| Flagrant Victory For Cavaliers Authored by Graham Flashner - May 16, 2007 - 1:11 pm
In every playoff series, there's always one game where the emotional intensity suddenly ratchets up, announcing that the series has begun for keeps.
For the Nets and Cavaliers, Game 4 at Continental Arena on Monday night was that game.
The two teams came out of the gate like punch-drunk brawlers, diving for loose balls, furiously contesting the lane, never letting the other get too far out of reach. Come to think of it, they shot like brawlers too, each team drawing more iron than net for much of the game. Neither LeBron James or Jason Kidd scored in the opening quarter.
In Game 3, the Nets had pushed the Cavaliers around like schoolyard bullies, playing a physical game to create space for their feared transitional game.
In Game 4, the bullies pushed again. But this time, the Cavaliers pushed back. When Mikki Moore knocked Sasha Pavlovic to the floor with a flagrant foul in the third quarter, the Nets had an eight-point lead and seemed poised to tie their Eastern Conference semifinal series at 2-2. Moore, on his way to an outstanding game (25 points, 11-14 shooting) seemed unstoppable, the crowd was on its feet, and the Cavs were on their heels.
A turning point was nigh - and the Cavs seized it. They reeled off an 18-3 run that changed the complexion of the game, and led to a pulsating 87-85 win that gave Cleveland a commanding 3-1 series lead.
Said Larry Hughes (19 points) of the flagrant foul: “We don't plan on backing down.”
“It definitely fired me up as an individual,” said James. “I wanted to make a statement, and I definitely did that in the third.”
In that 18-3 spurt, James scored 8 points en route to a game high 30 (including 9 rebounds and 7 assists). But for all of James's offensive heroics, it was a suffocating defense that won this game for Cleveland.
They held the Nets without a field goal for the last seven minutes. The Big Three of Jason Kidd (5 points, 17 rebounds), Vince Carter (25 points), and Richard Jefferson (15) were a combined 11-38 for the game, and a miserable 1-13 in the fourth quarter.
Their statement play came on the Nets' final possession. Trailing by 2 with 10.3 seconds left, the Nets got the ball to Carter for a clear-out play on the right side of the key. Hounded by Eric Snow and doubled by Larry Hughes, Carter lost the ball out of bounds, the Nets never even getting off a final shot.
“Put the ball in my hands to make plays and that's what I want to do," Carter said. "This is an important time of year, so every play counts for us."
Unlike Game 3, when Kidd racked up a triple-double and the Nets fast-break was in high gear, the Cavs never let the Nets get running, holding them to a paltry four fast-break points.
“If we want to win on the road in the playoffs, we have to defend,” said Cavs coach Mike Frank.
Even when the Nets did get close to the basket, strange things happened: namely, missed dunks and botched layups.
“We couldn't finish around the basket,” said Frank. “And it cost us an opportunity to win the game.”
And now the Cavaliers, who couldn't close out the Pistons in last year's Eastern semis, have a chance to finish off the Nets on Wednesday night.
"We definitely learned a lot from winning the series last year to losing the series," James said. "It helped us in the postseason. This is a tough environment to win in. Now we have a chance to close it out at home. We know it's not going to be easy.” |
