There was a sequence on consecutive third quarter possessions during tonight’s game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons that LeBron James was stymied on a pair of individual fast breaks. Reggie Jackson stripped him once, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope anticipated his euro-step to draw a charge 20 seconds later. On his next transition opportunity, The King made sure he wouldn’t make the same mistakes again.
Nasty.
A full-speed James is enough of a problem. What’s a defender to do when the 6-8, 250+ pound behemoth takes advantage of his supreme body control to change pace and feign dribble moves with a head of steam? As you can see, Caron Butler had no option but to grab LeBron and hold on for dear life. Obviously, that strategy proved ineffective.
After a lackluster second quarter that left them down nine to the home team at halftime, the Cavaliers came out like gangbusters in the second half. Spurred by Kevin Love’s career-high tying eight three-pointers, Cleveland has opened up an 11-point lead on Detroit with several minutes remaining in the game.