# Cleveland at Los Angeles (11/29/04)



## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

@









7:30 pm PT, 10:30 pm ET

The Cavaliers had a big win against Chicago and were able to rest their starters. That said, the Cavaliers’ starters should have their legs under them and be able to play hard. The Clippers are an athletic team, so the Cavaliers will have to match their intensity from the opening tip. Los Angeles will be playing back-to-back nights, as they played the Warriors the night before. Another issue with the Clippers is injuries (Livingston out for a while, Maggette with an ankle injury, Kittles with a knee injury). While the team is somewhat short-handed, they still have enough quality players to compete with anybody.

*--------*

*Cavaliers*










King James has delivered for this team time and time again. His influence on the team has been profound; James has the team playing team ball and playing unselfishly. Let’s hope the team continues to buy into things and follow James’ example.

*--------*

*Clippers*










Brand is going to test Gooden on the boards and force Gooden to play defense. While Brand should get the better of this match up, it is important Gooden does not back down from the challenge.


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## Nevus (Jun 3, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>remy23</b>!


Wow, nice picture... no deceiving camera angles there. When a guy has his hand on your leg looking up at you like that, you're up _high_. Nice.


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## Cap (Nov 5, 2003)

*Re: Re: Cleveland at Los Angeles (11/29/04)*



> Originally posted by <b>Nevus</b>!
> 
> 
> Wow, nice picture... no deceiving camera angles there. When a guy has his hand on your leg looking up at you like that, you're up _high_. Nice.


That was his layup from last night, right? Damn he got up for that one.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

*Re: Re: Re: Cleveland at Los Angeles (11/29/04)*



> Originally posted by <b>EHL</b>!
> 
> 
> That was his layup from last night, right? Damn he got up for that one.


Or Kirk got low.


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## FutureDraftPick (Aug 7, 2004)

*Re: Re: Re: Cleveland at Los Angeles (11/29/04)*



> Originally posted by <b>futuristxen</b>!
> 
> 
> Or Kirk got low.


Yeah, but look at LeBron's head and his hand, compared to the hoop.

Man, I can't wait until we see this guy in the Dunk contest..

By the way, if the Cavs beat the Clips, are IND or CLE in 1st?


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

*Re: Re: Re: Re: Cleveland at Los Angeles (11/29/04)*



> Originally posted by <b>futuristxen</b>!
> 
> 
> Or Kirk got low.


To the windows, to the walls....


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

*Re: Re: Re: Re: Cleveland at Los Angeles (11/29/04)*



> Originally posted by <b>FutureDraftPick</b>!
> 
> 
> Yeah, but look at LeBron's head and his hand, compared to the hoop.
> ...


Well right now they are a 1/2 game back of Indiana and Miami for the 1 seed.

We need to steal this one because this little stretch of west coast games is going to be tough with Phoenix and Denver back to back at the end.

1 of 3 would be ok, 2 of 3 would be ideal. You figure Lebron will be up for the Denver game, so 2 of 3 is a definite possibility if we can get this one or the Suns game.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

*Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Cleveland at Los Angeles (11/29/04)*



> Originally posted by <b>Benedict_Boozer</b>!
> 
> 
> Well right now they are a 1/2 game back of Indiana and Miami for the 1 seed.
> ...


Agree this will be a tough stretch. Some of this Lebron for MVP talk may wind down some with this tough West Coast Trip. Although beat up, Clippers, Phoenix, and Denver have started playing real well. They also have some tough players Marion, Maggete, MarJtin who should be able to put more resitance to the King then Luol Deng did the other night. ust need to get one win and not put up on 0ffer trip and we'll be in good shape. Love to win all three but likely won't happen


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

End of 1st

Cavaliers - 21
Cippers - 32

While it was expected for Brand to play well, that start he got off to was scary. Cleveland better hope he cools off or make a plan to force the ball out of his hands.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Aghh,

Silas is playing an awful lineup right now:Z, Traylor, Wagner, Harris, and Snow. Not only is this lineup small it happens to be slow as well


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Wagners playing well: 3pointer and a runner in a row


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## Tersk (Apr 9, 2004)

16 in the first quarter for Brand


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Never mind Wagner's hot streak lasted all of two plays.

Silas is again giving way too minutes to Harris and Wagner

Lebron's being held in check so far.


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## SamTheMan67 (Jan 4, 2004)

the best defense for lebron is the cavs , they leave him out of the picture for so long sometimes...


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

If LA stays hot, Cleveland's only chance to win will be to go beserk themselves. But as of yet, outside of Z no Cavaliers player is really doing well offensively (James picked it up towards the end, I give him credit).

Halftime

Cavaliers - 41
Clippers - 52


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

Lebron's a freak. Him and Harris have kicked it up a notch. Wow Diop looks pretty good out there: rebounds and defense


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## SamTheMan67 (Jan 4, 2004)

cept itss 4v5 on o when diop is out there , lebron is just sick i wouldnt take any palyer in the league over him his heart and teamwork is second to none


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## Q8i (Oct 23, 2004)

Tru That..
His Killin' It In The 2nd Qtr


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## SamTheMan67 (Jan 4, 2004)

lol @ wilcox trying to throw the ball of lbj , he laughed at him and threw it down


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

End of 3rd

Cavaliers - 68
Clippers - 70

Believe it or not, the adjustment by Silas to play Diop-Z at the same time and go big is what changed the game. This allowed the Cavaliers to change their defense, block more shots and stop the easy inside points they were giving up.


