W Cavaliers 108 Orlando 100

[LyXo]

You guys have a lot of faith in the team... game over after LeBron's missed 3? Come on... you guys suck. Where there's a chance, there's a chance, and Donyell Marshall valiantly seized the moment. Momentum on Orlando's side? It all disappeared when the 3 was nailed and Francis clanked the last shot in selfishness. At that point the momentum became ours.

Hughes was the man tonight. Despite a great defensive performance by Snow, Hughes was given the nod to mark up Francis in the waning moments.

Z started out real slow, but picked it up bigtime in the 4th and overtime. It's good that we don't need him early on and can still win, but we need to keep up with the "establish Z" philosophy, and he needs to deliver. He's our running game.

In the end, it was a nailbiter. But hey. 108-100

Overall we should take this one. It might not be a blowout, but I can see a 8-12 point win.

Hah!

 

[cavincali]

eh we win. just take them anyway you can. this might have been a game we look back on at the end of the year saying if we won that game then....In the last several years one game would have sent us to the playoffs. Maybe this game will push us up a seed.

 

[MarkPrice25]

lyXo, you are right as always. Hughes was absolutely phenomenal tonight. He's been getting more and more comfortable every game.

This team needed a game like this. It shows them that they can't let up on anyone......especially on the road. At home, they have played sloppy in the blowouts at times, but when you are on the road, you tend to pack it in when you get down 15-20. When you're on the road, NO LEAD IS SAFE. All it takes is a little run to get the crowd back in it and teams tend to play above their heads when the momentum is theirs at home.

Hughes and Z were absolutely huge, even though Marshall's performance was the key. I was a bit surprised that LBJ wasn't even TOUCHING the ball for that period in the 4th when Orlano was making its run. He doesn't need to take every shot, but when he has the ball, the defense is going to focus on him moreso than anyone else, setting up better shots for the second and third options.

Nice win. Time to show that we are legitimate contenders and that Washington is overachiving and missing Hughes more than people think with a resounding win at the Q on Tuesday.

 

[MarkPrice25]

By the way.........told ya so (a week ago).

"We're going to go to Toronto and win. Then we're gonna follow it up with two quality home wins against solid Western Conference playoff teams. 4-2 thru 6 already puts us on pace for over 50 wins. That would also be a .500 record against playoff teams in the early going. Then the schedule lightens considerably. Give this team a chance to find it. They are too good not to. I think we're going to begin a nice run on Monday.

I know it's frustrating, but let's give them a week or two. It's not time to throw them under the bus just yet. I'm not saying to not be critical. I just don't want to see the "Here we go again" attitude that is prevalent in this city when it comes to sports. I have a feeling that we will all be looking at a 4-2 team on Saturday morning."


Make that 5-2 on Monday morning.

 

[Jimmy]

Well done on the win last night. Marshall was huge at the end and then we took them apart in OT. However, we should never have let them back in. But last year, we would have crumbled into a heap but we stuck it out and got the win.

 

[Karma]

Magical Effort for New-Look Cavs
by Joe Gabriele
cavs.com

Zydrunas Ilgauskas came up huge down the stretch on Sunday.

November 14 -- Let’s be honest, last night’s win in Orlando is one last year’s Cavaliers don’t get.
The 5-2 Cavaliers, who have been kicking the tar out of every team that’s rolled through The Q – plus the young Raptors in Toronto – turned a 17-point halftime lead into a three-point deficit with 18 seconds left in Sunday night’s affair in Orlando.

But Cleveland used one of its newest weapons to net the game at 88-88 when Donyell Marshall drained the game-tying three. Once the game went into the extra session, it was all Wine and Gold. The new and improved Cavaliers scored 20 points in overtime and won their fourth straight before welcoming Washington to town on Tuesday night.

One could look at last night’s game and think the Cavs dodged a bullet. But if you’re the optimistic type like LeBron …

“That (going into overtime) was the best thing to happen to us all year,” said James, who became the youngest player to 4,000 points on Sunday. “We have been blowing teams out and this was a wake up call for us. It happened at the right time. We don’t have any doubts.”

The Chosen One led all scorers, but the player of the game was LeBron’s LeBron – Larry Hughes.

Hughes utilized his entire cornucopia of skills – breaking down Orlando’s defense off the dribble and breaking down their offense with his disruptive play – and put together one brilliant ballgame: 22 points, nine boards, seven dimes, four steals and a blocked shot. Saying that Larry Hughes can do it all is not just lip service.

“Larry’s been terrific,” praised Coach Mike Brown. “He gets everybody involved and get to the paint and make plays. Not only that, I had him bouncing between Francis and Stevenson on defense and he did a heck of a job without fouling.”

And it wasn’t just James and one of the new additions that gave Cleveland their second straight win on the road – a rare commodity over the past two seasons. Zydrunas Ilgauskas overcame a slow start to score 16 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Last night’s team win in Orlando is a game a playoff-type team gets. It’s a game that a mentally weak and less mature team does not. Mike Brown is not the type of coach to let his club fold against adversity – not after coaching in the places he has.

“We’re still in the learning phase and still have a long way to go,” said Brown. “I have to keep pounding on these guys that this thing is about 48 minutes. All the guys in this league are here for a reason, because they’re all pretty darn good.”

The Cavaliers have a pretty darn good club, themselves. They’ll be bringing that club to visiting towns with a lot more confidence now. And what they’ve done at home to squads has been downright scary.

When the 5-1 Wizards roll into town on Tuesday night, we’ll find out just how good the new and improved Cavaliers really are.

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