Cavs Steamroll Classless Witnesses Again
Once again, the Washington Witnesses prove to be all bark and no bite.
Down 15 in the third quarter, Witness #33 (aka Brendan Haywood) decided to spear LeBron in mid-air (as shown in the clip above) without even making an effort to go to for the ball. James looked like a wide receiver going over the middle and being hung out to dry by his quarterback as Witness #33 played the role of a safety with the sole intention of knocking LB to the ground.
Unfortunately for Witness #33, he wasn’t invited to try out for the Redskins, and this is basketball. And contrary to Reggie Miller, who was calling the game for TNT with Marv Albert, Witness #33 got what he deserved: a Flagrant Two and an automatic ejection.
Seeing as though the Witnesses’ seem to now be more concerned with ending LeBron’s career instead of trying to get past them in the first round one of these years, Witness #33 may deserve even more.
“It was scary,” said LeBron about the spill, who compared it to when he got undercut as a high school junior and broke his wrist. “I knew it was going to be a tough fall. I bounced up, though.”
LB later compared the fall with getting undercut and breaking his wrist when he was a junior in high school.
As for the Witnesses as a whole, they might soon be petitioning to re-name themselves as “Pavement.” The Cavs are now 10-2 against Washington in playoff games over the last three postseasons, including eight in a row. Monday night’s 116-86 tattooing was the most lopsided playoff victory in Cavaliers franchise history, especially remarkable considering the fact that Game Two was the 112th playoff contest for the organization.
And for one night, the stars also seemed to align as far as the pieces from that February 21st trade finally coming together. Remember how we talked about Wally Szczerbiak needing to find his shot to give the Cavs some much-needed spacing? The Miami University legend finally came through with 15 points on six-for-nine shooting, including two-for-five from downtown. Joe Smith came off the bench to score nine points and grab four rebounds while Ben Wallace started at the power forward position and posted eight points and seven boards.
There were the usual suspects, as well. Daniel Gibson continued to be Mr. Postseason as he put up 13 points while shooting four-for-eight from the field and two-for-two from beyond the arc. Zydrunas Ilgauskas continued to provide his strong inside presence by chipping in 16 points on seven-for-11 shooting and nine boards. Meanwhile, the Cavs plastered the Witnesses on the glass with a 49-34 advantage on the backboards.
You can’t forget King James, either.
LeBron just missed his third career playoff triple-dip by a rebound, getting 30 points, 12 assists, and nine boards in a spectacular all-around performance. Cleveland was plus-34 with James on the floor as LB got 39 minutes of burn to add to his ever-swelling highlight film of dominating Washington.
And just in case you’re wondering: Gilbert “Everybody Wants Cleveland in the First Round” Arenas? Two-for-10 from the floor, seven points. DeShawn “LeBron is overrated” Stevenson? Four-for-seven for 12 points, but the Witnesses were minus-10 with him on the floor.
So much for being a team player, DeShawn. Stats are overrated.
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on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 11:14 pm and is filed under Reggie Miller, Marv Albert, Wally Szczerbiak, Brendan Haywood, DeShawn Stevenson, Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Washington Wizards, Gilbert Arenas, LeBron James, Daniel Gibson, Cleveland Cavaliers.
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15 Responses to “Cavs Steamroll Classless Witnesses Again”
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:43 am
The Wiz just looked like wannabe thugs last night. But you know what? That was frustration talking. The Wiz went into that game thinking “We let them off the hook last time, it was our game to win. Tonight we’re going to make those open shots we missed last time and go home tied 1-1.” For a team that has no reason to be cocky, they were cocky. Instead, the Cavs came out hungry and motivated and most importantly they came out with effective defensive adjustments.
Arenas & Butler clearly are not 100%, and Jamison can’t do it all. I voted “Cavs in 6″ but now it’s hard to see this going more than 4~5.
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:23 am
It will be interesting to see how the Wizards come out in Game 3 at home. The Cavs are a bad road team, but they are clearly fired up with the Wizards’ words. Washington will be back home trying to avenge a 30-point humiliation.
Game 3 will be huge. This series isn’t over yet, although it may look like it is from the outside.
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:29 am
The original poster is an idiot. As a fan of neither the Wizards nor the Cavs, I can tell you that both teams are playing equally cheap. Haywood’s foul wasn’t as bad as another foul committed earlier in the game, when Antonio Daniels got absolutely clobbered going to the basket. It must be nice to have the superstar on your team, so you get that called as a flagrant 2. I don’t see any refs trying to “protect” Antonio Daniels when he gets mugged just as bad.
Yes, Lebron is the best player in this series. Yes, the Wizards played like crap in game 2. And yes, you’re going to win this series, because Arenas and Butler are playing at much less than 100%. Enjoy it while it lasts, Cavs fans, because you have no chance against Boston in the next round.
