Written by Brian McPeek

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The saying goes that you only need to watch the final four minutes of an NBA game to get the excitement of the finish (if there is any) and a good feel for how the night went. That was the definitely the case Wednesday night in the Cavaliers 99-94 win over the Indiana Pacers in Quicken Loans Arena. 

Having blown all but one point of an 18-point fourth quarter lead, the Cavaliers, and specifically LeBron James, exploded from that fourth quarter funk to regain command of the game and salt away the win that gave the Cavaliers their second straight Central Division title and just the third such title in their 40 year existence. 

James started the frenetic finish by obliterating a lay up attempt by Indiana’s Brandon Rush that would have given the Pacers the lead and a boat load of momentum. He then proceeded to hit three jumpers, assist on two other baskets, grab a couple of rebounds as well a steal and then finished off the three minute MVP highlight reel by blocking A.J. Price’s lay up attempt into last week. 

Head Coach Mike Brown seemed content to give James the fourth quarter off with the Cavs threatening to run away and hide with the ball game but he had to call on the star with about eight minutes remaining in the ball game. 

And James was clearly ready to go.

James finished with 32 points, 9 rebounds and nine assists, nearly netting his second triple-double in as many nights. Three steals and the two blocked shots completed LBJ’s box score. 

As he’s done since the minute he arrived, Antawn Jamison gave another solid effort and provided production in the form of 17 points and 9 rebounds. All Jamison does well is pretty much everything. He finds creases and space on the floor where James can find him for lay ups or good looks at the basket and he also inevitably works himself into good position for offensive rebounds. You don’t really notice him too often in the flow of the game but at the end of the night he always seems to be there with 17 points and right around 10 boards. 

And also as usual, when the Cavs threaten to doze off and get snuck up on by a team that won’t quit, Anderson Varejao is there with the energy of a 5-year old kid who ate a box of Pixie Sticks. In 28 minutes Varejao went 6-9 from the floor for 13 points, He also grabbed a few rebounds, handed out a couple of assists and kept at least four possessions alive with hustle and his patented back-taps. J.J. Hickson chipped in 13 points and Delonte West added 9 more as the Cavs moved to 54-15 on the season. 

Roy Hibbert showed off a much-improved offensive game and scored 20 points to lead the Pacers. Troy Murphy added 19 points and 15 rebounds for Indiana. 

Takeaways 

• You can officially have the engraver carve James’s name on the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, annually presented to the NBA’s Most Valuable Player. James has all but locked it up with one of the most spectacular individual years imaginable. That James has put this kind of year together in a season where his team also possesses the best record in the league is just another feather in his cap.

James will gladly take the league’s MVP trophy and find a place for it next to last year’s award. But he’s clearly got his sights set on the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Trophy and he’s showing no signs that he’ll be denied in that bid. 

• As impressive as James’s effort was Wednesday night, Mike Brown’s post game press conference may have been better. It lasted about 15 seconds and consisted of Brown saying, and I paraphrase, “Yeah, I’m happy we won. But I’m sick of us playing like crap in the process.”

Brown was less than thrilled with the Cavaliers’ effort after they built that big lead only to see Indiana storm back into the ball game. 

That’s a good thing folks. Brown is not getting anywhere close to complacent and you can bet he has the ear of his super star who will surely make sure the coach’s message comes across loud and clear. Brown does not want the laziness or the indifference to proceed much longer. Right now it’s an annoyance and Brown is working to make sure it doesn’t become a trend. 

• I like how Brown used his roster the last two nights. I was impressed that he went with a deeper rotation in Detroit Tuesday and mixed in guys like Boobie Gibson and Leon Powe along with Jawad Williams when the game was in doubt and on the front end of the back-to-back. James still had to log heavy minutes in Detroit (43) which is a concern, but Brown made sure he wasn’t killing his rotation Wednesday against Indiana by parceling out minutes against the Pistons.

Not only are you seeing a team that’s growing, maturing and learning but the coach is gaining wisdom as well.  

• Jawad Williams hit just one shot Wednesday in 20 minutes after scoring 10 points 20 minutes against Detroit, but Williams is slowly and surely showing he’s got some value. Especially impressive Wednesday was after hitting his three-pointer he sprinted back down the court and drew an offensive foul on Hibbert at the other end. No preening, no posing. Just hitting shots and sprinting back to play some defense.

You can bet Brown will be playing the video of that sequence to impress upon his team the importance of hustling end to end. 

They Got Next 

A day of rest on Thursday is followed by an 8pm tip in Chicago on Friday against the reeling Bulls. Chicago was losing big again at press time and looks to be heading into Friday’s game on a 9-game losing streak.