Former Erie BayHawks forward Ivan Johnson had 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting in helping the Atlanta Hawks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 103-87, on Sunday at Quicken Loans Arena.
Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 28 points.
Donald Sloan tries to strip Charlotte rook Kemba Walker in Monday's preseason game./AP Photo.
Check out these articles about how current and former Erie BayHawks are doing:
Hawks blog (Atlanta Journal Constitution) – BayHawks point guard Donald Sloan was described as struggling to stop Charlotte’s D.J. Augustin in Monday night’s preseason game, but settled down later in the game.
Peachtree hoops – Former BayHawks PF Ivan Johnson had the best game of the Atlanta newcomers in Monday’s preseason game at Charlotte according to Kris Willis.
Cleveland Plain-Dealer – BayHawks SF Mychel Thompson hopes to play for the Cavaliers in tonight’s preseason game against the Detroit Pistons at Quicken Loans Arena.
In other news, BayHawks 7-footer Chris Daniels didn’t play for the Los Angeles Lakers in Monday’s preseason game against the Los Angeles Clippers. … Former BayHawk Blake Ahearn is back with the Reno Bighorns after being waived by the Clippers. … The Denver Nuggets have a preseason game tonight against Phoenix. BayHawks SG Cory Higgins is with the Nuggets.
Here are five points I want to make about the Cavaliers’ 102-90 win against the Miami Heat at Quicken Loans Arena.
1. Great crowd. Great crowd. Great crowd. Cavs fans can still bring it.
2. Three to four years ago, I wrote Chris Bosh was overrated. Then he went out and proved me wrong, but after watching tonight’s game, maybe I wasn’t wrong after all. He played softer than diapers against Cleveland and got punked by Ryan Hollins. Shot 5-of-14 from the field. had just 10 points, only four rebounds and if I was playing the Heat, I’d go at him every time.
Here’s what LeBron James had to say before tonight’s game between the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena.
This is the second time James has played in Cleveland for the Heat since he decided to leave the Cavaliers last summer to play in Miami. The Heat beat the Cavaliers, 118-90, Dec. 2 and James had 38 points, eight assists and five rebounds.
Before I go any further, there was one arrest and four ejections. I saw one of those guys getting taken out the arena.
Crazy.
Now back to this scene. This was one of the most entertaining nights in my career as a sports journalist.
What I saw tonight was one man entering the most hostile environment he’s ever faced as a player and it was in his home area. It was so surreal. Just a scene of angry fans filled with emotion for one guy.
He was a little edgy at first. Didn’t shoot great in the first half (5-of-13), but two things happened to loosen LeBron James up. One, the fans really started getting on him when he was at the FT line and he started smiling.
I think at that point he figured, this is going to be rough,’ but he also figured he’d be OK.
Then he started talking the players on the Cavs bench. Laughing. Joking. I’m like, what in the world is going on. Now I saw a video here that one of the Cavs assistants cursed at James, but then J.J. Hickson was still talking to James. Don’t know when it was during the game.
One thing I am certain of is when that second half came around, LeBron caught fire.
10-of-12 shooting. 24 points. In comparison. Cavs were 7-of-13 as a team for 25 points.
The Heat were up by 30 at the end of the Q. James didn’t even play in the fourth.
Game over.
The emergence of point guard Rajon Rondo sparked the rejuvenated Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals.
Kobe vs. LeBron.
Ya’ll wanted it.
Heck, I even had dreams about it, but then reality set in and I knew the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t going to meet in this year’s NBA Finals.
In fact, I said one of four teams would make it to the NBA Finals instead.
My latter three choices were the Denver Nuggets, Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks.
My first choice: The Boston Celtics.
Wow.
Either I know the NBA or miracles do happen. I’ll lean more toward the latter, but I have to know something about basketball to even make that kind of prediction because at the time, the Celtics were struggling.
Now they’re rolling and making me look like an NBA expert.
Was this LeBron James' last game Tuesday night in Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena wearing a Cavalier uniform?
The two-time MVP’s body language wasn’t good.
And since LeBron James is their leader, the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers were just as lifeless.
Now they’re a loss away from seeing championship aspirations expire after losing Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, 120-88, to the Boston Celtics at Quicken Loans Arena.
If the Celtics close out the Cavaliers in Thursday’s Game 6 in Boston, the sellout crowd of 20,562 may have watched James play his last game for Cleveland in Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday night.
They didn’t see his best effort.
In fact, it may have been the worst playoff performance of his splendid 7-year NBA career.
James had just 15 points, shooting a woeful 3-of-14 from the field. He only attempted four shots in the first half, missed them all and the electric energy that typically radiates off him was barely pulsating.
By the fourth quarter when James missed a free throw with 10:31 in the game, sprinkle of boos came from the stands.
James wasn’t the only who didn’t bring it Tuesday night.
His elbow may be hurting, but it didn’t stop LeBron James from scoring 35 points Saturday night in leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 101-93 win past the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Quicken Loans Arena.
That’s a nice way to go into receiving the MVP award later today at the University of Akron. James won’t need help hoisting the trophy, but he got some much needed help Saturday night.
Mo Williams dropped in 20 points that included a one-handed flush on Paul Pierce to turn the game around. The Cavaliers were down 11 before Williams dunked on Pierce and they wound up taking a 79-78 lead at the end of third quarter.
If LeBron James' elbow goes haywire again later in this series against Boston, the schedule won't be in his favor.
Have you seen the playoff schedule for the Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics starting Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland?
Take a look.
Game 1: Saturday at Cleveland, TBD (TNT)
Game 2: Monday at Cleveland, TBD (TNT)
Game 3: Friday, May 7 at Boston, TBD (ESPN)
Game 4: Sunday, May 9 at Boston, 3:30 p.m. (ABC)
*Game 5: Tuesday, May, 11 at Cleveland (TNT)
*Game 6: Thursday, May 13 at Boston, TBD (ESPN)
*Game 7: Sunday, May 16 at Cleveland, 3:30 p.m. (ABC).
*If necessary.
Now I know many folks, including my guy, Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, have complained about the playoff schedule in terms of too much time between games. I’d love to spend this entire blog post doing the same, but the sun is out here in Erie, Pa., so I’m going to look at this differently.
When I look at that Cavs-Celtics schedule, three things come to mind.
Dwight Howard is ready to lead the Orlando Magic back to the NBA Finals this season.
He took his time.
Dwight Howard had to look good before doing his postgame interview so the Orlando Magic center took at least 15 minutes to get ready. Brushing his hair, tying his tie, putting on cologne.
Don’t know who takes longer to get dressed. Braylon Edwards or Howard, but I waited because two years ago, Howard took time to talk to me exclusively while in Cleveland for an Magic-Cavaliers game.
For the record, Braylon always took time out to talk to me, too, when he was in Cleveland with the Browns. As for Howard, I had no problems waiting for him because he’s pretty entertaining in terms of his personality.
Plus Howard was willing to talk after the game while LeBron James wasn’t, which at the end of the day is cool. LeBron can do whatever he wants and it’s all good even though I would have liked to hear what he has to say about the Cavaliers losing three consecutive games without him.
So here’s what Howard had to say after the Magic beat the Cavaliers, 98-92, at Quicken Loans Arena. The questions I asked about Howard were in regards to him winning the NBA MVP award.
One of the answers that was ear tingling was when he said it would have been “embarrassing” if the Magic would have lost to the Cavaliers. You know, he’s right.
