Written by John Hnat

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Everybody expected a big game from the Big Three last night at Quicken Loans Arena.  And they got it. That's right - the Cavs' big three of LeBron James, Drew Gooden, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas combined for 77 points, 31 rebounds, 18 assists, and seven blocked shots, pacing the Cavs to a 109-104 overtime victory over the Celtics.  The Anti-Branson, John Hnat, recaps last night's big win.

THE SUMMARY: 

Everybody expected a big game from the Big Three last night at Quicken Loans Arena.  And they got it. 

That's right - the Cavs' big three of LeBron James, Drew Gooden, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas combined for 77 points, 31 rebounds, 18 assists, and seven blocked shots, pacing the Cavs to a 109-104 overtime victory over the Celtics.  The win was Cleveland's fourth in a row and lifted them into a virtual tie with Detroit for first place in the Central Division.   

The game was one of streaks - the Cavs charged from the gate to a 19-7 lead (during that streak, Z scored eight points and notched three assists), only to then have Boston go on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to four.  The Cavs continued to lead through the second quarter, but the Celtics closed out the first half with a 9-1 run to take a 49-46 lead (their first of the game) into the locker room at the half.  The Cavs would later hold a 74-68 edge near the end of the third quarter, only to watch Boston rattle off the next nine points.   

The fourth quarter would be particularly agonizing, as the Cavs went more than four minutes without scoring until James made a layup with 2:20 remaining.  That hoop cut the Boston lead to 90-89; and after Ray Allen drilled a jumper, and a missed James jumper on the Cavs' following possession, the game seemed to be slipping out of Cleveland's reach.  Enter Sasha Pavlovic, who buried a three-pointer from the left wing in the final minute, tying the game at 92, and eventually sending the game into overtime. 

The extra session belonged to the Cavs.  Actually, it belonged to LeBron, who scored 11 of his game-high 38 points in those five minutes.  After Gooden split a pair of free throws with 26 seconds left, the Cavs held a commanding 102-95 advantage.  Boston made it interesting by hitting three three-pointers in the waning moments, but the Cavs kept hitting their free throws, and emerged with the W. 

As mentioned, LeBron led everybody with 38 points; Gooden and Pavlovic backed him up with 24 and 16, respectively.  In a sentence that will shock absolutely nobody, the Celtics were paced by their Big Three of Allen (29 points), Kevin Garnett (19), and Paul Pierce (16).

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE GAME: 

The Obvious One:  Hey, they beat the Celtics!  The same Celtics that were 11-1 entering the game, their only previous loss coming against Orlando.  This game was one that most Cavs fans had mentally written off as a loss, but Cleveland showed that they can play with anybody in the league.  (Well, the jury is still out on Phoenix, the one team that always gives Cleveland major headaches.)  Almost as impressively, the Cavs limited four-time league rebounding champ Garnett to just five boards, en route to outrebounding the Celtics 47-40. 

Lather, Rinse, Repeat:  The LeBron line:  38 points (only 11-of-25 from the field, but a very impressive 14-of-15 from the line), 13 assists, two blocked shots, and two steals.  He had only four rebounds, falling far short of a triple-double.  Slacker. 

More Lathering, More Rinsing, More Repeating: The Cavs' twin double-double machines, Ilgauskas and Gooden, were out in full force last night.  Big Z had a relatively ho-hum 15 points and 14 rebounds; Gooden posted 24 and 13.  Indeed, Gooden was a huge reason the Cavs stayed in the game in the third quarter, as he hit all eight of the shots he took during the frame.  He has extended his range to just inside the three-point line, and is consistently drilling the 20-footers that he clanged last year.  Last year, a recurring theme in this column was the Drew Gooden Period, which said that Drew was good for exactly one good game per month.  He's now had two very impressive games in a row, so it looks like I'll need to find another gimmick. 

This is as good a time as any to make the following point:  those critics who say that LeBron has absolutely no help are full of it.  Ilgauskas and Gooden, along with LeBron, form the best front line in the Association.  Daniel Gibson has emerged as a reliable (well, usually) outside shooter.  The problem with this team (and we're not going to dwell too much on problems right now; they have won four games in a row, after all) is not with their starting five; it's with the five who back up that starting five.  (And it's not a surprising problem, considering the rash of injuries and Anderson Varejao's continuing quest to become the best paid six-point-per-game player in league history.) 

Ilgauskas is having the best season he's had in quite some time.  Gooden may be taking the next step in becoming ... nah. I can't go that far.  Whenever I think Drew has turned the corner, he hits us with a couple of weeks of six-point, four-rebound efforts.  So let's just say that he has been playing well, and not say another word. 

In Other News, Britney Spears Wins "Mother Of The Year" Award:  Nobody will ever accuse the Cavs of being a stellar free-throw shooting team.  Heading into last night, the Cavs were hitting a junior varsity-level 69.2% of their attempts.  (Amazingly, four teams in the Association --  Philadelphia, Golden State, Charlotte, and Miami - all have worse percentages.  Not so amazingly, all of those teams suck.)   

Well, last night the Cavs hit a respectable 78% of their charity stripe attempts, including 10 of their 12 tries in overtime.  As much as anything, that's why they won the game ... a game that I suspect they would have lost last season.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THE GAME: 

Department of Just Sayin' (Bench Edition):  Without comment, the plus-minus figures for key Cavs bench players: 

 * Ira Newble:  -22 
 * Devin Brown:  -11 
 * Damon Jones:  -7 
 * Eric Snow:  -5 (in 41 seconds of playing time) 

By contrast, all five of the Cavs' starters had positive plus-minus numbers, with all but Daniel Gibson being well into double digits.  (And yes, Boston's bench handily outscored the Cavs' bench, 26-8.)   

