Game 2 has been another blowout served up by Lebron and Wally along with everyone else.
As I said yesterday, Walter has been putting in quite a bit of effort into his minutes. Last night the Cavaliers marked their territory and held their own in the 105-85 victory.
The game started off strong as usual with the Cavs staying around the area but slowly moving away from the Hawks. At the end of the 1st quarter Lebron went iso--as he usually does--and lost his defender, finishing with an amazing reverse slam. Make sure to watch it in the highlights (see the bottom of the post for links).
Szczerbiak comes in at the beginning of the 2nd quarter and when fed the ball by a teammate, we know that 8 times out of 10 he makes something happen. With that, he backs down his defender at least 10 feet before he quickly shoots it off the backboard and hits for 2 of his 17 points in the game.
Mo Williams gets his floater "the Mo Flow" to go (along with a technical foul handed by refiree Crawford due to Mo's reaction after he got fouled on the play but no foul was called). The next minute Szczerbiak hustles down the court and Lebron throws an amazing pass to him. Wally takes the shot and drains it for his 4th point.
The next minute Szczerbiak is in the post again and with lightning-quick speed turns around and swishes a turn-around J to grab his 6th point on 3-3 shooting.This is when one of the best assists of the game (there were at least 5 plays all worthy of being the "assist of the night", I'm telling you) occurs. Our Most Valuable Player dashes forward with Szczerbiak trailing behind. Instead of dunking it in Lebron makes the extra pass to Szczerbiak who dunks it in with 1 hand!
Wally and James seem to make a pretty good team, huh?
The score is 48-28 (Cavs leading, o'course) thanks to the whole team's efforts when Wally goes to the free throw line to shoot a technical which he swishes. You have to give this dude serious credit, he's 100% from the free throw line in the playoffs and his free throw shooting could come in handy in tough situations, if we ever need it. Along with his technical Wally shoots 2 more free throws later in the game making him 9-9 in the offseason so far (the best percentage, behind him are other people who also have 100% but have taken less free throws).
Wally has his fun for the 2nd quarter, especially with the Wally chants, which in his interviews he states that he greatly appreciates, and sits until the 4th quarter. Amazingly enough, Lebron and the other starters actually sit out the 4th quarter because the Cavaliers are up by an amazing 30+ points in the 3rd quarter.
Wally makes a great drive at the beginning of the 4th quarter to score his 11th point of the game. Unfortunately Szczerbiak becomes a little aggressive and picks up 3 offensive fouls, but he comes back later in the 4th quarter with an offensive rebound that is quickly turned into a point off the glass (see the highlights for this shot as well).
With 48.8 seconds Wally is fouled and shoots 2 more free throws. On the next possession Szczerbiak fades out and hits his 17th point, securing the win over the Hawks.
Wally's great play earned him a half-time interview and other points of attention, including a post-game interview. Similar to everyone else, he repeats some of the things he says, but he makes what he says sound really legit because Wally spices it up with his veteran interviewing skills.
Cavaliers vs. Hawks Highlights
Lebron James Reverse Dunk
Lebron James Half Court Buzzer-Beater
Wally Szczerbiak Halftime Interview
Lebron's Big Night
More Videos (Includes Wally's post-game interview from Game 1 and Game 2)
CavsFanatic Wally Thread
Now we just need a little more 3-point shooting from Wally and I'll be happy. He's doing a solid job on defense and averaging 5 points a game so far which is pretty good considering he's only playing about 11 minutes a game on average. We know that if Wally were starting he'd be getting at least twice the amount of play time meaning about twice the points-- meaning he'd average anywhere from 8-12 points which is still pretty solid and just shows that Szczerbiak hasn't "lost his touch" or anything; quite the opposite.
I have to go brag to my friends about Wally now, so I'll talk to you later.
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