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Cavaliers 107- NY Knicks 96
by
Brian Hagerman
N.Y. Knicks @ Clevland Cavaliers 1/6/04
The Cavaliers welcomed two old faces back in uniform tonight as well as their
first win of the new year. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, looking a little more
mobile, played well leading the Cavaliers with 24 points (12 in the 2nd
quarter, 10 in the third). Eric Williams adding some nice defense while
producing 22 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
The Cavaliers started off poorly, shooting a
dismal 17% (on 2 of 12 shooting) to start the game and trailing 11-6. It
seemed as though it might be a long night, with bad passing and the offense
looking stagnant, until Carlos Boozer, who added 12 points and 7 rebounds for
the game, knocked down two jumpers, igniting the offense into making 11 of their
next 17 shots. Helping out LeBron James who didn't shoot well in the
game(6-17for 14 pts.), but dished out 10 assists to make up for it.
Just as the Cavaliers seemed to find some
offense, the Knicks with Keith Van Horn playing well (14 pts.) and in foul
trouble, the Cavaliers let role players Moochie Norris and Shandon Anderson fill
up the box score while New York jumped out to a 42-36 lead with about five and a
half minutes left in the second quarter. Ilgauskas then sparked a 23-3 run
to end the second quarter and take 56-45 lead, which they wouldn't
relinquish. The 38 points scored in the second quarter marked the most by
the Cavaliers this year. And with the return of DaJuan Wagner and DeSagana
Diop (along with the new additions), there hopefully will be more offense to
come during the rest of the season.
Van Horn and company tried to make one last push the last half of the
fourth quarter, but failed to get closer than seven points. Allan Houston
added 18 pts. on 6-18 shooting (4-6 three pt. field goals), while Kurt Thomas
chipped in with a nice 14 pt., 12 rebound effort.
For the Cavaliers, Battie played well off the
bench with 10 pts. and 8 boards. Diop and Wagner looked, and rightfully
so, rusty. It was nice to see them out there, though. Wagner did hit
a couple of key hoops and looked good on his restored knee. Kedrick Brown
continues to play solid defense as well as playing a solid role on offense,
hitting a key three at the end of the fourth quarter.
It was a nice, solid win for the Cavaliers and hopefully this will be a
stepping stone for the team during the rest of the season.
CavsTalk
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