Tough Day At The Office:  Gibson shot 3-for-11 from the field, including a very uncharacteristic 1-of-5 from three-point range.  That's a night that is "difficult" for most players (for Larry Hughes, it's "phenomenal").  Some nights, the ball just doesn't go through the hoop. 

I Know, He Had Some Big Plays Down The Stretch, But...:  Pavlovic, as you know if you read this space often, is not exactly my favorite player.  He has very good athleticism, can shoot fairly well, and is learning to play defense.  He had a couple of clutch plays last night, with the three pointer to force overtime and a key steal in the extra session.  He's far from a total zero.  So why do I shudder every time he touches the ball? 

Maybe this list of Things That Actually Happened Last Night will shed some light on that issue: 

• In the first quarter, LeBron stole a pass, leading to a three-on-one fast break.  Around midcourt, he passed the ball to Sasha, who was running down the left side of the court. Sasha tried for the SportsCenter-ish alley-oop return pass to James; alas, while the ball started in Cuyahoga County, Sasha threw it in the general vicinity of Medina.
• In the second quarter, with the Cavs leading 37-31, Sasha saw three defenders ahead of him, and apparently thought he could take them on.  In fact, he must have thought it wasn't challenging enough, because he also tried to dribble behind his back.  Turnover, Celtics ball.
• Moments later, he tried again to drive through traffic (only two defenders this time).  It appeared that he kicked the ball out of bounds; fortunately, the Cavs retained possession.
• At the end of the third quarter, the Cavs had the ball with 24 seconds remaining.  Time to run out the clock for the last shot, right?  Wrong.  Sasha took a contested jumper with about 15 seconds left on the clock, missed it, and gave the Celtics one more chance to score.
• With the Cavs leading by four in the fourth quarter, Pavlovic made a super-weak entry pass that was knocked away, leading to another steal.

I do not want to pound on Sasha too much; it seems like I am cataloging every last mistake the guy made, and that's not where I want to go with this discussion.  But Sasha's turnovers seem to be true mental lapses - every one of those events was a "what were you thinking?" moment.  C'mon, Sasha, you're smarter than that.  (I think.)  (I hope.) 

Speaking Of Boxes Of Rocks:  While Gooden had a great game overall and deserved the praise heaped on him earlier, he also earned one dig.  On the play where Pavlovic tried to alley-oop the ball, and instead threw the rock in the general vicinity of Section 127, LeBron somehow saved the ball and passed it to Gooden (the third member of the three-on-one break).  Gooden was three feet from the basket when he caught the ball.  He is six feet, ten inches tall.  Going right to the basket would make for a high-percentage shot, no?  Well, not on Planet Drew; in his world, the right answer is to ball-fake the defender, then travel.  Like Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that.

NOT THAT YOU ASKED, BUT... 

The Correct Answer Is "Ball Don't Lie":  With 23 seconds remaining in regulation, and the game tied at 92, Allen drove to the basket with Pavlovic defending him.  Sasha slapped the ball away, leading to an apparent steal by the Cavs, but the referees bailed out Allen and the Celtics with a foul call.  (To be fair to the Celtics, Sasha did get a piece of Allen's arm as he went for the ball.  To be fair to the Cavs, he didn't get that much of Allen's arm, and the call probably would not have been made had Sasha been driving on Allen, instead of the other way around.  In fact, had Sasha been driving to the hoop, the refs would have found a way to nail him with an offensive foul.) 

So Allen stepped to the free-throw line, needing to hit just one of the two free throws to give the Celtics the lead.  He is one of the game's premier free throw shooters, having hit 92% of his attempts this season at that point.  As you can tell from the way that I keep building up the scene, he bricked both shots. 

Last week, we had this same situation with the Bucks' Michael Redd (an 85% free throw shooter), and we figured out that the chances of seeing Redd miss both free throws ... well, it doesn't happen often.  But Allen is an even better shooter ... so what are the chances of seeing him miss two in a row?  Using his then-current average of 92.2%, here are the chances of each possible outcome: 

85.0084%  for making both FTs
14.3832%  for making one of the two FTs
0.6084%  for missing both FTs

(modulo rounding in the 4th place)

So if the averages are correct, Allen would miss both free throws only one out of 164 times he stepped to the line for a pair. Let's thank him for picking the final minute of regulation last night as the time to do that. 

Not Sure Why This Came To Mind Today, But:  Remember this offseason, when an NBA referee was alleged to have bet on NBA games?  Remember how he eventually pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the investigation?  And remember how various talking heads said that the NBA would take a huge reputation hit, and that fans would forever question the integrity of the game? 

Now, ask yourself this question:  just four months later, and without looking, can you even remember the referee's name?

WHAT LIES AHEAD: 

As a reward for their big win last night, the Cavs get a restful and relaxing ... trip to Detroit for a first-place showdown with the Pistons tonight.  Indeed, five of the Cavs' next six games are on the road:  they'll travel to Toronto Friday night and Boston for a Sunday matinee, come home for a single game against the Nets, and then they'll play at Washington and Charlotte. 

(P.S.:  It was Tim Donaghy.)