Quarter Saving Quarters
by Joe Gabriele
cavs.com
LeBron James shares a laugh with Miami's Dwyane Wade before Saturday night's matchup.
December 19 -- Donyell Marshall’s third quarter and LeBron James’ fourth might have saved the first quarter of the season. Or something like that.
The Cavaliers season had gone somewhat sour as the calendar turned to December. After running out to a 9-2 start – winning eight straight and every game at home – it looked like the Wine and Gold were invincible. But a Thanksgiving day loss in Indy and a tough defeat at home to Minnesota knocked everything out of whack.
Cleveland had dropped seven of nine before last Thursday’s clutch win over the Nuggets – including a loss to the 3-16 Hawks two days earlier. But the Cavaliers dropped the short-handed Nuggets on Thursday and that set up Saturday night’s showdown with Shaq, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat.
There’s no doubt that the Heat were not themselves on Saturday. They were playing their fourth road game in five nights and although they came in winners of four straight, they looked like they were running on fumes for the first two-and-a-half periods.
When they did make their run, they ran into Donyell Marshall, who has re-ignited the fire that made him so dangerous off the Cavaliers bench in the first month of the season. When the Heat weathered Marshall’s barrage – hitting four threes in the third period – it was LeBron’s turn to take over the action.
“I’ve seen too many players like him,” said Heat coach Pat Riley. “I see it in Dwyane (Wade), I’ve seen it in Magic (Johnson) and James Worthy. At times, you’re helpless. When he’s raising on you and freezing you with the dribble, and making four or five in a row, it’s sort of a helpless feeling.”
LeBron went off for 41 points and still managed to lead both clubs with 10 assists. Right now, he is arguably the best player in basketball. You probably won’t get much of an argument from his coach.
“Towards the end of the ballgame he put us on his back like he has many times before and carried us,” praised rookie coach Mike Brown. “I do not know how you score 41 points on 12 of 19 shooting and get 10 assists.”
Said LeBron: “(My teammates) started looking at me like, ‘Okay, when are you going to start shooting the ball or start attacking and trying to make some plays?’ I saw [Miami] trying to make a run and it was time for me to wake up.”
The news wasn’t all good on Saturday. Drew Gooden turned his left ankle in the first half and didn’t return. And Zydrunas Ilgauskas got his head smacked going for a loose ball in the fourth quarter. Both seemed to be alright following the win.
The Cavaliers took the 115-107 win – a critical Eastern Conference victory – and set themselves up well for a tough remainder of the month that sees them face Chicago twice, Indiana, Jersey on the road and the best team in the league, division rivals, the Detroit Pistons.
One-quarter through the 2005-06 season, the Wine and Gold stand at 13-9. Like Mike Brown said, LeBron James has put the Cavaliers on his back. But unlike previous seasons, he’s not alone.
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