Monday, March 5, 2012

Cavs lose to Jazz.100-109

Gordon Heyward.

No this is not a star new recruit of Aston Villa in the English Premier League. Yeah i never heard of this guy...until tonight.

The Cavs lost in stunning fashion to Utah Jazz at the Q with a little bit less than 14,ooo present with a final score of 109-100.

Don't let the score fool you. The game was nowhere near as close. The lethargic Cavs were down by 17 in the 2nd quarter. Kyrie Irving scored 1 point in the 1st half and then the other 21 came in the second half as he finished with 22 on 10-19 shooting.

But back to this Heyward guy.

Gordon Heyward dropped 23 points on the Cavs, only behind Al Jefferson who once again dominated the paint with 25 points and 13 rebounds. In his last performance against Cleveland, he put up similar stats dropping 30 pts and 12 rebs. Heyward the 9th pick overall in the draft, has surprised many with 14.9 point avg over the last 9 games. He certainly did for the Cavaliers who had no answer to stop him.

Let's put this all in perspective. We weren't suppose to lose tonight. Not to a team who was 3-13 on the road this season. Yes of course Al Jefferson was going to do his thing but tonight the Cavs played with no urgency as their playoff hopes slowly continue to diminish.With Cavs going on a road trip to Denver and OKC, things are get tougher before they get easier. The Cavs have better of think of something and quick before the season comes to a crashing end.
21.

That was the number that stood out the most to me as i gazed at the scoreboard replica in the Cavs Team shop where i work during games for the season.

The Cavaliers lost to the red hot Chicago Bulls last night at the Q 91-112 by,you guessed it, 21 points sans Kyrie Irving who sat out this game due to illness and was a gametime decision.

This loss doesn't surprise me and shouldnt surprise anyone who follows basketball or the Cavaliers for that matter. We are a team that is currently 13-21 who just lost to the Bulls, that 31-8 on the season and will possibly hold homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs and make a legitimate title run. Let me remind all of you of the 114-75 rout the last time we played Chicago and that was WITH Irving and Varejao in the lineup. Chicago is as real they come and are not to be played with.

Oh and by the way, they are 1st in the Eastern Conference with the Miami Heat in 2nd.

Luol Deng led all scorers with 24 pts and being 4-4 for from deep in the Q, while Derrick Rose followed with a modest 19 points and 9 assists.

On the Cavalier side, Antawn Jamison led with 22 points. Ramon Sessions who subbed for Irving tonight had 16 pts. Tristan Thompson impressed with 11 rebounds and 7 pts. Why he starting behind Semih Erden who only had 4 pts and 3 rebs is beyond rational thought.

The question now remains:Keep losing or try to salvage this season and try to gain the 8th spot?

All i know is, if we keep playing the way we are playing, a decision will be made for us and the playoffs in Cavaliers land will be once again a fond memory. If Boston keeps playing strong and back to form, the gap will only get bigger.Boston plays NY,Houston and Philadelphia, all at the Garden in the next 5 days and may increase their already 3 game win streak.

The Cavs hit the road tonight as they play Washington and return home to play Utah on Monday.