-Prior to the game, Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas said that  he played two-on-two for the first time since his injury and he felt pretty good.  Still no definite word as to when he’s coming back, but for a 6-25 team that is starved for some sort of bright spot, that sounded pretty good.

-Coach Mike Brown mentioned that LeBron James would start off guarding Caron Butler, and that LeBron now takes match-ups like this very personally.  In the past, he would just try to outdo the opposition on the offensive side of the ball, but now he’s learned to play at a top notch level on both ends.  After giving up 15 points to Butler in the first half, LeBron clamped down and held Butler scoreless in the third quarter, and allowed him only four in the fourth quarter for a total of 19.

-Both head coaches downplayed the notion that this Cleveland/Washington series has any type of residual bad blood from past years.  Mike Brown commented that this Wizards team is drastically different than the one they played during last year’s playoffs, and the close Christmas Day match-up can be attributed to the Wizards just playing well, not necessarily feeding into the rivalry.  Coach Tapscott said occasionally things get said in the heat of the battle, but for the most part he did not expect any extra shenanigans.  Even Gilbert Arenas said that this was no longer a rivalry considering the Wizards had yet to do their part in the victory department.

-I was very impressed with Anderson Varejao’s game in the first half of this game.  Prior to seeing him in person today, I primarily thought of Varejao as a ”flopper” and an energy guy, not a player with offensive prowess.  In the first half today, Varejao showed his full repertoire.  He used his surprisingly good dribbling ability to maneuver into the paint and get a layup; he shot hook shots with both hands, and was his normal aggressive self on the boards.  By the end of the first half he had eight points and five rebounds.  Unfortunately Varejao, who was starting in place of the injured Zydrunas Illgauskas, could not maintain that level of play the entire game, and he ended up with 10 points and 10 rebounds.  Still, it was nice to see that Varejao can do more than just flop on command.

- Coach Tapscott mentioned that Wizards guard Javaris Crittenton  played well in the  Friday night’s blowout loss to the Boston Celtics, and he would get more time as a result.  Coach Tapscott said that it wasn’t the 15 points that impressed him, but it was his on the ball defense against the Celtics’ guards.  Crittenton’s excellent perimeter defense allowed the other four guys on the floor to stick to their men, instead of constantly having to worry about helping defense.  When asked why Crittenton had not gotten more playing time, Tapscott stressed that he was still a young player (21), who really left college after one year, so he was not yet fully equipped to run an NBA team.  Tonight, Crittenton played 12 minutes and he got the minutes at backup point guard usually given to Juan Dixon.  He scored two points, grabbed two rebounds, but also had two turnovers.

-This was my first time seeing LeBron James in person, and I can easily say that the aspect of his game that impressed me the most was his passing.  Lots of NBA players can score easily and get to the lane and dunk with authority, but not all NBA players can pass with the precision of James.  On several occasions, he would drive on one side of the court, break all the rules by leaving his feet to pass, and then throw the perfect pass to Delonte West, Mo Williams or Daniel Gibson, and they would drain the shot.  There were at least five or six other times when James made the perfect pass, but his teammates were unable to convert.  To see a player, who is as capable of dominating with his shot as he is, be so unselfish is truly a refreshing sight.  Even Coach Tapscott took time out of his post game victory press conference to praise James’ passing.

-Even though this game came down to a last second missed shot by LeBron James, the Wizards really won this game in the third quarter.  During period, they outrebounded the Cavs 16-7;  they held the Cavaliers to 25% (5 for 20) from the field; they did not allow James, West, Williams or Wally Szczerbiak to hit a 3-point shot.  James only scored four points in the quarter, and the Cavs as a team scored 11 points to the Wizards’ 21.  This cushion allowed the Wizards to withstand the furious fourth quarter rally of James and the Cavs.

-Ben Wallace’s skills have really diminished quickly.  There was a time when Wallace would be a terror on the defensive end of the floor by grabbing rebounds and blocking shots, and then do just enough on the offensive side of the ball for the opposing team to pay attention.  Tonight, even though Wallace blocked three shots, he only had five rebounds and two points.  There were many possessions where Wallace was badly out of position or two steps slow on rotation, and at one point, one of the other journalists asked me if Wallace was hurt.  For the season, Wallace is only averaging 24  minutes, seven rebounds a game and one block a game.  Those numbers are a far cry from his productive days in Detroit.

-Mike Brown got ejected with 6:30 left in the fourth quarter, after arguing an offensive foul call against LeBron James.  I expected Brown to be upset because it was a borderline call, but when I saw Coach Brown run to halfcourt and emphatically point at the referees while yelling at the top of his lungs, I suspected that the normally mild-mannered Brown was trying to get to thrown out of the game to get his team fired up.  Sure enough, after Brown was ejected, the Cavs went on a 19-6 run to make the game close.  As James said after the game, “We’re not saying we want Mike Brown to get thrown out if we’re flat or not making shots. We’re not saying that.   But sometimes you need a coach to do something, and that definitely fired us up.”

-Caron Butler had a fast break with about 3:50 left in the game and only Daniel Gibson was back on defense.  Instead of trying to spin past him, shoot a pull-up jumper,  or strategically find an angle to the basket, the  6′7″ Butler basically tried to jump over the 6′3″  Gibson and picked up an offensive foul.  I watch at least four to five NBA games during a week, and I see this type of play all the time, and it baffles me.  Given the sophisticated offense moves of these players, you would think that they would know that you cannot go through a defender.  LeBron James was faced with the same type of play, and he pulled the ball out until more of his teammates came down the court, then he weaved his way around them, and drove to the basket and drew a foul as opposed to be assessed one.

-Consistent point guard play for the Wizards continues to be a problem. With two minutes left and a four point lead, Mike James took a quick shot, missed and then LeBron hit two free throws on the other end.  A steady guard would have pulled the ball back out and regrouped.  Just one minute later, Dominic McGuire, who was playing the forward position, was trying to throw an entry pass into Butler, and turned the ball over.  Meanwhile, James was running along the baseline trying to get open for an outside shot.  Then 12 seconds later,  James turned the ball over while trying to pass the ball to Butler.  These turnovers caused the Wizards to lose their 13 point lead and allowed the Cavaliers to be in position to win the game.  Juan Dixon, who has occasionally thrived in these moments was left on the bench, as was Crittenton.  These are the moments where the injured Gilbert Arenas or the now traded Antonio Daniels would step up and make those correct decisions.  Without those players, the Wizards will continue to struggle in crunch time.

-In just his sixth start of the season, Dominic McGuire got his first career double-double by scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.  The 10th rebound he grabbed allowed the Wizards to regain the lead–it also gave McGuire a cut under his left eye courtesy of LeBron James.  I will be writing a more expansive story about McGuire’s play on Wednesday, so please check back with Hoops Addict for that.

Final score - Wizards 80 - Cavaliers 77

Photo Credit: Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos