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The Cleveland Cavaliers came out on top with a playoff type win over the visiting Philadelphia Sixers 91-88 at the Q.  Philadelphia which has been playing very well as of late led much of the game.  Delonte West had probably his best game since joining the Cavs scoring 18 points with 11 assists and 6 rebounds.  What I like best about Delonte is how quick and athletic he is.  He can really push the ball up the floor and and a spectacular dunk during one of the fast breaks.  LeBron added 26 points with 9 assists and 9 rebounds and Z topped off with 14 points.  Absent from any playing time was Sasha who sat at the end of the bench next to Damon Jones who only played a few minutes.  Quotes from the game:

HEAD COACH MIKE BROWN
(On the game as a whole):
“We did a better job in the second half, than the first half, in getting back in transition. They had 14 fastbreak points in the first half, they had four in the second half and that affected our defense. That was huge for us. The second thing tonight was that’s a very athletic team, a very long team. They do a good job offensive rebounding and our guys did a decent job boxing out. After last night’s performance I thought tonight was a gritty gutty win.”
(On Delonte West):
“Delonte was huge. I thought defensively he made a couple of game-winning plays for us. One was a loose ball turnover and he didn’t stop. He knocked down a couple of threes, and both those threes were huge. Hopefully, over time he will continue to understand, as well as the rest of our new guys, how to continue to play off LeBron. Delonte was good in all aspects. He could be big for us. He’s a good player in a lot of different areas. He could be good for us down the stretch.”

LEBRON JAMES
(On the final shot):
“I just wanted to be aggressive and just take the opportunity to get us a good shot. [The plan] was to attack but I didn’t think it was there in the beginning so I backed up and relocated the defenders and just tried to attack… I was able to get it off the backboard.”
(On clinching a playoff berth and ending a three-game losing streak):
“We know we clinched, but we know we want to get better. We’re not like Boston or Detroit right now where they know they clinched and they can try some new things to get guys acclimated and get guys out there playing… It’s a little frustrating at times because we have guys in and out of the lineup but hopefully we can just continue to get better.”
(On the importance of the win):
“That’s a very good team. This month they were the second best team in the whole NBA. It’s a very good high-flying, athletic team. It was good to see that we were able to control our home court which we’ve been doing throughout this year.”
(On the team’s road woes):
“We’re just not focusing defensively on the road. We’ve had some struggles of late. We just have to get back to the basketball that we were doing before.”
(On Delonte West’s performance):
“He’s not used to getting open shots a lot. On this team, I attract a lot of double-teams and one thing he has to do is catch and shoot. He doesn’t have to think about it. Tonight that’s what he did. He was able to attack, get into the lane, and then when I gave it to him for open shots, he took them.”
(On getting Daniel Gibson back):
“He can shoot the basketball. We all know that… I know it’s a struggle for him mentally because he’s never been injured in his career. Hopefully he can just get his ankle back right and not think about it much… Hopefully he can just continue to get healthy. We’re going to need him.”
(On the current state of the team):
“We’re playing okay. We’ve had some games where we could have played better… We’ve had so many lineup changes from the last month and a half that it’s hard to catch a rhythm… We have eight games left, so we’ll see what happens.”

DELONTE WEST
(On the game’s tempo):
“I think three days off definitely got my legs back under me. I found myself back to pushing the ball down the floor, creating our own tempo. Philadelphia definitely reminds me of being out on the west coast; those guys get the ball and they run. It’s going to be a tough matchup for whoever they see in the playoffs. We have got those guys one more time on their home [court] so I’m glad we came and got this win tonight because we do have to see them again.”
(On making his last shot):
“It’s funny because it goes to show how mental this game actually is. I remember sitting on the bench right before we came out from a timeout. I’m thinking ‘I’m getting ready to hit it, I’m going to sting them.’ Sure enough, the ball came right to me and I let it fly. It’s definitely a mental game and I’ll definitely try to build off of this.”

