You know; if an NBA game was twelve minutes long the Cavaliers might just be in the thick of things. It’s the remaining three quarters that are the problem. Such was the case in Cleveland’s 110-90 loss to the Bucks at the Bradley Center Wednesday night.
For the second consecutive game the Cavaliers got the early drop on their opponent, only to see the other shoe drop with a vengeance. Tuesday night it was Golden State- specifically its backcourt tandem of Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry- turning a twelve-point deficit at the end of one into a ten-point cruise at the end of four. Wednesday night it was Milwaukee’s turn- and again it was the guards that stole the show, and the game, from the Cavaliers.
Cleveland led 27-21 late in the first period when the Bucks began to rally in earnest. Their leader was the bantam-sized Clevelander who always plays large against his old team- Earl Boykins. The tiny man from Central Catholic, Eastern Michigan and a host of professional employers got things going with five points to end the first period. He added fifteen more on 6-of-7 shooting to spearhead a Milwaukee second-period blitz which saw the Bucks pour in 39 points on a scorching 70 percent from the field. By the time ‘Lil Earl scored the half’s final points it was 62-49 Bucks and the game, for all intents and purposes, was over.
I'm sitting here waiting for the Cavs game to start and thinking that there's something else happening at 7:00 PM tonight, but I'll be damned if I can think of what it is. Oh well, whatever it is, it can't be anywhere near as compelling as this Cavs game.
For a half a second last summer, Byron Scott was actually asked about rumors of his old point guard Chris Paul coming to Cleveland to be LeBaby Whines’ new BFF and solidify a championship contending roster. Now, in the post-apocalyptic bizarro world that has become Coach Scott’s reality, he’s somehow wound up with the other Hornet point guard from his past and a starting forward tandem of Samardo Samuels and Alonzo Gee—two players with a combined total of zero NBA games under their belts coming into this season. Anyway, it should come as little surprise that this Cavs team lost soundly to Chris Paul’s New Orleans Hornets tonight at the Q, 96-81. But the way it went down is actually a bit hard to figure.
Uh, Cavalier fans: Baron Davis is for real. At least he was for one game Friday night.
