By Zac Jackson
FOX Sports Ohio
October 27, 2010
CLEVELAND -- A lot of what happened in and around Wednesday night's Cavaliers-Celtics game at Quicken Loans Arena was a rehashing of things we've seen and heard before, things that define a six-month period everyone involved with the Cavaliers organization would rather -- but will never -- forget.
Before the game Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert talked about "the player who left" and the July letter that earned Gilbert a $100,000 NBA fine. National pundits stopped by to ask the Cavaliers how they're dealing with being buried before the first ball of the season was ever tipped. By the third quarter Rajon Rondo was jumping over, slipping under and darting around the home team's defense, creating easy baskets for himself and easier ones for his teammates.
In case masochistic Cavaliers fans weren't keeping an exact count, it had been 111 days since "The Decision" and 173 since their team's last victory over Boston. But a come-from-behind, 95-87 victory Wednesday night over the defending Eastern Conference champs serves as an official turning of the page, a tangible sign that all that stuff in the past can stay there.
Finally.
The 2010-11 Cavaliers are 1-0 after doing what last year's team didn't, beating the Celtics in a home season opener. These nationally anonymous Cavaliers did it by overcoming an 11-point third-quarter deficit, getting a huge but controversial 3-pointer from Anthony Parker down the stretch and attacking the Celtics where they're supposed to be best, in the post, as J.J. Hickson's 21 points and Anderson Varejao's 8 points, 10 rebounds and numerous hustle plays led a fourth-quarter charge.
Gilbert, presumably, was pumping his fist.
"We beat the Heat last night and lost to the Cavs tonight," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "I'm the coach of the most popular team in Cleveland."
The Cavaliers' official team slogan is "All For One, One For All." Around town, it's more like "All Against LeBron James." And that's the G-rated version.
Until 20 straight Cavaliers points came via the bench in an 11-minute rally starting late in the third quarter, almost every storyline still revolved around the now-departed two-time MVP. Rivers talked before the game of Cavaliers fans approaching him with handshakes and congratulations in public Wednesday afternoon after his team opened the season beating James' new team the previous evening; during last May's intense playoff series, Rivers probably had to stick with room service.
As grand as the Celtics' opening was before a raucous crowd in Boston Tuesday night, this was much more personal and probably more fulfilling for Cleveland, players and fans. For so much that's different now, including expectations and overall talent level, the Cavaliers pleased their new coach, Byron Scott, by coming to fight. Quicken Loans Arena wasn't lit up like Vegas, as Young LeBron famously promised (and delivered), but over the last five minutes the 20,562 in attendance were standing nervously like they each had $500 on the roulette table.
They came up winners.
Antawn Jamison, scoreless through two quarters, became a factor in the third. Ramon Sessions, starting in place of former All-Star Mo Williams, overcame a slow shooting start and kept the Cavaliers on the attack. Hickson gave the Cavaliers the lead for good, finishing above the rim on a pass from Varejao to make it 86-84 with three minutes left. The Cavaliers then got a stop, and it looked like the Celtics would do the same on the ensuing possession when Kevin Garnett knocked the ball away from Sessions and out of bounds with one second on the shot clock.
The inbounds pass went to Parker, who didn't catch it cleanly on the left wing but did recover and swish a 3-pointer to push the lead to five. It beat the shot clock buzzer and, essentially, the Celtics.
"The longest one second in NBA history" is what Rivers called it later, but he didn't blame his team's loss on one play or possession. He credited the Cavaliers, who maintained composure and energy "and they beat us. Nothing we can do about it now."
"At home," Scott said, "it's supposed to be a long second."
So much change is sometimes scary and often strange, and Wednesday night's game was certainly different. Shaquille O'Neal got a great pregame ovation even though he now plays for the visiting team. There weren't 9,000 fans in #23 jerseys, with most choosing wine and gold t-shirts instead. There was plenty of movement, designed and executed, in the Cavaliers half-court offense.
It paid off, just like Scott's been preaching it would. Six Cavaliers ended up scoring in double figures; that Varejao may have been his team's MVP but wasn't one of them says a lot about the total team effort it was. Daniel Gibson, who scored all 16 of his points in the second half, iced it with late free throws and addressed the crowd afterward as confetti fell from the rafters. During the celebration, a fan mugged for the television cameras with a sign that read "Just like the playoffs, LBJ's not here."
Nobody's quite over things yet. But in this win a sports-crazed and success-starved city got very temporary, yet very sweet, redemption.
Even if you have to be from here to understand just how sweet it is.
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