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:38 am
And it wasn’t just the foul on Daniels. The dirty Cavs also committed a flagrant foul on Blatche. Just thought I’d remind you.
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:52 am
Joe—to compare Haywoods blatant cheap shot on LBJ to the foul on Daniels is comparing apples to fish…did you even see the play on Daniels? They showed the replay 3 times and I didn’t see either West or the other Cavs defender hit Daniels above the waist—in fact, West and Daniels legs got tangled and Daniels ended up on the ground–both Cavs players had their arms straight up and making legit plays on the ball–Haywood, um, not so much….for 3 years now, stiffs like Haywood, Blatche, Jeffries, etc have been trying to rough up LBJ—perhaps Butler, 0, MeShawn or ‘Twan should try a rough foul instead of sending out the goons to do the dirty work…the Wiz are pathetic–a barely .500 team for 3+ years who can’t get out of the 1st round against an alleged “one man” team…SCOREBOARD.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Say what you will about the Daniels foul, but I noticed you didn’t have anything to say about the Blatche foul. Yes, the one where he got hit… RIGHT IN THE FACE! Last time I checked, that’s above the waist. The Haywood foul was nothing more than a little shove to the back.
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Blatche got hit on the top of the head while Varejao at least pretended to make a play on the ball. Haywood’s “little shove to the back” sent a player already airborne into the stands. Worst case for Blatche he has a headache, a bloody nose if the hit is lower. Worst case for LeBron, he’s out for the season. Both Varejao and Haywood got their proper punishment.
The difference is the Cavs didn’t come out of the locker room with a game plan of knocking Blatche out of the game. If the Wizards hadn’t been yapping for a week about how they were going to beat down LeBron maybe that would’ve just been called a flagrant 1 but the officials felt the need to step in and end things.
But who cares? Haywood wasn’t suspended and his absence made no difference in Game 2 since the Wiz had already waved the white flag so I’m not really sure why we’re still debating it. Game 3 is all that matters now.
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:24 pm
“Enjoy it while it lasts, Cavs fans, because you have no chance against Boston in the next round.”
Funny…that’s what Detroit fans were saying last spring while we were beating up on Washington and New Jersey. Maybe a 48-point double-overtime heartbreaker is what C’s fans need to put them in their place.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Let’s go Hawks!
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:14 am
It’s funny how the Cleveland hatred continues. I go to school in Ohio but am about 45 mins from Detroit and all these Michigan people are constantly trying to talk shit about Ohio teams, but they always shut up when I point out the fact that Ohio teams DOMINATE their teams. Now we have the Fizards to beat up every year in round one. I keep hearing how the Cavs won’t beat anyone in the next round, didn’t we split with the Celtics, and one of those games LeBron was hurt if I’m not mistaken. Let’s just take care of Washington then let the haters hate.
GO CAVS!!!!
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:11 am
Who was the one guy who voted for Wizards in 5?
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:09 am
DeShawn?
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Joe says:
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Say what you will about the Daniels foul, but I noticed you didn’t have anything to say about the Blatche foul. Yes, the one where he got hit… RIGHT IN THE FACE! Last time I checked, that’s above the waist. The Haywood foul was nothing more than a little shove to the back.
If you mean the foul where Blatche’s jaw met LBJ’s elbow, I guess you didn’t see the prior play where Blatche gave the forearm to LBJ’s face since you didn’t seem to mention it. Hilarious how the Wiz call the Cavs a barely .500 team when the Cavs .549 and the Wiz .524. I feel bad for Jamison and Butler who really are trying to put some distance between them and Gil and DeShawn’s trash talkin’. Last 7 playoff games the Wiz are perfect..0-7 and every one of em against the Cavs. Please win at DC and make it a series.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:28 pm
No, I hope this is a sweep. Looks like Boston is gonna cruise into the second round and the last thing the Cavs want is waste their time with these pathetic fugazzis who will never amount to any kind of a threat, ever. Get this done in 4, no more than 5.
April 27th, 2008 at 3:08 am
[…] Cavalier Attitude: "Once again, the Washington Witnesses prove to be all bark and no bite. Down 15 in the third quarter, Witness #33 (aka Brendan Haywood) decided to spear LeBron in mid-air (video) without even making an effort to go to for the ball. James looked like a wide receiver going over the middle and being hung out to dry by his quarterback as Witness #33 played the role of a safety with the sole intention of knocking LB to the ground. Unfortunately for Witness #33, he wasn’t invited to try out for the Redskins, and this is basketball. And contrary to Reggie Miller, who was calling the game for TNT with Marv Albert, Witness #33 got what he deserved: a Flagrant Two and an automatic ejection." […]
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