The Cavaliers Dominated the Celtics

LeBron James gestures to the crowd after drawing a foul on a basket in the fourth quarter against the Boston Celtics Cleveland Cavaliers stayed the NBA’s hottest team with their eighth straight win, 115-93 over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night.

The Cavaliers (9-2) improved to 6-0 at home, where they’re not just winning but dominating. Cleveland has won by an average of 21 points per game at the Q.

James scored 36 points for the second game in a row, Larry Hughes added 25 and Drew Gooden added 13 points and 15 rebounds for his fifth double-double. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 19 points.

For a complate game recap click HERE.

Damon Jones Sprained His Left Ankle

Cavaliers point guard Damon Jones left Tuesday night’s game with a sprained left ankle after banging into Boston Celtics guard Ricky Davis in the second quarter. Jones went down and had to be helped off the floor and to the Cavs’ locker room.

The club said he would not return to the game, and that he was questionable for Thursday’s game at Indiana.

Tractor Traylor Is Back

Robert Tractor TraylorFree agent Robert “Tractor” Traylor plans to resume working out in six weeks after heart surgery last week, his agent, Andre Colona, said Monday.

Colona said that Traylor, who played for Cleveland last season, failed a physical with the New Jersey Nets during the off-season because of an enlarged aorta. The condition was discovered when Traylor had an echocardiogram during team physicals — as part of his exam with the Nets.

Colona said the procedure was “preventative” and Traylor could have played with the condition but there would have been a 40% chance his aorta would rupture.

Tractor was signed as a free agent by the Cavaliers on 08/03/04 and averaged 5.5 points per game and 4.5 rebounds.

LeBron James Named Eastern Conference Player of the Week

For the fourth time in his career, LeBron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday. In three wins last week, he averaged 29.7 points on .547 (35-64) shooting, nine rebounds and six assists. Saturday in Philadelphia, he had his fifth career triple-double with 36 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. He’s the only player in franchise history to win the award more than twice.

LeBron’s “a freak”

Celtics coach Doc Rivers believes the Cavaliers superstar could do wondrous things for the Cleveland Browns.

“I just couldn’t believe his body,” Rivers said of the first time he saw James. “His body and speed. He’s a freak. He’s a freak of nature. He would be an All-Pro in football. And I don’t even know what he plays, but whatever he wants. You just don’t get athletes like this.”

James is averaging 27.6 points on 51 percent shooting through 10 games, and he has handled himself well off the court, too.

The Cavs will face the Celtics tomorrow at the Q.

The Cavaliers Finally Got it Right from Behind the Arc

Ten games into the 2005-06 season, it appears the Cavaliers got what they have been trying to accomplish in the past 2 years. Cleveland Cavaliers shoots against the Orlando Magic on November 13, 2005 at TD

After Saturday’s win over Philadelphia, the Cavaliers are sixth in the NBA in 3-point percentage at 38.1 (67 of 176).

They have four players with 11 or more 3-pointers.

Guard Larry Hughes is shooting a sizzling 50 percent from 3-point range (11 of 22). Guard Damon Jones is also red-hot at 42.9 percent (21 of 49), followed by forward LeBron James’ 36.1 percent (13 of 36) and forward Donyell Marshall’s 32.6 (15 of 46).

“Any time that 3 goes in, it helps out the team, gives the team confidence and gets the crowd into it,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “I believe we can score and are a good shooting team. There are nights when it won’t happen. When that occurs, we need to get stops on the other end of the floor.”

The Cavaliers’ 3-point shooting played a big part in victories over Orlando and Philadelphia on Friday and Saturday. They were a combined 17 of 42 from behind the arc (40.5 percent). Against the Sixers, Hughes was 5 of 6 from long distance.

Coach Mike Brown is not a huge fan of the 3-point shot. It might be growing on him, however.
“Once you get above 15 attempts per game, you start looking at the percentages,” he said.

“Then you’ve taken too many 3s. Sooner or later if you’re missing, you want those guys driving and getting to the free-throw line.”

The Cavaliers were 27th out of 30 teams in 3-point accuracy last season.