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Wallace, Bobcats spoil Shaq's return to the Cavs 87 - 94
Nov 27, 2009
The Cleveland Cavaliers saw the return of Shaquille O'Neal to its lineup Friday, but it wasn't a happy return for LeBron and company. The Charlotte Bobcats came out and played aggressively from the get go and were able to hold on at the end to pick up a hard fought 94-87 win. Charlotte, which earned its third consecutive win, was led again by Gerald Wallace, who has scored 31 points in each of the team's last two games. Cleveland hoped for a lift with the return of O'Neal to its lineup after the All-Star center was sidelined for six games with a strained shoulder. "He's going to be our guy," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said of O'Neal. "He's going to be there for our playoff run, so we've just got to get used to whoever's out on the floor because he's going to be there." However, the Cavaliers seemed rusty and had trouble early on adjusting to O'Neal presence. He finished with 11 points and eight rebounds in 30 minutes of action. He combined with LeBron James for 36 points, but the duo accounted for just five points in the final stanza. "I think it's still an adjustment period," James said. "With our full lineup we haven't really had much playing time. We haven't had enough games with him in the lineup for coach to figure out how to adjust and what's best for us to play." Despite the struggles for Cleveland they were able to stay in the game and mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers held what had been a hot-shooting offense to just 12 points in the final period and twice had threes fall just short from James and Mo Williams. "It's very difficult especially when you get into a deficit because of silly mistakes," O'Neal said. "We realized that we weren't playing that well and we just have to pick it up out there. We were still in position to win it late if we had hit one of those threes out there."
Charlotte looked impressive in the first half. The Bobcats were white hot from the floor connecting on 22 of their 38 shots (.579) in the opening half including 3-pointers at the buzzer to close out both the first and second quarters by Stephen Jackson and Flip Murray. "We wanted to make them play our tempo," Wallace said. "We were able to knock down shots and keep it the way we wanted." That shooting was helped in part by the Cavaliers' choice to double-team some of Charlotte's wings. "Gerald (Wallace) was shooting like 14 percent from the three-point line coming into the game," James said. "We doubled off the right guy and he knocked down and that really hurt us. They definitely caused some problems for us."
The Bobcats led 58-43 at the break and benefited from a sub-par first half from James. The Cleveland All-Star was whistled for three fouls, including two charges, and a travel in the first half. "There were some tough calls," James said with a smile. "Very, very, very tough calls." The third quarter saw Wallace and James duel offensively. Wallace scored 15 of his team's 24 points while James netted 10 in the third. The Cavs closed the quarter on a 19-4 run and trimmed the Bobcats' lead to just 11 points entering the final period. "It's fun when you've got a competitor," James said. "You want to go against some of the best and he's one of the best three guards we have in the Eastern Conference. It's fun. I take the challenge and he takes the challenge. It's great."
Charlotte rebuilt a 15-point cushion early in the fourth, but let Cleveland back in the game. A dunk from Jamario Moon cut the lead to eight points, 90-82. Moon hit a three with 3:41 left to trim the lead by another point. Charlotte was called for goaltending on its next possession, but an offensive foul by the Cavaliers stalled their run. From there the resurgent Bobcats were able to hold on for the win. "Now that our offense is starting to pick-up," Wallace said, "we look a lot better out on the court. And it makes our defense look a lot better."