11/17/2005
Can the Cavaliers break the Magic spell?
The Cavaliers have a return engagement with the Orlando Magic on Friday at Quicken Loans Arena.
Cleveland topped the Magic 108-100 in overtime on Sunday in Orlando.
The Magic have two All-Star quality players in point guard Steve Francis (22 points, seven assists and six rebounds in the first meeting) and power forward Dwight Howard (21 points, 16 rebounds).
However, the Cavaliers are 4-0 at home this season and have won by an average margin of 21 points.
They waxed the Washington Wizards on Tuesday at The Q, 114-99, as forward LeBron James had 37 points and 10 rebounds.
"(We can be) very dominant (at home)," James said. "We've shown this isn't a fluke going on right now. Early on we weren't (a good team). I see us coming around. We are a very good team."
The Cavaliers harassed Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas, who finished with 18 points and eight assists. He shot 4-of-17 from the field and turned the ball over six times.
Cavaliers coach Mike Brown credited luck and team defense in stopping Arenas.
Former Wizards guard Larry Hughes defended Arenas for most of the night. Hughes had 22 points, eight assists, four rebounds and two blocks. He fired in 12 points in a span of 3:18 in the fourth quarter.
"Larry Hughes was huge," Brown said. "Down the stretch, he made play after play after play."
The Cavaliers thought it was a big game despite being so early in the season.
"They came here 5-1 and riding high," James said. "One thing we wanted to do was protect our house. We dedicated this game to Larry. It was unbelievable what he was able to do in the fourth quarter."
The Wizards appear to be a team the Cavaliers will battle for playoff seeding in April.
"If we want to be a playoff team," forward Donyell Marshall said, "we have to beat teams like this."
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Cavaliers mystify Wizards
Hughes, James key Cavs' victory over Wizards
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Every time Luke Jackson got up off the bench, LeBron James knocked down another shot."If LeBron is hitting 3-pointers, you've got to let him keep rolling," Jackson said. "Nobody has a problem with leaving him in when he's like that."
James scored a season-high 37 points and Larry Hughes added 22 in his first game against his former team as the Cleveland Cavaliers roughed up the Washington Wizards 114-99 on Tuesday night.
James, who helped recruit Hughes as a free agent to Cleveland during the offseason, scored just two points in the first quarter but followed with 14 in the second, 14 in the third and seven in the fourth before leaving with 2:32 left.
Cavaliers coach Mike Brown tried to substitute for James "three or four times" in the first quarter, but it seemed like as soon as Jackson vacated his seat and headed for the scorer's table, James responded with big plays.
"I hit a couple 3s and a dunk and I saw the guy who was coming to get me sit back down," said James, who added 10 rebounds in 42 minutes.
Brown felt bad for Jackson and tried to make him feel better.
"I kissed him on the forehead one time," Brown said. "But that's kind of embarrassing for an NBA player."
The Cavaliers won their fifth straight, and are 4-0 at home, winning by an average of 21 points at Quicken Loans Arena.
Hughes was only 7-of-19 from the field, but he added eight assists and made two 3-pointers and scored 12 points in the final 5:03 to thwart a Wizards rally. Donyell Marshall added 16 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas 12 for the Cavs.
Washington's Gilbert Arenas, who scored a league-high 43 on Saturday night against San Antonio, was held to 18 -- 10 below his average -- and shot just 4-of-17. Antawn Jamison led the Wizards with 26 points and Caron Butler had 14.
"I couldn't get to the basket," Arenas said. "Every time we made a run, LeBron answered. We just didn't have it tonight."
With James resting on the bench, the Wizards pulled to 86-77 early in the fourth on a layup by Antonio Daniels. But James came back after sitting for only 1:12 and the Cavaliers immediately went on an 8-0 run.
"I felt I needed him back on the floor," Brown said. "LeBron is absolutely amazing."
Moments later, Hughes hit a 3-pointer and Drew Gooden scored on a putback as the Cavaliers opened a 101-86 lead and coasted.
Driving to the basket at every opportunity, James went 6-for-8 from the floor and scored 14 points in the third. His 3-point play in the final second gave the Cavs an 82-70 lead entering the fourth.
Hughes left the Wizards as a free agent this summer when the club low-balled him with their first contract offer, allowing the Cavs to sign him to a five-year, $60 million deal.
Before the game, Hughes was asked how much he was looking forward to playing the Wizards.
"I definitely want to win so I talk a little smack to those guys," Hughes said. "I was one of the oldest guys on that team and they kind of looked up to me."
Arenas came in as the league's hottest player after scoring 75 points in his previous two games, but he never got into a rhythm as Hughes and the Cavaliers chased him all over the floor.
"I was calling out their plays," Hughes said. "I was with them long enough that I knew where their guys were going."
Following the game, Arenas dressed quickly and came to visit Hughes in the Cavaliers' newly remodeled locker room.
"Man," Arenas said, admiring the state-of-the-art stereo equipment and TV screens in each player's dressing stall. "Was this part of the salary cap?"
Arenas arrived so quickly after the game, Hughes asked his good friend if he had bothered showering.
"Yeah, I took one," Arenas said. "Our meeting was quick."
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Welcome LeBron!!
| James towers over Cleveland on billboard |
| CLEVELAND (AP) -- Already the city's most famous citizen, LeBron James has never been bigger in Cleveland. He's 10-stories tall. As a way of acknowledging the All-Star forward's impact, Nike has hung a billboard of James on the side of a building near Quicken Loans Arena, home of the Cavaliers, that is 110 feet high and 212 feet wide. On the massive mesh banner, James soars toward an unseen basket with his right arm extended over his head, ready to deliver one of his signature slam dunks. Next to the sprawling reproduction of the photograph taken during his rookie season are the words: ``WE ARE ALL WITNESSES.''
Nike's intent was to honor James for his work on and off the floor. ``The idea was to let Cleveland fans have the opportunity to say that we are watching the growth and development of LeBron and the Cavaliers, and not just on the court but in the community,'' said company spokesman Rodney Knox. ``We are watching LeBron and this team grow and grow.'' The photo used for the billboard was taken on Nov. 15, 2003. It captures James in mid-flight on a breakaway in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers. In only two seasons as a pro, James has blossomed into one of the game's best players while becoming a global marketing icon, following in the shoes of Jordan, the 20-year-old's boyhood idol. Knox said the billboard, which features the omnipresent Nike swoosh, is not tied to a marketing campaign for James' new sneaker line, Zoom LeBron III, which will hit stores later this month. As motorists craned their necks and pedestrians stopped to view the 2,700-pound banner, Victor Darby stood below giving directions over a cell phone to his friend, Tyler Newell, who was about to drive back to Washington, D.C. ``I told him, 'Man, you got to come back and see this,''' Darby said. `` Moments later, Newell pulled up, got out of his truck and soaked in the larger-than-life LeBron. ``Whoa,'' Newell said. ``Now that's big. It should be. He's the King.'' When James was a rookie, Nike promoted his first sneaker by placing a four-story billboard of his likeness on Seventh Avenue just a block from Madison Square Garden. The apparel giant had been looking for the right location in Cleveland, and settled on the Landmark Building next to Terminal Tower, the city's best known building. When he was still a senior at Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, James signed a seven-year $90 million endorsement contract with Nike, the richest initial shoe deal offered to an athlete. As of Thursday afternoon, James had still not seen the giant billboard. ``Where's it at?'' he said, peering through a window outside the club's practice court. ``I'm going to drive over and take a look at it. I heard it's pretty big.'' |
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