Cavs Disarm Rockets

Cleveland, Ohio - The Cavs were able to hold off an intense fourth quarter comeback by Tracy McGrady (And only Tracy McGrady) to snag a 91-85 victory over the team that boasts the 4th best record in the NBA this evening. The Rockets have owned the Cavaliers over the past few seasons, mostly because they play a slow-tempo, half-court game and great team defense...I think it's safe to say that tonight we were able to beat them at their own game. Larry Hughes seems to have found himself in the point guard role, and it couldn't have happened at a better time. The Cavs are 2-0 since he took over the point, and his aggressive style of play certainly helps Lebron to not have to carry such a heavy load.

We'll be giving out two "CursedCleveland Game Balls" this evening, and the first goes to Eric Snow for his fourth quarter drive in which he dribbled the ball from the elbow straight out of bounds without looking up, and then smiled and didn't seem to care that he'd turned the ball over at a crucial moment of the game. The second game ball goes to Donyell Marshall, who missed everything on a wide open layup late in the game that would have blown the roof off the building and given the Cavs a double-digit lead (Missing the rim on a layup when you're 6'9" is very hard to excuse, and almost impossible to do on a nightly basis like this former Huskie does). An honorable mention goes to the Wild Thing, who was confused enough to think that Hughes' pass was meant for him as Lebron slammed home a huge alley-oop over Andy with less than two minutes remaining (In fact, this may be the first time in history that someone has been posterized by their own teammate). Big win tonight in a playoff-type atmosphere, let's see if we can go into the Palace of Auburn Hills on Wednesday riding this emotional high and take out the rival Pistons.

AP Photo