Cleveland Rocks! Wanna Bet?

While the majority of enthusiasm this week regarding basketball resides in the hearts of college fans

2007-03-06

While the majority of enthusiasm this week regarding basketball resides in the hearts of college fans, there is still a lot of excitement in the NBA ranks. Plenty of teams are jockeying for playoff positions, while others are merely trying to get into the playoff discussion. One of the former, the Houston Rockets, had even extra reason to be excited this week as they returned Yao Ming back to their lineup. Although they had played good basketball without him, they clearly want him to be healthy and ready to help them in the stretch run. So, it would seem as though I would pick them in their game at Cleveland as 2 point underdogs, right? Wrong. While they are indeed trying to get themselves at full strength for their playoff run, it is going to take some time to re-acclimate themselves with Yao back on the court. McGrady and crew are used to playing without him for quite a while, so there will be a short learning curve. So, I thought this would be a great opportunity for Lebron and friends to take advantage of this situation and get a much needed victory over a quality opponent. As most of the games I’ve bet on recently, this game was wild and unpredictable, with the outcome of my wager unresolved until the final seconds.

Early on, it didn’t look overly promising for the Cavs. The Rockets were able to slow the tempo of the game to their liking and got themselves a number of points in the paint. Cleveland kept pace with them, but found themselves in a 1-point deficit after the first quarter. Though they were down, they certainly were not out and I was hopeful that once they got Houston running a little more, they’d overtake them. The 2nd quarter proved to be the right time.

During the 2nd frame, Cleveland began to switch the tempo to their liking and relied less on the half-court offense. With Lebron leading the way with 16 points in the quarter, Cleveland took a 10 point lead into the locker room. Yao had 7 at the break and did not play effectively in his limited time. It was clear that Houston was not yet sure how to incorporate him back into the game plan and he himself was not yet ready. It seemed to be a perfect situation for the Cavs and myself.

The teams alternated baskets for the majority of the 3rd quarter and Cleveland extended their lead to 11 going into the fourth. I could practically smell the money. Barring a McGrady outburst in the 4th, the game appeared to be heading strongly in my favor. However, before the Rockets would allow themselves to be put to rest, Yao and the formerly mentioned McGrady started to develop some confidence as they chipped away at the lead. A dunk here by Yao and a basket here by Tracy, and before I could say Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the Rockets had cut the deficit to 2. I was yelling at myself for having overanalyzed the game and the teams involved. Stupid intuition. Luckily for me, however, the Cavs did just enough to keep Houston at bay, and when McGrady missed a 3-pointer with his team down 4, the game was in the bag. Cavs win by 6 and I win my bet. I stopped being angry and instead began to praise myself for being such a genius. That is, until the next time I lose a bet, which, with my propensity to gamble, could occur later tonight.