A big loss becomes one big lesson
Cavaliers answer Hawks' grounding three weeks ago with growth, wins
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Burt Graeff
Plain Dealer Reporter
Every NBA season has its defining moments. It might be a rousing victory; it might be an alarming loss.
One of the Cavaliers' defining moments appears to be a 100-94 loss to the lowly Atlanta Hawks nearly three weeks ago at The Q.
Atlanta rolled into Cleveland with an NBA-worst 3-16 record, winning once in 11 games on the road.
"Embarrassing," is the way several of the Cavaliers described the defeat afterward.
The players' effort was questioned by coach Mike Brown. "Our effort was horrible," he said.
The Atlanta loss was the seventh in nine games after opening the season with nine victories in 11 games. "We're in a funk," Cavaliers forward LeBron James said. "We have to find a way to tighten the screws."
Well, the screws have been tightened. The Cavaliers followed the Atlanta debacle by winning seven of eight, which included home victories over formidable Eastern Conference foes Indiana, Miami and Detroit.
"The Atlanta loss was bad," said center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who sat out the game nursing an ailing right knee. "Not because it was Atlanta, but because we played poorly.
"Everyone was upset about it. We didn't have to talk about it, though. The score said enough."
A key to the recent success has been shooting guard Larry Hughes, who is averaging 17.3 points, 4.5 assists, 3.8 rebounds and is shooting 56 percent (25-of-45) in the last four games.
Hughes has been treated for a sore right Achilles' tendon much of the season, and says it is getting stronger.
"It's definitely getting better," he said. "I haven't been completely healthy, but in another week or so, I should be pain free."
The sore Achilles notwithstanding, Hughes has not missed a start and is averaging 37.5 minutes a game - second to James' 41.5.
"It affects me at the start of games, the first eight minutes or so," he said.
Hughes said that something was learned in the loss to Atlanta (7-21), for the worst record in the NBA.
"We know we didn't play well in that game," he said. "What we learned is that we just can't step out on the court and expect to win."
The Cavaliers (18-10) capped off the recent run with Saturday's 97-84 victory over the Pistons (24-4). The loss snapped Detroit's nine-game winning streak, taking away the notion that the Pistons were virtually invincible.
Ilgauskas said no one should be shocked by the victory. "There may be some people who got carried away with the victory," he said, "but for us it was just one win.
"We do have the second-best record in the East. It's not like we just jumped out of nowhere and won."
With a 13-3 record at The Q, the Cavaliers have shown they are among the elite teams at home; not so on the road, where they are 5-7. "On the road," James said, "we don't have the comfort level we do at home.
"We'll be fine if can play with the same intensity on the road as we do at home."
The next opportunity to improve the road record is Wednesday night, when the Cavaliers face the Bucks in Milwaukee.
James' 52 points in 43 minutes were not enough to avert a 111-106 loss in Milwaukee on Dec. 10. Thanks to 15 offensive rebounds, the Bucks attempted 83 shots from the field to the Cavaliers' 68. The loss was the Cavaliers' seventh straight in Milwaukee.
"We owe them one," James said.
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