Cavaliers notes: Pavlovic moves ahead of Devin Brown in rotation
Rick Noland | The Chronicle-Telegram
BOSTON — The backcourt-heavy Cavaliers appear to be going through another changing of the guards.
Devin Brown, who played in 78 regular-season games and all six against Washington in the first round, did not see action Tuesday in Game 1 of Cleveland’s second-round playoff series with the Boston Celtics.
Coach Mike Brown elected to go with Sasha Pavlovic behind starter Wally Szczerbiak in Game 1, and stuck with that rotation again Thursday in Game 2 at TD Banknorth Garden.
“It was just a gut feel,” Mike Brown said prior to Game 2. “Sasha has played well in stretches. He was the starting two-guard last year on our finals team. He had done enough (in practice) to warrant getting a look. It’s tough to play six (players at the three wing spots).”
With LeBron James commanding almost all the minutes at small forward, Mike Brown used Szczerbiak, Pavlovic, Delonte West and Daniel “Boobie” Gibson in the rotation in Game 1, leaving Devin Brown and Damon Jones as the odd-men out.
“You always have to be ready,” Devin Brown said. “You never know what’s going to happen. It’s not like I haven’t seen it before. You stay professional and stay ready.”
Devin Brown said he has not talked to Mike Brown “since the playoffs started.” Asked if he was surprised he didn’t play, he said, “You can say that.”
The 6-foot-7, 239-pound Pavlovic, who sprained his ankle in the next-to-last game of the regular season, played 14 minutes in Game 1. He went 2-of-3 from the field, including a 3-pointer, and 2-of-3 at the line for seven points. He was the only Cleveland player to shoot better than 50 percent from the field.
“Hopefully, he’ll continue to get better,” Mike Brown said. “It was his first taste of action since he came back.”
Wild Thing
Cavaliers backup power forward Anderson Varejao has struggled in the postseason. Entering Game 2, he was averaging just 2.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17.5 minutes.
The Brazilian, who has missed numerous layups, some of them without even hitting the rim, was shooting just .296 from the field (8-of-27) and .444 at the line (4-of-9).
“It’s been weird,” Mike Brown said. “I thought he had some rhythm going, then he got injured (in late January and was out until late February with a sprained ankle). One thing he does do is play hard. He’s just out of sync sometimes.”
Smart coaching
One of the key moves in Game 1 came when Boston coach Doc Rivers elected not to call timeout after Cleveland’s Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored on a tip-in to tie the game at 72. That prevented the Cavaliers from taking out Joe Smith, who was in the game for offensive purposes, and putting in Ben Wallace for defense. Celtics power forward Kevin Garnett ended up scoring on a spin move against Smith with 21.4 seconds left.
“They didn’t do anything tricky,” Mike Brown said. “They brought the ball down, K.G. went to the block and they threw it in (to him). K.G. did what he does.”
Over his last two playoff games prior to Thursday, Allen was 3-of-16 from the field. He scored seven points in Boston’s Game 7 win over Atlanta. Going back to Game 6 of that series, Allen had made just two of his last 16 3-point attempts.
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061
or rickn@ohio.net.
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Filed by Rick Noland | The Chronicle-Telegram May 9th, 2008 in Sports. Popularity: 5% |
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