know about the playoffs is, if something works, you have to keep using it and make your opponent adjust.
Teams also can’t lose intensity with big leads in the playoffs. You can get away with it in the first round, particularly if you are playing a team that finished .500 in the regular season. However, as the post-season goes on, and the opponents get tougher, championship teams cannot have lapses like the Cavs had in the second half.
Defensively, as we told you on Friday, Brown went with Anthony Parker on Derrick Rose, and Rose took 28 shots to score his 28 points. Stopping Rose is the key to stopping Chicago, and the defense played by the Cavs forced the Bulls into numerous turnovers early in the contest. They also opened the game conceding the open jumper to Noah, who will have to make some to keep Shaq honest in guarding him.
Their best bet may be to play Brad Miller more often to make The Diesel come away from the basket, but then they lose Noah’s defense and rebounding. Miller is a slower, older player, and takes away Chicago’s athleticism.
Still, all in all, the Cleveland Cavaliers made it look easy in the first game of this series. If the wine and gold keep improving as the series goes on, this will be a relatively short series, going no more than five games. But, adjustments will be made on both sides, and the Cavaliers will have to change and do better against a zone if indeed Vinny Del Negro decides to go that way.
That’s the beauty of this Cleveland team, though. They are deep and versatile enough that they most likely can handle whatever the opponent throws at them.
That said, look for Game 2 to be more of a challenge than yesterday’s contest.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 