The Good,the Bad and the Ugly in OT loss to Bucks

Not only do I love the Good,the Bad and the Ugly and its iconic instrumental,but it described last night's 113-112 OT loss by the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Milwaukee Bucks at the Q.
The Good? Antawn Jamison's season high of 34 points.
The Bad? Jamison clanking two free throws with three seconds to go,when hitting either would have won the game.
The Ugly?Losing Anderson Varejao to a broken wrist in the third quarter.
The 10-15 Cavaliers host Philadelphia this evening.

Swashbuckings

1) The big news for the undermanned Cavaliers?
The loss of the teams heart in Anderson Varejao.This is a huge loss considering the teams lack of a suitable backup big man with mediocrities Ryan Hollins and Semih Erden looking at receiving a huge jump in playing time.
Take away Varejao's rebounding alone and he will be difficult to replace,but the hustle and energy will be even more difficult to slot into the lineup.

2) I felt bad for Antawn Jamison in missing the free throws because he had a great game in keeping a team without Kyrie Irving and Anderson Varejao in the game with his  34 points and 11 rebound game.
Blame Jamison for the bricks,if you like and I will,but without his play,Cleveland does not have the chance of winning.

3) Daniel Gibson scored 17 points and was one of three Cavaliers to log more than 40 minutes in the loss.
My knock is not that the injury riddled Cavaliers had three guys play this long,but that the team did not even put four players in the game at all in a game like this.
I usually praise Byron Scott,but some of those guys could have at least given someone on the court a quick breather and without Varejao tonight,he might have little choice in the matter.

4) Ramon Sessions finished with 12 points on 4 of 16 shooting,but dished out 16 assists.
Sessions would be a nice fit on say,Oklahoma City with a team filled with shooters with his pass first mentality...

5) Alonzo Gee with another nice night off the bench with 18 points.
Gee may not be the starter,but in crunch time-it is Gee on the floor and not starter Omri Casspi.

6) Tristan Thompson struggled with his shot in his return to the team (2-8),but his 13 boards going with a sweet steal and resulting breakaway slam were solid points....

7) Cavalier fans that wondered if this team was going to be too good to avoid a lottery pick can relax now.
With the gaping hole in the middle that now exists,I do not believe that will be a problem as the season progresses.


See you tomorrow with more Cavaliers and the Devils loss today to Florida.