This is exactly the kind of win the Cleveland Cavaliers needed to get themselves out of a terribly pesky slump. The Cavs beat the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday in two overtimes, 104-99. It was the kind of hard-fought game throughout that the Cavs were accustomed to winning last season, but had trouble doing so this early in the 07-08 season.
LeBron James led the way for the Cavs (how surprising) with 31 points, making him the youngest player in the history of the NBA to make it to 9,000 points in a career. It is obvious that his finger is still not completely healthy, but for him to still score 30+ points is nothing short than MVP-caliber play. Lucky for him his supporting cast decided to show up as well with Devin Brown having a solid night to further boost the team.
The roles of LeBron's supporting players is the most important aspect to the Cavs. It's difficult to figure out what kind of team they really are with so many players being injured at different times. However, everyone is getting healthy at once, and the full bench is beginning to pay dividends, thus ending just about every excuse one could come up with for the team's lackluster play as of late. The success of the Cleveland Cavaliers rides on that bench production and improved defense, the main reason for the team's appearance in the Finals last June.
And we should have known Larry Hughes would hit a shooting slump again sooner rather than later. Something needs to happen to put this team over the hump and truly be able to compete for a championship.
Keywords: basketball, Cleveland Cavaliers, defense, Devin Brown, Finals, Larry Hughes, LeBron James, Milwaukee Bucks, MVP, NBA, overtime, playoffs, shooting
