Cavs Beat Celtics In Surprising Fashion

The Boston Celtics were stuck with a backbreaking performance. They come out hot, gaining double-digit leads behind team offense and smothering defense. Then the third quarter comes around and everything they were doing well began to go down the drain. It's same episode, over and over again. Then the third quarter comes around and everything they were doing well goes in the tank. It's same episode, looping over and over again. It happened on February 7, when they blew an 11-point halftime lead to the Orlando Magic, getting outscored 36-11 in the third quarter. And it happened Thursday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, when a double-digit advantage was deleted by a 35-14 fourth quarter, the Paul Pierce-less Celtics eventually losing, 108-88.

The Celtics were playing like the better team (eight-point halftime lead), the Cavaliers playing like the team with the best player in LeBron James (21 points at the half).

In the first half Cleveland was playing flat. The change was drastic. Cleveland's defense before the break can be described generously as slow. Help rotations were frequently missed and frustration had begun to spread across the Cavs faces.

But when Shaquille O'Neal was taken out of the lineup with a sprained thumb, the defense quickened. Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams gave the Cavs a nice offensive boost -- Williams draining three consecutive triples in the fourth, but it was Anderson Varejao who changed the game with a great defensive performance.

"The star of the game for them was Varejao," Rivers said. "He was absolutely amazing with his energy, with his defense; he kept the ball alive.” Varejao's quantitative contributions of 14 points and 10 rebounds, on top of a number of affected shots and tipped boards, pale in comparison to James' 36 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

More Wizard Trades

The Wizards let go another great player, Antawn Jamison. All-star forward Antawn Jamison to the Cavaliers in a 3-team trade Wednesday. According to early reports the Wizards will receive Cavaliers center Zadrunas Ilgauskas and a first round pick, while sending away newly acquired forward Drew Gooden to the Clippers. Antwan Jamison perimeter skills make him a valuable addition to the Cavaliers. there was a lot of pre-deadline trade talk centered around Cleveland making a deal for Amar'e Stoudemire, but the Cavs landed Antawn Jamison from Washington in the three-team deal. Jamison is a better fit in Cleveland than Stoudemire would have been, giving the Cavs a power forward who can shoot from the perimeter. Jamison also helps the Cavs perimeter defense. Last year the Cavs had a lot of problem guarding against great forwards like Paul Pierce and Rashard Lewis and Jamison can really help on the defensive side of the ball.

Lets Talk Trades

The Washington Wizards acquired Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton and Quinton Ross from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson. The Wizards clearly haven't been having a good season and the ownership feels as though its time for a change. Butler, a two-time all-star, is having his worst season since joining the Wizards in 2005. He has been unable to adjust to new Coach Flip Saunders's offense and is averaging just 16.9 points per game and shooting 42.2 percent from the floor. He has been mentioned in recent weeks in trade rumors involving several teams, including Houston and Portland.

Caron Coming Through In The Clutch

The Washington Wizards shocked the Orlando Magic 92-91. In the beginning Orlando looked as though they were going to ran away with the game 32-13 after one quarter. Even with Butler and Foye scoring just two points each in the first half, the Wizards started chipping away at the lead. A tip-in by Antawn Jamison made it 50-35 at halftime. Butler closed the 3rd period with a long 3-pointer, then opened the fourth quarter with another jumper to give Washington its biggest lead of nine, 76-67. Butler and Foye scored an outstanding 49 of their 53 points in the second half. Butler's late 4th quarter jumper from the corner with a half-second left completed his season-high 31 points in a game in which the Wizards (17-32) once trailed by 21 points. It was the Wizards second victory in two tries this season against the division-leading Orlando Magic (33-17).

Kevin Durant MVP in Thunder victory over Warriors

On Sunday January 31, 2010 Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant scored 45 points in a great all-star performance against the Golden State Warriors. He shot 16-21 from the field and was stout on the defensive side of the ball with 2 steals. He was also 100% from the free throw line 11-11 and pulled 11 boards. Warriors Head Coach, Don Nelson, was stunned at what he was watching. "Amazing performance. He had 45 points on 22 shots or whatever it was (21). Unbelievable. We had a lot of different people play him. He was terrific, sensational. I'm glad he made the All-Star team, I thought it was about time." Nelson said.

As Kevin Durant stepped to the free throw line in the final seconds the OKC crowd began to chant M-V-P, M-V-P. Durant just smiled at the fans and calmly sank his 44th and 45th of the game. Just a few more performances like that and the MVP trophy could be in his future

Oklahoma City's third-ranked field goal defense was tested from the very beginning as the high scoring Warriors shot a blazing 62.5% in the first quarter. Even though the Thunder had a tough time playing defense they still made most of their field goals at the beginning, 56.3%, to lead 29-26 after one.

Oklahoma City played much better defense in the second holding the Warriors to a more rational 45.5%, but the Thunder offense suffered as the Thunder only hit 37.5% of their baskets and were outscored to trail by one, 55-54 at the halftime break.