HEAD COACH MAURICE CHEEKS
(On the game):
“It was a tough loss for us. To play Cleveland like this, with LeBron (James), it’s like a playoff atmosphere, playoff basketball. It was something I talked to the guys about, being able to play in that moment like that and we responded. We were up four (points) and Delonte West hits a three in front of our bench out of a timeout. Then, he comes down and hits another three. Obviously, that put them (Cavs) over the hump. A tough loss for us, but I liked the way we played.”
(On LeBron James responding after an off game last night in Detroit):
“That’s what superstars do. They rarely have two bad games in a row. He had a tough game in Detroit, he stepped back and came back and played the way he’s capable of playing. He’s a playmaker , he can score the ball, he made the big shot down the stretch. That’s the way superstars play.”
ANDRE IGUODALA
(On the last 3-point attempt):
“I was trying to get a little space, I got a decent look. It just didn’t go down. Both guys converged on me, Delonte and LeBron. I shot it, I kind of didn’t see the rim, but I felt like I got a decent shot off and I had a chance.”
(On LeBron James, especially in the 4th quarter):
“He got to the basket, he hit a good three, he stepped his game up and played well.”
(On the game being a playoff atmosphere):
“It was a little bit. If there was one things we got out of it, we did some things well, but there were some things we could have worked on. Just trying to be smart down the stretch.”
(On Delonte West):
“LeBron draws a lot of attention, so a lot of those guys are going to get open looks. He knocked down some shots and he made some plays. If he continues to do that, they’re going to be real good with him shooting out there, being a three-point threat.”
(On the Cavs in the 3rd quarter):
“They scored off our turnovers. We had a bunch of turnovers in the third quarter and they were scoring off of those. We only had a couple of turnovers in the first half, then in the third quarter, we had a lot that turned into dunks for them and it just the momentum going.”

The Cavaliers lost a close game, 100-99 to arguably one of the best teams in the West in front of a sellout crowd of 20,562.  David West sank an open 17 footer, a result of another assist from Chris Paul to capture their fifth consecutive victory and 10 of their past 12 games.  Cavalier’s center Ilgauskas was 13-19 for 29 points and 15 rebounds. 

Cavalier head coach Mike Brown on the game:

“We played a good team. Chris Paul is an amazing talent. His shots weren’t going down tonight being, but he still found a way to impact the basketball game with his 20 assists. I thought where we got hurt, we weren’t solid defensively. I thought the first half we turned the ball over quite a bit. Then we cleaned that up offensively in the second half by being more solid moving the ball. Defensively, I thought we weren’t good following the game plan. Our game plan discipline was not good as a team and it cost us especially down the stretch.”

LeBron James on Chris Paul:

“That’s why he’s the best point guard in the league. He puts his team in the best opportunity to win ballgames. He gives them a confidence that a lot of guys didn’t give them before they played well.”

New Orleans head coach Byron Scott on LeBron’s layup to take the lead:

“We wanted to send him (James)another way, but then, when you get beat, I think the thing our guys get a little fear of is putting him on the line and it’s an ‘and one.’ We knew it just put us down by one, we had plenty of time to get a good shot on the other end. They’re All-Stars, their superstar (James): made a great play and our All-Stars, CP and David, made great plays.”

Chris Paul on Lebron James:

“It’s funny because me and LeBron are like brothers. We talk all the time during the season, so I knew when the fourth quarter came, he was going to start guarding me because he hates to see me come off ball screens and stuff like that. That last play, I thought of just being aggressive, trying to get into the lane. Once I got in there, I called David West, the ’17-foot assassin.’ I knew he would be somewhere behind me, so when I saw him, I was like ‘thank goodness.’ When we are in that situation, if he makes it, it’s great, we win. If he misses it, we still got a great shot.”

Erie PA is expected to be the Cleveland Cavaliers D-League affiliate.

By being named an affiliate, it’s a guarantee that the league will assist D-League teams in finding quality coaches to develop a talent pool that helps fill NBA rosters.  Erie and Reno, Nev., which both were awarded expansion franchises in the past month, will get their first crop of players out of an expansion draft.  Widner expects the 14 existing D-League teams each will get to protect seven or eight players from their season-ending roster.

Ron Sertz, president of Erie’s still-unnamed D-League franchise, will be all ears when making the decision on whom to hire as the team’s first coach.

“The hiring of the coach in this organization and for this team will be something that’s done by a consensus,” said Sertz, former director of operations for the Erie Otters. “You always listen to the experts.”

Sertz also said he wasn’t going to hire a coach without talking to Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry or Cavaliers president Len Komoroski.

Source: GoErie.Com