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PLAYOFFS // Round 2 // Game #2
New Jersey Nets (0-1) @ Cleveland Cavaliers (1-0)
Tuesday, May 8th, 2007
8:00pm ET
TV: TNT
Radio : WTAM 1100
Head Coaches
Lawrence Frank / Mike Brown
Probable Starters
Jason Kidd / Larry Hughes
Vince Carter / Sasha Pavlovic
Richard Jefferson / LeBron James
Mikki Moore / Drew Gooden
Jason Collins / Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Cleveland Cavaliers Bench
Gibson / Marshall / Brown / Varejao / Newble / Snow
Nets Bench
Boone / Nachbar / Robinson / Williams / Wright / Adams
-- // -- NOTES -- // --
* The Cavaliers defeated the Nets in the season series by winning two of the three games played. Both teams won on their own court.
* The Cavaliers out rebounded the Nets in all 3 games this year averaging 8 more offensive rebounds per game then the Nets.
* Vince Carter scores in bunches against the Cavs and whats even more remarkable is how efficiently he does it. Carter averaged 27 points per game on just 13 shot attempts.
* New Jersey loves the long ball. This year the Nets hoisted up 18 three point attempts per game against the Cavs making 38%.
* The Nets were turnover crazy against the Cavaliers turning the ball over 18 times per game.
* Drew Gooden is shooting 64% vs. the Nets this year.
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Sasha Pavlovic is not known for his defense – once notoriously telling an assistant coach that his offense is his defense.
But on Sunday afternoon, the Serbian swingman made the defensive play of the game – catching Jason Kidd from behind on what should have been a breakaway layup with 1:45 to play, and swatting his shot to preserve a Cavaliers’ four-point lead.
"I lost the ball on that pass and I just didn’t give up on the play because it was very important," said Pavlovic. "I knew Jason Kidd probably was not going to dunk, so I just followed him and tried to get the ball."
"Sasha has definitely grown on that end of the floor," praised Mike Brown. "That’s why he ended up starting for us and that’s why he plays big minutes for us."
The Nets never recovered, and huge shots by LeBron James and Larry Hughes kept New Jersey at bay, as the Cavaliers took Game 1 in what was, at times, an ugly affair – 81-77 – before a sold-out crowd at The Q.
Despite Pavlovic’s play, the Nets were still able to slice Cleveland’s lead to a deuce – 77-75 – when Bostjan Nachbar drilled a pair of free throws with just under a minute to play. But Hughes came right back to splash home a 21-footer to put the Wine and Gold back up by four.
Vince Carter came right back to hit a pair of free throws with 32 seconds remaining and New Jersey was once again within a bucket. But LeBron drove around Kidd on the next possession, and when Richard Jefferson didn’t leave Pavlovic for the double-team, James went strong with the runner that gave Cleveland the final margin of victory.
Richard Jefferson’s three-point attempt at the buzzer drew back iron and Cleveland held serve in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semi-Final series.
The Cavaliers and Nets went back-and-forth all afternoon; neither team led by more than six points in the second half. There were six ties and 18 lead changes.
New Jersey – fresh off a six-game First Round win over Toronto – actually led by eight, 33-25, midway through the second quarter. But Larry Hughes drained a pair of jumpers as part of a 9-0 Cavaliers’ run to bring both clubs back to close quarters.
The Nets were also able to shoot the ball at a 44 percent clip in the first half to the Cavaliers’ 34 percent. But Mike Brown’s men turned the tables on New Jersey in the second stanza – limiting the Nets to 32 percent shooting, while Cleveland shot it at an efficient 43 percent.
"We understand that if we get stops, that we’re a tough team to play against," said Hughes. "We can score the ball from a lot of different angles, but if we don’t get stops it will make the game tougher for ourselves."
But the deciding factor of the game for the Cavaliers – who have won five straight playoff games and nine straight contests overall – was rebounding. Cleveland out-rebounded the Nets, 51-37, and bested them on the offensive glass, 20-9. The Cavaliers’ starting frontcourt of LeBron James, Drew Gooden and Zydrunas Ilgauskas combined to top their three Nets counterparts, 39-9.
"One thing that was key was for the bigs to rebound the ball and dominate the glass like we did during the regular season," said Gooden. "I think it’s just carrying over from game to game with me, Z and Andy."
LeBron led the Cavaliers with 21 points despite not shooting the ball especially well. James was 8-for-21 from the floor and 4-for-6 from the stripe, adding 11 boards and a team-high seven assists. LeBron logged 46 minutes in the series opener despite being under the weather.
"A couple of days ago, I started not feeling too well," said James. "But it’s the playoffs, you have to battle through it. No matter what it took, I was going to be out on the court helping my teammates get a win."
Larry Hughes followed up with 17 points – going 7-for-20 from the field. Hughes chipped in with six dimes, four boards and a game-high four steals.
Drew Gooden continued his strong postseason roll, going off for his third double-double of the Playoffs. Gooden notched 14 points and 14 boards – six of which he pulled off the offensive glass.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas cooled off a bit from the floor, hitting on only 4-of-12 shots for eight points, but he did manage to match Gooden with 14 boards – eight on the offensive end.
Aside from his amazing blocked shot, Pavlovic turned in a Playoff-career-high 15 points, going 6-of-11 from the floor. Sasha drew the assignment of checking Vince Carter, and came through with flying colors.
Carter still managed to lead the Nets with 21 points, but the Wine and Gold made him work for every one of them. Carter was 7-for-23 from the floor but grabbed a team-leading 13 boards. Richard Jefferson added 16 points and Mikki Moore, 10. Bostjan Nachbar came off Lawrence Frank’s bench to tally 12 points.
"They made the plays that they needed to at the end of the game," said Jefferson. "They did a very good job rebounding the ball and getting second shots and I think both teams feel there are areas they can improve on."
Jason Kidd, who averaged a triple-double in New Jersey’s First Round matchup with Toronto, was 2-for-11 from the field for seven points, nine assists and 10 boards.
The Cavaliers and Nets do it again on Tuesday night at The Q before the series shifts to the Garden State for Game 3 on Saturday night in East Rutherford.
