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Cleveland Cavaliers in easy win vs. Minnesota Timberwolves despite clothesline foul on LeBron James
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LeBron James AP Photo/Tony Dejak
The Cavaliers continue to lead the NBA with the best record as Cleveland defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday night, 107-85 at the Q. The victory was the Cavs' 11th consecutive win, improving their record to 59-13, one game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Although pleased with the victory, LeBron James was very angry at an exceptionally hard foul by the Timberwolves' center, Jason Collins. Four minutes into the third quarter, James was driving down the lane when Collins threw his arm in front of James, high in the face, almost like a clothesline tackle in a Browns game. James went down quickly with a resounding thud.
The Cavs' center, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, rushed over and shoved Collins, drawing a technical foul.
Collins was charged with a flagrant foul for taking down James.
In the locker room, after the game, James thought the referees should have ejected Collins. James answered reporters' questions with a couple of his own and shared his thoughts about the play.
Did he go for the ball? No. Was he trying to get in position to take a charge? No. It had nothing to do with a basketball play. It was borderline dirty..... That's not part of the game but hard fouls are part of the game. I thought it was a little overboard. That was one of the better ones I've felt before.
James' reputation for being physically resilient may be giving NBA refs a distorted view of the hard fouls; at least in James' view.
I tried to explain that play right there. You can't ref how big I am and being able to take that blow........ If it was Mo or Delonte or Daniel and they take that blow, do they get up and finish the game? Maybe not. I don't have words for him. We don't play them again; it's over and done with. I don't have any hard feelings for him. It may continue, but I'm going to continue to get up. I'm going to continue to go to the hole. I'm going to continue to do what I do.
For his part, Collins said there was no malice intended.
He was a little off balance when he was driving to the basket and I was just trying to wrap him up so he wasn't going to explode to the rim like he normally does for a dunk or a layup or an and one. He just fell awkwardly. I'm just doing my job. That's how I always play. My job is not to give up lay-ups or dunks to LeBron James.
The game, itself, was never in doubt as James poured in 18 points in the first quarter on the way to a 56-39 halftime lead for Cleveland. James finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists.
Guard Mo Williams, who scored 22 points, sprained his pinkie finger on his right hand in the fourth quarter. X-rays after the game were negative. Williams said that he will be fine for Sunday's home game against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Cavs will be trying for their 60th victory of the season. Cleveland set the franchise record of 58 victories Wednesday night against the New Jersey Nets.
For more info on the Cavaliers, check out the Cleveland Cavaliers examiner. Matt Loede has a video clip of James hitting an underhanded, 60-foot shot on the CBS program, 60 Minutes, which airs tomorrow night at 7:00pm on WOIO-TV 19.