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## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

Hmmm. Z-Diop might be an interesting toy to play with. Silas kind of fell into that one.

It's always nice when they find a use for Diop.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

God this game is showing everybody why we need a second perimeter scorer. THe Clips aren't concerned about anybody but Lebron

Get Michael Redd Paxson!!!


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

> Originally posted by <b>futuristxen</b>!
> Hmmm. Z-Diop might be an interesting toy to play with. Silas kind of fell into that one.
> 
> It's always nice when they find a use for Diop.


Diop seems a lot like a Newble type of player. Can't do anything on the offensive end but can make it difficult for certan oppostion players on the defensive end


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

Final

Cavaliers - 82
Clippers - 94

Cleveland fought hard in the 3rd quarter but went ice cold from the field in the last quarter. On the Clippers' side, they played a very good game and had excellent ball movement.

*Boxscore*


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## SamTheMan67 (Jan 4, 2004)

dude lebron had 6 steals tonight wow


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## Cap (Nov 5, 2003)

Tremendous gameplan by the Clippers. Keep the ball out of LeBron's hands, limit fast break opportunities for the team (and therefore LeBron, since he is the best open court player in the NBA next to Kobe), and make sure to put a strong defender (Simmons) on him that can also take LeBron out of the game defensively (Simmons went 7-13 from the floor). This ain't your old Clippers, this is looking like a pretty decent team. And that was all without Mag. 

On the Cavs side of things, Silas should think about putting Diop and Z on the floor together more often against the shorter and less athletic frontline's in the NBA. That really worked well for stretches. Overall, Cavs have assembled a nice collection of role players at different positions; inside scorer, perimeter passers, rebounding fiend, and an offensive juggernaut in LeBron. They desperately need more perimeter D, as Snow is getting a bit long in the tooth and LeBron ain't going to cut it anytime soon. This team would benefit a lot offensively with someone like Vlade Divac too.


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## The OUTLAW (Jun 13, 2002)

It is never a good sign when LeBron leads in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. It appears that the Cavs desperately needed someone else to step up.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

The Cavs really click when a player can hit open jumpers. This is pretty much true of all teams but when teams start playing a ridiculous amount of attention on Lebron (i.e. the Clippers ran a box and one against him) people are going to be open. In the third Harris got hot and that's when the Cavs came back.

Defensively, it was real bad inside till Diop got in there with Z. He might become our post version of Newble. Not bad to have two one perimeter and one inside defensive specialtists. Diop can't do a lick on offense and this is the first game in a while where he didn't get into foul trouble in like 5 minutes


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

Just had a chance to watch this game on Tivo. 3 things I noticed.

1- This team feeds off it's defense, especially Lebron. When he makes plays on that end, it more often than not ends up in a fastbreak that energizes the squad or ignites a run. On the flipside, when he is lazy and starts drifting, we are in trouble because..

2- Lebron while showing great poise, has this tendency to let the game come to him on the road. He's got to be more aggressive in terms of looking for his own shot. Yes he's facing double/triples, but they still really can't keep him from getting to the rim whenever he wants. There is a MAJOR difference in this team when he just flat out looks to enforce his will on the game. 

3- The last 2 games, teams have been absolutely swarming Lebron all over the court. Same with Z, teams are collapsing 2 or 3 guys on him and leaving our perimeter players wide open. This is eerily reminiscient of the zone teams started throwing out last year and you know every team in the NBA is going to start copying this gameplan. I'm not sure what our best approach is to counter this since we plain don't have consistent shooters (the one's we do have Silas doesn't play - e.g. Pavlovic & Jackson)

I'm very happy with the fact that the Cavs fought back in this game in the 3rd though, that would not have happened last year.


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## Benedict_Boozer (Jul 16, 2004)

> Originally posted by <b>Pioneer10</b>!
> The Cavs really click when a player can hit open jumpers. This is pretty much true of all teams but when teams start playing a ridiculous amount of attention on Lebron (i.e. the Clippers ran a box and one against him) people are going to be open. In the third Harris got hot and that's when the Cavs came back.


Yep exactly what I noticed.


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## remy23 (Aug 15, 2002)

*...*

I hope the team comes out more aggressive next game. The early passive play seemed to set the team back early.


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## Pioneer10 (Sep 30, 2004)

> Originally posted by <b>Benedict_Boozer</b>!
> Just had a chance to watch this game on Tivo. 3 things I noticed.
> 
> 1- This team feeds off it's defense, especially Lebron. When he makes plays on that end, it more often than not ends up in a fastbreak that energizes the squad or ignites a run. On the flipside, when he is lazy and starts drifting, we are in trouble because..
> ...


Good breakdown. I still think Harris has lost a step and I'm not convinced he's going to be that consistent outside threat. Our only real hope for this season in regards to shooting is really only Jackson. Sasha's good but Luke looks more like a true outside gunner to me.

When this team gets that shooter it will be real difficult to defend since we already have two guys you would want to double team: Lebron and then Z. I really hope Redd decides to come back to Ohio. By signing Redd and resigning Z look what will happen over the next few years. We already have the good role players, Shaq will continue to slowly decline, and Larry Brown will slowly eat away at his welcome in Detroin. That would leave Indiana as our only real competition out in the East. Come on Paxson make the right moves for a change


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