Write On Sports LLC - "LeBron does enough for Game 1 win" by Jake Lloyd

LeBron does enough for Game 1 win

2007-05-07 00:04:43 | By: Jake Lloyd

LeBron James, admittedly, was not feeling like a king on Sunday. He had a cold, and before the second half began, ABC's cameras caught him sitting on the bench with a towel draped over his head.

But he had enough energy to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to an 81-77 Game 1 win over New Jersey in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal.

James made the key play for the Cavaliers on consecutive possessions late in the game. First, leading 77-75 with less than a minute to play, James drove the left baseline, drew about four defenders, and found Larry Hughes, who pump-faked before knocking down a mid-range jumper for a four-point lead. Then, following two free throws by New Jersey's Vince Carter, James bulled his way down the lane and softly kissed the ball off the glass for the final two points of the game.

James finished with a moderate 21 points, but he led the Cavaliers when they needed him most. After a bad possession with just over a minute to play, when James gave up the ball to Hughes and then stood on the perimeter while Hughes turned it over, James took control. It doesn't matter if he shoots the key shots, as long as the offense runs through him, and that's what happened on those last two possessions.

James did an excellent job of conserving energy the first three quarters for the final 12 minutes, in which he scored nine of his 21 points. He also did a good job of setting up his teammates, who weren't great at finishing on the offensive end, but did enough to keep Cleveland in the game until it was James' time.

Drew Gooden, in particular, was a force for Cleveland, scoring 14 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Cleveland should get the ball to him more often. He can post up just about anybody on New Jersey*s roster, especially if Zydrunas Ilgauskas is in the game and attracts the Nets' biggest defender, and he scored four big points in the final quarter.

What Cleveland's win showed was obvious -- when James touches the ball on the offensive end, good things usually happen. New Jersey focused three guys on him all day, almost always double-teaming him and having another player -- usually big man Mikki Moore -- ready to come help. With the ball in James' hands, open shots are readily available for Hughes and Sasha Pavlovic, who had a huge game with 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting.

The Nets, meanwhile, need to realize that they are most effective when they attack the rim. There were flashes on Sunday -- including a span in the third quarter when Richard Jefferson drove for a dunk, making ABC analyst Hubie Brown remark, "That's what They've (New Jersey) been waiting for," and Moore dunked off a beautiful feed from Carter -- but too often the Nets settled for the difficult outside shot.

The Nets finished an abysmal 5-for-20 from 3-point range, with Carter shooting 1-for-6 and Jason Kidd 2-for-7. They shoot the 3-pointer well when it's within the rhythm of the offense -- usually through penetration -- but they struggle, as they did on Sunday, when they are forcing long shots as the shot clock winds down.

The Nets' willingness to settle for outside shots was just a part of the finesse game they unsuccessfully played on Sunday. Cleveland was by far the more aggressive, attacking team. The Cavaliers outrebounded the Nets 51-37 and grabbed an incredible 20 offensive rebounds. Sometimes they outhustled the Nets. Other times they simply got better position. Whatever the case, those 20 rebounds led to several second-chance points. New Jersey has to do a much better job of that come Game 2 Tuesday night.

Despite the rebounding issues, however, the Nets still had a chance in the final minutes. Carter scored 21 points, Jefferson added 16 -- most of them coming when he took the ball to the basket -- and Bostjan Nachbar came off the bench to add 12. The game was tied at 59-59 after three quarters, and Nachbar's 3-pointer to open the final quarter gave New Jersey a three-point lead.

But that's when James not so much took over, but began to make his impression felt. James led Cleveland on a 16-7 run to take a 75-69 lead, Cleveland's biggest of the day, with more than 4 minutes remaining. New Jersey fought back to within two points twice, but both times James was the difference, drawing the defense and finding Hughes and then taking the big shot.

He didn't feel well. He'll probably pass out when he gets home.

But when it mattered most on Sunday, LeBron James did not shy away from the spotlight, leading Cleveland to a big Game 1 victory.

Huge block

Sasha Pavlovic may not be known for his defense, but he came up with the biggest defensive play of the game, blocking a Jason Kidd layup attempt in the final 2 minutes that would have cut Cleveland's lead to two points. Kidd slowed up on the fastbreak just enough for the hustling Pavlovic to come from behind and swat the ball into the first row of fans.

The block was very reminiscent of Tayshaun Prince's block for Detroit of Reggie Miller in the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals. As a lesson, when a player is on the fastbreak he should either dunk or not slow down. Now I'm not sure that Kidd can dunk, but he certainly could have shown a little more urgency in getting to the rim.

Referee Effect

One of the reasons the Nets may have shied away from driving to the hoop was because they didn't seem to be getting many calls when they did. Granted, this is no reason to stop doing it, but especially Vince Carter became frustrated as the game went on and he didn't get to the free throw line. He finished the game 7-for-23 from the field and 6-for-6 from the line to score his 21 points.

The Nets were 14-for-16 from the free throw line. A great percentage, but not as many attempts as coach Lawrence Frank would like. Cleveland was just 6-for-11, but its second-chance opportunities made up for the glaring lack of attempts.