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Already you can hear the panic in the voices of Cleveland Cavaliers faithful and the jubilation in the fans of the New Jersey Nets and New York Knicks.
After all, an 0-2 start has to mean the Cavs are going to implode this year and that LeBron James is headed for one of the New York-area teams this summer as a free agent, right? Calm down, Cavs fans, two games does not a season make.
Is it slightly concerning that you lost your first home game of the year after dropping only three all last season, including playoffs? Not really. After all, Cleveland was playing a Celtic team that has been together for a few years, while the Cavs are trying to still work in new players like Shaq, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon. What is more concerning, to me, is that Cleveland, the league’s best defensive team last year, allowed 101 points on Wednesday night in a loss at Toronto.
Despite LeBron’s triple-double on Wednesday, Cleveland is now 0-2 for the first time in five seasons. James has played a total of 85 minutes in the two games, which is about five minutes more than Coach Mike Brown wants LeBron to average.
It does appear that Shaq perhaps wasn’t the answer this team needed. He’s clearly lost two steps and very stationary – the Cavs’ problem last year in the playoff loss to Orlando was that the four other players basically stood around while LeBron had the ball. Now the Cavs players are doing the same when Shaq has it. There is no flow to this offense whatsoever, which has led to speculation that Cleveland might try to trade for the Warriors’ Stephen Jackson.
Yet the guy the Cavs need most is already on the roster – Delonte West. He hasn’t played a minute for Cleveland yet this year because of some off-the-court problems and is on the inactive roster for “personal reasons.”
“He’s the glue guy for them,” Boston’s Paul Pierce said of West. “I think they really miss him.”
West is the Cavs' best guard defender (not counting LeBron, who is technically a forward) and often will guard the top scoring wing players or those quick point guards to give Mo Williams a rest. His absence has shown, as Boston’s Rajon Rondo and Toronto’s Jose Calderon both had little trouble getting into the lane and combined for 21 assists against the Cavs by passing off to open wingmen when the help defense collapsed on them. It will be interesting to see how Timberwolves rookie Jonny Flynn fares on Friday night.
Also because West is out, the Cavs are playing Parker a ton of minutes, and he’s more suited to a reserve scoring role. But no one knows when West will play again. He has been diagnosed as being bipolar, is facing a weapons charge and is expected to be suspended for at least three games. So the Cavs need to fix themselves.
Cleveland is an 11-point favorite on Friday against the Timberwolves and should be despite their 0-2 start and sluggish offensive performance to begin the season. The Cavs have won seven consecutive games against the Wolves by an average of over 14 points and have found victory the past four meetings in the Target Center (the last two by 20-plus points).
If LeBron, Shaq and company lose tonight, then it's time to panic Cleveland fans.
